Good afternoon!
I hope you're doing better than the St. Louis Blues, who offered a disgraceful, disengaged display of not giving a damn in Thursday's 5-2 loss at Boston. After playing a little better the Blues have relapsed this week, losing two straight games while getting outscored 9-3.
EYE ON THE RULE V DRAFT
Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is on safari to add pitching, and he’ll have a splendid opportunity to do just that in a matter of days during baseball’s Winter Meetings in Orlando.
Bloom can make a trade, sure. And I do expect he’ll add a starting pitcher this offseason. But I’m specifically referring to the traditional Rule V Draft, which takes place Wednesday (Dec. 10). The action begins at 1 p.m. central time.
The astute prospect watchers at Baseball America put together a list of the top 35 available prospects in this year’s Rule V talent search. And then BA updated that to a Top 50 list of the best available talents.
Of the top 35 prospects, 29 are pitchers.
Of the top 50, 42 are pitchers.
Many are starters, with some capable of converting to a relief role. Reading BA’s reports, I was impressed by the scope of the pitching talent that will be on the Rule V board.
According to Baseball America, 81% of Rule 5 selections made since 2020 have been pitchers – and most (87%) were righthanders. And 21% of the pitchers chosen were coming back from a significant injury during the previous season.
Some made a successful return from their injury-disrupted season. One such pitcher was Garrett Whitlock, drafted by the Red Sox with the 4th pick in the 2020 Rule V process.
The baseball executive who made the Whitlock pick?
Chaim Bloom.
In the 2024 Rule V draft, the White Sox grabbed Shane Smith with the first pick. (What the heck were the Brewers thinking by making Smith available?) Smith made 29 starts, pitched to a 3.81 ERA, was selected to the American League All-Star team and received Rookie of the Year votes.
In recent seasons, MLB teams have preferred to take their chances on Rule V pitchers that have upper-level experience in the minors.
Through draft history, the overwhelming majority of Rule V pitchers taken in the draft didn’t stick with the teams that picked them. And that’s putting it lightly. But there have been some true success stories.
In no particular order, here is a list of the best Rule V pitchers (including relievers) taken off the board since 1999:
Johan Santana
Shane Smith
Brad Keller
Garrett Whitlock
Nestor Cortes
R.A. Dickey
Brad Keller
Jorge Sosa
Joakim Soria
Ryan Pressly
Tommy Kahnle
Tyler Wells
Josh Fields
Trevor Stephan
Kevin Kelly
Justin Slaten
Evan Meek
Jason Grilli
Ryan Fernandez
Fernandez – recommended to the Cardinals by Bloom – had an impressive 2024 season but sputtered in 2025 because of a faulty, hittable slider. But the right-hander still remains on the St. Louis 40-man roster.
MLB teams can draft as many eligible, unprotected players to fill open slots on the 40-man roster. But teams must keep drafted players on their MLB active roster all season, paying $100,000 to select them and $50,000 to return them if cut.
After exchanging emails with a couple of baseball scouts I’ve known for a while, here are some (pitcher) names to keep track of in Wednesday’s Rule V. And if you don’t feel like reading the names of dudes you don’t know … don’t worry about it. No offense taken here.
Jose Rodriguez, Dodgers
Zach McCambly, Marlins
RJ Petit, Tigers
Carter Baumler, Orioles
Jared Southard, Angels
Griff McGarry, Phillies
Alex Pham, Orioles
Evan Reifert, Rays
Yondrei Rojas, Blue Jays
Gavin Collyer, Rangers
Francis Pena, Padres
Jay Allmer, Red Sox
Will Bednar, Giants
Ben Peoples, White Sox
Peyton Pallete, White Sox
Blake Burhalter, Braves
Matt Pushard, Marlins
Tyler Vogel, Giants
Harrison Cohen, Yankees
Felipe De La Cruz, Mets
Yordanny Monegro, Red Sox
Michael Knoor, Astros
Marquis Grissom Jr., Nationals
Will Dion, Guardians
Hayden Mullins, Red Sox
TWO OTHER NOTES
1. By the way, I’ve read a large volume of stuff about this Rule V draft, and I did not see a single mention of Cardinals’ minor-league pitcher Pete Hansen as a potential pick.
2. Is there a hitter with power that might interest the Cardinals in this Rule V draft? I don’t know. But from what I’ve learned, there are a couple of guys out there who could be chosen by a MLB team.
+ Twins prospect Kyler Fedko, 26, is a right-handed bat who can be utilized at all three outfield positions. And last season, playing at two levels (Double A, Triple A) Fedko slammed 28 home runs and swiped 38 bases. His Statcast metrics aren’t great, but Fedko runs well, draws walks at a high rate, keeps his strikeouts at an acceptable level, and has good contact skills.
+ Yohendrick Piñango (Blue Jays) is one of the more highly-regarded in this Rule V pool. Last season in spending time at the AA and Triple A levels, he had a .360 onbase rate and a .430 slug is one of the best available hitters in the Rule 5 draft. And Baseball America wrote this of Piñango: “He has nearly impeccable analytical data. He hits the ball as hard as almost anyone in the minors—92 mph average EV and a 109 mph 90th EV—and he does it with well-above-average contact rates and solid swing decisions.”
(Also: Piñango is a left-handed hitter who can only be used at one position, left field. And he’s defensively challenged.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach.
Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.