As Kevin Goldstein correctly predicted this morning, the Nationals snagged 22-year-old Mets catcher Jesus Flores in the Rule 5 draft. Flores, one of the Mets’ few position player prospects of interest, showed real power in the Florida State League this year, but he has a lot of growing to do when it comes to plate judgment.
The consequences of the Rule 5 draft for players selected echoes the way that the Bonus Baby rule used to work. From the late 1940s until 1957, any prospect signed for a bonus over a certain amount ($4000-$6000 depending on the year - the small market teams always wanted to ratchet the triggering point downward) had to spend two years on the signing club’s major league roster. Since these players were not ready to play, they would usually spend two seasons playing catch and shagging flies before finally being farmed out.
You can imagine the deleterious effects this had on the development of those players. A few very good ones survived being bonus babies–the pitcher Johnny Antonelli and the Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew were two that made it through. Even in the Killer’s case, one wonders if his league average batting averages would have been a little higher had he gotten his minor league work in, if he would have been a little more rounded (not that he wasn’t a perfect sabermetric player as it was).
Flores’ antecedent among the bonus babies was Frank House, also known as Pig for his bodily proportions. Pig House received $67,500 and two automobiles from the Tigers in 1949. He took a seat on their bench from 1950-1951, getting a total of 53 plate appearances, before finally being farmed out. Correction: before being drafted into the military. House did two years for Uncle Sam, then went directly back to the majors. He never did play in the minors.
House was a high school catcher, and it’s impossible to know what he would have been, if anything, had he gone directly to the minors. And not been drafted. And not been a Pig. His final rates were just .248/.302/.362, but if you look at the stats you can see hints of what might have been, a catcher with good power and excellent bat control. What he turned out to be a platoon catcher of dubious offensive accomplishments. He never did learn any patience. In 1955 he hit .259/.308/.436 in 102 games, which made him about a league-average hitter. In all other seasons he was greatly below average.
We might tell this kind of story about Jesus Flores one day.
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