Guardians take swing on intriguing former White Sox in Rule 5 Draft

On Wednesday Major League Baseball held its annual Rule 5 Draft, which allows for teams to add specific players from another team’s minor league roster to their big league roster with the caveat that the selected player has to stay on the team’s 26-man roster all season. 

While the Rule 5 Draft presents a way for teams to add players to their roster, the roster crunch associated with keeping a player on the 26-man roster can sometimes lead to teams sitting the draft out. 

The Guardians weren’t one of those teams.

In Wednesday’s draft, the Guardians added to their bullpen mix by picking right-handed pitcher Peyton Pallette from the White Sox. They also selected Pirates pitcher Jack Carey in the minor league portion of the draft. 

Pallette, who was ranked as Chicago’s No. 12 prospect by MLB Pipeline prior to being selected, will slot into the Guardians’ bullpen picture in 2026. 

The Guardians used the Rule 5 Draft to add to their bullpen depth

Pallette’s already been through quite a journey in his MLB career. He burst onto the scene at the University of Arkansas but had to miss all the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

The White Sox still selected him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, where he signed at an over-slot value of $1.5 million.

He started his career as a starter and struggled to find his fitting, but has found a little bit more success since shifting to the bullpen midway through the 2024 season. He’s coming off a season where he had a 4.06 ERA in 46 1/3 innings across Double-A and Triple-A. 

Even though those stats aren’t anything to write home about, there’s enough interesting stuff under the hood that the Guardians decided to roll the dice on him thanks to his 98 mph fastball and secondary pitches. 

The Guardians will now need to keep Pallette on their 26-man roster for the entire season. If the Guardians choose to remove him from the roster, they’ll need to offer him back to the White Sox for $50,000. If that happens and the White Sox don’t want him then the Guardians will be able to send him down to the minor leagues. 

He’ll likely slot into the front of the Guardians bullpen alongside the newly-acquired Connor Brogdon, where he’ll fill a role similar to the one Zak Kent filled in 2025. (Cleveland’s selection of  Pallette in the Rule 5 Draft adds a bit more context as to why the Guardians decided to waive Kent last week).

While the Guardians have a solid bullpen, taking a flier on Pallette is a smart, low-risk move. 

Elsewhere, the Guardians selected Jack Carey from the Pirates in the minor league prior to the Rule 5 Draft. Carey’s coming off a season where he had a 3.63 ERA in 57 innings at High-A and Double-A. 

He’ll likely start the season at Double-A and is a solid minor league depth option.