High upside Brewers prospect rumored to be 1st overall pick in upcoming Rule 5 Draft

We've finally made it to this year's Rule 5 Draft and the buzz around the industry is audible at this point. The annual event will take place Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 pm ET with the Chicago White Sox getting the first pick in the draft. The Milwaukee Brewers are scheduled to pick 27th.

With the Brewers electing to protect Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick by adding them to the club's 40-man roster, a handful of intriguing players were left unprotected, and it sounds like one of them is already good as gone.

According to MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo, the White Sox plan to select Brewers right-hander Shane Smith with the first overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft. The 24-year-old is not featured on any top prospect lists, but he stood as out as a player at serious risk of being drafted as soon as news broke that he wasn't added to the Crew's 40-man.

Should Mayo's prophecy come true, Smith will be the first Brewers minor leaguer to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft since 2016, when Miguel Diaz went to the Twins (and was later traded to the Padres). That year, the Brewers also lost their player with the first-overall pick.

Brewers rumored to lose intriguing prospect in Rule 5 Draft

Originally joining the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2021, Smith has all the makings of an eventual mid-rotation arm at the big league level. The right-hander would've been in line for an MLB debut in Milwaukee at some point in 2025 before this development came to be, but it seems that he's got one foot out the door ahead of this afternoon's festivities.

This past season, Smith opened the year as a relief pitcher, a role he's been in since he made his pro debut back in 2021. The Brewers made the decision to utilize him and his expansive repertoire as a starter and the move worked out nicely. He wound up making 16 starts (and 16 relief appearances) split between Double- and Triple-A, going 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA and nearly 11 strikeouts per nine innings.

Smith has always been a high-strikeout arm, and it seems that the cellar-dwelling White Sox will get the first look at him at the game's highest level. He doesn't walk many batters and also keeps opponent's hit rates low, so there's a legitimate chance he goes to Chicago and lasts the full season on their 26-man roster.

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