MESA, Ariz. -- On Dec. 8, New York Yankees prospect Caleb Smith got a wakeup call at his family’s home in Huntsville, Texas.
“I woke up at like 8 in the morning, I got a phone call, one of my friends told me I got Rule 5‘d,” Smith said. “I got traded like 10 minutes later, it was crazy.”
Milwaukee picked the left-handed pitcher seventh in the Rule 5 draft (only 16 players were selected in the first round, four of whom came from the Yankees) and then promptly traded him to Chicago, which was about to start a run of signing and trading for pitchers to include in their bullpen mix.