Rule 5 Decisions: Setting Things Up

Looking Ahead to Roster Decisions

Photo Credit: Navegantes del Magallanes

First off, I need to start today’s post with a massive mea culpa, or m’accuse or something on that order. Because man did I mess up at the end of Monday’s post. I totally overlooked that, yes, the Giants had had a player show up in the opening weekend of el Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP). In fact, not only had Victor Bericoto taken part, but he made people stand up and notice in his very first game with two hits — one of them a very loud one!

Indeed, he picked up two more hits, including a double, last night. A cool 4 for 8 start. Nice going, Victor!

And let that serve as a segue into our topic for today — and over the next couple of weeks — because Victor is at the point in his career when he is eligible to be poached by opposing clubs if the Giants do not first add him to the 40-man roster. In fact, Bericoto was at that point last year as well, from the pure lens of service time. However, as a Low-A hitter coming off a season in which he produced a slightly below average batting line in the California League, he obviously wasn’t going to entice many teams. But coming back up for the second time, he’s now started to reach that nexus where he might be interesting to other clubs and must be considered anew.

That’s right, it’s time for the annual will they/won’t they guessing game that all the hep baseball fans love to play: “Rule 5 Decisions!”

On November 14, all teams will have to turn in their reserve lists to MLB HQ. Those roster lists determine (among other things) who they — yes — will or won’t protect in the upcoming major and minor league phases of the Rule 5 draft. And in the coming three weeks, we’ll take a look at the cases of the players I consider to be the prime decision points in the Giants’ organization.