In the Rule 5 draft, players not on teams’ 40 man rosters could be drafted by another team. The player chosen will cost the drafting team $100,000 and that player must remain on the 25 man roster for the entirety of the season. If the player does not make the 25 man roster, he must be offered back to the original team for half the price ($50,000).
For Mike Ford, he came into camp a long shot to make the 25 man roster. He played mostly at the AA level last season (101 games) but did make it to AAA for a cup of coffee (25 games).