Brewers have quiet annual Rule 5 draft

A total of 74 players were taken in both phases of the Rule 5 draft of unprotected players Thursday, but the Milwaukee Brewers selected none and lost none.

Eighteen players were taken in the major-league portion of the draft, a higher number than in past years, but the Brewers passed when their turn came with the 15th pick. That move, or non-move, followed a trend under the leadership of president of baseball operations David Stearns, who has not authorized a pick for his club since 2015 (the Brewers selected left-hander Caleb Smith in 2016 on behalf of the Chicago Cubs).

Each player taken in the majorleague phase came at a price of $100,000 with the understanding that teams must keep them in the majors for a full season to retain their rights. The Brewers opted not to use any of the four openings on their 40-man roster to do so.

The Rule 5 draft concluded baseball’s winter meetings, which were held virtually because of the pandemic instead of at the Omni Hotel in Dallas as originally scheduled.

Of the players left unprotected by the Brewers, the highest-rated prospect was catcher Payton Henry, 23, a sixthround draft pick in 2016. The Brewers gambled that no team would be able to keep an inexperienced catcher in the majors who had not played above high Class A ball, and that proved to be true.

In making that decision on Nov. 20, Stearns said, “Payton has done a very nice job throughout his minor-league career, but it’s a big jump from where he’s played at previously to catching in the major leagues. It’s tough to keep a Rule 5 catcher at the major-league level for the entirety of the season. You try to play the odds as best you can.”