Rule 5 Target: Griffin Conine
Even with the lockout in full swing (pun intended), the annual Rule 5 Draft is still on. It’s scheduled for this coming Wednesday, December 8th.
Before I tell you about the guy atop my Rule 5 Wishlist, let me clarify what the Rule 5 Draft is.
It’s an annual draft in which every MLB club that doesn’t have a full 40-man roster, has the opportunity to “draft” a player from another organization that’s not on their 40-man roster.
In layman’s terms, it’s a draft that’s purpose is to prevent teams from stockpiling young players in their MiLB affiliates when they’re good enough to make another team’s MLB roster.
Teams are able to select players to protect from being drafted, but not everybody.
You may be asking yourself: “Why would anyone want these players? I bet there aren’t any good players available.”
Wrong.
Some notable Rule 5 Draftees are: Roberto Clemente, Josh Hamilton, José Bautista, Darren O’Day, Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, & Shane Victorino.
Griffin Conine
Griffin Conine is an outfield prospect in the Miami Marlins organization. He’s the 20th-ranked prospect in Miami’s system according to MLB.com.
Full Marlins prospect rankings here.
He was drafted out of Pine Crest High School in Florida by the Marlins in the 31st round of the 2015 Draft.
He chose not to sign, instead playing at Duke University until he was drafted in the 2nd Round of the 2018 Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.
In 2020, Griffin was traded from Toronto to Miami in exchange for Jonathan Villar, as a Player To Be Named Later.
You may recognize Griffin’s last name, that’s because his father is Jeff Conine. Father, Jeff, is dubbed “Mr. Marlin” for his contributions during the Marlins two World Series Championships.
I think Griffin has everyday-MLB-player floor with an All-Star ceiling; and I’ll tell you why:
Pattern of Power
In each level of baseball he’s played in, NCAA & MiLB, he’s improved his power numbers from almost non-existent to dominant within three seasons.
During his three seasons at Duke, he improved his homerun totals from 0 to 13 to 18 (63 games, so he hit a homerun every 3.5 games).
Over the course of his three seasons in Minor League Baseball he’s improved his homerun totals from 7 to 22 to 36. By the way, his 36 homeruns earned him the MiLB HR Title for the 2021 season.
In fact, his homerun total in his MiLB career (65) is more than double his NCAA career (31).
It is not common for a player to improve their power production with the Minor League wood bats so drastically over their metal bat numbers from college, so rapidly. Either his swing is made for the wood bat or he’s found something.
Scouting Report
He has a strong, stocky build; one that will maintain a clean bill of health during the marathon of MLB. He’s an aggressive hitter that isn’t dead-pull. He allows the outside strike to travel due to utilizing a toe-tap instead of a stride. If he adjusts his approach at the plate (35% K Rate in MiLB career), he will be deadly.
He has power for days & hits it in every direction for miles. He’s been given a 55 Power Grade.
Fielding-wise he’s an above-average fielder, partly thanks to a quick first step. He’s athletic with a big-ish arm that’s accurate.