Two Texas Rangers prospects whose futures were uncertain last spring now facing unknowns of Rule 5 draft
One of the unknowns for Bubba Thompson and Cole Ragans is if the Rule 5 will even be held.
As minor-league camps open across baseball, they aren’t opening to the public and, more the most part, aren’t opening to scouts.
The reason is that teams don’t want any information getting out on players who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft, which in turn is keeping teams from scouting players who could become part of a trade once the MLB lockout ends.
There is also a movement within the game to have the Rule 5 draft canceled for one season. That decision, though, must be part of the new collective bargaining agreement, and probably isn’t a front-burner issue considering the current state of those negotiations.
The indecision has two Texas Rangers Rule 5-eligibles wondering the same thing.
“Is there even going one?” left-hander Cole Ragans said.