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Rangers Hope For High Rule 5 Return

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Rangers
By Matthew Postins | Last updated 12/2/23

The last time the Texas Rangers tapped into the Rule 5 Draft and kept the player was in 2017, when it selected Carlos Tocci from the Philadelphia Phillies.

Tocci batted .225/.271/.283 in 120 at-bats with the Rangers in 2018 and hasn't played in the Majors since.

Should the Rangers use their No. 23 selection in Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday in Nashville, they’re hoping for a better return, such as the one they got on Delino DeShields Jr.

The Rangers selected DeShields in 2014 from the Houston Astros and he played for the Rangers for six years.

For the Rangers to make a selection, they need room on their 40-man roster, which they have. The Rangers have 35 players going into the Winter Meetings. But they must also move that player to their 26-man roster immediately after selection and send that team $100,000.

In many cases, the player doesn’t stick and ends up being released. In that case, the player must go through outright waivers and be offered back to his former club for $50,000.

The last player the Rangers took in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft was pitcher Brett de Gues of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. de Gues made the Rangers’ Opening Day Roster in 2021, but was designated for assignment in June, was passed up by the Dodgers and was eventually claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Rangers will also have their eye on their own prospects. At the tender deadline, the Rangers had to make decisions about players signed at age 18 or younger who had been in their system for five seasons and players who signed at age 19 and had been in the system for four seasons.

The Rangers moved some of them to their 40-man roster, which was required for protection, including pitchers Marc Church, Jose Corniell and Antoine Kelly, along with infielder Justin Foscue.

Left unprotected were players such as pitcher Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, Justin Slaten, Daniel Robert, Grant Wolfram and Dane Acker, along with infielder Davis Wendzel.

Rule 5 Draft Order