Daniel Susac, we hardly knew ye!
Every year, baseball fans from every organization get excited for the Rule 5 draft, excited about the opportunity to add a young player or fearing the possibility of losing prospects that we have grown to like to other organizations.
So, how did the 2025 Rule 5 draft affect the Twins?
The Twins had the #4 selection in the draft and had released Carson McCusker to make room on the 40-man roster in order to be eligible to make a pick.
The top pick went to the Colorado Rockies. Last year the Chicago White Sox had the top pick and used the top pick and used it to take right-hander Shane Smith from the Brewers. He became an All Star as a rookie.
With the top pick in 2025’s Rule 5 draft, the Rockies selected 6-8, 300+ pound right-hander RJ Petit from the Tigers.
The White Sox picked second and took Jedixson Paez from the Red Sox
The Washington Nationals picked third and chose Griff McGarry from the Phillies.
With the fourth pick, the Twins selected catcher Daniel Susac from the Athletics organization. He was the first-round pick (19th overall) of the A’s in 2022 out of the University of Arizona.
Can he stick with the Twins? The Twins do need competition behind Alex Jackson for the job of Ryan Jeffers’ backup. Susac spent the 2025 season at Triple-A Las Vegas where in 97 games, he hit .275/.349/.483 (.832) with 19 doubles and 18 home runs.
Oh, but then as often happens in the Rule 5 draft, moments after the selection, the Twins traded Susac to the San Francisco Giants.
Miguel Caraballo signed with the Giants last January out of Venezuela for $172,500. In 41 DSL games, he hit .264/.432/.442 (.874) with four doubles, two triples and five home runs. He also was 8-for-10 in stolen base attempts. He got on base the hard way, hit by 11 pitches, but he’s got some idea of the strike zone with 28 walks to go with 38 strikeouts. He’s very young. In fact, had he been born one week later, he would not have been eligible to be signed until this coming January. He’s 6-0, 190 pounds, and built really strong for such a young age. He is a switch-hitter. He has a strong arm but is obviously still developing behind the plate. At the trade deadline, the Twins added Eduardo Tait and Enrique Jimenez, both teenage backstops. It is clearly indicative of a Twins need in the organization.
The other side of the Rule 5 draft is the possibility of losing players to other organizations. The last time the Twins lost a player in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft was in 2020 when they lost both RHP Tyler Wells (Orioles) and outfielder Akil Baddoo (Tigers).
The Twins lost no one in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft, despite our concerns.
In the first round of the minor league Rule 5, the Twins selected RHP Sam Ryan from the Angels organization. The 27-year-old has missed quite a bit of time in his career with injury. In 2025, he pitched in 44 games (2 starts) between High-A and Double-A. Combined, he went 3-6 with a 4.20 ERA. In 70 2/3 innings, he had 76 strikeouts and 33 walks. He pitched in the independent Frontier League in 2024. Before that, he spent five seasons with the Blue Jays organization. The Angels had signed him to a multi-year development deal.
In the second round, the Twins took outfielder Garrett Spain from the Brewers roster. A 25-year-old, he was the 15th round pick of the Blue Jays in 2021 from Austin Peay State. He joined the Brewers organization in 2025. In 120 games for Double-A Biloxi, he hit .207/.282/.377 (.659) with 17 doubles, four triples and 16 home runs. He finished the season with 11 games for Triple-A Nashville, he hit just .162 (.472) with two doubles.
In the second round, the New York Mets selected LHP Aaron Rozek, a LHP from Burnsville, Minnesota. He pitched at Minnesota State in Mankato. He joined the Twins out of the independent leagues in 2021. He’s spent the past two seasons splitting time between the Wind Surge and the Saints.
In the third round of the minor-league Rule 5, the Twins lost RHP John Stankiewicz to the Tigers organization. The 27-year-old from Fordham also split the last two seasons between the Wind Surge and Saints.
Summary:
Well, for our annual Rule 5 scare and concerns, there were just 13 players taken in the MLB Rule 5 and 55 players taken in the MILB Rule 5. The Twins lost no one in the MLB portion of the draft. They pitched Daniel Susac, a former first-round pick with a full season in Triple-A, for a 17-year-old catcher from the Dominican Summer League. They took a pitcher and an outfielder in the minor-league portion, and they lost two pitchers who spent time in the Twins upper levels in 2025.
One other note, and it’s really just more of a question. I do believe that the Twins organization is fairly strong in terms of high-level prospects, especially following the trade deadline. However, as much as I think there are a lot of players who could be big leaguers, the Twins haven’t lost a lot of players in recent Rule 5 drafts. In comparison, the Brewers lost a bunch of players in the minor-league Rule 5 draft including Twins pick Spain and Minnesota native Nate Peterson.
Does the lack of Rule 5 picks lost in both the MLB and MILB portions of the Rule 5 draft mean that the Twins don’t have as much depth as we think? Or, is it just that they do a really good job of player evaluation and have a good idea of which guys truly have to be protected. The MLB roster has 40 members. The Triple-A roster can have up to 36 on it, and I believe they should be at 34 after this afternoon. That’s a lot of players protected, and there are a ton of players that aren’t eligible for either draft. My sense is it doesn’t indicate anything to be concerned about, but it is notable and worth asking.
Now we just need lots of comments about how we worry so much every year and ultimately, it’s pretty uneventful.
