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The Rule 5 draft takes place Thursday morning at 9 a.m. ET. The draft is a way for teams to select players from other organizations that have been blocked. Players eligible to be selected are those players not on the 40-man roster who were signed when they were 19 or older and have played in professional baseball for four years or who were signed at 18 and have played for five years. A selected player must stay on the active Major League roster for a full season or be offered back to his original team after clearing waivers.
The Royals have two roster spots on their 40-man roster and will select 15th. The Detroit Tigers have the first overall pick. Draft order is determined by reverse order of last year’s standings. Teams can select as many rounds as they have openings. There is also a minor league portion of the draft.
The Royals will pick 15th instead of 18th in the Rule 5 draft tomorrow morning because three teams in front of them are maxed out on the 40-man roster. Dayton Moore said they are definitely considering a Rule 5 pick but still might not see someone good enough to make a pick.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) December 14, 2017
Among the players eligible to be selected are former first-round picks such as catchers Max Pentecost and Nick Ciuffo, first baseman D.J. Peterson, and pitchers Mark Appel, Trey Ball, Nick Travieso, Rob Kaminsky, and Kohl Stewart. The Royals could also lose some talent, with first basemen Frank Schwindel and Ryan O’Hearn, infielder Corey Toups, outfielder Elier Hernandez, and pitchers Yender Caramo, Yunior Marte, Sam Selman, and Jose Veras.