Defending leads makes for challenging options: It is unclear if 40 players roster decisions that have shaped but the 30 organizations have just finished going through the process of deciding what minor leaguers to put on their list of 40 players and which to leave unprotected with the risk of losing them by December Rule 5 Draft.
The first players signed at age 18 should be added to the list of 40 players within five years are eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at age 19 or older must be protected in four years. Clubs pay $ 50,000 to select a player in the Rule 5. If that player is not on the 25-man roster for the entire season, must be offered back to his former team for $ 25,000.
In recent years, the teams have done a much better job of evaluating and identifying talent, Article 5 contains some become impact players like Josh Hamilton or even Joakim Soria. Some do go with their new teams, but most are returned, and those who remain tend to fill the roles in the best case.
A big reason for this is that teams have to evaluate additional years. It used to be that all the 19 years only three years old, with the youngest group receiving four. That has led to less rough diamonds slip through the cracks.
“The extra time the teams not only provided more time for evaluation, but has also allowed the natural weathering process to be part of the decision,” Indians vice president of operations John Mirabelli said exploration. “So the teams are doing much better, more accurate roster decisions. Scouting the opposition is important, but knowing your inventory is critical and teams are capitalizing on the extra year.”
That does not mean that all teams face easy choices in term Tuesday night. Rangers’ Chris McGuiness, for example, is fresh from winning the Arizona Fall League MVP award after leading the circuit in RBIs elite perspective. But Texas had the opportunity to not protect it with the hope that the Double-A first baseman is not always the first priority in Rule 5.
In general, those protected computers on their list of Top 20 prospects who were in line to make the 40-man roster. There were some exceptions, and some intriguing non-Top 20 guys that could be taken in December. And it is reasonable that the deep system of agricultural equipment, the most difficult decisions may have been. Case in point, not the Rangers adding McGuiness.
Josh Zeid, Jason Stoffel and Marc Krauss are not currently in the Astros top 20, but that alone represents how far this system has arrived. Zeid and Stoffel are difficult to launch relievers and Stoffel had 27 saves in Double-A in 2012. The three were obtained in trades, and it is not unusual for a team to protect such players to prove they have business value, but the depth of Houston has improved so much that it was decided that there was not room for all three.
The Padres are also considered very high in terms of its depth Minor League. They made the decision to protect bat Jaff Decker, but has treated injuries in recent times, on second baseman Jonathan Galvez, although parents expect them to retain the infielder, who has hit .281/.375/.435 in his career.
Mirabelli Indians chose not to protect first baseman Jesus Aguilar, who was number 11 on its list of Top 20, after a solid and spectacular 2012 season that saw him reach Double-A for the first time.
While many artists in the Arizona Fall League points won in the lists of 40 players, lefties Kevin Siegrist, the Cardinals and Indians TJ House are two examples. McGuiness is not the only one who was able to turn in a solid performance roster spot. Kyle Kaminska, who came to the Pirates of the Marlins, along with Gaby Sanchez in agreement deadline, finished third in the AFL in ERA, but the Bucs decided that there was no place in the 40-man for pitcher Right.