An important piece of MLB's Winter Meetings is the Rule 5 Draft. With a history dating back more than 100 years, the Rule 5 Draft serves as an opportunity for teams to add players from other organizations’ farm systems to their major league rosters. Players who meet certain criteria, which is related to how much time they have spent in the minor leagues, are eligible to be added to other organizations’ 40-man rosters for the following season, so long as they adhere to a set of restrictive roster limitations.
A year ago, the Milwaukee Brewers controversially made the decision not to protect Shane Smith from the Rule 5 Draft, and the talented pitching prospect became the first overall selection by the Chicago White Sox.