The Minnesota Twins will release Carson McCusker to pursue playing opportunities outside the United States, the team announced Wednesday. As a result, their 40-man roster now has a vacancy, clearing a logistical block as they prepare for the 2025 Rule 5 Draft, which takes place at 1 PM CT to close the Winter Meetings.
For a team with a wide-open bullpen and a tight budget, the Rule 5 Draft is a great place to mine for talent. The Twins are expected to make a selection, and whichever hurler they pick up will go into the place on the 40-man reserve list cleared by releasing McCusker. That player will have to be on the team’s 26-man roster throughout 2026, though, or the Twins will have to offer them back to the team from whom they select them at half the initial $100,000 acquisition fee.
Neutered by a change in the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2006-07, the draft yields fewer interesting players than it used to. The notion of a player as good as Johan Santana becoming available in the Rule 5 has become laughable, because teams can now control a player for one year longer before having to make the decision about whether to add them to the 40-man roster and shield them from the draft. Clubs have also gotten better at player development and evaluation, so fewer diamonds are left in the rough.
However, the Twins’ dearth of quality relief depth makes holding onto whomever they select easier than it would typically be for a team with any hope of contending in the ensuing season. Rule 5 picks rarely stick with their new team, and even more rarely become valuable contributors, but those who do are nearly all relief pitchers. The volatility and fungibility of that role means that many more semi-promising players in that demographic become available, relative to position players or starters.
Minnesota didn’t have much luck with last year’s Rule 5 pick, Eiberson Castellano; his command wasn’t good enough to merit a spot in what was then a stacked bullpen. This year, the margin for error for any draftee will be much greater—though, of course, the Twins must hope that that margin isn’t needed.