Looking ahead to the Rule 5 draft (Nats pass in major league phase)

NASHVILLE - This morning's Rule 5 draft is the final order of business at the Winter Meetings. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo will be flying back to D.C. by the time the first selection is made shortly after 9 a.m.; he's left his trusted front office lieutenants to handle the Rule 5 business.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Rule 5, here's a quick refresher: Teams can pick players that were not protected on other teams' 40-man rosters (and who were 18 or younger on the June 5 preceding their signing and facing their fifth Rule 5 draft, or who were 19 or older on the June 5 preceding their signing and facing their fourth Rule 5 draft), paying $50,000 to the team losing the player. However, the selected player must stay on the selecting team's 25-man major league roster for the entire season, or be offered back to his original team for $25,000, half of the fee paid for select him. There's also a minor league Rule 5, but teams merely select players and keep them in that phase, though it's possible for some well-stocked farm systems to be raided.

Most teams look to the Rule 5 to fill small holes - a backup catcher who is a good defender, a hard-throwing relief pitcher - and use spring training as a look-see to determine if the player chosen is good enough to take up a 25-man roster spot for an entire season. Last year, for example, the Phillies struck gold with center fielder Odubel Herrera, who was taken from the Rangers. In 1954, the Pirates snagged future Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente from the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Rule 5. George Bell, the 1987 American League Most Valuable Player with the Blue Jays, was a 1980 Rule 5 pick from the Phillies.

The Nationals haven't made a pick in the major league Rule 5 since 2010, when they took right-handers Elvin Ramirez and Brian Broderick. Ramirez spent the season on the disabled list and was returned to the Mets in October, while Broderick made the opening day roster but was sent back to the Cardinals in May. The last time the Nationals lost someone in the major league Rule 5 was in 2013, when the White Sox plucked catcher Adrian Nieto, who had never played above Single-A Potomac, and kept him for the entire season.

To make a selection, major league clubs have to have an opening on their 40-man rosters, and the Nationals' is currently at 37 players. So they could make a pick, but it's highly unlikely.

Of the players the Nationals didn't put on their 40-man roster who are exposed to the Rule 5, there aren't a ton of attractive possibilities for other teams to ponder. One remote possibility is third baseman/first baseman Matt Skole, a one-time power-hitting prospect whose career was interrupted by injury. Last season, between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse, the 26-year-old Skole hit .234 with 20 homers and 82 RBIs.

Teams sometimes go prospecting the in minor league phase, filling very specific needs - say, a left-handed-hitting backup infielder - but this portion of the Rule 5 is much harder to predict.

Update: The Nationals passed in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft.