Indians: Impending Rule 5 Draft decisions to be made

The Longshots

Connor Marabell – OF
Juan Hillman – LHP
Trenton Brooks – OF
Tanner Tully – LHP

There are plenty of others that are eligible for the draft though few I see as any real threat to be taken or worth a roster spot to the Indians. A guy like Juan Hillman, who had a nice rebound year, could be enticing to add, but I still think he’s just way too far off to worth the hassle. If another team feels differently more power to them.

Connor Marabell? I like him; he’s solid. But I just don’t see enough big league tools to worry much if he were lost. Feels replaceable to me. Trenton Brooks is a guy that has actually surprised me and played so well in Double-A that he’s at least on the radar for me. Though again, I just don’t see why any team would bother with him being on their 26-man roster all year.

Tanner Tully is the one here that maybe I’m being too low on. He isn’t a big strikeout guy but just a solid left-handed arm who does not walk people. He pitched well in Double-A if you look at FIP over ERA (3.63 FIP vs 4.38 ERA) and was similar in three starts at Triple-A. He reminds me a bit of T.J. McFarland who similarly wasn’t a big strikeout guy but had good control from the left-side.

The Orioles took him in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft and he never returned. However, like McFarland, I don’t believe losing Tully will prove to be a big issue. I don’t want to see it cause we’ve seen what the Indians can do with control guys (Bieber, Plesac, etc) but just not sure he’s the type of guy to roster, though the extra roster spot in 2020 may change that thinking.

Odds of Tully being rostered: 10%
Odds of Marabell/Hillman/Brooks being rostered: <5%