Twins 2024 Rule 5 Draft: Full details, roster deadline, players who are eligible

It's that time of year again, when teams need to take a step back and assess what the roster looks like now and what it should look like in years to come. This involves more than just free agency and trades, as the Rule 5 Draft factors into shaping what a team's farm system will look like and what hidden gems another might steal away.

The Minnesota Twins have had some success over the last few decades in terms of mining the Rule 5 Draft for gold. Both Shane Mack and Ryan Pressly were added to the team this way, and Johan Santana remains a gold standard in terms of success stories.

It's a way to prevent teams from hoarding talent in the minors and offers a way to fairly afford opportunities to players who might not be in the best lane where they're at. It's not always a fruitful event, but it's a nice churning of prospects that sometimes works out tremendously when the right moves are made.

How the MLB Rule 5 Draft works and what is the deadline for protection?

The Rule 5 Draft is both a simple yet sort of complicated process. On the macro, the draft is a way for players who haven't yet made their MLB debut to potentially get a chance to do that with another team, but that's a rather reductive view of how it works.

Things get a little more complicated when you pop the hood on the process.

Eligibility for the Rule 5 Draft revolves around when a player signed and how long they've gone without being added to the 40-man roster. A player who signed with a team at 19 or older need to be added within four years, while any player who signed at 18 or younger needs to be added within five.

Any player who falls under either category is eligible for the draft and must be added to the 40-man roster in order to be protected from being essentially stolen away by another team. The deadline for teams to protect players this year is Tuesday, November 19th.

There's some fine print involved with taking a player in the Rule 5 Draft. If the Twins select a player, they must pay his old team $100,000 and have to keep him on their 40-man roster all season in order to retain his rights.

Twins prospects who are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this year

Here's a full list of players who are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this year, with notable prospects bolded. This doesn't mean they're guaranteed to be protected, but they're names you should probably know leading up to the deadline and especially if they end up being left unprotected.

Jose Salas is among the notable names; he's eligible for a second-straight year after being left off the 40-man roster last offseason. He's the other piece of the Pablo Lopez-Luis Arraez trade the Twins pulled off last year, but he's yet to make the sort of surge that other top prospects in the system have.

That doesn't mean he won't, but it'll be interesting to see if the Twins leave him unprotected again and whether another team swoops in on a second chance to grab him. Aaron Sabato, the Twins former first round pick, is also eligible again but unlikely to get any protection.

Who will the Twins protect from the Rule 5 Draft?

This is the big question, and one that is always hard to predict. Last year there were some obvious home run candidates the Twins couldn't afford to leave unprotected and ended up elevating a few to the MLB roster. Austin Martin was protected and made his debut not long after Opening Day, as did Jair Camargo.

Marco Raya can be considered a lock to get protected this year. He's one of the team's top pitching prospects and there's a chance he ends up making his debut next year depending on what the Twins do to address needs in the rotation. He was in the same conversation as David Festa at the beginning of last season before the latter distanced himself -- and notably was elevated to the MLB roster midseason.

The same could go for Kala'i Rosario, who was a high draft pick in 2020 and could factor into the outfield rotation if the Twins decide to go cheap and not add in free agency or trades. He's behind Emmanuel Rodriguez in terms of prospects in line to have a major league role, but it's not wild to think that he could be a summer call-up or someone the team relies on if injuries start to pile up.

As far as must-adds go, it'll be hard to see the Twins not protecting Ricardo Olivar. He's unlikely to factor into things this season, but he's hit .285/.396/.461 in his four-year career. Keep an eye on him as someone who will have a E-Rod or Luke Keaschall rise to Triple-A St. Paul and knock on the door of an MLB promotion if all continues to go well. Especially keep an eye on him if the Twins struggle to figure out a plan at first base or move off Christian Vazquez and end up unsatisfied with Camargo as a backup to Ryan Jeffers.

When is the Rule 5 Draft?

The Rule 5 Draft will take place as the final event of the Winter Meetings this year. While teams must protect players by next Tuesday, the draft itself won't happen until 1 pm ET on December 11th.

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