The Rule-5 draft is approaching quickly and the White Sox will have the second overall pick this year. Last year, the White Sox used the first overall pick on starting pitcher Shane Smith. This turned out to be a very good pick, as he was the all-star representative for the White Sox at the midsummer classic.
For all the good it can bring, the Rule-5 draft is very volatile. Last year was great for the White Sox in terms of Rule-5 draft players, as Shane Smith and Mike Vasil should both be long-term pieces after impressing in their rookie seasons. However, prior to that, you have to go back to 2017 for the last Rule-5 player that made any sort of impact for the White Sox, that being starting pitcher Dylan Covey. The White Sox will look to strike gold again this year and will have an interesting pool of players to choose from.
The trickiest part about the Rule-5 draft is that the player must remain on the roster the entire season or they will have to return the player to the team they selected them from. This means it makes more sense to pick a player who has been in AA or AAA, as they will be more prepared to make the jump to the major leagues. Additionally, sometimes there is a reason why a team left a player unprotected, as if it is not due to a 40-man roster crunch, they may simply not care if they lose the player, which isn't always a good thing.
The White Sox had more success with developing Rule-5 pitchers this past season, as Gage Workman did not end up working out, they could look to tap into that once again. One player the White Sox could be interested in selecting with the second pick in the draft is pitcher Brenden Beck from the New York Yankees organization.
Beck was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2021 draft out of Stanford. Beck currently ranks as the 11th ranked prospect in the Yankees system according to MLB Pipeline.
Here's what the scouts at MLB Pipeline have to say about Beck:
"Beck is a good athlete who repeats his delivery while working quickly and moving his pitches around the strike zone. He might be the best strike-thrower in the system, which helps him compensate for his so-so stuff. As an amateur, he reminded some area scouts of Shane Bieber at the same stage of their careers, though his ceiling now is more of a back-of-the-rotation starter or middle reliever."
MLB Pipeline
This is exactly what you want out of a player selected in the Rule-5 draft. You are looking to go for upside, and in this case, if he can't start in the majors, he projects to be an effective receiver.
However, they do note that Beck has had a few injuries that have limited him to 165 minor league innings as he enters his age 27 season. But, Beck is coming off a very effective 2025 campaign, which is encouraging to see.
In 131 innings between AA and AAA, Beck had a 3.36 ERA. He struck out 123 batters, had a stellar 1.04 WHIP, and held batters to a .214 batting average against. These are some very good numbers and he pounds the strike zone, as he only walked 36 batters.
The White Sox have seemed to prioritize pitchers that can pound the zone and Beck has done just that. While he is a bit older than your typical Rule-5 pick, he has put up some very good numbers in limited action in the minor leagues. He would be worth a flier in the draft, as he could make a very solid contribution in Chicago this season.
