The winter meetings are about to begin, and on December 10th, the MLB will be conducting the Rule 5 Draft. A few New York Yankees prospects were promoted to protect them from the Draft, but others were left vulnerable. These are their stories.
In a recent prediction piece, MLB’s Joe Trezza named left-handed pitcher Brock Selvidge (23 years old), right-handed pitcher Brendan Beck (27) and right-handed reliever Harrison Cohen (26) as the three most likely prospects to be picked off during the draft.
Selvidge is ranked 10th on the Yankees’ list of top prospects, Beck is ranked 11th and Cohen is ranked 30th. Cohen was listed as the Yankees’ prospect on a recent MLB list of Rule 5 candidates for each ball club, notable for his “back-to-back seasons with sub-2 ERAs.”
The Yankees’ farm system is not their strongest quality, ranking 25th of 30 on BleacherReport’s ranking in September. Nevertheless, their pitching talent has drawn some eyeballs after the likes of Cam Schlittler made waves in the majors this season, and the Yankees could lose some top talent within the week.
Prospects Who Are Safe From the Draft
At last month’s 40-man roster deadline, prospects Spencer Jones (24-year-old outfielder), Elmer Rodriguez (22-year-old right-handed starter) and Chase Hampton (24-year-old right-handed starter) were promoted to the MLB to protect them from the draft.
Jones may be due for a call up this season, depending on how he looks in the spring, or he could face a trade to help the Yankees achieve their other offseason goals. If the Yankees can’t land their two free agent outfield targets, Jones could have a shot at the MLB next year, but it wouldn’t be ideal.
Yankees’ History With Rule 5
Trezza also explained that the Yankees are unlikely to take advantage of the deadline themselves, as they rarely do, but that the deadline overall is expected to be “really active.”
“The Rule 5 Draft is always unpredictable,” Trezza wrote. “But there is a feeling things could be really active this time around, after teams made 83 total selections in last year’s Rule 5 – the most in 20 years, since 2004.”
“The Yankees rarely make a selection in the Rule 5 Draft and it’s been more than 50 years since they held onto one for a full season (Billy Parker, 1973). But they lost five players in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2024, and it is possible they could lose more players this time around.”
The Yankees will enter the meetings, set to begin on Dec. 7, with pitching and outfielders on the brain. With any luck, they won’t lose to many pieces of their future by the end.
