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Princeton University Athletics
Lahey Chosen With First Pick in MLB Rule 5 Draft
December 06, 2007 | Baseball
Tim Lahey started his day as a Twin, spent a few hours as a Ray, and finished things up as a Cub. The 2004 Princeton grad, who had spent four years in the Twins system after being drafted, was selected by Tampa Bay with the first pick in the Major League Baseball Rule 5 Draft on Thursday, and was then later traded to the Chicago Cubs.
Lahey is a converted catcher, who reaches the low 90's on the radar gun. He pitched mostly at the Double-A level last season, going 8-4 with 13 saves and a 3.45 ERA in 50 games. Lahey also made two appearances for Triple-A Rochester and had a save with a 9.00 ERA in his three innings of work. At Princeton, Lahey was an All-Ivy catcher and power hitter. Lahey hit 29 career doubles and 23 home runs while at Princeton. His 23 career home runs ranks third in the Princeton record books, and the 11 home runs he his in the 2003 season was the second most in a single season at Princeton.
"We feel it's a good opportunity to add, again, to the bullpen candidates for the club," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "He's a young man who used to catch, a big strong guy. He was converted [to a pitcher] two years ago. He has tremendous life on his fastball, a great sinking fastball and the makings of a good slider."
Players who are not currently on their team's 40-man roster are eligible to be taken, but only after a standard exemption period has elapsed. Also only teams whose rosters are under the 40-man limit are eligible to participate.
A player who is 19 or older when signed must be protected after four years. Once past that time of service, a player must be put on the 40-man roster if that team wants to keep him from becoming eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
Teams whose players are selected in the Major League phase of the draft will receive $50,000 per player. The players selected, though, must remain on the new club's 25-man roster for the entire season after the draft or be offered back to their parent organization for half the price.
However, the selecting team may, at any time, waive the Rule 5 draftee. If that player clears waivers by not signing with a new MLB team, he must be offered back to the original team, effectively canceling the Rule 5 draft choice. Once a Rule 5 draftee spends an entire season on his new team's 25-man roster, though, his status reverts to normal and he may be optioned or designated for assignment.