Hot Stove Coal: All About Rule 5

The last time the Yankees had the first pick in a draft (any draft) they selected a pitcher named Brien Taylor. Let's just say Taylor ended up being the arm that changed the Major League [Rule 4] draft. Well the Yankees once again had [rights to] the first pick yesterday in the Rule 5 draft. Who they were going to take was a secret for many days, and in the end the pick surprised many. Did the Yankees do well? Let's take a look.

First off, let me say that it's rare that team finds a real gem in the Rule 5 draft, but it does happen. Johan Santana, Joakim Soria, Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla, and Shane Victorino were all Rule 5 selections (and Victorino was actually selected twice). The key to the Rule 5 draft is to find a guy you have a spot for on your roster and find a way to keep him there the whole year. The Yankees usually don't have that type of spot and that's why the only pick they've made in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft since 1997 was Josh Phelps, who besides one memorable home run against Joe Borowski, wasn't all that memorable.

Let's just say that leading up to the draft, no one saw this pick coming. MLB.com listed 20 potential draft choices and none of them were the guy the Yankees took. Pending Pinstripes thought the Yankees would pick a pitcher after trading Ian Kennedy, Brian Bruney and Phil Coke. LoHud's Chad Jennings talked about the popular rumor that the Yankees would get back their own exposed Rule 5 player, LHP Zach Kroenke, but had a few other possibilities as well. River Avenue Blues listed some candidates as well as did IIATMS. But in the end, the Yankees took none of the guys on any of those lists.

As NYP's Joel Sherman first revealed 17 minutes before the draft, the Yankees selected 6'3", 235 lbs, former Carolina Hurricaines draft pick, and right-handed hitting OF Jamie Hoffmann. Baseball America has a little more:

Hoffman has major league experience and tools, and at 25, he's still got room to improve. He hit .291/.390/.466 between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Albuquerque, and went 4-for-22 with a homer in 14 big league games. He's a career .285/.357/.407 hitter in 2,428 at-bats since singing as a nondrafted free agent in August, 2003.

"He's a big, physical outfielder with big league experience," said Yankees pro scouting director Billy Eppler. "Our scouts saw some good things in him, including good defensive ability and a good arm. He runs well for his size, we've got him as a 55 runner at 6-foot-3, 235. Kevin Long, our hitting coordinator, looked at him on video and thinks there's a foundation there hitting-wise."

Now let's hope that Kevin Long didn't add that he can fix his swing in 15 minutes a la Rick Peterson talking about Victor Zambrano with the Mets. But it seems like there is a good background there. Chad Jennings has a bigger background on him including some interesting facts about why he was available. Pending Pinstripes has some details on Hoffmann (and some more here). River Avenue Blues does a prospect profile and The Times-Tribune has some YouTube Video for him.

So where does Hoffmann fit in with the Yankees? Well, he was great against left-handed pitching last year and can be seen as the right-handed caddy for Curtis Granderson, a player they can obtain for that role without giving up prospects or signing a guy to a lot of money. Hoffmann is also a good defensive player who will compete for a backup OF role with Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera and give the Yankees the option of trading either one of their incumbent CFs for a more valuable prospect (even though Baseball Analysts ridiculously thinks that Brett Garnder shouldn't be an employed Major League player). And if Hoffmann doesn't work out? The Yankees' investment is minimal.

Now many were disappointed with this pick for the Yankees. The Yankees lost 5 pitchers this week--Bruney, Coke, Kennedy, as well as Kroenke and Kanekoa Texeira in the Rule 5 draft (though Texeira may be returned as U.S.S. Mariner surmises)--and many thought they'd select a pitcher to replace them. Others thought they should shoot for the moon and take a player with great upside. But with the fact the player picked has to stick on the Major League Roster, and with the knowledge that the Yankees don't usually carry around extra guys on the roster who need time to develop, this was a good, safe pick for the Yankees. And the best part in my mind about Hoffmann is that he's still developing and has a chance to be much more than he's shown due to his early career being split between hockey and baseball. I'm sure the Yankees are curious to see how he develops concentrating full-time on baseball. At the worst, they return Hoffmann to the Dodgers. At the best, they found themselves a good, cheap backup OF who should be an important player on the 2010 Yankees.