The deadline for Major League teams to set their 40-man rosters in advance of next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight at 8pm ET. As such, baseball fans should expect to see a flurry of activity over the next 11 hours. There will be likely be players designated for assignment, outrighted and claimed off waivers in addition to multiple smaller-scale trades as teams make room on their own 40-man rosters and also pick up fringe 40-man candidates out of other organizations.
The Rule 5 Draft will take place on the final day of next month’s Winter Meetings (Dec. 13) and allow clubs with open space on the 40-man roster to select certain players not on the 40-man roster out of other organizations. Rule 5 eligibility is dependent on the age at which a player signed and that player’s experience.
A player that signed at 18 years of age or younger and has five seasons of pro ball with is Rule 5 eligible if he is not added to the 40-man roster today. Players that signed at 19 or older and have four seasons of professional experience are also eligible to be selected if they’re not added to the 40-man roster today. (In other words, college draftees out of the 2015 class, high school draftees out of the 2014 class and most international amateurs signed in the 2014-15 international period are eligible this year if not protected.)
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has a rundown of the players in each team’s top 30 prospect rankings who need to be protected today or else be exposed to potential Rule 5 selection. Of particular note, eight prospects who find themselves on MLB.com’s top 100 prospect rankings need protection, though there’s virtually no chance that any from that bunch are left off their respective rosters. Readers will also want to check out an exhaustive team-by-team look at some candidates to be added to each team’s 40-man roster, courtesy of Jason Martinez of MLBTR and Roster Resource, as well as a team-by-team look at each club’s decisions from the staff over at Baseball America.
Here’s a quick rundown of the number of open 40-man spaces each team presently has to work with as of this morning:
American League West
- Astros: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Angels: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Mariners: 6 open spots (depth chart)
- Rangers: 6 open spots (depth chart)
- Athletics: 6 open spots (depth chart)
American League Central
- Indians: 4 open spots (depth chart)
- Twins: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Royals: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- White Sox: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Tigers: 1 open spot (depth chart)
American League East
- Red Sox: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Yankees: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Rays: 1 open spots (depth chart)
- Orioles: Full roster (depth chart)
- Blue Jays: 5 open spots (depth chart)
National League West
- Dodgers: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- D-backs: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Rockies: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Padres: Full roster (depth chart)
- Giants: 6 open spots (depth chart)
National League Central
- Cubs: 1 open spot (depth chart)
- Brewers: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Cardinals: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Pirates: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Reds: 2 open spots (depth chart)
National League East
- Nationals: 3 open spots (depth chart)
- Mets: 2 open spots (depth chart)
- Braves: 4 open spots (depth chart)
- Marlins: 5 open spots (depth chart)
- Phillies: 6 open spots (depth chart)
Those numbers are highly pre-mature. MOST teams have 5-7 pieces of flotsam that can be jettisoned to make room. The smarter teams can sift the chaff to find bargains today (see Muncy, Max or Wendle, Joey, both let go for 40-man reasons)…but they have to be smart, (and, unquestionably, a little lucky).
They’re not premature so much as exactly how many spots were open on each roster at the time of writing.
Going to be a fun day
You going to the circus?
Not necessary. There are enough clowns posting here including yours truly! lol
Cubs at 39, not 40.
You’re correct. Sorry about that. We erroneously counted Oscar De La Cruz against the 40-man in our count. Thanks for the heads up.
No worries.
RosterResource has De La Cruz counting against the 40-man, but not Addison Russell.
Doesn’t Addison count against it during the offseason until his suspension begins?
The Cubs official website at m.mlb.com/chc/roster/ shows neither player on their 40-man roster which still stands at 39 as I post.
The Cubs official transaction site at mlb.com does indicate that suspended minor league RHP Oscar De La Cruz was recalled from the Tennessee Smokies following the conclusion of the 2018 MLB regular season on October 3rd but they still haven’t included him on their 40-man roster. Same goes for Addison Russell.
Interesting that the Yanks are the only team not mentioned. I guess with the inclusion of Eric Swanson (who the M’s have to add to the 40 man) Cashman addressed getting value for the guys who he felt weren’t worth being added to the 40 man but would almost definitely get drafted in the Rule 5. He’s moved a lot of superfluous prospects in the last year.
It is interesting that Jonathan Mayo did not include the Yankees on his list of all “30 MLB teams”. I’m guessing it was a mistake in light of Monday’s trade with the Mariners although Seattle was included. This site does show the Yankees with 2 open spots on their 40-man roster as we post.
Dodgers have 2 slots but one of those goes to Ryu when he signs his QO contract, or negotiates an extension. Still plenty of options to open up other spots that are currently occupied by players who are seem destined for release or trade.
The Dodgers official site at m.mlb.com/la/roster/40-man/ does include Hyun-Jin Ryu on their 40-man roster which also shows it currently standing at 39 as we post. The same site also indicates that the Dodgers did activate the southpaw on November 11th following his acceptance of their qualifying offer.
padres fan here, the day of the 40 man purge has finally arrived. going to be refreshing throughout the morning and afternoon to see if gun slinging AJ has pulled off anything worthwhile. hopefully he doesn’t rustle too many jimmies with some of the decisions he has to make today.
if a guy was designated and cleared waivers last month is is exposed to the draft?
I believe so, so long as he meets the eligibility criteria.
Maybe a Major Trade by Padres.
So can guys who go unprotected tonight still be traded before 12/13? If so, is it buyer beware or can the acquiring team add them to their 40?
Love this. Highly organized. Thanks, Steve!!