There is nothing else in baseball quite like the Rule 5 Draft, traditionally the final number of the annual Winter Meetings. Every year, Rule 5 sounds the closing bell on the Winter Meetings by providing big league opportunities for a few players who may not have gotten them so immediately otherwise.

This year's version will take place in Dallas today at 2 p.m. ET -- and will be streamed live on MLB.com -- when teams get the chance to bolster their roster and snag low-risk talent to help them in the season to come.

Unlike the amateur Draft (Rule 4), whose first-round order is now determined in part by a lottery, the Rule 5 Draft order remains dictated by the reverse order of last season’s standings. So the White Sox, who had the worst record in baseball in 2024, have the first pick, followed by the Rockies, Marlins, Angels and A's. Teams that finished with identical records in 2024 have their order based on win-loss record from the previous season.

The Draft order
Below is this year’s complete Rule 5 Draft order. A team must have room on its roster to make a pick, so each team’s 40-man status is included in parentheses.

These are the Rule 5 player qualifications:

Players who turned pro at age 18 or younger in 2020 or at age 19 or older in 2021 are eligible for selection in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft if he isn't on a 40-man roster.

• A complete history of the Rule 5 Draft

Clubs who take a player in that phase must pay his former team $100,000 and keep him on their active big league roster throughout the following season. The player can't be sent to the Minors without first clearing waivers and then getting offered back to his original organization for half his draft price.

1. White Sox, 41-121 (37)
2. Rockies, 61-101 (39)
3. Marlins, 62-100 (39)
4. Angels, 63-99 (39)
5. Athletics, 69-93 (37)
6. Nationals, 71-91 (36)
7. Blue Jays, 74-88 (39)
8. Pirates, 76-86 (36)
9. Reds, 77-85 (37)
10. Rangers, 78-84 (39)
11. Giants, 80-82 (40)
12. Rays, 80-82 (37)
13. Red Sox, 81-81 (40)
14. Twins, 82-80 (37)
15. Cardinals, 83-79 (38)
16. Cubs, 83-79 (39)
17. Mariners, 85-77 (37)
18. Royals, 86-76 (38)
19. Tigers, 86-76 (40)
20. Astros, 88-73 (39)
21. Mets, 89-73 (33)
22. D-backs, 89-73 (36)
23. Braves, 89-73 (36)
24. Orioles, 91-71 (39)
25. Guardians, 92-69 (39)
26. Padres, 93-69 (33)
27. Brewers, 93-69 (37)
28. Yankees, 94-68 (35)
29. Phillies, 95-67 (39)
30. Dodgers, 98-64 (39)

There is also a Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Anyone not protected on a big league or Triple-A roster is eligible, with the cost of selection $24,000. Players selected in this phase of the Rule 5 Draft aren’t subject to any roster restrictions with their new organizations.

Recent successes
Ten players were taken in last year’s Major League Rule 5 Draft, with six sticking with their organizations through the entire 2024 season: Mitch Spence (Athletics), Anthony Molina (Rockies), Nasim Nuñez (Nationals), Ryan Fernandez (Cardinals), Justin Slaten (Red Sox) and Stephen Kolek (Padres).

Since 2012, seven Rule 5 selections have gone on to amass 5.0 or more career bWAR: Mark Canha (15.3), Odúbel Herrera (13.4), Anthony Santander (11.1), Ryan Pressly (10.1), Brad Keller (8.9), Garrett Whitlock (5.9) and Delino DeShields (5.1).

All-time best picks
Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente remains the slam-dunk best player ever selected in the Rule 5 Draft. But given the significant changes made to the draft over time, it’s difficult to compare selections across eras.

If we set the cutoff for a more modern era at 1990, here are the top six Rule 5 selections ranked by career WAR:

1. Johan Santana, LHP (51.7)
2. Shane Victorino, OF (31.5)
3. Josh Hamilton, OF (28.2)
4. Joakim Soria, RHP (18.6)
5. Dan Uggla, 2B (18.2)

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This list only includes Rule 5 selections that stuck with their new teams. But if we were to include all players ever selected, it would add some more notable names, especially of recent players, like José Bautista, R.A. Dickey and Ender Inciarte. As it is, Soria is the player on this list who played the most recently, the longtime reliever finishing his 14-year career with stints with the D-backs and Blue Jays in 2021. Canha is closest among active players who stuck, with 15.3 bWAR.

Top available prospects
There are always a bunch of Top 30 prospects left unprotected by their clubs, and this year is no different, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re scooped up in the Rule 5 Draft. Selecting teams need to weigh talent but also proximity to the big leagues when assessing Rule 5 candidates, as those players would ideally have the best chance of sticking on a big league roster through all of the following season.

• 30 intriguing Rule 5 Draft options -- 1 for each team

Some of the names generating early Rule 5 buzz are A’s second baseman Cooper Bowman (No. 20), Cubs outfielder Christian Franklin (No. 21), Rockies righty Yujanyer Herrera (No. 29), Twins outfielder Kala’i Rosario (No. 19) and Guardians lefty Ryan Webb (No. 26).