Conine exposed, could be taken in Rule 5 draft
The Miami Marlins stood pat as MLB’s deadline to add players to the 40-man roster for Rule 5 Draft protection passed on Friday.
The biggest name that was left unprotected: Outfielder Griffin Conine, the son of “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine and the No. 21 overall prospect in the Marlins’ system according to MLB Pipeline.
“Not at this point,” Marlins general manager Kim Ng said Friday.
Ng added the organization already made the roster moves they needed to protect the main upcoming Rule 5 draft players during the season when they called up catchers Nick Fortes and Peyton Henry.
With Conine, his 2021 minor-league season — the first with the Marlins after being acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020 — showcased his strengths and revealed some glaring weaknesses.
The strength? His sheer power. He slugged 26 home runs, 23 in 66 games with Class A Advanced Beloit and 13 more in 42 games at Double A Pensacola. He drove in 84 runs and scored 63 times.
The weakness? His astronomically high strikeout rate. Conine struck out 185 times in 461 plate appearances — a 40.1 percent strikeout rate. That rate jumps to 47.4 percent when only looking at his time in Double A, during
which he struck out 82 times in 173 plate appearances.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE RULE 5 DRAFT?
Eligibility to be selected in the Rule 5 draft is determined by the age at which a prospect began his professional career.
Players who first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons.
Conine is the only player among the Marlins’ top-30 prospects eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft this year. He was a secondround draft pick out of Duke in 2018.
Clubs pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. If that player doesn’t stay on the 26-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $50,000.
The Rule 5 Draft this year is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 8, the last day of MLB’s Winter Meetings.
However, the majorleague portion of the draft might not take place if there is no collective bargaining agreement in place. The current CBA is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 1.