Possible Rule 5 modification

[Frank-PadresGM]

Because of something that happened to me in another league I came up with an idea that IMO (A) makes rule 5 work more like IRL and (B) helps to eliminate the problem I have been lamenting for a while where our guys get rushed to the ML by being on the 40 man roster at too young an age to protect them from being snagged on Rule 5. I had a guy that was 20 and was legally available for rule 5 because I signed him at 17 and at 20 he was going through his 4th rule 5 draft. He had never hit more than .188 at a level above R, but his potential numbers are really good. So a shitty 51-111 team picked him up and will keep him on their ML roster because they suck anyway.  He is no where near ready for the ML and will likely be ruined by the move.  Here is what I had suggested to the Commish in LBLB where this happened. Just wondering if you think we should adopt this modification.

Rule 5 doesn't work in the online mode like it really works IRL because we have the real ratings for the players. It has us loading up guys that are too young and not even close to ML ready on our 40 man rosters and then blowing all of there option years way too early. What if rule five was modified by keeping the requirements as they are now, but also adding a minimum age somewhere between 24-26?  I think then it would really do what it is actually intended to do.  I think it solves two issues.  Makes the Rule 5 more realistic in the online game and solves the idiocy of a 20 yr old .188 hitter being rushed to the ML ONLY because you can see his potential.  IRL - Teams don't use rule 5 to stock their farms. They do it to help themselves at the ML level.

[Cubs and Blue Jays GM]

I say minimum age should be 22, if we are going to do a minimum age. That's a good 5 years a guys spends in the minors if they come up in their teens.

[Cubs and Blue Jays GM]

Jul 23, 2015 3:12:45 GMT Frank-PadresGM said:

I signed him at 17 and at 20 he was going through his 4th rule 5 draft.

He shouldn't have been Rule-5 eligible, it should be his 5th draft.

[thezombee]

Agreed 100%. I would do 23-24 as the minimum age, but it works for me

[OriolesGM]

Min age should be 21 or 22. If you look at the past rule 5 draft or even the real mlb rule 5 draft(which this poll is based on) you will see that one player was 21 and a handful of players are 22 when selected. Former cy young winner Johan Santana was 20 when he was drafted.

[atsather]

Drop the minimum age and i would support this.

[Frank-PadresGM]

There are always exceptions, but I just looked at the IRL last three Major League Rule 5 draft classes:

2014 (14) Players Avg age 24, with (1)@21, (3)@22, (1)@23, (1)@24, (7)@25 & (1)@27

2013 (9) Players Avg age 25.5, with (1)@23, (2)@24, (2)@25, (3)@26 & (1)@31

2012 (15) Players Avg age 24.4, with (2)@22, (2)@23, (6)@24, (2)@25, (1)@26, (1)@27, & (1)@29

Remember that part of my reason for this is to keep us from having to put guys on the 40 man roster so young that they are often out of options by 23/24 years old too, not just for the rule 5 draft protection. I would recommend 23 or 24 based on this sample above.  And keep in mind too that we have a different perspective than MLB because these guys have a SEMI-guaranteed potential rating attached to their names.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_5_draft_results

[OriolesGM]

I voted no to this rule, I was thinking it would start to hurt bad teams that want to take a gamble on a young player. It also helps with player movement which is good for online leagues.