Nats Lose Two, Pick Up One in Rule 5 Draft
Sterling Sharp the first Nats player taken in the MLB phase since 2013
The streak of players not taken in the MLB phase ended at five years when Sterling Sharp was taken by the Miami Marlins. Longtime farmhand David Masters (drafted in 2013) joined the Chicago Cubs as the final player selected in the minor-league phase.
The “One” referred to in the headline is Manuel Gerardo, a 23-y.o. Dominican from the San Francisco Giants organization who rose to High-A in 2019 after spending parts of three seasons with the Augusta GreenJackets in the Sally League from 2016 to 2018. Gerardo is primarily a SS (434G), but has spent some time at 2B (62G) and 3B (71G). His OPS of .669 was 50 points below the notoriously hitter-friendly California Lg. Avg. and he racked up 136K in 117G while stealing 18 bases and committing 15 errors.
The 11 players taken in the MLB phase was the fewest in since 2013, despite the expansion of the 25-man roster to 26 in 2020.
MLB.com had some quotes from Sharp:
“That was a big sigh of relief, and I’m very excited it happened,” Sharp said. “I was a little disappointed not being added to the 40-man, so that time span from then until now… it’s a big sigh of relief someone took a chance on me.
“I have to go out there and do what I have to do to make the team. Having a young group there will help me connect with the guys and feel at home with a new team.”
https://www.mlb.com/breaking-news/rule-5-draft-2019
Credit for candor, although I think that may be exactly what put off the Nats about him.
I’m not sure I buy this explanation but, when folks are praising Rizzo they need to give some thought to what seems to be a streak of pettiness.
In a related story, Rizzo seems to have lost some hair.
Keith Law predicted that Sharp is good enough to stick as a starter for the Marlins for the whole season.
In other news, I was shocked to read earlier this week that Raudy Reed & Eric Fedde both have a fourth option year this time coming up. Not sure how that works but it’ll insure they are both with the org. next year. Neither was going to stick April 1.
Gerardo has gone through what many Nats players have : pushing through the A ceiling towards Double A or just – exhale – high A.
Nifty infield Fred might roll out
Can someone explain how the minor league phases of this work?
Every year there are a few rule 5 eligible, high ceiling prospects on the back end of top 100 lists that haven’t played above A ball, and the conversation around the rule 5 draft is whether a team will stash them in their MLB roster for the year etc.
A roster spot in the upper minors Is a much less scarce of resource, and the shift would be less jarring for the prospect’s development, so it seems like a no brainer that those guys would be taken in the AAA or AA phase. But that never happens, so there’s has to be some rule against it or the minor league phases work differently or something.
Does anyone know the details of that?
Thanks!
Basically there are another 75 players protected during the minor-league phases (38 from the AAA phase, 37 from the AA phase). Anyone not protected is eligible to be taken, but there’s no requirement that they even play at the level. Because those lists are never made public it’s impossible to discern what any given team was thinking.
Well, I’ll be the one who says goodbye to David Masters. Great glove with pop. And a nice man to interact t with, great with kids. He is a great pickup for the Cubbies .org.
As for Sharp, his being drafted third, as the 13th rated prospect from our system (when higher rated people in other organizations were left unprotected) is proof positive that the Nats have a better system than the pundits rate.
Protecting him was too obvious. So there must be more to the story, including his relationships within the organization (eg Shawn Kelley).
His repertoire may make him a desirable throw in for the Marlins to trade to a team like the Rox who drafted lower. Perhaps the Nats tried to trade him, or not. We’ve seen awards and AFL assignments as preludes to blue light specials in the Hot Stove. I keep that in mind when I see that Drew Ward is still unsigned.
So it’s basically Kyle Finnegan for Sterling Sharp, with Rizzo clear about what they want position wise for the 6 spots that remain.
I really am sorry to see Masters go. Thanks for being so nice to my boy Nick.
Who knows what this could bring for Masters. I hope it works out for him.
I still don’t understand why they let Sharpe go but there may have been something behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Also not sure why they put Finnegan on the major league roster. I guess we’ll see what happens with him at spring training.
I wrote a good bit on the last post about Sharp/Rule 5 so won’t repeat myself too much. At the most basic level, the system worked — a guy who was a long shot to have a chance in this organization will get a tremendous opportunity in another one. By my count, Sharp had about 12 guys in front of him as potential starters for the Nats this year, to the point that he might not have even been in the big-league camp. With the Marlins, he’ll go into camp with the team hoping he can stack a claim to start with the big club. If he does, good for him. Hope he doesn’t flame too many folks on the way out the door, though, as the odds are just as good that he’ll end up in Fresno as South Beach.
I’ve not been on the Sharp bandwagon as much as others have. His WHIP and ERA have always been a bit too high, at every stop, despite the nice ground-ball rate. Sometimes FIP has indicated that it’s not all his fault; sometimes it hasn’t.
Anyway, good luck to him, and to Masters as well, who has been a long and loyal member of the organization.
Hey guys. Would the envelope be being pushed too much in April to envision this core Opening Night roster ( on the road again , Willie Nelson )2020??
Canning , Gerardo, Lara, Williams , Marincanz , Cluff , Connell, Rhinesmith , Dunlap, Upshaw …..perhaps a couple minor league free agent signings.
Fresno will be a totally different story in year 2. Does brass bring back Brandon Snyder and a couple of other familiar faces or just rewrite the 2020 script cast ??