Rule 5 Decisions Coming for the Royals
Every year, a new crop of prospects needs to either protected or eligible for the Rule 5 draft. The Royals have a lot this year.
Unless you’re in the weeds like I am (and many of you are, as well), roster rules are a little bit weird and convoluted in baseball. One of them is Rule 5 eligibility. Players who were signed at 18 or younger need to be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons and players who were signed at 19 or older need to be added within four seasons. If they are not added at that time, the player can be selected in the Rule 5 draft and lost. How often do those players stick? Well it’s not that often, but it does happen. The Royals lost Noah Murdock in this year’s draft, but he’s now back in the organization as the A’s had to offer him back when they couldn’t keep him on the roster due to ineffectiveness.
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The Royals have been pretty great at deciding who to protect and who not to over the last few years. John Rave is a great example of a player who required protection from the Rule 5 draft prior to the 2024 season, but nobody selected him. He was eligible again prior to this season. Nobody selected him. He put up good numbers in the minors. As an outfielder with good speed and good defense, you would think there would be a spot for him as the 26th man on the roster, but the Royals were right. He wasn’t selected either year and he was still in the organization when they had a need this season.
You might be wondering why today is the day I decide to write about an offseason decision. It’s a fair question, and if the Royals didn’t have an off day yesterday, I will admit that I wouldn’t be writing about this. But with September callups not far off, due to it being almost, you know, September, I thought it was a good chance to look at who will need to be added this winter anyway to look if there’s anything who might crack the big league roster as they try to chase down the Mariners (or Red Sox/Yankees) in the final month.
I’m going to break these players down into three categories. The first is those who I think they’re likely to protect (or at the very least who I would protect). The second will be those they’ll think about. If they have the roster space, sure. And the third will be those who are a big surprise. Most will be players who are eligible for the first time in 2025, but there will be some additions who have played a role in the upper minors and might be of interest to you even if they’ve been eligible before.