The Rule 5 Draft is good for three things. It forces MLB clubs to add deserving talent to the 40 Man roster. It gives lower-functioning teams a chance to poach talent on the cheap. It spurs on some of the more wild jingoistic thinking in the baseball calendar. Here is a look at a pathway to a potential Cubs Rule 5 selection this cycle.
When discussing Rule 5 success, the standard look is to the outliers. Roberto Clemente was a Rule 5 pick, who had been a bit sabotaged by the Brooklyn Dodgers, who had him pulled from Triple-A games when scouts arrived.