The Red Sox and the Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 Draft is one of the baffling events during the Major League season.  Held at the end of the Winter Meetings, teams can select a player who has not been placed on the 40 man roster of another team within three or four years after signing their first contract, depending on their age at the time.  Yes, it is confusing.  The catch is that the selecting team has to keep that player on their Major League roster for the entire season in order to keep him, or they must offer him back to the original team.  The original team can elect not to take him back or work out a trade.

There have not been a lot of really good players who get a chance due to being selected in the Rule 5 Draft.  Roberto Clemente is the best example, being selected by the Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954.  I'm sure the Dodgers want that one back.  Johan Santana, Kelly Gruber, Jose Bautista, Fernando Vina, and Shane Victorino are some other players who have done well since being selected.  Boston does not have nearly as much success.  In fact, very few players Boston has picked up in the Rule 5 Draft have had much of any success in the Majors.

Since I started watching the team, only four players selected by Boston in the Rule 5 Draft have played in the Majors with the Red Sox.  Boston lost Wil Ledezma, Ryan Pressly, and Josh Fields, who had some success in the Majors, over the years.  Looking back prior to that, there really were not any big name players selected either.

And now, counting down the best players to make it to the Majors selected by the Red Sox since 1991, based on their Major League success:

5.  Matt White

The Red Sox had three picks for some reason in the 2002 Rule 5 Draft.  Their first pick was Javier Lopez (the reliever), who they returned and then re-acquired a few years later.  Their second pick was White from the Indians, who was apparently injured the entire 2002 season.  He did make it into three games with the Red Sox in 2003, but had an 0-1 record and a 27.00 ERA.  He was later traded to the Mariners for Sheldon Fulse, who never made it to the Majors.  He didn't do much better for Seattle and was returned to the Indians, as per the Rule 5 rules.  White was selected again in the 2003 Rule 5 Draft, this time by the Rockies who also ended up returning him to Cleveland.

4.  Adrian Brown

Brown was kind of an unusual choice for the Draft.  He had been a longtime Major Leaguer with the Pirates and had a decent season in 2000.  But after 2002, he was released by the Pirates and signed by the Rays, who failed to put him on their 40 man roster.  So the Red Sox selected him as their third of three picks they had in the Draft.  Brown was actually returned to the Rays, released by the Rays, and signed by the Red Sox in the span of three days in Spring Training, which allowed Boston to send him to the minors, where he spent most of the season.  Brown was an All Star at Pawtucket and eventually played in nine games with Boston, hitting .200/.250/.200 with two stolen bases.  He bounced around after that and was never a full-time regular again.

3.  Adam Stern

Stern was a personal favorite of mine since he was a fellow Nebraska Cornhusker, though he is originally from Canada.  Stern had been in the Braves system and had a decent season in Greenville, yet the Braves did not add him to their 40 man roster.  Stern spent the entire 2005 season in Boston, either on the active roster or on the disabled list and ended up appearing in 36 games, hitting .133/.188/.333, though he did get his first home run and stole a base.  That is obviously the problem with the Draft, Stern was clearly not ready and it likely stunted his growth as a player, because he never played more than 10 games in the Majors again.  Stern played in just 10 games with Boston in 2006 and was traded to the Orioles for Javy Lopez (the catcher).    

2.  Lenny DiNardo

The most likely players to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft are relief pitchers, particularly lefties, and DiNardo is a good example.  Selected in the 2003 Draft from the Mets, DiNardo appeared in 22 games over the course of the season, though he was also injured for a time.  He struck out 21 and walked 12 in 27.2 innings and had a 4.23 ERA.  He made it through the season with Boston, was granted free agency and re-signed, and was able to go back to the minors in 2005.  He made it back to Boston later that season and had a 1.84 ERA in eight games, striking out 15 and walking five in 14.2 innings.  He had a rough season in 2006 though, going 1-2 with a 7.85 ERA and a significantly decreased strikeout rate.  DiNardo was reasonably successful with Oakland in 2007 when he was 8-10 with a 4.11 ERA.  He played another season for Oakland and one for the Royals.  

1.  Vaughn Eshelman

It is pretty close between Eshelman and DiNardo for the title here.  DiNardo likely had the best individual season and had the longest Major League career, but Eshelman was ever so slightly better, mostly on the strength of his decent 1995 season.  The southpaw Eshelman was selected in the 1994 Rule 5 Draft from the Baltimore Orioles.  He won his first three Major League games in 1995, only giving up three earned runs in 18.2 innings.  It was a pretty decent start to the season.  He finished the season 6-3 with a 4.85 ERA.  He walked 36 and struck out 41 in 81.2 innings.  He had an identical 6-3 record in 1996, but with a 7.08 ERA.  He was mostly used in relief, making it into 29 games out of the bullpen versus ten starts.  He was then 3-3 with a 6.33 ERA in 1997, again splitting time between the rotation and bullpen.  He was left exposed in the expansion draft and was selected by the Devil Rays, but he never made it back to the Majors.

Unfortunately, the best player Boston selected in the Rule 5 Draft was immediately traded away.  Marwin Gonzalez was selected in the 2011 Draft from the Cubs but was traded to the Astros for someone named Marco Duarte.  Gonzalez has been with Houston ever since and has been a fairly reliable utility player.  In 2015, he hit .279/.317/.442 with 12 home runs and 34 RBIs.  Duarte, who had been a very good pitcher in the Mexican League, never made it to the Majors.  

This season, Boston's Rule 5 selection was Josh Rutledge, an infielder who has already played for Boston the last couple of seasons.  He is expected to be another utility infielder option along with Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez.  They also lost Justin Haley, a pitcher in Pawtucket.  There is a possibility he could be returned.

So, the Rule 5 Draft is not terribly exciting.  Certainly not historically for the Red Sox.  None of these players are household names, and none should be.  It takes a lot of luck for a player from the Rule 5 Draft to turn into a good player.  There have been a few, but Boston has not been that lucky.

Unknown Heroes Pt. 28: Vaughn Eshelman

Boston has not had a lot of success in the Rule V Draft.  That is not uncommon.  There have only been a handful of players who have truly performed well for a new team in the Major Leagues after being taken in the Rule V Draft.  Most players are simply not ready for the jump straight to the Major Leagues.  Often times there is a reason a player has not been promoted to the 40 man roster.

Vaughn Eshelman is one of the most successful Rule V Draft players that Boston has picked.  Adam Stern and Lenny DiNardo are the only other two that have played for the Red Sox after being drafted and they managed to stay because they were injured and were stashed on the disabled list.  Eshelman though put in a significant amount of service time right away.

Eshelman was plucked from the Orioles system in the 1994 draft.  The left-hander then made his Major League debut for the Red Sox in 1995 and won his first three starts.  He turned in a decent 1995 season, going 6-3 in 23 games with 14 starts.  His ERA was an average 4.85.  He tended to walk almost as many as he struck out, but Boston did need a southpaw so he managed to stick around.

He came back in 1996 and had an identical record but a significantly worse 7.08 ERA.  Once again the walks were the big problem.  He played again in 1997, but it was pretty clear that he was not going to last in the Majors as he had a 3-3 record and a 6.33 ERA.

Eshelman was picked up by the Athletics off waivers after the 1997 season and was picked by the Devil Rays in the expansion draft.  But he never made it back to the Major Leagues.

I do not know why I liked Eshelman so much.  He was not really that good, but I loved getting cards of him. The card shown was only available as a mail-in offer from 1995 Ultra.  I did not get the mail-in but I found the card years later.  It was one that I sought out for quite awhile.

Season in Review: 1995

1995 was another abbreviated season as the strike continued to early in the year.  Replacement players reported to Spring Training, some of whom would eventually make it back to the Majors later.  There was no free agency between the seasons so all of the new players were acquired in trades.  Boston was very active on that front as there was a massive overhaul of the team.  It was successful as they won the AL East with an 86-58 record under Kevin Kennedy for the first time.

Boston played the juggernaut Indians in the ALDS and were swept in three games.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS
Mo Vaughn
The 1995 AL MVP won the award mostly due to the fact that he was not a complete asshole like Albert Belle who actually had vastly superior numbers.  Vaughn was probably elected the MVP due to his intangibles more than his numbers, though he certainly had good numbers.  Vaughn hit .300/.388/.575 with 39 home runs and tied for the league lead for RBIs with 126.  He also shockingly stole 11 bases in 1995.

John Valentin
As good as Vaughn was, Valentin was probably better, certainly because he played a tougher position.  Valentin hit .298/.399/.533 with 27 home runs and 102 RBIs.  He also stole 20 bases becoming the first Red Sox 20/20 man since Ellis Burks.  He was also very good defensively.  He lead the Majors in WAR in 1995, which was not really a thing at that time.  It was a terrific season that has mostly gone unnoticed.  He did win the Silver Slugger and finished ninth in the MVP race.  Had it happened around this time, he may have won it.

Roger Clemens
Clemens did not have a great year in 1995.  He was injured the first part of the year and he did finish the year with a 10-5 record.  He also struck out 132 batters in 140 innings pitched, but his ERA was a decidedly unimpressive 4.18.  It was a good thing that Boston had other pitchers to pick up the slack.

Tim Naehring
After years of being so close to cracking the starting lineup, Naehring finally got a chance to prove himself in 1995.  He became the full-time third-baseman after the trade of Scott Cooper to the Cardinals and instantly responded.  Naehring hit .307/.415/.448 with ten home runs and 57 RBIs, all the while playing good defense.  Naehring looked to be a rising star in 1995.

Mike Greenwell
Greenwell managed to put together a fairly successful season as well.  He hit .297/.349/.402 with 15 home runs and 76 RBIs.  It was a fairly typical year for the Gator.

HONORABLE MENTION
Lee Tinsley
Tinsley became the starting center fielder after Otis Nixon was traded away, though he had a couple of threats to his job in the acquisition of Willie McGee and the rise of Dwayne Hosey.  His numbers were not bad, but Boston never seemed to totally trust him.  He ended the season with a .284/.359/.402 line and seven home runs, not bad numbers for a leadoff hitter.  He also stole 18 bases.

FAVORITE ACQUISITIONS
Jose Canseco
My young mind was blown when Boston traded for Jose Canseco, one of the biggest stars I was aware of when I started watching baseball.  And he was not that far removed from those days.  Canseco struggled through some injuries but put up some big numbers when he was healthy.  He ended the year with a .306/.378/.556 line with 24 home runs and 81 RBIs.

Tim Wakefield
Wakefield had been a success for the Pirates in 1992 but struggled the next couple of years.  He was a low-risk, high-reward reclamation project.  It definitely paid off in 1995 as Wakefield finished third in the Cy Young race and 13th in the MVP race.  He struggled a bit down the stretch, otherwise he would have won the Cy Young.  He finished the season 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA and 119 strikeouts, a great season for the knuckleballer.

Erik Hanson
Hanson started out the season as the most reliable Red Sox starter and quietly put together a very good season.  He was named to the All Star team for the first time, though he never pitched in the game.  He finished the year 15-5 with a 4.24 ERA and 139 strikeouts.

Troy O'Leary
Another low-risk, high-reward signing, O'Leary was waived by the Brewers and picked up when Mark Whiten was struggling.  O'Leary ended up hitting .308/.355/.491 with ten home runs and 49 RBIs.  They were not great numbers, but for his first real crack at a Major League job, they were nothing to sneeze at.

FAVORITE MIDSEASON ACQUISITION
Rick Aguilera
1995 was the first year I was really aware of the trading deadline.  I realized that Jeff Reardon was traded away and Rob Deer was acquired at the deadlines, but this was the year I really learned about it.  Boston was contending but Ken Ryan was failing as a closer, so they sent top prospect Frank Rodriguez to the Twins for Aguilera who ended up compiling 20 saves for the Red Sox and really helped them make the playoffs.  Of course he returned to the Twins after the season.

FAVORITE ROOKIE
Vaughn Eshelman
Eshelman had a very good start to his career, winning his first three Major League games, not bad for a Rule V pick.  He ended the season with a 6-3 record and a 4.85 ERA.  Not bad, but certainly not great numbers for the rookie southpaw.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
Mark Whiten
I had high hopes for Mark Whiten.  Two years before, he hit 25 home runs for the Cardinals.  He was picked up in the trade for Scott Cooper.  Both Cooper and Whiten disappointed for their new teams.  Whiten was hurt a lot and ended up hitting only .185/.239/.241 with just one home run in 32 games.  He was eventually traded for Dave Hollins who played just five games for Boston.

Aaron Sele
Sele pitched on Opening Day and was expected to bust loose for the Red Sox after two decent seasons to start his career.  Unfortunately he was shut down with a season-ending injury early on and only ended up pitching in six games for the Red Sox in 1995.

PLAYOFF HERO
Luis Alicea
Alicea had a decent year all the way around in 1995 but he really shined in the ALDS.  He had six hits in only ten at-bats and also had two walks, ending up with a line of .600/.667/1.000.  He also had a home run, a double, and an RBI.  Boston had a miserable ALDS, but it was not Alicea's fault.

PLAYOFF GOAT
Mo Vaughn
Vaughn was quite frankly, terrible in the 1995 ALDS.  He did not have a single hit and struck out seven times in 14 at-bats.  Miserable numbers that did not help the team at all.