Twins decide to protect only two prospects from the Rule 5 Draft

Teams had until Tuesday afternoon to add eligible prospects to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, but it was a light day of decisions for the Minnesota Twins.

Despite a handful of potential players who made sense to protect, the Twins ended up adding just two players to the roster while leaving some notable names unprotected against being stolen. Pitching prospects Marco Raya and Travis Adams were protected from the Rule 5 Draft, which will take place next month at the Winter Meetings.

Raya was a slam dunk no-brainer protection, as he's the No. 5 prospect in the Twins' farm system and is the team's top pitching prospect heading into the offseason. While he's unlikely to be an Opening Day roster addition, there's a chance he'll ascend the same way David Festa and Zebby Matthews did last season, especially if the Twins end up relying on internal talent the way it seems they might in order to avoid spending money this winter.

Adams was a in the middle tier of players who the Twins might protect, and could also be on a path to the majors next year if all goes well. He'll begin the year at Triple-A and has what Aaron Gleeman described as 'a deep pitch mix that includes a quality slider' and projects as a potential bullpen addition at some point next season.

That's all presumptuous, as the road is still long before either Adams or Raya are in serious consideration for a promotion. Something else the Twins are assuming is that none of notable players they left unprotected will get taken in the Rule 5 Draft this year.

Twins leave a handful of notable prospects unprotected in Rule 5 Draft

Two of the most notable name the Twins didn't protect are Kala'i Rosario and Ricardo Olivar.

Olivar is hitting .285/.396/.461 over the last four years but has started to win folks over with his glove. He projects to fill a potential need for depth at catcher, depending on how things shake out with Christian Vazquez and Jair Camargo behind Ryan Jeffers, and had experience in the outfield.

Rosario was a fifth round draft pick back in 2020 who has slowly developed into a guy worth keeping an eye on in the minors. He slashed .235/.321/.405 with 19 doubles and eight homers in 56 games at Double-A Wichita last year and won the 2023 Fall League Home Run Derby. With all of the uncertainty about outfield depth, Rosario could have made sense as a safety valve for the team to pull midseason.

All of that could still happen, but both Olivar and Rosario are now fair game for another team to swoop in and steal away. It would require the Twins getting $100,000, something that can't be overlooked as far as why they weren't protected, but there's no guaruntee they'll be selected.

Last year the Twins left Jose Salas unprotected, something that happened again this year, and he wasn't picked up so there's a chance everyone remains where they are. The only guy who needed to be protected was Raya, and the addition of Adams to the roster at least gives the Twins another pitching prospect to potentially develop into a big leaguer next year.

As for the rest of the guys who are eligible to be selected, we'll have to wait and see what happens on December 11th.

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