Did Jordan Mills’ AFL performance earn him a 40-man spot? Photo via milb.com
Its an annual tradition. This is my 9th annual analysis of the roster moves the Nats will do to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. See the bottom for links/summary of the first eight such posts with a quick guess as to how well i’ve done making predictions.
Lets take a look at who is eligible, who might get protected and make some predictions. I’ve got the Nats 40-man roster at 35 now, so there’s plenty of room to add names and do their off-season work. But, this team also needs to sign a bunch of FAs, so perhaps the Rule5 activity will be limited. That being said, there’s some dead-weight at the end of the 40-man roster that includes some fringe players out of options for 2019 anyway, who we may try to slip through waivers as we go. Nonetheless, its something to think about.
Another recurring theme while doing this research: a good number of the prospects we received back in late-season trades ended up being Rule-5 Eligible this coming off-season. I suppose it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that we got players back in this category, but it does mean our trade bounty for some of our veterans might end up never playing a game for the Nats franchise.
As always, using the indispensable Nationals resource sites Draft tracker and the Big Board, and then looking up candidate acquisitions made via trade, here’s some thoughts on who might merit protection. Also incredibly useful is Roster Resource’s Nats Roster, which keeps track of options, rule-5 status and the like.
The quick Rule-5 rules for 2017; any college-aged draftee from 2015 or before who isn’t already on the 40-man roster is Rule-5 eligible this coming off season, and any high-school aged draftee/International Free Agent from 2014 or before is newly eligible this year, assuming they were at least 18 as of June 5th of that year. There’s always a couple of guys who have specific birthdays that move them up or down one way or the other; i’ll depend on the Roster Resource rules.
One last thing: here was our 2018 AFL Roster: Ben Braymer, Taylor Guilbeau, Jordan Mills, Luis Reyes, Tres Barrera, Carter Kieboom, Jake Noll, Daniel Johnson. Half these guys (Guilbeau, Mills, and Reyes) are rule-5 eligible; the others (Braymer, Barrera, Kieboom, Noll and Johnson) were all 2016 draftees and thus are not part of this discussion… for this year anyway.
Newly Eligible 2015 draft College Players this year worth consideration for protection:
- Rhett Wiseman, 3rd round left-handed hitting OF out of Vanderbilt. Repeated High-A in 2018 and drastically improved his OPS, but it seems to be on the back of perhaps going for more of an all or nothing approach: he increased his homer output, but also struck out 122 times in 407 PAs. The team invested a big bonus in him, and it hasn’t panned out. I really liked this pick at the time, but then watched him hit in the CWS that year and thought he’d have a hard time adjusting to pro pitching. So far, my amateur observation seems to be holding true.
- Taylor Guilbeau, LHP 10th rounder who repeated High-A this year but switched to the bullpen and halved his ERA. The team named him to the AFL roster and he excelled, giving up 2 runs in 10+ innings. Given the team’s lack of lefty arms, I’d consider Guilbeau … but then again, he’s never pitched above High-A so he seems like a safe bet not to get picked. But then again, he just manned up in the AFL in front of every scout in the game.
- Andrew Istler, our trade bounty from the Dodgers for Ryan Madsen. He had very solid numbers in AA in a middle relief role, even earning a stellar AAA call-up. He’s an undersized Duke grad, 23rd round pick who has done well. I wonder if his pedigree makes him less likely to get picked.
Eligible but not mentioned here: Ian Sagdal, who (like Wisemann) is still in High-A and is a power-less 1B. Angelo La Bruna is a part-time SS who was a senior sign, did not appear in 2018 but is still listed as active. Matt Crownover may be lefty, but he also repeated High-A for the 3rd year in 2018. Grant Borne, Tommy Peterson and Ryan Brinley missed all of 2018 with injury. Andrew Lee basically missed all of 2017 with injury and still hasn’t even gotten out of Low-A. Jorge Pantoja has bounced around the A-levels for four years now, ending last year with a 4.68 ERA in High-A.
The key college-eligible players out of this draft have long since been called into 40-man service, released or traded. Andrew Stevenson and Koda Glover are the biggest remaining names from this draft for the team.
Newly Eligible 2014 High School-age drafted players under consideration for protection
- Jakson Reetz, 3rd round C from 2014. Reetz was paid a big bonus out of HS, and has basically never hit at any level. He played all of 2018 as the backup C in Potomac and slugged just .323 for the year. His career BA is .233 across 5 pro seasons and nearly a thousand plate appearances. Suffice it to say, had he not been paid $800k out of HS, he’d have been released long ago. He’s certainly not going to get picked in Rule-5.
- Weston Davis, RHP 11th rounder. He missed all of 2015… and then all of 2018. Through 5 full pro seasons he has just 124.2 innings pitched. He’s still hanging around, and will look to make it out of XST next year.
The Nats generally don’t pick HS players, so the picking here is always slim.
Newly Eligible 2014 signed IFAs under consideration for protection:
- Joan Baez went 9-9 with a 3.79 ERA as a full time starter for Potomac this year. We’ve heard about Baez’s arm for a while. He repeated Potomac again after walking as many as he struck out in 2017, and indeed he’s improved on that ratio. I think he’s a decent bet for someone to look at, but his lack of upper-level experience probably keeps him from getting picked.
- Telmito Augustin, a LF who hit pretty well for High-A this year (OPS of .822). But he’s never even gotten to AA, and like many of the “holdovers” he’s a corner OF type who is competing with a ton of MLB veterans for roster spots. I don’t think he’s a threat to get drafted.
- Steven Fuentes, who forced a mid-season promotion to High-A where he posted a 3.00 ERA in 45 middle-relief type innings.
- Andruw Monasario, the 2B prospect the Nats received from the Cubs in the Daniel Murphy trade. He was an IFA2014 signee and is newly Rule-5 eligible. He repeated High-A in 2018, has no power (6 career homers), little speed (48 SBs in 349 career minor league games), and is only mentioned here b/c he was trade bounty for Murphy.
- Gilbert Lara, the 3B prospect the Nats received from Milwaukee in the Gio Gonzalez trade. He played all of 2018 in Low-A, had decent numbers and is very unlikely to be taken. He’s only mentioned here for similar reasons to Monsario.
Others in this category: Tomas Alastre , who posted a 5.23 ERA in 23 starts in Low-A. Malvin Pena basically missed two full seasons and only just made it to Low-A.
Our biggest 2014 IFA signing is now safely ensconced on the 40-man roster; Victor Robles.
Rule-5 Eligible hold-overs of note: 2014 or prior college draftees still hanging out in the system, or 2013 and prior HS/IFAs.
- Taylor Gushue, a 2014 Draftee out of Florida who has now made his way all the way to AAA. Even though he didn’t really hit that well in AA (.212), he still made his way to the top level of the minors. The Nats only have 3 catchers on the 40-man and one of them (Severino) has no options left, so they’re going to need some depth. I think Gushue may be a consideration to add.
- Drew Ward, who drew a promotion to AAA in July but struggled and was sent back to AA. I thought he was a candidate to get protected last year but he missed the draft. Now? I’d guess he slips through again, despite being a lefty corner player that the team needs to back up Ryan Zimmerman simply because there’s a glut of such veteran players on the market every year now, and they can be had for just a couple million bucks. A 40-man spot is much more valuable. I think Ward plays out his term in 2019 and makes his way to MLFA.
- Austin Davidson is a corner OF and 13th rounder in 2014 who is beginning to show some promise. He had a solid OPS of .846 in 94 AA games this year. But, like Ward (who is about a half a step ahead of him), he faces competition from above. Not a real threat to get drafted.
- Alec Keller: a 2017 17th rounder in the same boat as Ward and Davidson above him; corner OF, decent numbers, no chance of getting Rule-5’d.
- Tyler Mapes, a great story who continues to make waves. He was a 30th rounder in 2014, missed all of 2017 with injury but came back with a vengeance in 2018, dominating Potomac and holding his own with a 3.95 ERA in AA. I like his chances of pushing towards AAA in 2019, but don’t quite think he’s a scare to get plucked.
- Luis Reyes: finally made it to AA this year, and got shelled (12 starts, 5.18 ERA). Nonetheless the team included him in their AFL roster, where he got even more shelled (4 starts, 12 innings, 22 runs allowed). I think whatever jeopardy he had of getting picked is long gone.
- Jordan Mills: a 2017 MLFA signing who really came on this year as a lefty reliever in AA. He was also sent to AFL in perhaps a final audition for the bigger club; there he did pretty well, holding his WHIP under 1.00. I think he’s one to protect.
- James Bourque was (finally?) moved to the bullpen in 2018 and immediately turned into a monster: he struck out 52 in 33 high-A innings, got moved to AA and posted a 0.92 ERA in 19 2/3rds innings. I think he shows a ton of promise; enough to protect?
Others in this category: Aldrem Corredor, a 1B who has hung around since 2012 in the system. David Masters completed his *fourth straight* season in Potomac in 2018. Dakota Bacus has been on this list for 3 years running, is now a 27-yr old RHP middle reliever just completing his 4th season in AA. Jose Marmolejos i suppose theoretically is still eligible; he was on the 40-man, got outrighted in July and subsequently had a sub .700 OPS in AAA (low for a 1B).
Austen Williams got added late in the year; he would have been in this category.
So, who would I protect?
So, remember, if someone gets drafted they have to stick on someone else’s ACTIVE, 25-man MLB roster the entirety of 2019. So it has to be someone who could theoretically stick on a MLB roster. Given that statement, and looking at what the Nats are light on, I think they add three arms:
Who would I additionally consider?
Here’s some other opinions in the Natmosphere on the same topic:
- District On Deck thinks Bourque is a lock, Augustin and Ward under consideration.
- MLB.com listed every organization’s top ranked prospects who are Rule5 Eligible: Augustin, Bourque, Alastre, Marmolejos and Ward are top-30 prospects being exposed.
- TalkNats has a bunch of the players listed but doesn’t make a prediction; seems to imply they think Bourque, Istler, and Agustin might get protected.
- WP’s Chelsea Jane seems to suggest Marmolejos, Augustin, Bourque, plus perhaps others.
For a fun trip down memory lane, here’s the same Rule 5 Protection analysis post for 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.
By year, here’s who I predicted we’d add and who we did add.
- 2018: Predicted: Bourque, Mills,Istler. Actual: just Bourque.
- 2017: Predicted: Gutierrez, Gushue, Ward, Baez. Actual: Gutierrez and Jefry Rodriguez.
- 2016: Predicted Voth, Bautista. Actual: Voth, Bautista, Marmolejos, Read and Skole.
- 2015: Predicted Kieboom, Bostick, Marmolejos-Diaz. Actual: Kieboom, Bostick, Lee
- 2014: Predicted Cole, Skole, Goodwin. Hedged on Grace, Martin and Difo. Actual: Cole, Goodwin, Difo, Grace.
- 2013: Predicted Solis as the only lock (Souza already added). Possibles mentioned in order Barrett, Taylor, Grace, Holland. Actual: Solis, Barrett, Taylor.
- 2012: Predicted Karns and McCoy, with Hood and Rosenbaum as maybes. Actual: Karns and Davis. I think we were all surprised by Davis’ inclusion, despite his good AA numbers that year.
- 2011: Predicted Norris as a lock, guessed strongly on Moore, Meyers and Komatsu. Actual: Norris, Moore, Solano, Perez. This was poor analysis on my part; I did not consider the IFAs newly eligible.
- 2010: Predicted Marrero, Meyers and Mandel. Actual: Marrero, Carr and Kimball.
- 2009: pre-dates my blog and thus no predictions, but Actual was Jaime, Thompson and Severino.
- 2008: I might be wrong, but I don’t see any evidence of the team protecting *anyone* prior to the Rule-5 draft. A bit of an indictment of the farm system at the time, I’d say 🙂
