Rule 5 pick Noah Song will report to Phillies camp Thursday after being transferred to Navy reserves

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies will get a look at their 2022 Rule 5 pick as early as Thursday.

Noah Song, a former fourth-round pick who has been serving in the Navy, had his service transferred from active duty to the reserves, the Phillies announced. He will report to Phillies camp in Clearwater on Thursday.

He’s been out of baseball since 2019. As a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he is required to serve at least five years in the military after graduation. Song was previously denied a waiver to delay his service by the Department of Defense in 2019 and again in 2022.

Song, 25, is bound to the typical Rule 5 draft stipulations, according to Alex Coffey of the Inquirer. The only exception is he does not need to be immediately placed on the club’s 40-man roster because he is on the military list, according to Coffey.

If he makes the team, he must be placed on the Phillies’ 26-man roster once the regular season begins and stay on the roster for the duration of the season. He cannot be optioned to the minor leagues. To remove him from the 26-man roster, the Phillies would have to place Song on outright waivers. If he clears, he’ll be offered back to his original team — the Boston Red Sox –for $50,000. If the Red Sox do not wish to reacquire him, which is probably unlikely in this scenario, the Phillies could get him back and outright him to the minor leagues. If the Red Sox buy him back, they could outright him to the minor leagues and essentially cancel out the Rule 5 selection.

Song, a former Navy Midshipman, was drafted by Dombrowski when he was the head of baseball operations in Boston. At the time, Song was considered a first-round talent, but teams were hesitant to draft him due to his required five-year service commitment.

The Phillies’ selection of Song was a lottery ticket. It’s not typical a player currently serving in the United States military is selected in the Rule 5 draft. There’s little clarity on Song’s readiness for the big leagues, let alone professional baseball, but the Phillies will get the chance to evaluate him before a decision has to be made.

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