National writer Jon Heyman just reported that the cost of making a Rule 5 draft pick has increased in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
in the new CBA, rule 5 picks are now 100K, up 100 pct from 50K. #CBA
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 3, 2016
While I don’t think that the increased price is going to change much when it comes to teams taking chances on guys, it may lead to one or two fewer picks each year. Guys that have been normally taken in the first round of the draft probably still go, but teams may hesitate slightly at taking a second player compared to before.
What we don’t know yet is if the price to get a player back when they are returned has also doubled. When the price to draft a player for $50,000, the return of the player led to $25,000 going back the other way. I would assume that it’s also gone up, but that’s just a very large assumption right now.
If the price for the return also doubled, we may see a few more situations arise where a player that was drafted doesn’t make the team, but the player isn’t “bought” back with it being twice the price as it used to be, particularly if that team is quite deep and doesn’t necessarily have the need for the player.
The Reds non-tender Gabby Guerrero
After picking up outfielder Gabby Guerrero a week ago, the team non-tendered him and opened up a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s an interesting situation, but it’s possible that the organization poured over the players available for the Rule 5 draft and have locked in on a player that they are interested in and needed to create a roster spot and the non-tender deadline was the perfect opportunity to make a move and create it.