When left-hander Pete Hansen goes to bed Wednesday night, will he still be a member of the St. Louis Cardinals?

That’s the big question.

Hansen was identified by MLB.com as the Cardinals minor-leaguer most likely to be snatched by another organization on Wednesday in the Rule 5 draft. It happens every December, when teams that don’t have a full 26-man roster can peruse a list of eligible players and select one their organization believes can make an impact.

As a reminder, here’s how the process works, as written by Joe Trezza of MLB.com:

“Players signed at age 18 or younger have to be added to a team’s 40-man roster within five seasons, and players signed at 19 or older must be added within four seasons, or else they become eligible for Rule 5 selection by another organization.

“Teams must pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, and the player is required to remain on the 26-man roster for the full season. If the selecting team removes him from the roster, the player must first be offered back to his former team for $50,000.”

Hansen fits the qualifications. He is 25 and was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft after his college career at Texas.

With the Longhorns, he appeared in just six games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, then made 36 appearances (31 starts) over the following two seasons. In his Texas career, he had a sterling 22-4 record with a 2.67 ERA in 42 games (32 starts) He threw 215 2/3 innings, struck out 218 and walked 44 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.95.

Hansen after college

In the St. Louis minor-league system, Hansen has thrown in 74 games (73 starts) from Class-A Palm Beach to High-A Peoria to Double-A Springfield. He also pitched one three-up, three-down inning at Triple-A Springfield.

He has a cumulative minor-league record of 24-15 and an ERA of 3.65 in 379 1/3 innings. He has struck out 383 batters and owns a strikeouts-to-walk ratio of 9.1

He has yet to throw a pitch in the major leagues.

What would Hansen bring to the table in a Rule 5 draft? This is the assessment of Hansen from MLB.com:

"The 2022 third-rounder out of Texas has certainly delivered results in his three full seasons with the Cards, most recently finishing with a 3.93 ERA, 123 strikeouts and 37 walks in 137 1/3 innings at Double-A Springfield in ‘25. Considering his fastball only scrapes 92 mph, it’s all about the command and secondary stuff here, particularly an 80-82 mph slider that gets heavy chase and an 81-84 mph changeup that holds off righties."

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