Washington Nationals Prospect Considered Potential Rule 5 Draft Target
The Rule 5 Draft is baseball’s way of saying that you can’t hang onto prospects forever.
Held each December at Major League Baseball’s winter meetings, prospects that were left unprotected at the tender deadline can be selected by other teams. In many cases, these are prospects who haven’t seen MLB time that could help another team the next season.
The Washington Nationals made their moves at the tender deadline, protecting several eligible prospects from selection, including top prospect Robert Hassell III.
But, several prospects were left unprotected and could be selected, according to Baseball America. Foremost among them is right-handed pitcher Jack Sinclair.
He hasn’t reached the Majors. In fact, he hasn’t even reached Triple-A Rochester. But, the 25-year-old reliever is coming off his best minor-league season at Double-A Harrisburg.
In 43 appearances he finished 5-3 with a 2.20 ERA. He had eight saves in 11 opportunities and four holds. He struck out 65 and walked 20 in 57.1 innings.
He’s been a reliever since he was selected in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of UCF. In four minor-league seasons he is 16-12 with a 2.76 ERA in 135 games. He has 199 strikeouts and 70 walks in 182.2 career innings, with 19 saves in 27 chances and 15 holds.
Baseball America praises him as a pitcher with a “…balanced plan of attack, with good stuff, above-average swing-and-miss, strike-throwing and the ability to generate ground balls.”
Their evaluators note that he has a sinking fastball that consistently hits 92-94 mph and can hit as high 97 mph. He also has a sweeper-slider that runs in the low 80s that includes “…15 to 16 inches of sweep) and also has a change-up that can drop to the low 80s.
Sinclair feels like an odd choice to leave unprotected, as the Nationals non-tendered two relievers at the deadline, including veteran Kyle Finnegan. While Sinclair hasn’t pitched in Triple-A, he clearly has a pitch mix and a command that could play well in the Majors.
Now, Washington is counting on the other 29 teams passing on him in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 Draft.
Sinclair is eligible because he’s played four minor-league seasons and was signed after age 19. Players signed before 18 have to play at least five years to be eligible. To be protected, a player must be moved to a team’s 40-man roster.
If a team selects Sinclair, it will pay $100,000 to the Nationals and must put him on its 26-man roster and must be placed on outright waivers in order to be removed from the 26-man roster in the subsequent season, if the drafting team plans to release him.
Should the player clear waivers, he must be offered back to his previous team for $50,000 and can be outrighted to the minors only if his original club does not wish to reacquire him.
