Noah Song: Future Impact Starter For The Phillies?
The Rule 5 Draft was today and nobody made a more surprising selection than the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dave Dombrowski led front office swiped a former draft pick he made with the Red Sox but that’s not really the full story. Noah Song was selected by Philadelphia and the real story is I’m not sure where anybody knows where he is. Now let’s really get to the juicy stuff.
Nobody knows if or when Song is allowed to pitch. It’s hard to blame the Sox for not protecting a guy that can’t play. Of course, Song went to Navy and is still serving his military commitment. There have been zero updates on if or when that’s going to change.
The bottom line here is the Rule 5 Draft is designed for exactly what the Phillies are doing. Dombrowski made a smart gamble that more teams aren’t able to take advantage of because of prospect hoarding. When you deplete your farm talent, the Rule 5 Draft gives you that chance to pluck an intriguing player for your system. In this instance, Philadelphia gets a player with an interesting skill set. He also won’t count against the 40-man while he’s away on duty. It’s essentially a free gamble.
“It was a fastball that was up to 99 and good secondaries, good feel to pitch,” Phillies general manager Sam Fuld said.
“There’s some uncertainty surrounding the pick, for sure,” Fuld said. “But we feel like the upside of the player is enough to take a chance.”
This will be an interesting name for the Phillies to follow in the future. What a steal this might be if Song rediscovers his form and provides impact innings at the MLB level. Far from a certainty but and incredibly smart piece of business by trader Dave.
