Teams had until 6 p.m. ET on Friday to finalize their 40-man rosters and protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, which will take place at the Winter Meetings on Dec. 6. Here, we monitored every organization’s ranking Rule 5-eligible prospects.
Six Top 100 Prospects needed protection, beginning with Rockies middle infielder Adael Amador (No. 21), and they were all expected to join 40-man rosters before the deadline. However, many options were far from simple.
We’ve found a difficult decision for each business below. We chose a ranked prospect in most situations, but in certain circumstances we chose a player who stood out in the Arizona Fall League, which just finished its season.
Blue Jays of the American League East: C.J. Van Eyk, RHP (unranked in the Blue Jays Top 30).
Van Eyk, a 2020 second-round choice out of Florida State, had Tommy John surgery in September 2021, missed the entire season in 2022, and worked just 34 1/3 innings this summer. He did, however, demonstrate one of the best curveballs in the AFL, when he registered a 2.51 ERA and struck out three hitters with three different pitches in an inning of work in the Fall Stars Game.
Haskin, the Orioles’ second-round pick in 2020, made it to Triple-A this season but only played in 33 games due to hamstring and hip impingement injuries that necessitated surgery. There are certainly tools here, with some power and speed, but he’s only showed flashes of that promise so far, while failing to remain healthy. Given the depth of the Orioles’ outfield, this may be a difficult one.
Heriberto Hernandez, OF (No. 18), Rays
Hernandez, who was acquired from the Rangers in the Nathaniel Lowe trade in December 2020, has some of the finest power and exit velocities in the Rays system. However, as a 23-year-old in Double-A, he hit just.249/.376/.411 with 13 home runs and doesn’t provide much defensive value.
Conclusion: You are not protected.
Allan Castro, OF (No. 30) with the Red Sox
Castro, a switch-hitter with outstanding bat-to-ball skills and a sound approach at the plate, signed for $100,000 in 2019 out of the Dominican Republic. He’s still only 20, so he could be more of a tweener than a regular and hit.The Red Sox certainly can slip him past the Rule 5 Draft after he hit 261/.368/.405 with 19 steals at two Class A stops.
Dunham rapidly became a fan favorite after joining as a nondrafted free agency out of Indiana in 2020, and he was named the Arizona Fall League’s breakout player of the year in 2021. He does not, however, have a better-than-average tool and batted.Between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit 227/.330/.389 with 16 home runs and 35 steals.
