The Rule 5 Draft: How former Blue Jays are performing this spring

This off-season, the Toronto Blue Jays decided not to select any players during the major league phase of 2020 Rule 5 Draft, sticking with the current crew plus their off-season acquisitions. For the minor league portion, the Blue Jays selected Sebastian Espino, a shortstop from the New York Mets organization.

On the flip side, the Blue Jays lost five players in the draft to opposing teams, one during the major league portion and four during the minor league portion of the draft.

For those of you who are not sure how the Rule 5 draft works, you can find more information here. One thing to note, for the AAA phase of the Rule 5 draft, there are no eligibility requirements for a player to remain on the roster, so a player selected in the minor league phase will usually remain with their new team and not be returned to the previous organization.

Major League Phase

Round 2, 18th selection (OAK): Dany Jimenez – RHP 

A Rule 5 pick back in 2019 by the San Francisco Giants, relief pitcher Dany Jimenez was selected once again in 2020, but by the Oakland Athletics this time around.

Signing back in 2015, the pitcher has spent five seasons with the Blue Jays across almost all levels of the organization’s farm system. For his minor league career, Jiminez sports a 3.43 ERA with 257 strikeouts and a 1.127 WHIP in 197.0 innings of work, reaching AA New Hampshire back in 2019. The pitcher would make his MLB debut with the Giants back in 2019, pitching in two games and crafting a 6.75 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP in just 1.1 innings of work before being returned to the Blue Jays organization.

After being selected by the Athletics this past off-season, Jimenez appeared in three games this spring and would pitch 3.0 innings, throwing to a 6.00 ERA while surrendering one home run with three strikeouts and walking two batters. He would be returned to the Blue Jays organization on March 15 and is currently a non-roster invite at the major league camp.