Minnesota Twins: Breaking down the 2020 Rule Five Draft

The Rule Five Draft is now in the rearview mirror, so we break down the players the Minnesota Twins both lost and gained.

The Rule 5 Draft finished up a few weeks ago, and with most of the moves completely finalized, we take a look back at the moves made by the team. Before we dive into the results of the draft for the Minnesota Twins, here’s a quick primer on what the Rule 5 Draft is.

Players in a minor league system who are not placed on a team’s 40-man roster are eligible to be drafted by another team with a few qualifications:

• Players who signed with their current club at age 18 or younger and have five years of experience are eligible to be drafted if they aren’t on the 40-man roster.
• Players who are 19 or older and have four years of experience are eligible, as well.

Once a player is drafted, the team drafting the player must pay $100,000 to the club from which the player is drafted. The selected player must stay on a team’s 25-man roster for a year. If not, he reverts back to his original squad for $50,000.

As expected, the Twins elected to not select a player in the Major League phase of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. The Twins have not selected a player during this phase since picking up pitcher Tyler Kinley from the Marlins in 2017.

While this may not make sense to some fans, the Falvine strategy of leaving some flexibility at the bottom of the forty-man roster to preserve space for future pickups has worked well in the past. With that explanation out of the way, let’s take a look at the Rule 5 Draft for the Twins.