The A's are no strangers to the Rule 5 Draft, having found Mark Canha and Nate Freiman in recent years*. This year's Rule 5 class is particularly deep, especially when it comes to hitters.

There are quite a few targets available, and I'd refer you to this Baseball America summary of eligible players. Their blurb on Cave:

Cave is more of a well-rounded outfielder than toolsy, but he’s a lefthanded hitting center fielder who could entice a team looking for an inexpensive fourth outfielder. He runs well and has gap power but has lacked the selectivity to produce enough to get protected.

The one name that stands out to me is Jake Cave, an outfielder in the Yankees farm system. Cave is a lot like Sam Fuld, in that he's a left-handed outfielder with a little bit of speed and some defensive talent. As the roster stands right now, the A's left-field situation is rather unsettled, but it would make sense to keep a left-handed platoon-mate for Jake Smolinski in that spot. Preferably, that guy could also serve as a backup centerfielder behind Billy Burns (like Sam Fuld is). I love the idea of having a centerfielder playing leftfield, for defensive purposes.

This offseason, a lot has been speculated as to what the A's should do with their LF situation, ranging from trades to international free agency. My preference has been to find a left-handed bat on the trade market (namely, Jackie Bradley, Corey Dickerson, Charlie Blackmon, or Andre Ethier). However, given the acquisition cost of either a trade candidate or a free agent might prove to be excessive. Getting a Rule 5 pick for free might be the best option here.

Sam Fuld, who would likely be crowded out by Cave, didn't hit a lick last season and he is owed an arbitration raise from his $1.8M salary in 2014. Fuld provided excellent defense and baserunning, which helped mitigate his poor offense, but there's no way that he is worth more than the league minimum. Jake Cave offers many of the same qualities, but is far younger and would be owed the league minimum.

Cave will be 23 on Opening Day, which is a bit younger than the A's typically go for, and he hasn't spent much time above AA, but he has skills that can be utilized by a flexible roster. Namely, he can play defense and hold his own against right-handed pitching.

The Yankees drafted Cave in the 6th round back in 2011. He missed all of 2012 with a broken kneecap (ed. note: OWWWWW), and he has spent the last three years in the Yankees minor league system. His career batting line is .285/.346/.391 with 11 homers in 380 career games. Nothing spectacular, but what makes him interesting is his platoon splits.

vs. RHP

• 2013: .297/.358/.431
• 2014: .307/.369/.444
• 2015: .304/.366/.402