December 8th, 2016 was Dan Duquette’s favorite day of the year: the Rule 5 draft. This time aroundm for the second time in three years, he selected not one but two players. The first, Aneury Tavarez, was a 24-year-old outfielder who had spent portions of the previous two years in double-A and triple-A.
Tavarez was the type of player you expect to see selected in the Rule 5 draft. Since players selected in the draft have to spend an entire season on the active roster, a guy who’s spent time at the upper levels of the minors makes sense.