Targets

Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B, Royals  

A long-time favorite of Roboscout, Pasquantino truly established himself as one of the top first basemen in baseball in 2025. It was Pasquantino’s first time playing over 150 games and the results followed, as he hit a career-high 32 home runs with 113 RBIs.

Under the hood, Pasquantino saw a significant jump in his barrel rate, climbing from 7.1% in 2024 to 10.8%. Since Pasquantino came up to the majors, he’s shown a good balance of plus bat-to-ball skills and plus power. In 2025, it finally came together. Entering his age-28 season, Pasquantino is squarely in his prime. I’m buying into a repeat of his 2025 season. [Geoff]

Sal Stewart, 1B, Reds

Like with Pasquantino, RoboScout has been a proponent of Stewart for a few years now, liking his blend of hit, power and age for level. For three straight years, Stewart’s minor league contact rate has been plus at 78 to 80%. His 90th percentile exit velocity has risen consistently from 103 mph as a 19-year-old to 107 mph last year, while he’s also barreled at a rate higher than 17% in each year. There were questions as to where he would play on defense, but it seems like his likely home will be first base.

In our rankings blurb, we likened Stewart to Pasquantino as someone who should hit .270 to .280 with on-base percentages that should reach .350 at peak while putting up 20-plus home runs yearly. His homer totals are likely to be even higher playing at Great American Ball Park. In redraft leagues for 2026, he is currently being taken in the 16th round (same as Spencer Steer and 10 rounds after Pasquantino). He’s underpriced in redraft, and once that’s discovered, we will realize he’ is’s underpriced in dynasty, too. [Dylan]

Sleepers

Ryan Clifford, 1B, Mets

With the likely departure of Pete Alonso in free agency, the projected incumbent at first base is Mark Vientos. But with only 17 career major league games at first base, it’s possible that experiment doesn’t work out. Fortunately, the Mets have Clifford, who should be more than an adequate fill-in defensively, waiting in the wings.

From an offensive standpoint, RoboScout sees the 22-year-old producing, at peak, a .345 OBP with 35 home runs. Those are essentially Bryce Eldridge-type projections without the hype. Public projections have him slightly lower, which to me makes him a sleeper. [Dylan]

Alec Burleson, 1B/OF, Cardinals 

In terms of real-life value, Burleson had a better season in 2025 than he did in 2024. However, in fantasy, value often deviates from real life, and Burleson wasn’t as valuable in 2025 for managers due to a dip in RBIs and runs.

Despite this drop in production, Bureleson showed several under-the-hood signs of a coming breakout. For example, he set his career high in barrel rate last season at 9.4%, a product of jumps in exit velocity and steeper angles. Additionally, all of his plate skill metrics trended up, as he lowered his chase rate and swinging-striking rate. With multi-position eligibility, Burleson is poised to potentially provide his managers value at multiple positions. [Geoff]

Fades

Josh Naylor, 1B, Mariners 

Outside of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., there are few players in MLB as fun as Naylor. His exuberant style of play was on full display in the Mariners’ run to the ALCS this fall.

After signing a five-year contract to stay in Seattle, we have a clearer view of what Naylor’s future lineup and home park looks like. Having split his 2025 season between Arizona and Seattle, Naylor is coming off the best season of his career. While he did see his home runs dip from 31 to 20 and his RBIs from 108 to 92, he managed to be more valuable due to a surprise 30-steal season. With only 25 career stolen bases entering 2025, it’s hard to imagine Naylor steals 25-30 bases again next year. It’s certainly possible, but due to the lack of track record as a basestealer, I’m fading Naylor. [Geoff]

Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers

This is less an indictment on Freeman’s value as it is commentary on his perceived value. Hitting in the middle of a stacked Dodgers lineup, Freeman’s only true “flaw” at the position is that he is in his mid 30s.

Figuring out when to trade away aging fantasy contributors—see Paul Goldschmidt and Mike Trout— is the hardest thing to time up correctly when playing dynasty. If you pull the trigger too early, you pay a huge opportunity cost. If you wait too long, you may only return pennies on the dollar. This might be a good time to test the waters in moving Freeman, as he is currently riding the World Series wave and likely high on people’s minds. [Dylan]

Matt Pushard, RHP, Marlins

Pushard fits the Rule 5 target profile as a late-blooming, Triple-A-tested righthander coming off his age-27 season. He logged a 3.61 ERA with 73 strikeouts to 23 walks over 62.1 innings and held steady with a fastball that sat 94-96 mph and touched 97 while producing a 34% miss rate and 42% chase rate. He leans on a sweepy slider and a curveball with occasional changeups and cutters mixed in.

Pushard ended his year on a high note with 11.1 scoreless innings during Jacksonville’s run to a Triple-A title, reinforcing his appeal as a plug-and-play relief option. 

Andrew Pintar, OF, Marlins

Pintar fits the Rule 5 archetype as a speedy center fielder with defensive value and a clear edge against lefthanded pitching. He hit .269/.338/.384 with four homers and 24 steals for Triple-A Jacksonville in 2025, and his platoon gap was stark—a .679 OPS against righties and .924 against lefties. His strikeout rates followed the same pattern, with far fewer whiffs against lefthanders.

The bat remains the variable. Contact issues and an inability to lift the ball have kept his above-average raw power from showing consistently in games. He now presents an interesting decision on whether his speed, defense and production against lefties merit a major league roster spot.

Kyler Fedko, OF, Twins

Fedko does not fit the normal profile of a Rule 5 pick. He’s a righthanded-hitting outfielder in an era when Rule 5 picks are almost always pitchers or premium defenders. But Fedko could be interesting for a rebuilding team who views his 2025 season as a sustainable breakout.

Fedko hit 28 home runs between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul this season to go with 38 steals in 46 tries. While his tools are a bit more modest than his stats may appear, Fedko has above-average contact skills and doesn’t get fooled out of the strike zone. His exit velocities are solid, not spectacular, but he does an excellent job getting to the very most of his power. He pulls the ball in the air consistently, which led to his power surge. Fedko is an above-average runner who makes the most of his opportunities on the bases.

Defensively, he’s stretched in center field as anything more than a fill-in, but he can play both corner outfield spots and even first base to a fringe-average level. He has a below-average arm.

Fedko is a 26-year-old who projects as a role player. That’s not a normal Rule 5 profile, but with upper-level time, he could be an inexpensive addition for a team looking for an outfield bat.

Blake Burkhalter, RHP, Braves

The Braves drafted Burkhalter out of Auburn with the 76th pick in 2022. He was one of the better college relievers in the country at the time.

His 2023 season was wiped out because of Tommy John surgery, and the Braves converted him to a starting role in 2024. The starting experiment ended in late July when Burkhalter moved back into a reliever role, something for which his high-effort delivery always seemed better suited. In 103 innings between Double-A Columbus and Triple-A Gwinnett, Burkhalter posted a 3.32 ERA with a 20.1% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate. He did add about a half tick of fastball velocity on average while working in a reliever role, but his stuff didn’t make the jump one might expect, and his results were similar, or marginally worse, in the second half of the season.

Burkhalter sits around 94 mph and will touch 98 with a cut-ride fastball. His best non-fastball is a cutter in the 88-91 mph range with a similar movement profile. Atlanta has attempted to give him a second breaking ball to create a different look. He’s struggled to find a quality slider and experimented with a curveball more in 2025, though neither pitch looks like an above-average offering. He did make some strides with an upper-80s kick-changeup that has splitter-esque movement and could serve as a reliable offspeed option to complement the four-seam/cutter combo. 

Harrison Cohen, RHP, Yankees

Cohen’s walk rate is a touch on the high side, but he has weapons to get hitters to swing and miss. The 26-year-old George Washington alum was also part of a 2022 Cotuit team in the Cape Cod League that has so far produced seven big leaguers. If Cohen is selected and sticks, he’ll be the first pitcher from that group.

The Yankees signed Cohen as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and he spent this past season between Double-A and Triple-A. The righthander has a frenetic, deceptive delivery that includes a low release height, high leg kick and short action out front. Toward the end of the year, he minimized a hand break that saw him take the ball completely out of his glove with his hands above his head, then tap it back into the glove at the top of his chest before removing it again at the beginning of his arm stroke.

As for his pitch mix, Cohen works with a four-seam fastball in the low 90s with roughly 18 inches of induced vertical break, a breaking pitch that rides the line between a cutter and a slider and a changeup. Both his breaking ball and change arrive in the mid 80s. The cutter and changeup each got chase rates of greater than 30% and miss rates between 43-48%. He struggles to land any of his pitches in the zone, however, which could keep savvier hitters from biting on versions designed to get chases.

Zach McCambley, RHP, Marlins

McCambley’s raw stuff is modest, but his performance in the upper minors in 2025 could prompt a club to consider him for an early 2026 look.

The 6-foot-2 righty, a 2020 third-round pick from Coastal Carolina, turned in a 2.90 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 22 walks over 62 innings, including a 3.32 ERA in 40.2 Triple-A frames. His mid-80s slider was the centerpiece, showing sweep and producing a 51% miss rate with a 34% chase rate, while a high-80s cutter added another bat-missing option with a 34% whiff rate. He also mixed in a four-seam fastball that reached 97 mph but typically sat 93-95 with limited carry. McCambley’s 33.1% strikeout rate was a career high while his 8.8% walk rate marked the lowest since the 26-year-old’s debut season in 2021.

CJ Culpepper, RHP, Twins 

Culpepper entered the 2025 season as the Twins’ 11th-ranked prospect, but he struggled through a combination of injuries and poor on-field performance. He missed more than two months with a pinched nerve in his elbow and then additional time with a virus and saw his stuff back up. He threw only 59.1 innings and while his 3.01 ERA was solid, his strikeout rate dropped 5.6% from 2024 and his walk rate rose 4.9%.

The biggest change in his profile was his fastball velocity, as his average velo dropped from 94.2 to 92.2, and his max dropped from 98.3 to 95.5. His strike-throwing remained relatively consistent, but the pitch regressed in stuff models.

Culpepper still leans heavily on his low-to-mid 80s slider, with it showing sweepy shape and producing a 40% whiff rate and 33% chase rate. He struggled to land it in the zone consistently in 2025, which contributed to his increased walk rate. He also features a cutter, but it grades out as fringy, and he will also occasionally mix in a sinker and an inconsistent changeup.

Scouts are mixed on his future role, but if a team believes they can get him back to his 2024 velocity and refine his fastball shape, Culpepper still represents an intriguing target because of his ability to spin a breaking ball. 

Hayden Mullins, LHP, Red Sox

In a pitching-rich Red Sox system, it’s easy for talented pitchers to slide under the radar. In Mullins’ case, the organization’s depth may have kept him off the 40-man roster.

Drafted out of Auburn in the 12th round in 2022, Mullins dealt with a litany of injuries as an amateur. He had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and returned to the mound in August 2023. He dealt with shoulder fatigue in May of this year but returned and remained on a regular schedule. Mullins made 18 starts with Double-A Portland, pitching to a 2.44 ERA, 3.79 FIP and 27.7% strikeout rate. 

Mullins meets several benchmarks of pitchers taken in the Rule 5 draft based on production. Additionally, his stuff is above-average with a good blend of unique characteristics. Mullins generates 6-foot-7 average extension—an outlier number for his six-foot frame. This allows him to create a flat vertical approach angle on his fastball and more ride than expected from his arm slot. Hitters struggled against Mullins’ fastball, running a 35% whiff rate against the pitch in 2025.

His secondaries consist of a higher-spin low-80s gyro slider, a high-spin upper-70s sweeper and a changeup with good vertical separation from his fastball. It’s a well-rounded arsenal that can drive lots of whiffs. 

Alimber Santa, RHP, Astros

Over the last four seasons, Santa has sat on the fringes of the Astros’ Top 30 Prospects list. After showing flashes of plus stuff over the early portion of his career, he put together a strong season in 2025. Over 46 appearances spanning 70 innings, he pitched to a 2.31 ERA with a 55.2% groundball rate and a 27.9% walk rate.

Santa has below average command and really struggled with walks during his short stint in Triple-A. Despite this, he shows a good blend of out-generating skills and the ability to induce both ground balls and whiffs. He mixes a mid-to-high-80s slider with heavy cut, a mid-90s fastball with four-seam and sinker variations, as well as a sweeper, curveball and changeup. It’s a deep pitch mix with feel for spin and the ability to move the ball around the zone with a variety of different shapes.

A team could take Santa as a potential low-leverage relief option to start. 

Yordanny Monegro, RHP, Red Sox

Every year at the 40-man deadline, there’s a talented pitcher who goes unprotected due to injury. This season, that pitcher might just be Monegro. Teams are able to stash players on the long-term injured list for an entire season, delaying their need to keep a player selected in the Rule 5 on the active roster. That’s key for Monegro, as he had Tommy John surgery in late August 2025 and will miss all of 2026.

Prior to his injury, Monegro had been superb over eight starts with Double-A Portland, pitching to a 2.34 FIP and 2.67 ERA with a 57% groundball rate, 35.8% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. Had it not been for the injury, there’s a case to be made that Monegro might have pitched himself to the majors by the end of 2025. His combination of swing-and-miss stuff, command and the ability to generate a high rate of groundball outs makes him a virtual lock on performance alone.

Factoring in his injury timeline, it would be surprising to not see Monegro picked. He has plus stuff with a plus slider and curveball that he mixes with a sinker, a four-seam fastball and a changeup. 

Jared Southard, RHP, Angels

One of the more intriguing Rule 5 names is Southard, who has a high likelihood of being selected. Taken in the 12th round in 2022 out of Texas, Southard reached Triple-A in 2025 making 27 relief appearances with Salt Lake.

A relief-only prospect, Southard has a good mix of upper-minors production and stuff. He pitched to a 4.23 ERA in the Pacific Coast League, striking out 25.8% of batters faced against a 8.6% walk rate. He posted those strikeout-to-walk rates while running a 56.4% groundball rate. He mixes a mid-90s sinker with true sink alongside two breaking balls with spin rates in the 2800-2900 rpm range on average. It’s a powerful arsenal with intriguing traits across his pitch mix.

Southard’s blend of out-generating skills paired with above-average stuff makes him an intriguing potential Rule 5 pick.

Tyler Vogel, RHP, Giants

Over 50 relief appearances in 2025, Vogel pitched to a 2.88 ERA and 3.56 FIP with a 25.4% strikeout rate against a 10.2% walk rate. He shows the ability to not only miss bats but also drive a heavy rate of ground balls (45.3% in 2025).

A former 12th-round pick out of Jacksonville back in 2022, Vogel opened the season with High-A Eugene before jumping to Triple-A Sacramento briefly and then to Double-A Richmond in a whirlwind season.

Vogel has limited upper-minors experience (18 total innings), but he does have multiple interesting characteristics. He generates on average of 6-feet-7 inches of extension from his six-foot frame, creating unique plane on his fastball. He mixes a splitter, slider and curveball with the splitter being his primary swing-and-miss offering and boasting a whiff rate above 40% in 2025. 

Peyton Pallette, RHP, White Sox

Once upon a time, Pallette was considered a potential top 10 draft pick entering his junior season at Arkansas. Instead, he had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and missed all of his draft-eligible season, leading the White Sox to draft him in the second round and sign him for $1.5 million.

In 2024, the White Sox moved Pallette to the bullpen, where he’s found success over the last two seasons. The righthander reached Triple-A in 2025, making 36 appearances with Charlotte and pitching to a 4.36 ERA with 54 strikeouts across 43.1 innings.

Pallette might be an easy plug-and-play option for a team looking for upside arms in the bullpen. He mixes a mid-90s four-seam fastball that misses bats with a high-spin, two-plane curveball, a mid-80s slurvy slider and a mid-80s changeup with good vertical separation off his fastball.

Jose Rodriguez, RHP, Dodgers

When it comes to the ideal template for a Rule 5 pick, Rodriguez checks a lot of boxes. He’s tall, physical, comes complete with a deceptive delivery and outlier pitches. The 24-year-old signed out of Mexico in 2019 and has wound his way through the system. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2025 and struck out 84 hitters in 54 innings between a pair of upper-level stop.

Rodriguez starts his motion from the stretch, turns his torso away from the hitter, plunges his arm deep enough that the baseball is nearly parallel to his ankle before uncoiling and delivering. His long levers create huge extension, which ranges between 6.8 and 7.1 feet throughout his arsenal. He combats hitters with four- and two-seam fastballs in the mid-to-upper 90s as well as a slider and changeup that each racked up miss rates of better than 51%. His changeup, in fact, the 65.4% miss rate on his changeup was fifth in the sport among those thrown more than 100 times. His slider is nearly as wicked, with sharp, straight drop that elicits chases at a rate of nearly 30%.

His walk rate is higher than ideal at 14.2%, and his long limbs and complicated delivery doesn’t make it seem like he’ll ever have pinpoint control or command. Nevertheless, his stuff is loud enough that a team might be willing to take a chance and add him to their bullpen.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Added: LHP Mitch Bratt, LHP Kohl Drake, INF Jose Fernandez, RHP Dylan Ray

Analysis: Bratt and Drake’s additions come just months after Arizona acquired both lefties from the Rangers at the trade deadline. A fifth-rounder out of the Canadian prep ranks in 2021, Bratt enjoyed the best season of his pro career in 2025, striking out 148 batters over 122.1 Double-A innings. The 21-year-old drove a surprising amount of swing-and-miss despite middling low-90s velocity. He instead relies on pitchability, changing shapes and eye levels to keep hitters off-balance, and he misses more bats than one might expect with his four-seamer thanks to its plane and deception. He also works in a mid-80s cutter, an upper-70s-to-low-80s curveball, a mid-80s changeup and a low-80s slider he can manipulate for more sweep when he needs it. 

Drake, 25, spent all of 2025 in the upper minors and was a candidate to potentially reach the majors by the end of the season before a shoulder sprain cut his campaign short. The lefthander threw harder in 2025, adding roughly 1 mph to a mid-90s fastball that he landed for plenty of strikes. His mid-80s changeup and low-80s curveball both have a chance to be solid-average pitches, if not better, and he bridges the gap with a work-in-progress cut-slider. Adding a bit more oomph helped his chances of sticking as a starter if his body can sustain it. 

Fernandez, 22, spent all season with Double-A Amarillo and blasted 17 homers in a hitting-friendly environment. He spent the bulk of his time at shortstop (where he made 22 errors), but he also has experience at third base and first base. Fernandez will need to curtail his chase rates, but he produced above-average exit velocities in 2025 and didn’t miss much on pitches in the strike zone. He could emerge as an interesting multi-positional option with some power off the bench. 

Ray, 24, was the club’s fourth-round pick in 2022 and logged 140.1 innings in the upper minors in 2025. He lacks a clear plus pitch, but his walk rates took a step in the right direction. He has a four-pitch mix that includes a mid-90s fastball along with a slider, changeup and curveball. Ray gives the D-backs another up-down type arm waiting in the wings at Triple-A.

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Athletics

Added: RHP Braden Nett, OF Junior Perez, RHP Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang

Analysis: Nett, 23, joined the Athletics at the trade deadline in the Mason Miller-Leo De Vries deal and immediately became one of their top pitching prospects. He has loud stuff and a deep bag of tricks that is sometimes diluted by spotty command. Nett has three fastball shapes, highlighted by a mid-90s heater that can touch 99 mph and an emerging cutter. He also features a 78 mph curveball that has big shape and spins over 3,000 rpm and an upper-80s changeup that hitters missed roughly half the time in 2025. Nett’s feel for his arsenal can waver, and he often fell behind too often early in counts. He’s part of a cavalcade of intriguing A’s arms closing in on the majors alongside Gage Jump and, perhaps soon, Jamie Arnold. 

Perez, 23, enjoyed a renaissance in 2025. He actually briefly hit minor league free agency last winter before signing back with the A’s. He then hit 26 homers, including 12 over just 42 games with Triple-A Las Vegas, while also showing off plus speed and above-average outfield defense. Perez is a streaky hitter with a below-average hit tool. His 28.1% strikeout rate in 2025 represented a career best in full-season ball. The Athletics’ outfield depth chart is crowded, but Perez could muscle his way into a fourth-outfield role in the big leagues at some point in 2026. 

Zhuang, 25, is another righthander with an abundance of pitch shapes. His fastball averaged just 92 mph in 2025, but he has an unusual ability to add and subtract with his velocity ranging from as low as 88 mph to touching nearly 97. His low-80s changeup is his bread-and-butter secondary, but he also works with a low-80s slider, mid-80s curveball and a separate splitter. Zhuang can fill up the strike zone. Whether his stuff is firm enough for his plan of attack to work against big league hitters remains an open question.

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Atlanta Braves

Added: None

Analysis: N/A

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Baltimore Orioles

Added: RHP Cameron Foster, OF Reed Trimble, RHP Anthony Nuñez (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: Foster is a righthanded reliever who reached Triple-A in 2025 after going 4-1, 1.01 with a 34-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio at Double-A Binghamton. The Orioles acquired him at the 2025 trade deadline in the deal that sent Gregory Soto to the Mets. Foster is a power reliever who relies heavily on a mid-90s four-seam fastball that can touch 98 and a hard high-80s cutter. He’ll also spot a bigger, slower slider and even mix in a big, slow curve at times. He projects as a useful lower-leverage relief arm with plenty of options remaining to ride the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle as needed.

Trimble was viewed as a high-risk, high-ceiling prospect when the Orioles selected him with a supplemental second-round pick in 2021. He was a draft-eligible covid-freshman at the time who had shown power and speed at Southern Miss. Trimble’s pro career has been slowed by injuries, as he’s had six different IL stints. This year was the first time he’s managed to play 80-plus games in a season, and he responded with the best year of his pro career, hitting .259/.342/.486 with 17 home runs. Trimble will be part of a very crowded O’s outfield picture that includes Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Jud Fabian in addition to returnees Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill and recent signee Leody Taveras. As a switch-hitting outfielder who can play all three spots, he could fit as a useful backup if there’s space in Baltimore.

The Padres drafted and signed Nuñez in the 29th round in 2019. He was a high school shortstop at the time and played in the Arizona Complex League that summer. When the Padres released Nuñez from their Low-A roster in August 2021, he qualified for amateur deregulation and attended Division II Tampa, where he starred as a third baseman. He took up pitching late in his junior season in 2024, catching the attention of the Mets, who signed him as an undrafted free agent. The Orioles acquired Nuñez in the Cedric Mullins deal at the 2025 trade deadline. Nuñez’s hard sweeper and cutter, paired with a fastball that touches 97-98 mph and a strong changeup, should play in the Orioles’ bullpen in 2026. The 24-year-old was playing on a successor contract in 2025, so he would have qualified as a minor league free agent had Baltimore not added him to its 40-man roster.  

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Boston Red Sox

Added: RHP Tyler Uberstine, RHP David Sandlin, LHP Shane Drohan

Analysis: Uberstine is an improbable story, as he climbed from being unrecruited out of high school to Boston’s 40-man roster. His unusual low arm slot creates a difficult angle for hitters and one of the flattest fastball planes in the minor leagues among starters in 2025. He generates more whiffs on his fastball that you’d expect against his average velocity of 92-94 mph. His primary secondary is a changeup, and he mixes a sweeper and slider, as well.

The Red Sox acquired Sandlin from the Royals in February 2024, and over the last two seasons he’s boasted some of the best stuff in the system. He mixes a four-seam fastball that sits 96-97 mph and touches 100 at peak with plus ride and plane. He mixes three breaking ball shapes in a cutter, sweeper and curveball. He rarely throws his splitter, but it’s a newer pitch he added during the 2024 spring training. The Red Sox moved Sandlin to the bullpen with Triple-A Worcester to end 2025. Though he struggled in 15 appearances with the Woo Sox, he has the ingredients to develop into a high-leverage relief option. 

Drohan was the fourth pick in the 2023 Rule 5 draft by the White Sox but was returned to the Red Sox the following July. If Boston had left Drohan unprotected, he would have been subject to different rules than a typical Rule 5-eligible player. Specifically, if Drohan had been selected in the Rule 5 draft a second time, the team that drafted him would’ve had no obligation to keep him on their active roster next season and would instead own his rights. Drohan had a very solid season in 2025, making 12 appearances with Worcester and pitching to a 2.27 ERA across 47.2 innings. Drohan mixes a four-seam fastball at 93-94 mph with an upper-80s cutter, a mid-80s slider, a upper-70s curveball and a changeup.

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Chicago Cubs

Added: 2B/3B Pedro Ramirez, 2B James Triantos, LHP Riley Martin

Analysis: The multi-positional Ramirez ranked 10th in our recent Cubs Top 10 Prospects list. He’s a well-rounded player with an advanced hit tool and a polished switch-hitting ability. He’s stronger as a lefthanded hitter but shows solid contact skills righthanded. Ramirez’s selling point is his versatility. He can play both second base and third base at an above-average level, hit from both sides of the plate, get on-base and consistently put the ball in play. He’s an above-average baserunner and stole 28 bases in Double-A this season. Ramirez is unlikely to debut until late 2026, but he could be a “break glass in case of emergency” option for the Cubs if injuries strike. 

Triantos, a second-round pick out of James Madison HS (VA) in 2021, experienced a down year in 2025, hitting .258/.315/.369 over 102 games with Triple-A Iowa. Triantos had been a candidate for a potential callup entering this season coming off a breakout 2024 campaign. While lacking power, he has a similar set of skills to Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. Triantos has below-average power with advanced plate skills, avoiding strikeouts at an admirable rate. He’s also an adept baserunner, stealing 78 bases over the last two seasons. Triantos is an average defender at second base who will show flashes of above-average-or-better defense there. 

The 27-year-old Martin signed for $1,000 out of Quincy University in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. After going unprotected and unselected in the 2024 Rule 5 draft, Martin is being added to the Cubs’ 40-man roster. He returned to Triple-A for the second year in a row in 2025 and showed noticeable improvements to his strike-throwing. He cut his walk rate from 16.2% to 13.4% and dropped nearly two runs off his ERA. Martin is an undersized lefthander with good stuff. He mixes a four-seam fastball at 93-95 mph with a mid-80s sweeper and an occasional changeup. He’s a relief-only prospect who could help the Cubs’ relief corps immediately, offering them another lefty out of the pen.

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Chicago White Sox

Added: RHP Duncan Davitt, RHP Tanner McDougal

Analysis: A 26-year-old righty drafted by the Rays in the 18th round in 2022, Davitt split 2025 between Double-A and Triple-A after a midseason trade to the White Sox, and he delivered a 4.38 ERA with 150 strikeouts to 45 walks over 152 innings. His fastball lacks premium velocity, but his low slot, steep angles and nearly seven feet of extension give it unusual shape. Davitt attacks with five pitches, including a sweeper with more than 15 inches of horizontal break and a cutter and changeup that both grade at least average.

McDougal, a 6-foot-5 righty and 2021 fifth-rounder, impressed with a 3.26 ERA and 136 strikeouts to 49 walks over 113.1 innings across High-A and Double-A in 2025. He works from a high three-quarters slot and carries standout arm strength, sitting 97-99 mph and touching 100. His high-70s curveball flashed plus with a 48% miss rate, and he pairs it with a firm, mid-to-high 80s slider that profiles as at least average. McDougal turns 23 in April.

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Cincinnati Reds

Added: RHP Jose Franco (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA), SS Edwin Arroyo, OF Hector Rodriguez, INF Leo Balcazar

Analysis: Franco’s stuff improved in 2025 as he got further away from the Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2023 season. He likely will see big league time in 2026 as a multi-inning reliever/swingman whose 95-97 mph fastball, slider, cutter and changeup give hitters a multitude of pitches to worry about.

Arroyo was an easy protection decision for the Reds. One of the key prospects acquired in the 2022 Luis Castillo trade with the Mariners, he is set to head to Triple-A Louisville to start 2026, but he is also the Reds’ most viable replacement if Elly De La Cruz misses any significant time. Arroyo’s power has not yet developed as hoped, but the switch-hitter makes plenty of contact, and he’s a reliable defender at shortstop.

The decision on Rodriguez was also likely an easy one. The Reds received Rodriguez in the July 2022 Tyler Naquin trade with the Mets. He has long been one of the most aggressive hitters in the minors, but as he’s matured, he’s moderated the most extreme of his swing-all-the-time tendencies. Rodriguez has excellent contact skills, and he’s a .289 career MiLB hitter. He hit 19 home runs and had 46 extra-base hits in 2025. Once a speedster, Rodriguez has slowed down and is now a fringy corner outfielder who struggles to catch balls over his head. He likely will start 2026 in Triple-A Louisville, and as a lefty hitter, he could be a useful platoon outfielder.

Balcazar presented the most difficult decision for the Reds. He has battled back from a serious knee injury that sidelined him for almost all of 2023. When he returned in 2024, he didn’t display the same explosive athleticism, but he has shown he can be a versatile, well-rounded infielder. After splitting time nearly equally between shortstop and second base in 2025, he added third base to his repertoire in the Arizona Fall League. Balcazar projects as a utility infielder who can play three infield spots while provided fringe-average hitting ability with below-average power.

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Cleveland Guardians

Added: INF Angel Genao, RHP Yorman Gomez, RHP Austin Peterson, OF Kahlil Watson

Analysis: Genao was the headliner of Cleveland’s 2021 international class as a Venezuela signee, and entered top 50 overall prospect status after a breakout 2024 season. He’s a switch-hitter with standout contact skills from both sides of the plate, though the Guardians are still waiting on his power to evolve from doubles in the gaps to home runs over the fence. Genao spent the bulk of his time at Double-A in 2025, though he was limited by a right shoulder sprain and didn’t quite replicate his terrific 2024 season. He’s a .289/.366/.419 minor league hitter with a 10.5% walk rate and 16.3% strikeout rate. Genao is a primary shortstop and has the tools to stick there, but he needs more refinement and could wind up eventually playing third base or second. He ranks among Cleveland’s top five prospects. 

Gomez was a significant up-arrow prospect for Cleveland in 2025. He originally signed with the team as a minor league free agent out of Venezuela in July 2019 but didn’t make his official debut with the team until 2021. He’s slowly progressed the minor league ladder since, adding about a level a year until getting his first taste of Double-A competition in 2025. Over 121.2 innings this year split between High-A and Double-A, Gomez posted a 2.96 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate—the best of his career—and 9.5% walk rate. He added more power to his fastball and now throws the pitch in the 94-95 mph range, getting it up to 97. He also took a big step forward with a mid-80s sweeper slider that generated a 43% miss rate and was his most effective swing-and-miss pitch. In addition to the sweeper, Gomez also throws a second slider variant in the upper 80s, a curveball in the upper 70s and an occasional changeup in the mid 80s. 

Peterson was a ninth-round draft pick out of Connecticut in 2022 who has long stood out for his command and pitchability. A lack of high-octane velocity has always kept his strikeout numbers in check. He spent the entirety of the 2025 season in the upper minors, making 26 starts between Double-A and Triple-A and throwing 145.2 innings. He posted a 3.21 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and a 6.8% walk rate. While his strikeout numbers are modest, he’s among the most reliable innings-eaters in the minors. He’s thrown more than 100 innings in every season since 2023, and since 2023, his 422.2 innings are the most of any minor league pitcher. Peterson throws a 92 mph fastball that will touch 94-95 with good extension, and his best miss offering is a low-80s sweeper slider with nearly 14 inches of horizontal break. He also has an upper-80s cutter, an upper-80s changeup and a slower curveball in the 77-80 range.

Watson was one of the premium high school hitting prospects in the 2021 class, ranking in the same tier as other high-end shortstops like Jordan Lawlar, Marcelo Mayer and Brady House. He slid to the Marlins with the 16th-overall pick and has struggled to live up to his draft expectations since. The Guardians acquired Watson in a 2023 trade for Josh Bell, and as a 22-year-old in 2025 he delivered his best pro season. In 102 games between Double-A and Triple-A, Watson hit .250/.346/.467 with 16 home runs, 20 doubles and 17 stolen bases. While he provides a solid power/speed combination, he has below-average plate and contact skills and ran a 27.7% strikeout rate with a high swing rate. For all Watson’s aggression and willingness to expand the strike zone, he has managed a 10% or better walk rate in subsequent seasons against upper-minors pitching, giving him reasonable on-base value. After transitioning to being more of an outfield defender in 2024, Watson spent the entire 2025 season in either left, center or right, marking the first time he’d done so in his career. 

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Colorado Rockies

Added: LHP Welinton Herrera, RHP Gabriel Hughes, OF Sterlin Thompson

Analysis: Herrera, along with Charlie Condon, represented the Rockies at the 2025 Futures Game in Atlanta. The 21-year-old has a relief-only profile, with some scouts believing he has the stuff to be a setup man or closer when he reaches the majors. Herrera, equipped with a three-pitch mix, has a fastball that sits at 95 mph and has touched 97, along with a slider he uses as a secondary offering. Both pitches generate whiffs and drive ground balls. His third offering is a changeup he doesn’t throw very often. Herrera pitched in High-A and Double-A, accumulating a 2.64 ERA with 99 strikeouts and 25 walks. Herrera got some extra seasoning in the Arizona Fall League in 2025.

Hughes was Colorado’s first-round draft selection in 2022 out of Gonzaga, but he had an injury-plagued introduction to his pro career when he had Tommy John surgery midway through 2023. He had his first full season back this past year. In that stretch, Hughes looked impressive during spring training and was sent to Double-A before finishing the season in Triple-A. The 24-year-old had a 4.19 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 38 walks. Hughes’ fastball coming out of college parked in the mid 90s, but ever since returning from his surgery he has sat 91 mph, with 94 being his max. Still, he throws strikes with his fastball at a 65% rate. He also incorporates a slider, curveball, sinker and splitter. It was definitely the year Hughes needed to prove that he could still be the first-rounder the Rockies took a chance on in 2022.

Thompson, the 31st-overall pick in 2022, has consistently shown he can produce at the plate. He slashed .296/.392/.519 with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and his underlying metrics backed up the performance. He posted a 17.5% in-zone whiff rate, chased and missed at only a 24% clip, and recorded a 105.1 mph 90th percentile exit velocity—evidence of both contact quality and approach. Defense has been the main question throughout Thompson’s career. In college at Florida, he split time between the infield and outfield. The Rockies tried to explore that positional versatility early on before ultimately moving him to the outfield full-time, where he remains below average. Even so, his bat is impactful enough to give him a legitimate chance to contribute in the majors.

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Detroit Tigers

Added: 2B/3B Hao-Yu Lee, C Thayron Liranzo, SS Trei Cruz, C Eduardo Valencia, LHP Jake Miller

Analysis: It was a busy protection deadline day for the Tigers. They entered with a full 40-man roster, but that was before Gleyber Torres accepted their qualifying offer, which meant they were about to be one over the limit. Detroit ended up designating six relievers for assignment to clear space for a slew of prospects and Torres.

Lee was acquired in 2023 in the deadline deal that sent Michael Lorenzen to the Phillies. As a righthanded hitter, he could eventually provide some balance for a Tigers lineup that is largely filled with lefty hitters. Bringing Torres back will actually slow his timetable. Lee splits his time between second and third base, although he’s generally viewed by scouts as a bat-first infielder. Lee has a solid understanding of the strike zone and hits plenty of stinging line drives. As of yet, he doesn’t pull the ball in the air enough to get to plus power.

Liranzo was the top prospect the Tigers acquired from the Dodgers in the 2024 Jack Flaherty trade. The switch-hitting catcher really struggled in 2025. He hit .206/.308/.351 as he showed neither the power nor hitting ability he’s flashed in the past. He has plus raw power, but he was too often beaten by quality pitching in the Eastern League. He won’t turn 23 until midseason next year, so there’s plenty of time for him to bounce back.

Last year, the Tigers saw versatile infielder Gage Workman picked in the Rule 5 draft (he eventually was offered back to them). Cruz was left unprotected last year, too, but he wasn’t really a target because of concerns about his bat. This year, that all changed. The shortstop/center fielder hit .279/.411/.456 between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo in what was easily the best season of Cruz’s pro career. The son of Jose Cruz Jr. and the grandson of Jose Cruz Sr., the youngest Cruz had never posted a .400 slugging percentage or a .360 on-base percentage before this season. Cruz is set to return to Triple-A Toledo, but with his versatility and newfound plate discipline, he could get to Detroit at some point in 2026.

Much like Cruz, Valencia is a credit to the Tigers’ hitting development program. A 2018 international signee, Valencia has been unprotected and unnoticed in the Rule 5 draft for multiple seasons, but that was before he hit .311/.382/.559 with 24 home runs between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo in 2025. Valencia came into the season having hit 12 home runs in six pro seasons. The power gains seem legitimate, as Valencia has one of the highest average and 90th percentile exit velocities in the Tigers’ system, and he manages to get to that power without losing the bat-to-ball skills that have long been his calling card. He’s not going to push Dillon Dingler aside, but his bat makes him a viable first base/DH/backup catcher candidate.

Miller was a 2022 eighth-round pick out of Valparaiso. The lefty missed much of the 2025 season with a back injury, but he impressed in his return, allowing only five runs in 20 innings, striking out 21 and walking four between Low-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. Miller was impressive in a relief role in 2024, going 9-3, 1.85 across three levels. Miller doesn’t have a dominating fastball (92-94 mph), but it does have excellent life, and his sweepy slider gives him a second extremely effective pitch against lefties.

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Houston Astros

Added: RHP Miguel Ullola

Analysis: One of the better pitching prospects in the Astros’ system over the past few seasons, the 23-year-old Ullola spent all of 2025 in Triple-A and climbed to No. 6 in system. He made 28 appearances (23 starts), pitching to a 3.88 ERA in the treacherous Pacific Coast League. The ride-cut shape of his fastball generates above-average swing-and-miss numbers and has been the primary driver of his success. Ullola’s 15.9% walk rate in 2025 is a perfect example of the below-average command that will likely push him to the bullpen. The unique angle and movement of his fastball paired with a cutter, curveball, changeup and sweeper give him plenty of bat-missing weapons. Ullola could grow into a multi-inning weapon for the Astros as soon as next season.

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Kansas City Royals

Added: RHP Ben Kudrna, RHP Steven Zobac

Analysis: Kudrna flashed promise in an uneven 2025 that included a short look in Triple-A. The 22-year-old logged a 5.30 ERA with 106 strikeouts to 50 walks over 105.1 innings, most of them at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He works with four pitches, headlined by a mid-to-high 90s fastball with average shape and a mid 80s slider that stood out with a 41% miss rate and tight movement. He also mixes a changeup with close to 15 inches of fade and a high-70s curveball with mild tilt.

Zobac’s game is built around a fastball/slider combo with a splitter as a change-of-pace offering. His fastball carries well with a relatively flat angle and solid extension, and it produced a 25% miss rate. His 87-88 mph slider shows two-plane break and generated a 38% miss rate. The splitter adds fade and tumble. The quality of Zobac’s arsenal outpaced his results in 2025, as the 2022 fourth-rounder posted a 7.25 ERA with 45 strikeouts to 16 walks over 44.2 innings, mostly in Double-A.

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Los Angeles Angels

Added: RHP Walbert Ureña

Analysis: Ureña has one of the best arms in the Angels’ system. He can reach triple digits as a starter, although he’s more of a sinker-slider pitcher than a elevate-and-celebrate flame-thrower. Ureña went 6-9, 4.34 in 28 starts in 2025, largely at Double-A Rocket City, although he did reach Triple-A Salt Lake for one start. He struggles to throw strikes at times, but his stuff and durability give him a shot to pitch in Anaheim in 2026.

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Los Angeles Dodgers

Added: LHP Ronan Kopp, OF Ryan Ward (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: Kopp is a pure relief prospect, but he could be a good one. The lefty works with two pitches: a mid-90s fastball with an average of 18.4 inches of induced vertical break and a hard slider in the high 80s. Together, those offerings helped him punch out 91 hitters in 57.2 innings between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He needs to find the strike zone more often, as shown by his 16.6% walk rate, but the stuff is good enough to protect and develop.

On his third try at Triple-A, Ward became one of the most productive hitters in the minor leagues. The 27-year-old outfielder led all of MiLB in home runs (36), RBIs (122), extra-base hits (73) and total bases (315). As might be expected from a player with such a prolific year, Ward hits the ball hard and in the air. His 90th percentile exit velocity was 104.7 mph, and his average launch angle was 13.6 degrees. That combination led to a season of barrel after barrel. Even more important, he made more contact. Ward cut his overall and zone-miss rates by 7.2% and 6.8%, respectively. He also lowered his chase rate by 8.7%, bringing it down to 26.3%. Defensively, he split his time among first base and both corner outfield spots.

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Miami Marlins

Added: C Joe Mack, RHP Josh White, RHP William Kempner

Analysis: Mack, a 2021 first-rounder, is Miami’s No. 4 overall prospect and a Top 100 Prospect. He climbed to Triple-A Jacksonville in 2025 and hit .250/.320/.459 with 18 home runs, 18 doubles and a 90 mph average exit velocity in 99 games. Mack’s combination of defense, power and a more polished approach positioned him as one of the better catching prospects in the upper minors. He is likely to open 2026 in Jacksonville, but a big league debut should follow soon after.

White dominated in 2025 with a 1.86 ERA and 107 strikeouts to 23 walks over 67.2 innings, including a 2.23 ERA in Triple-A. His fastball worked at 93-95 mph and touched 97 with carry at the top of the zone. He paired it with a mid-80s slider that produced a 52% miss rate and a tight curveball that also missed bats.

Kempner brings a different look with a low-slot crossfire delivery and a fastball that sat 94-96 and touched 99 mph with an unusually flat -3.96 degree attack angle. His feel for spin shows in a 3,000 rpm sweeper, and he also mixes a sinker, cutter and splitter. Kempner logged a 2.26 ERA with 95 strikeouts to 40 walks over 67.2 innings across three levels in his first year with Miami. If the command sharpens, he, too, could factor into Miami’s bullpen mix in 2026.

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Milwaukee Brewers

Added: RHP Coleman Crow (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: Crow, 24, would have become a minor league free agent, but the Brewers enticed him to stay with a spot on their 40-man roster. A 6-foot righthander, Crow missed time in 2025 due to hip and elbow issues that limited him to 50 innings, but he posted strong numbers with Double-A Biloxi to the tune of a 52-8 K-BB mark and a 2.41 ERA over 43 innings. He won’t overpower anyone with velocity—he sits in the low 90s and touches 94 mph—but his ability to throw strikes from a lower release height and spin two sharp breaking balls around 2,900 rpms should allow him to carve out a major league role, whether it’s at the back of a rotation or in a bullpen.

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Minnesota Twins

Added: LHP Connor Prielipp, LHP Kendry Rojas, OF Gabriel Gonzalez, RHP Andrew Morris, OF Hendry Mendez, RHP John Klein

Analysis: Prielipp’s career has been slowed by injuries going back to his time at Alabama, where he missed most of his final two years with Tommy John surgery. He finally stayed healthy in 2025 and emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in the Twins’ system. He threw 82.2 innings between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul with a 27% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. Prielipp is a filled-out lefty with a polished arsenal. He throws both a four-seam fastball and sinker, with his four-seamer sitting in the mid 90s and touching 98 and his sinker a tick below that. He has solid command of his fastball, and he complements it with two potential plus secondaries in a mid-80s slider and high-80s changeup. He uses his slider more than twice as much as his changeup, and in 2025 both had whiff rates over 32% and strong expected results on batted balls. He has midrotation potential and should make his MLB debut sometime in 2026.  

The Twins acquired Rojas at the trade deadline from the Blue Jays. The 22-year-old lefthander’s development has been slowed by injuries and that was the case again in 2025, as he missed the first two months with an abdominal injury. He started a rehab assignment in late May and impressed in four July starts with Double-A New Hampshire just before the trade deadline. After the Twins acquired him, his performance dipped while he adjusted to a new organization. In 27.1 innings with the Twins, he had a 19.3% strikeout rate and 15.9% walk rate, whereas in 41.2 innings with Toronto, he had a 37.1% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. Rojas doesn’t have a plus pitch, but he shows a balanced arsenal and solid pitchability. He features a 92-95 mph fastball, 85-88 mph slider and 86-89 mph splitter. He profiles as a potential back-end starter or as a multi-inning reliever and has a chance to contribute at the major league level in 2026. 

The Twins acquired Gonzalez from the Mariners in January 2024 as part of the Jorge Polanco trade. He had a rough debut season in which he was limited with a back injury, but he bounced back in 2025 and hit over .300 at three different levels with 15 home runs. Gonzalez’s calling card is at the plate, where he has a hit-over-power profile. He is overly aggressive and prone to chase but gets away with it due to advanced feel for contact. His zone-contact rate was 86% in 2025, and he improved his results against righthanders while continuing to excel against lefthanders. He lacks speed and defensive value, but his ability to hit lefthanders on its own could be enough to carry him to platoon role as soon as 2026. He has upside for more if he continues to improve his approach and ability to hit righthanders. 

Morris doesn’t have the same upside as some of the other players the Twins added, but he is the closest to major league-ready after spending all of 2025 in Triple-A, where he had a 4.09 ERA in 94.2 innings while striking out 22.4% and walking 7% of batters. Morris is undersized at 6-foot, 195 pounds, but he has a live arm, and his fastball sits in the mid 90s, topping out at 98 mph. He has advanced command of it and complements it with a wide-ranging group of secondaries, including a cutter, sweeper, curveball and changeup. His sweeper and curveball show the most bat-missing ability of that group. Morris has a high floor and a chance to start. Depending on the other moves the Twins make with their pitching staff this offseason, he could compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster next spring.

The Twins acquired Mendez at the trade deadline from the Phillies in the Harrison Bader deal. He got off to a strong start with the Phillies in Double-A Reading and was even better with the Twins. Overall, he hit .299/.399/.439 with 11 home runs in 2025. After the season, he went to the Arizona Fall League, where he made a strong case for 40-man protection. Mendez has a rare combination of skills at the plate, as he has strong knowledge of the strike zone, makes a ton of contact and produces solid exit velocities. The catch is he really struggles to elevate the ball and doesn’t project to add much defensive value. The Twins are betting that they can improve his batted-ball angles and didn’t want to take a risk that another team would be able to stash him in the Rule 5 draft.

Klein signed as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa Central Community College following the 2022 draft. The 6-foot-5 righthander broke out in 2025, compiling a 3.98 ERA in 106.1 innings across Double-A and Triple-A while striking out 27.6% and walking 8% of hitters. Klein lacks a plus pitch but has a balanced four-pitch arsenal. His go-to pitch is his fastball, which sits 93-95 mph and tops out at 97. He complements it with a hard slider, changeup and curveball. None of his secondary offerings project as plus, and most scouts see him as a reliever long-term, but his combination of improving stuff and solid pitchability make him an intriguing depth option for 2026.

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New York Mets

Added: OF Nick Morabito

Analysis: Morabito signed as an athletic high school infielder from the Washington, D.C., ranks, but he has focused on center field in pro ball, developing into an above-average one thanks to his plus speed. The 22-year-old batted .273/.348/.385 with six home runs and 49 stolen bases this season in 118 games for Double-A Binghamton. Morabito added 25 more hits and 16 more steals in a 17-game sample in the Arizona Fall League, where he produced a .914 OPS in the hitter-happy league. He has potential carrying tools in his speed and defense with a chance for a solid-average bat and an overall extra outfielder vibe. Morabito is one of the few high school players drafted in 2022 who faced a 40-man roster evaluation season in 2025. That’s because he was classified as a 19-year-old signee. Most of Morabito’s prep peers in the 2022 draft will be afforded another season of evaluation in 2026. 

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New York Yankees

Added: OF Spencer Jones, RHP Elmer Rodriguez, RHP Chase Hampton, RHP Kervin Castro (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: Jones is one of the most volatile players in the minor leagues. At his best, he has light tower power to all fields and looks every bit of a force in the middle of an order. More often than not, however, the lefthanded slugger shows subpar swing decisions and some of the highest miss rates of any prospect in the game. He went through an absolutely nuclear stretch in the middle of the summer but followed it with a stint on the injured list with back spasms and a frigid stretch that saw him strike out 47% of the time in August and September. He is a capable center fielder who might be better suited in a corner in the long run. If such a move happens, he’ll have more than enough power to profile, assuming he makes enough contact. 

Rodriguez came to the Yankees from the Red Sox in the deal that sent catcher Carlos Narvaez back to Boston. His 176 strikeouts were the second-most in the minor leagues behind only BA Minor League Pitcher of the Year Jonah Tong. Rodriguez works with a deep pitch mix headlined by four-seam, two-seam and cut fastballs and backed by an array of offspeed pitches that includes a slider, sweeper, curveball and splitter. He’ll need to fine-tune his command, especially now that he’ll be working full-time with the electronically enforced automatic ball-strike system, but he’s a polished pitcher with plenty of options to attack righties and lefties alike.

In 2023, Hampton was one of the highest-rising pitchers on the Yankees’ farm. His progress was stunted by a series of injuries in 2024, followed by Tommy John surgery that wiped out all of his 2025 season and will delay his return in 2026. At his best, he had a four-pitch mix led by a plus fastball, a pair of above-average breaking balls, an average cutter and a fringy changeup. He tied the arsenal together with average control. His entire arsenal was down toward the end of 2024, and it remains to be seen whether it will return in full once he’s healthy again. 

Castro is well-traveled, to say the least. Originally signed by the Giants in 2015, he has spent time in their organization, as well as with the Cubs and Tigers. The Yankees selected Castro from the Tigers in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft and waited while he spent 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. The procedure was his second, as he also missed most of the 2017 and 2018 seasons while recovering from his first TJ operation. He made his big league debut in 2021 and saw MLB time with the Giants and Cubs in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In 2025, Castro struck out 52 hitters and walked 22 in 47 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He utilizes a five-pitch mix led by a four-seamer that averaged roughly 92 mph and peaked at 96. The pitch played better—and got a miss rate of 39.5%—than its velocity thanks to 17 inches of induced vertical break. He actually threw his cutter slightly more often than his four-seamer. The pitch came in a couple of ticks slower than his four-seamer but was thrown with near-equal release height and extension. Castro backed his fastballs with a mid-80s sweeper, high-80s changeup and high-70s curveball, though none of those three pitches was thrown more than 74 times.

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Philadelphia Phillies

Added: RHP Andrew Painter, RHP Alex McFarlane, OF Gabriel Rincones Jr.

Analysis: Painter checks in as the system’s No. 2 prospect and its top arm talent. In his first full season after recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2023, the righthander went through a few growing pains. His fastball quality backed up thanks to an arm slot that dropped throughout the year, and the pitch was more hittable as a result. He also added a two-seamer and a sweeper and changed the grip on his changeup to something more like a splitter. Painter’s 2025 season wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it shows he still had a few coats of polish to apply before he was ready for the big leagues. 

Rincones’ attraction to a big league club is simple: He mashes righthanders. The hulking lefty produced an .873 OPS and hit all of his 18 home runs against righties. By contrast, he was completely neutralized by southpaws, who held him to a .107/.215/.107 line at Triple-A in 2025. He should be fringy outfielder with a strong arm, but the majority of his value will come from what he does in the batter’s box. 

McFarlane has long been lauded as one of the best athletes in the Phillies’ system, but he missed the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. When he re-emerged in 2025, it was as a prospect ticketed for the bullpen. His mix now includes four- and two-seam fastballs, as well as a potentially-plus slider and a split-finger fastball. His offspeed pitches took a small step back this past season, and there is a chance the team will nix the splitter entirely if it doesn’t regain its former sharpness. He could make his big league debut in 2026 in the bullpen.

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Pittsburgh Pirates

Added: RHP Antwone Kelly, RHP Wilber Dotel, OF/1B Esmerlyn Valdez, SS/3B Jack Brannigan, LHP Tyler Samaniego, RHP Brandan Bidois, RHP Ryan Harbin (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: The Pirates added six more players to their 40-man roster, including three prospects who rank among Baseball America’s updated 2026 Top 10.

Kelly and Dotel were two of the system’s biggest breakout arms in 2025. Each park their fastballs in the upper 90s. Kelly, 22, reshaped his body and added roughly 3 mph of fastball velocity, touching 101 while landing it for strikes around 70% of the time. He’s an above-average strike-thrower overall. This is a key offseason as he works to more cleanly separate his slider from his cutter and sharpen his breaking ball consistency to remain a starter. 

Dotel, 23, has steadily added fastball velocity while logging at least 100 innings in each of the last two seasons. He’s powerfully built, averaged 96 mph on his fastball in 2025 and added a splitter that complemented his entire arsenal. His slider also flashes above-average potential. Despite his raw traits, he has never missed bats at the rate you’d expect and needs to improve his sequencing, though he fills the zone with plenty of strikes. 

Valdez capped a loud season with a strong Arizona Fall League showing. His 26 regular season homers ranked third among players 21 or younger, and then he went to the fall circuit where he clubbed eight more. Valdez has easy plus raw power and made some swing alterations to flatten out his bat path and get on plane more consistently. There are some clear holes—namely fringy bat-to-ball ability and below-average defensive value in a corner—but the Pirates didn’t want to chance another team falling in love with his age and power potential. 

Brannigan, 24, saw his season cut short after just 59 games with Double-A Altoona because of right labrum shoulder surgery. He has never played more than 87 games in a season. A two-way player in college at Notre Dame, he has a cannon of an arm when healthy and can play above-average defense on the left side of the infield. Scouts have some concerns about whether his uphill swing can tame big league pitching, but he quietly made some modest improvements under the hood in 2025 that didn’t show up in his surface-level .225/.329/.358 line in pitcher-friendly Altoona.

Harbin, Bidois and Samaniego are all bullpen depth. Harbin, 24, was set to become a minor league free agent. Instead, the Pirates added him to their 40-man roster after he struck out just under 32% of hitters (offset by a 16% walk rate) and reached Triple-A Indianapolis in 2025. Harbin’s a pure reliever who has always struck out plenty of batters but often battled imprecise strike-throwing. He has been up to 101 and has the best slider in the Pirates’ system, so he figures to factor into their bullpen mix at 2026 if they can help him throw enough strikes. 

Bidois, 24, doesn’t throw quite as hard, but his mid-90s fastball has tons of carry. He pitched at every Pirates full-season affiliate in 2025 and at one point faced 64 consecutive batters (18 innings) without allowing a hit. He’s a two-pitch righty with a mid-80s slider that missed plenty of bats in the minors, as well. 

Samaniego, 26, has a spotty recent health track record but struck out 44 batters over 38.1 innings in 2025 between four levels. He has a deeper arsenal for a lefty reliever, attacking hitters with two mid-90s fastballs, a two-plane mid-80s slider and a mid-to-upper-80s changeup. Samaniego’s entire arsenal is aided by a lower release slot and above-average extension. 

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San Diego Padres

Added: RHP Miguel Mendez, RHP Garrett Hawkins,

Analysis: Mendez is one of the more prominent risers in the Padres system and is fresh off a quality 2025 season in which he compiled a 3.22 ERA with 118 strikeouts across 95 innings scattered across Single-A, High-A and Double-A. A live-armed righthander, he features a mid-to-upper-90s fastball, a mid-to-upper-80s slider and an upper-80s-to-low-90s changeup. Mendez’s heater flashes life through the zone, and his slider is a plus pitch that garnered an impressive 52% whiff rate this season. His changeup profiles as an effective third offering. Mendez’s command is still a work in progress, but he decreased his walk rate from 14.9% to 11% between 2024 and 2025. Mendez has one of the higher ceilings of any pitching prospect in San Diego’s system.

Hawkins missed the entire 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but 2025 served as an emphatic bounce-back campaign for the physical 6-foot-5 righthander. A former ninth-round pick out of University of British Columbia (NAIA), Hawkins this season pitched to a 1.50 ERA with 80 strikeouts across 60 innings between High-A and Double-A. After being used predominantly as a starter between 2021 and 2023, the Padres opted to move Hawkins back to the bullpen, which is where he’s most effective. He relies heavily on his fastball-sweeper combination, and for good reason, as his heater averaged over 20 inches of carry this past season and generated plenty of whiffs in the top half of the zone, while his sweeper averaged nearly 15 inches of lateral life and was also a viable swing-and-miss pitch.

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San Francisco Giants

Added: None

Analysis: N/A

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Seattle Mariners

Added: RHP Alex Hoppe (traded to SEA for Luke Heyman on Nov. 18), LHP Robinson Ortiz (added by LAD Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA & traded to SEA for Tyler Gough on Nov. 16)

Analysis: Hoppe, a sixth-round pick by Boston in 2022, spent 2025 splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A, where he logged 61.1 innings with 73 strikeouts against 34 walks. Now 26, he leans heavily on power, as his fastball sits comfortably at 96–98 mph and touched 100 this past season. However, his cutter is his primary pitch, as he used it 53% of the time. He pairs the heater with a slider and changeup, giving him a full four-pitch mix that plays especially well when he’s in the zone. Hoppe fills up the strike zone at a 63% rate and can overwhelm hitters when he’s sequencing his cutter and fastball effectively.

Ortiz had been in the Dodgers organization since 2017 and barely reached Triple-A the past season at 25 years old. At Triple-A, he made 15 appearances (one start) and finished 1–0 with a 2.76 ERA, giving up five earned runs in 16.1 innings with nine walks and 14 strikeouts. Ortiz is a good lefthanded relief option for the Mariners, especially with Caleb Ferguson electing free agency. Ortiz has a four-pitch mix, which includes a fastball at 94-95 mph, a slider, cutter and changeup.

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St. Louis Cardinals

Added: OF Joshua Baez, C Leonardo Bernal, LHP Cooper Hjerpe, LHP Brycen Mautz, 
OF Bryan Torres (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: After struggling over parts of three seasons, Baez made adjustments to his swing this season and unlocked the best results of his career. Year over year, he cut his strikeout rate from 35% to 20.6% while spending a majority of the season in Double-A. Baez is a well-rounded player with valuable skills in multiple facets of the game. He’s now grown into an average hit tool with on-base skills and underlying contact data to back it. He’s a plus power hitter who posted a .238 isolated slugging in Double-A with a 107.1 mph 90th percentile exit velocity. Baez is also a plus runner who stole 54 bases in 2025, making him and the Pirates’ Konnor Griffin the only players in the minors with 20-plus home runs and 50-plus stolen bases. Baez looks like he can be a potential everyday option for the Cardinals as soon as next season thanks to an exciting blend of power, speed and the ability to play all three outfield positions. 

Bernal won a minor league gold glove this season and has been an impressive two-way catcher throughout his professional career. He spent all of 2025 at Double-A in his age-21 season hitting for a league average line and making 87 starts behind the plate. Bernal is an ok framer and blocker but has a cannon for an arm. His plus arm has been his greatest asset, as he threw out 27 base runners this season on 69 attempts for a 39.1% caught-stealing rate. Bernal joins Jimmy Crooks, Pedro Pages and Ivan Herrera as catchers on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster. He is unlikely to debut before late 2026, but he would have been an intriguing Rule 5 draft option if left unprotected. 

Hjerpe, like Bernal, would have presented an intriguing Rule 5 option despite being unlikely to contribute much in 2026. The 2022 first-rounder missed a good chunk of 2024 with an elbow injury, finally having Tommy John surgery in April 2025. He’s unlikely to return before the middle of 2026 and would have potentially been an easy stash for a team betting on his potential in 2027. When healthy, he has a trio of pitches that miss bats in the zone in his fastball, slider and changeup. He also added a cutter prior to being injured. His low slot creates a unique angle on his pitches— particularly his fastball—and it allows his stuff to play above his below-average velocity. 

The Cardinals added a second lefthander to their 40-man roster in 2022 second-round pick Brycen Mautz. Spending all of 2025 with Double-A Springfield, Mautz pitched to a 2.98 ERA, backed by a 3.58 FIP and a 28.6% strikeout rate to a 7.1% walk rate. He mixes two fastball shapes in a four-seam fastball and a sinker, each of which sit at 92-94 mph. His bread and butter, however, is his mid-80s slider, which generates slight armside movement at times and cut at others. Mautz is adept at mixing shapes, as he also features an upper-70s two-plane curveball and a mid-80s changeup. It’s five distinct pitch shapes with command and a really unusual look from his slider. Mautz is a solid rotation depth option for the Cardinals in the coming years. 

The 28-year-old Torres is a prime example of perseverance paying off. Previously with the Brewers and Giants, Torres was once a minor league Rule 5 pick in 2019 and went unsigned as a minor league free agent following the 2021 season. After two seasons in the independent American Association, Torres signed with the Cardinals in September 2023. He followed up a strong 2024 by hitting .328/.441/.464 with Triple-A Memphis. Torres has some defensive versatility, seeing a solid amount of action at second base and both corner outfield spots, where he’s a 40-45 grade defender at each position. Torres is a better runner than his home-to-first times show, as his unusual open stance slows him down a bit getting out of the box. An excellent bunter, it’s not unusual to see Torres get to first in under four seconds on those plays. He’s also an excellent base stealer, getting good jumps consistently. Torres is a very useful situational player who might surprise some people in 2026.    

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Tampa Bay Rays

Added: C Dominic Keegan, RHP Alex Cook, INF Jadher Areinamo, RHP Forrest Whitley (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA & since released)

Analysis: Keegan barely caught in college at Vanderbilt because his bat was always ahead of his glove. But to his and the Rays’ credit, he’s grinded away at developing as a catcher. While he’s unlikely to ever be a defensive stalwart, he’s worked his way to being a very playable backstop with more offensive upside than most catchers. Keegan has always been vulnerable to stolen bases. His 1.6 steals allowed per game was second-worst among Triple-A catchers in 2025, and his 79.6 mph average arm strength was 59th among 78 qualifying Triple-A catchers. Keegan has plus raw power and has shown the ability to draw walks.

Cook was a 12th-round pick in 2022 out of Colby (Kan.) JC. He flashed his stuff in 2023 with an excellent season at Low-A Charleston but missed most of the 2024 season with a shoulder strain. The Rays had toyed with making Cook a starter, but after the injury, they moved him back to the bullpen. He didn’t return to action until mid 2025, and he went 2-1, 2.66 with a 28-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio while working primarily out of Montgomery’s bullpen. Cook is a sinker-slider righthanded reliever with a mid-90s fastball that gets above hitters’ bats thanks to its flat plane and late life. He didn’t have as much command of his 86-88 mph slider when he returned, but it shows promise of being a future plus pitch.

Areinamo was the Rays’ return for catcher Danny Jansen in a 2025 deadline deal with the Brewers. Areinamo has always hit. He’s a career .293 hitter across five MiLB seasons, and he has above-average bat control. But that also has led to more aggressiveness at the plate than is ideal, which was a point of contention for him when he was with the Brewers. Areinamo has the potential to be a solid defender at second or third base, and he showed improved power in 2025, hitting a career-best 15 home runs. His performance in the Venezuelan winter league added to his case for protection, as he’s hitting .357 with a league-leading nine home runs.

Whitley, a former top Astros prospect, found success in Triple-A with the Rays this season. His sinker and four-seam fastballs are hittable if he uses them too much, but the Rays have him relying more on a cutter, and he’s improved his changeup. The changes helped improve his control, which makes him a potentially useful up-and-down starter. The Rays later released Whitley at his request so he can pursue an opportunity to pitch in Japan.

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Texas Rangers

Added: RHP Leandro Lopez, RHP David Davalillo, 1B/OF Abimelec Ortiz

Davalillo comes from a bloodline that runs deep with baseball talent. His younger brother is a catcher in the Angels’ system and others in his family have playing and coaching ties. In 2024, David snuck up on the minor leagues and pitched his way to a 1.88 ERA that led the minor leagues. This year, he continued to dominate with a mix that is led by a fastball without blowaway velocity. Instead, he mixes, matches, adds and subtracts his way to plenty of soft contact and strikeouts. He did add a couple of mph to his fastball, but his money pitch is a splitter that racked up a miss rate of 55%. 

Lopez improved his command and saw a big-time jump in results. Now, the righthander can throw all of his five pitches for strikes and get plenty of whiffs along the way. From a high slot, Lopez works with four- and two-seam fastballs and complements them with a slider, curveball and changeup. The slider is slightly ahead of the curveball, but you can find scouts who prefer the latter over the former. He struck out 116 hitters in 101.1 innings between High-A Hub City and Double-A Frisco. 

Ortiz’s career has taken a few twists and turns, but he got back on the right track in 2025 in a year split between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock. The lefthanded hitter showed off his signature power at both stops, bashing 25 doubles and 25 home runs along the way. He hits the ball plenty hard and gets it in the air, as well. His zone-miss rate is serviceable at 19.6%, but his chase rate is slightly elevated at 29.6%. He could stand to tighten up his approach against spin, as 41% of his strikeouts came against either sliders or curveballs.

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Toronto Blue Jays

Added: LHP Ricky Tiedemann, C Brandon Valenzuela (added Nov. 6 to prevent minor league FA)

Analysis: Valenzuela signed with the Padres as a 16-year-old in 2017 and was with the organization until this past July when he was traded for Will Wagner. After a decline in production following a strong affiliated debut in 2021, Valenzuela enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back campaign in 2025 to the tune of a .224/.309/.383 slash line with 20 doubles and a career-high 15 home runs between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Buffalo. Behind the dish, Valenzuela is an advanced defender with a strong arm, and this season he nabbed a career-high 34% of all base stealers.

Tiedemann missed all of the 2025 season after he had Tommy John surgery in July 2024. Prior to surgery, Tiedemann struggled for two seasons to stay on the mound, amassing just 44 innings in 2023 and 17.1 in 2024. In his professional debut in 2022, Tiedemann impressed, reaching Double-A New Hampshire while striking out 38.9% of batters faced. He was the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect entering 2025 and ranked as high as 30th overall on the Top 100 Prospects list entering 2023. When healthy, Tiedemann throws a trio of above-average pitches from a low slot that creates a difficult angle on both lefthanded and righthanded hitters.

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Washington Nationals

Added: LHP Jake Bennett, RHP Riley Cornelio, OF Christian Franklin

Analysis: The Nationals drafted Bennett out of Oklahoma in the second round in 2022. He made 15 starts in 2023 before requiring Tommy John surgery that kept him out until May 2025. As Bennett got back into a post-TJ routine and pitched effectively this season, he climbed the organization’s prospect ranking and settled in at No. 6 on our list heading into 2026. He is a 6-foot-6 lefty with a plus changeup and low-90s velocity on his four-seamer and sinker. His wide repertoire also includes a cutter, slider and curveball. Bennett does everything well around the margins. He gets good extension down the mound. He holds runners well. He can retire batters of the opposite hand. Now, after pitching well in the Arizona Fall League, he is just about big league-ready and has No. 4 starter type of upside. 

Drafted out of TCU in the seventh round in 2022, Cornelio scuffled at the Class A levels in 2023 and 2024 before finding his footing in 2025. He pitched at three levels and compiled a 3.28 ERA in 134.1 innings while striking out 24% and walking 10% of batters. Cornelio’s go-to pitch is his mid-80s slider with late cutting action. His velocity climbed nearly 2 mph to 94 in 2025 and with it, his durability, control and strikeout rate also improved. Cornelio’s average changeup gives him a three-pitch mix that makes him a depth option for the 2026 team.  

The Nationals do not lack for outfield options. Even after trading Alex Call to the Dodgers at the deadline, they head into 2026 with James Wood, Dylan Crews, Daylen Lile, Jacob Young and Robert Hassell III on the 40-man roster. Now, they add a sixth young outfielder to the mix in the 26-year-old Franklin, whom they acquired from the Cubs for Michael Soroka at the 2025 trade deadline. Franklin is coming off a .272/.390/.427 line in 117 games at Triple-A in 2025. He hit 12 home runs and stole 19 bases. The 5-foot-9 righthanded batter makes a ton of contact (89% in zone) and controls the strike zone (career-high 80 walks). He has sneaky pop and plays all three outfield positions, making him a potential extra outfielder.

Pitchers

Since 2020, 81% of Rule 5 selections have been pitchers. The list skews predominantly toward righthanders, as only six picks (13%) were lefties. That’s an even starker distribution than the major league average, which was 76% righthanders to 24% lefthanders in 2025. 

Teams Target Injured Pitchers

The number of injured pitchers selected this decade is striking. In total, 21% of the pitchers selected were coming off a season in which they didn’t pitch or saw their season cut short by injury. 

Three of the most successful Rule 5 pitchers of the decade fit this group, though only two stuck with the team that drafted them. Garrett Whitlock and Tyler Wells were both coming off Tommy John surgery when they were selected in 2020 and have returned the two highest career WAR of pitchers selected this decade. Whitlock’s 2.9 WAR in 2020 was the highest initial-season mark by a Rule 5 pitcher this decade before Mike Vasil tied it this season. 

Angels starter Jose Soriano is the third standout from this group. The Pirates selected him in 2020 while he was rehabbing from Tommy John, but he never pitched for Pittsburgh because a 2021 setback required a second surgery. The Pirates returned him after the 2021 season. 

Targeting injured pitchers makes sense. They’re often unprotected due to injury, not talent. It also allows clubs to manage their Rule 5 requirements by stashing these pitchers on the 60-day injured list in the spring. While Rule 5 picks cannot be optioned to the minors, injured players can still fulfill the Rule 5 eligibility requirements by spending 90 days on the active MLB roster. So, a player who isn’t ready to pitch on Opening Day can start the season on the IL, go off for a rehab assignment in the minors and then be activated to spend a shorter amount of time on the MLB active roster. If they spent 90 days on the active roster, they go into the following season with no such roster restrictions.

This year’s class includes several injured or rehabbing arms who fit this mold. In the AL East alone, the Yankees’ Chase Hampton (who we highlighted here), Red Sox righthander Yordanny Monegro, and Blue Jays lefthander Ricky Tiedemann and righthander Connor Cooke all fall into this category.

Given the propensity of this type of player to be selected, it might make more sense to protect them if a team is on the fence. 

Upper Minors Experience Required

Excluding the 2020 class, only one of the 37 Rule 5 pitchers selected this decade had no experience pitching in either Double-A or Triple-A: righthander Juan Nunez in 2024. Nunez was off to a strong start the previous season in High-A before a shoulder injury ended his season in May. He likely would’ve reached Double-A if he’d stayed healthy. The Padres took him in the Rule 5 draft anyway before ultimately returning him to the Orioles. 

Outside of Nunez, the fewest Double-A innings of any draftees were 3.0 by Garrett McDaniels (2024) and 15.1 by Mason Englert (2022).

One relevant outlier to watch this year is Twins righthander Jose Olivares. The 22-year-old has premium stuff with a fastball that averages just over 95 mph and tops out at 98.5. The pitch averages 20 inches of induced vertical break and grades out well in models. He complements it with three bat-missing secondaries, including a cutter that had whiff rate over 40% in 2025.

Olivares has yet to pitch above High-A. On the surface, he’s the type of arm who could intrigue teams. However, the history of pitchers drafted this decade would indicate the odds might be lower than expected. 

Statistical Benchmarks To Watch

While it’s a sample size of just 29 pitchers who appeared in minor league games the season prior to getting picked in the Rule 5 draft, three key statistical trends emerged: strikeout rate, walk rate and groundball rate. 

Strikeouts

• 79% posted a strikeout rate above 26.2% (MLB average: 22.7%).
• 40% struck out 30% or more, placing them in the 89% percentile or higher if it carried over to the majors.
• Only five fell below a 22.7% strikeout rate, and four of those pitchers posted walk rates below 7.5% (MLB average is just under 8%). The one outlier was Vasil (18% K, 8.6% BB), who had a 2.9-WAR season with the White Sox after being claimed off waivers from the Rays.

Walks

• 66% logged walk rates below 10%.
• All but one pitcher with a walk rate above 10% had a strikeout rate of at least 26.2%. If a pitcher had control issues, they could miss bats. Lefty Shane Drohan is the outlier. His walk rate spiked after a Triple-A promotion in 2023 during automated ball-strike testing. 

Groundballs

• 76% of pitchers had groundball rates above 40% (MLB average: 41.9%).
• Only one pitcher had a groundball rate below 35%: Nic Enright (27.6%) in 2022.
• Of the pitchers with groundball rates below major league average, all but one (Anthony Molina in 2023) had strikeout rates above 23.4%. 

Hitters

Teams have only taken 11 hitters in the Rule 5 draft this decade, so it’s a much smaller group. Because of that small sample, proximity and positional versatility seem more predictive than any shared statistical benchmarks. 

Age & Experience Matter

Just like pitchers, upper minors experience was a key benchmark for position players. 

All eight position players who played in games during their Rule 5 draft year began the season in Double-A. Interestingly, the average age of hitters was still lower (23.7 years) than pitchers (24.3 years) even though some pitchers started in the low minors. This was skewed by 20-year-old Deyvison De Los Santos (the youngest draftee at any position), 21-year-old Akil Baddoo and 22-year-old Nasim Nunez. 

This is something to watch Tuesday, as there are several interesting position players who started in High-A. 

Blue Jays outfielder Victor Arias will likely rank just outside the team’s Top 10 Prospects for 2026. Arias wasn’t promoted to Double-A until mid July. Even though he is a plus runner and potential above-average defender in center field, he isn’t a lock to be protected. 

Another is 21-year-old Rays infielder Jadher Areinamo, who started in High-A with the Brewers and wasn’t promoted until after the Rays acquired him in late July. Areinamo is dominating in the Venezuelan Winter League right now, hitting .337/.390/.685 with eight home runs. But the historical track record of position players would indicate the Blue Jays and Rays might take the risk that they can sneak them through the draft and use that 40-man spot on someone else.

Defensive Value & Versatility 

Every position player selected was capable of playing multiple positions—even the catchers. Just look at these four selections from last year: 

• Liam Hicks: C/1B
• Cooper Bowman: 2B, CF, 3B, SS
• Gage Workman: 3B, SS, 2B
• Christian Cairo: 2B, SS, 3B, LF 

Given that Rule 5 picks typically compete for part-time roles, positional versatility is essential. 

Furthermore, only two drafted position players had no experience playing up the middle (Ryan Noda and De Los Santos). The vast majority also projected to add some combination of speed and/or defensive value at their position. 

Baddoo (2020) was a plus runner and seen as capable of playing center field, Noda (2022) was a solid first baseman and Nunez (2023), Cairo (2024) and Kyle Holder (2020) were all glove-first players with lighter offensive profiles. The outliers? Blake Sabol, who profiled as more of a third catcher, and De Los Santos, who was a corner infielder and added no value with his speed. 

This trend might work against two trendy Rule 5 candidates in Pirates outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez and Twins outfielder Hendry Mendez. Both have offensive potential but lack defensive value and speed. Valdez is more likely to be protected after dominating the Arizona Fall League, but if either remains exposed, history suggests they’re lower-probability Rule 5 targets.

Final Takeaways 

While most 40-man decisions are relatively straightforward, every team faces a few difficult calls each year. Looking at Rule 5 trends from recent years can help explain how front offices assess those decisions. 

When it comes to pitchers, leaving a talented but injured arm unprotected is a risk, especially if the alternative is a pitcher without any upper-minors experience. Statistically, players with a combination of higher groundball and strikeout rates are more likely to be selected than a player with premium stuff but major control issues.

As for it hitters, if a player started the year in the low minors, they’re unlikely to be protected. Teams recognize that players without upper-minors experience will likely have a difficult time sticking on a roster, and that spot might be better served for a minor league free agent with past major league experience. It becomes even less feasible to roster players who lack positional versatility or cannot add speed/defensive value.