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Rule 5 Recap

By Jeff Sackmann

I wrote about some Rule 5 draft highlights for my Hardball Times column today. Here's a bit about Edward Campusano, the lefthanded reliever who was a Brewer for about fifteen minutes:

Unlike Marshall, the other lefty taken in the draft, Campusano has proven he can get minor league righties out, as well. In fact, despite a higher walk rate, he was more successful against RHBs than LHBs. Then again, that's just quibbling: we're talking about an OPS allowed of .590 instead of .523. The downside is that he put up half of those numbers at low-A Peoria; while he also had some success in the Southern League, the majors would be a massive leap for him.

Despite that jump, Dan Szymborski's ZiPS projection for him is extremely positive: 52 K's in 57 innings along with a 4.11 ERA. He's 24, so if Jim Leyland can figure out a way to continue his development on the Tigers staff, he could end up as a useful cog in future bullpens.

While so few good players come out of the Rule 5 draft, I'm always a little disappointed whenever the Brewers don't take a chance on somebody. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea to use a roster spot on someone who can't help the team that year, but really, you can invite one more promising guy to spring training and only risk $25,000.

Campusano, or Jay Marshall, the other LOOGY-type I mentioned in the article, would have been a good choice for a spring tryout, even if there would have been less than a 50/50 shot of keeping him around. Surprsingly, the one team I credited with doing something clever is the Phillies. Now, if only the Phillies would do something else clever and trade some valuable parts for Kevin Mench. Read the whole thing!

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