Blue Jays Organization Rule 5 Draft Eligibility

Earlier this week when the Jays were making roster moves, I was thinking about roster space on the 40 man and which players needed to be added to be protected from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. I had previously seen a list for the Rangers that listed all their players according to when they were Rule 5 eligible, but couldn't find a similar one for the Jays, so I decided to create one for future reference.   

 Quick Primer on the Rule 5 Draft:

The Rule 5 Draft exists to prevent teams from stockpiling prospects in their minor league system without giving them a Major League opportunity. At the Winter Meetings, teams draft from the available players in reverse order of finish. To prevent a player from being claimed, his team has to add him to the 40 man roster. A claim costs $50,000 and the player has to stay on the Major League roster for the entire year or be offered back to his original team

Players who were 18 and under when they signed can’t be claimed for the first 4 Rule 5 drafts and players who were 19 and older can’t be claimed for the first 3 Rule 5 drafts from the time they first sign. So for 2011, this generally means high schoolers drafted in 2007, college players drafted in 2008, and international free agents signed in 2006/07 (depending when they signed - if they sign after the minor league season ends, it can be a contract for the following season, so the Rule 5 clock is delayed a year).

Notes:

1) I have endeavoured to include every player in the Blue Jays organization. I started with a list of all pitchers and hitters who played in 2011 (thanks to Gerse for pointing this out to me), and then cross-referenced it against all Blue Jays drafts from 2005-11, Baseball America's phenomenal minor league transactions pages, and the Blue Jays' transactions page. I'm hopeful that I got everyone, but it's possible that I missed a few of the Latin American players. Please point out any omissions (subject to notes 2 and 3) so I can include them in my list.

2) On the lists below, I have generally not included any international free agent signing who has not yet played in North America. For a lot of these guys, signing info is generally unavailable. I did include recent high-profile signings since they are obviously of interest.

3) I have uploaded the Excel file I used to compile the list. Other than the Rule 5 list, it has my comprehensive list of all players, as well as a Draft tab which summarizes the status of all 2005-11 draftees. If anyone wants any of this data, it's easily available. If you do use it, there is some data missing for some players, and if anyone knows any of the blanks, I'd appreciate if you left a comment so I can update my file (same goes for any errors).

http://www.fileserve.com/file/TSBq8xm/Blue Jays Organization Rule 5 Eligibility v1.0.xls

4) Some of the international players are difficult to pin down in terms of when their Rule 5 clocks started - as outlined above, depending on their age and exactly when they sign, it can be set back a year (which is good for the club). When unsure of the status, I have assumed the earliest eligibility, but italicized the player. For players where I am sure this is the case, I noted this with the letter "a" after the year (ie, 2007a for Carlos Perez) 

5) NFDA is Non-Drafted Free Agent. This includes both international players as well as North American players the Jays signed who weren't drafted.

Some Observations:

1) There's a catcher crunch coming next year unless there's a trade or someone is moved to a different position. Carlos Perez and A.J. Jimenez both have to be added next year, with Arencibia and d'Arnaud already there. Four catchers would be a lot to carry on the 40-man.

2) Kevin Comer is listed as eligible in 2014, while the rest of the 2011 high school drafted cohort is 2015. This is because his birth date is August 1, 1992, so he was already 19 when he signed at the August deadline. I don't know if there is an exception for this since he was right out of high school, but I'm assuming not.