Categories: Offseason

Deadline near for Phillies to protect players from Rule 5 Draft

8 p.m. Monday is the deadline for teams to protect players from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

Here’s the deal: If a player was drafted at age 18 or younger and has spent five years in the minor leagues without being on the 40-man roster, he’s eligible for the Rule 5. If a player was drafted at age 19 or older and has spent four years in the minor leagues without being on the 40-man roster, he’s eligible for the Rule 5.

So the Phillies have a bunch of players eligible for the Rule 5 this year. They include:

C Logan Moore
1B Zach Green
2B Derek Campbell
2B Drew Stankiewicz
3B Jan Hernandez
3B Damek Tomscha
3B Mitch Walding
SS Jose Gomez
SS Emmanuel Marrero
OF Aaron Brown
OF Dylan Cozens
OF Andrew Pullin
OF Cord Sandberg
OF Carlos Tocci
OF Jiordani Tromp
SP Franklyn Kilome
SP Brandon Leibrandt
SP Ranger Suarez
SP Jose Taveras
SP Tyler Viza
SP Shane Watson
RP Austin Davis
RP Joey DeNato
RP Seranthony Dominguez

Currently there are 38 players on the 40-man.

So who’s likely to be protected? Kilome, Suarez, Tocci, Dominguez, Taveras and Davis are the most touted names that could sneak through because teams could gamble. Really, for the Phils, there’s no reason not to protect most, if not all, of these names.

Otherwise Leibrandt is an option, going 4-3 with a 4.25 ERA, 43 strikeouts and 19 walks last year. Pullin had a great year in Reading (.308/.368/.556) before struggling upon a callup to Lehigh Valley. His hitting has been lauded, but a bad sample in triple-A doesn’t bode well for a team wanting to take him.

Finally, Moore could be an interesting add, as if the Phils move on from Cameron Rupp this offseason, they’ll want some safety blanket on the 40-man.

Now who’s out from the current 40-man? The Phils could place a player on waivers, and most likely candidates are pitchers Mark Appel, Zac Curtis, Alberto Tirado, infielder Eliezer Alvarez and outfielder Cameron Perkins.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.