As detailed earlier this morning at MLBTR, the deadline for Major League clubs to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight. Because of that, there will be literally dozens of moves between now and 8pm ET as teams make final determinations on who to protect and who to risk losing in next month’s Rule 5 draft. This process will lead to smaller-scale trades, waiver claims and DFAs, but for some clubs the only necessary moves will simply be to select the contracts of the prospects they wish to place on the 40-man roster. We’ll track those such moves in this post…
- Heading onto the Blue Jays’ roster, per a club announcement, are righty Connor Greene, lefty Tom Pannone, first baseman Rowdy Tellez, and catchers Dan Jansen and Reese McGuire.
- The Rays have selected the contracts of righties Brent Honeywell, Diego Castillo, Yonny Chirinos, and Jose Mujica, lefty Ryan Yarbrough, first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, and outfielder Justin Williams, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
- The Diamondbacks placed lefty Jared Miller on the MLB roster, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter.
- A list of six players is heading onto the Reds’ 40-man, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter): infielders Alex Blandino and Shed Long, outfielder Jose Siri, and righties Jose Lopez, Jesus Reyes, and Zack Weiss.
- The Padres and Brewers have joined the teams announcing their additions. For San Diego, lefties Jose Castillo and Brad Wieck are heading to the 40-man. Milwaukee has selected shortstop Mauricio Dubon, catcher Jacob Nottingham, and righties Marcos Diplan and Freddy Peralta.
- The Marlins and Yankees just struck a trade relating to their 40-man maneuvering, and each announced their selections shortly thereafter. Miami is placing outfielder Braxton Lee on the MLB roster along with righties Merandy Gonzalez, Pablo Lopez, and James Needy. New York, meanwhile, will select righties Albert Abreu, Domingo Acevedo, and Jonathan Loaisiga to the 40-man along with outfielder Billy McKinney and infielders Thairo Estrada and (last but not least) Gleyber Torres.
Click to check in on other teams that have selected players to their 40-man rosters …
- Righties Hunter Harvey and David Hess join catcher Austin Wynns in ascending to the Orioles’ 40-man roster, the team announced.
- The Astros have added lefty Cionel Perez and righty Dean Deetz to their 40-man, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Heading onto the Mets’ 40-man are infielder Luis Guillorme and right-handers Tyler Bashlor, Gerson Bautista, and Corey Oswalt.
- The Royals are adding lefties Eric Stout and Tim Hill as well as Meibrys Viloria to their MLB roster, per a club announcement.
- The Rockies announced the selection of the contracts of four players: outfielder Yonathan Daza, lefty Sam Howard, backstop Chris Rabago, and righty Jesus Tinoco.
- Joining the Angels’ 40-man are outfielder Michael Hermosillo and righties Jaime Barria, Jesus Castillo, and Jake Jewell, per a club announcement.
- Lefties Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe, as well as righty Zack Littell, have been selected onto the Twins’ big league roster, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets.
- The Pirates placed top prospect Austin Meadows and righties Luis Escobar and Dario Agrazal on their 40-man, the club announced.
- The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Austin Gomber, right-hander Derian Gonzalez and outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Oscar Mercado, bringing their 40-man roster count to 39. Each of the three ranked within the top 20 farmhands in the organization, per MLB.com’s rankings.
- The Rangers announced that they’ve added right-handers Jonathan Hernandez and Ariel Jurado; lefties Brett Martin and Joe Palumbo; catcher Jose Trevino; and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the 40-man roster today. Texas also picked up 40-man righty Ronald Herrera in a trade with the Yankees this afternoon. All but Kiner-Falefa ranked among the team’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com, led by Jurado at No. 9. The Rangers’ 40-man roster is now at 37 players.
- The Nationals announced that they’ve selected the contracts of third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, thus adding both to the 40-man roster. MLB.com ranked Gutierrez 12th among Nationals farmhands. The Nats still have three open spots on their 40-man roster, so they could make further additions by adding players from outside the organization between now and the deadline. They could also simply save those spots for future trade or free-agent acquisitions.
- The Red Sox have selected the contracts of left-hander Jalen Beeks and right-handers Chandler Shepherd and Ty Buttrey. Both Beeks and Shepherd ranked among Boston’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com. Boston’s 40-man roster is now full with that trio of additions.
Note: Players that signed at 18 years of age or younger and have played five seasons of pro ball are Rule 5 eligible unless added to the 40-man roster today. Players that signed at 19 or older and have played four seasons are also eligible if they’re not added to the 40-man roster today. (In other words, college draftees out of the 2014 class, high school draftees out of the 2013 class and most international amateurs signed in the 2013-14 international period are eligible this year if not protected.)
Phillies2017
Welp looks lime Dedgars getting picked
tim815
The Dodgers and Yankees are both “against it”, as are the Cardinals, and a few other sides.
agentx
Hadn’t heard much about Dedgar until after his 2017 emergence and he does look like a decent Rule 5 LOOGY, but isn’t that WHIP (and especially his H/9) still problematic?
EndinStealth
He might be, but I’d bet he’s given back.
dynamite drop in monty
How’d you like a mouth full of teeth?
Bart
Better than your kinda mouth full of teeth.
bravesfan88
I’d prefer a mouth full of teet
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Wieck gets added as expected. Castillo wasn’t on the list of names I had heard might get added but he did pitch well this year and throws left-handed so I guess he’s got that going for him.
floridapinstripes
Always room for Lasanga in New York.
paulnewman
Any fans of each team care to list best prospect not protected? I don’t want to spend the time doing it myself.
WalkersDayOff
The #4 pick in the 2013 draft Kohl Stewart is unprotected
demmer19
Pentecost (blue Jays)
jdgoat
I’d say Jordan Romano is the Jays most notable player. He seems pretty likely to be picked
southbeachbully
I like 1b Mike Ford. Age 25. Hit 20 hrs and had 90 walks vs 72 strike outs @ AA/AAA last year. Signed as an undrafted amateur from Princeton in 2013.
SP Nestor Cortes. Age 23. 2.17 career ERA in 332 IP with 354 ko vs 82 walks and only 253 hits allowed. He made it to AAA last year.
Phillies2017
A few noticeable ones IMO
Yankees- Avelino or Tarpley
Red Sox- Jimenez
Jays- Pentecost
Rays- Yarbrough
O’s- meh, maybe Hess?
Tigers- Will Maddox
Indians- Mike Papi/Rob Kaminsky
Twins- Kohl Stewart
White Sox- Tito Polo (Jake Peters good too)
Royals- Schwindel and O’Hearn
Angels- Osmer Morales
Astros- Akeem Bostick
Rangers- didn’t seem to miss anyone too drastic
A’s- Sandber Pimental is ok, maybe Tucker Healy
Mariners- Anyone worth protecting was already traded
Phillies- Tocci
Mets- Jhoan Urena
Miami- Norwood is ok
Braves- Dustin Peterson
Nats- Probably Ward
Cardinals- Poncedeleon
Brewers- I like Wren and obviously Tim Dillard
Cubs- Im thinking Clifton
Reds- I really like Rosell Herrera
Pirates- Nobody in particular, but they signed Todd Cunningham today in case anyone was wondering
Diamondbacks- Probably Keller (Westbrook and Cron are ok too)
Giants- Dylan Davis
Dodgers- Ibandel Isabel
Padres- Ott
Rockies- Dom Nunez
Pablo
I hope this sparks the offseason. It’s been super boring so far.
jdgoat
Is there a reason a team wouldn’t fill up it’s 40 man right now?
exposjays
Yeah, they’ll select rule 5 from other teams
dwhitt3
They don’t have other prospects deemed worthy of the spot or don’t fear they’ll get selected or they’re fine losing said prospects for $50,000. Plus remember you don’t want to fill it completely if you don’t have to. Trades and free agent signings will add more to the 40-man roster.
TennVol
Completely baffled by the Jays decision to put Tellez on the 40 man roster. He had a horrific AAA year and is a 1b and NO ONE was going to pick him up and keep him on their roster all year. Instead, that gamble that Pentecost wont be picked even though he is better at dang near everything than Tellez. Injuries derailed him for a few years but you could see the upside last year in his first full year back. I know the Jays catching situation in the minors is deep with Jansen and McGuire in front of him and Adams and Hague behind him, but, he just has too much talent to hope that some team doesnt pick him up.
terrymesmer
> Completely baffled by the Jays decision to put Tellez on the 40 man
Agreed. I’d have preferred for the Jays to purge a couple more guys (Carrera, Goins, though I’ve liked them in the past) so as to clear more space to pick up some other teams’ DFAs.
Some commentors on Jays blogs are shocked that SP Chris Rowley was dropped today, but he had a couple good starts…then was terrible (BBs and HRs). He’s 27 and unlikely to surprise us.
Among the hundreds of minor league free agents and players recently dropped off MLB 40-man rosters (and those soon to be non-tendered), I have to believe there are better options than Carrera, Goins, Tellez and Rowley.
jdgoat
I don’t think you can write off teller yet. Going into spring training last year, he was looked at as a potential starter. Did he struggle? Of course. But to risk losing him for nothing wasn’t worth it. Pentecost has dealt with so many injuries and I doubt a team will carry him for a full year as their backup. I think it’s an alright calculated risk
sportsguy24/7
I like Buttrey and Beeks for Red Sox, but not sure about Chandler. Has average peripherals, but gets hit hard. That won’t play in the Big Leagues. Gonsalves and Thorpe are the real deal for the Twins. They should already be up. No comment on the rest as I haven’t see them.
mizzourah87
I’m a little bit baffled by the Royals protecting a 27 year old AA relief pitcher with a 5 era over Ryan O’hearn – especially with questions at both 1b and dh.
Phillies2017
I personally just see the same denial in Kansas City that we had to sit through in Philly for 3 years. No farm system, small market, losing almost the entire core-
At this point they should be protecting the few prospects they actually have not a AA reliever who is probably nothing more than a taxi guy.
Joe giovengo
Bunch of dorks
dust44
Biggest surprise in my opinion is Kohl Stewart, Rob Kaminsky and Dom Nunez. If Luis Torrens can stick all year I’m sure Nunez and Pentecost could definitely find a job as a backup. Stewart could b a long reliever and stick. And Kaminsky can b a loogy until he’s ready to try to start. I’m really surprised by those 3 and Pentecost.