Pittsburgh Pirates: Teams Pushing to Cancel Rule 5 Draft

With the lockout now costing the Pittsburgh Pirates and the rest of MLB regular season games, teams are reportedly starting to push for the Rule 5 Draft to be canceled

Due to MLB owners locking players out on December 1st when the CBA expired there have been plenty of things that the Pittsburgh Pirates and the rest of MLB have missed. The Winter Meetings and the start of spring training are among what has been missed.

Another offseason staple that has been missed by the Pittsburgh Pirates and all of MLB is the Rule 5 Draft. While the minor league portion of the draft still took place, due to the cancellation of MLB’s Winter Meetings during the lockout the MLB portion of the Rule 5 Draft has yet to take place.

Throughout the lockout it has been reported that whenever the lockout ends the Rule 5 Draft has still been expected to take place. That, however, may now be changing. According to reports, multiple teams are now asking MLB to attempt to cancel the Rule 5 Draft.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN a big driving force behind teams wanting to cancel the Rule 5 Draft is due to scouts being shutout during the lockout, preventing them from properly scouting players. Due to this teams are worried about properly scouting players available in the draft. A concern that only continues to grow the longer the lockout lasts.

If the Rule 5 Draft is canceled this could benefit the Pittsburgh Pirates. Due to lack of space on their 40-man roster and how deep the Pirate farm system is talented prospects such as Cal Mitchell, Lolo Sanchez, Mason Martin, and Tahnaj Thomas, among others, have been left unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft.

These are all players the Pirates could be in danger of losing in the draft. If the draft is canceled then this is no longer a concern for the Pirates. As a result if the Rule 5 Draft is canceled it could help keep talent in the Pirate farm system.