Back in December of 2023, the MLB held its annual Rule 5 draft. The Rule 5 draft is a draft in which players who were signed to an MLB team’s developmental system at the age of 18 years old or younger become eligible if they have not yet made a major league roster within the first 5 years of their baseball career. Teams without a full 40-man roster can then select these players, pay $100,000 to the club they chose the prospect from, and that prospect must make the team’s 25-man roster for the entirety of the season. If this does not happen, the team that acquired the player must offer the player back to his original team for $50,000.This draft while complicated in its rules, is an opportunity for MLB teams to strengthen their roster before the start of spring training the next season.

The Cleveland Guardians took advantage of making a selection in the 2023 Rule 5 draft for the first time since 2020 when they took Deyvison De Los Santos from the Arizona Diamond Backs double-A affiliate, the Amarillo Sod Poodles. De Los Santos was signed to a minor-league contract with the Diamondbacks on July 2nd, 2019, hence his eligibility in the Rule 5 draft despite not playing for an MLB affiliate team until 2021. De Los Santos was a top 5 prospect for the Arizona Diamondbacks with tons of promise being a power batter and playing first and third base. His stat line in the Diamond Backs minor league systems in total was 1192 at-bats, a .288 batting average, and 50 total home runs over three total seasons across five different teams a majority of his time being spent at double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles.

Because of De Los Santos’ batting prowess and ability to be a power batter as his stats suggest, the Guardians who desperately need batting help decided that Deyvison could be a good fit and fix their current batting woes. Since the start of MLB spring training however, the 20-year-old who has yet to make it past the double-a level in the minors has had difficulty adjusting to the major league play expected of a player that needs to be a part of the 25-man roster to stay with the team that drafted him in the Rule 5 draft. Since the start of spring training and the article’s writing, De Los Santos has had 24 at-bats and an average of just .208. The 20-year-old prospect has not been as exciting as fans and front-office members alike were hoping for and this is a cause of concern because the Rules of the Rule 5 draft make it difficult for Deyvision to be stashed in the minor for Cleveland to continue to develop.

This begs the question, do I think Deyvision De Los Santos will play this season for the Cleveland Guardians? Yes, ultimately I do. Articles have started to come out about how new manager Stephen Vogt still has faith in De Los Santos to grow during spring training into the player the Guardians were expecting to get when they selected him in December. Look, just over 20 plate appearances does not justify blowing up a decision the front office just made a few months ago because a player does not start spring training how you hoped for him too, there is still time for the 20-year-old to grow, and become the DH this team needs to be more explosive offensively and this team is also still so young his timeline as a player fits. Ultimately I think you keep De Los Santos on the 25-man roster as this team is trying to figure out its identity just as Deyvision is, instead of eating a $50,000 loss over a draft pick you’ve seen play very little baseball for your team. That being said if De Los Santos does not start to pick up his level of play in the second half of spring training, that $50,000 loss will continue to look more and more enticing.

UPDATE: After the conclusion of writing this article, De Los Santos went 2/4 with a home run against the Dodgers in spring training on 03/11. Relax on the kid, he is finding his groove as he’s shown today, and there is a lot of spring ball left.