Atlanta Braves

Getting the Atlanta Braves Roster Ready For The Rule Five Draft

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:10 a.m. ET

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The Twins claimed for former Atlanta Braves reliever J R Graham in the 2014 Rule 5 draft Mandatory Photo Credit Alana Carpenter for Tomahawk Take

When the season ends the Atlanta Braves must restructure the roster to prepare for the Rule 5 Draft. Who leaves and which prospects are protected?

Since John Hart and John Coppolella took over front office duties for the Atlanta Braves we’ve seen some unexpected names exposed to and lost to the Rule 5  draft. In 2014 The Twins took J.R. Graham and last year The Braves outrighted Todd Cunningham to make room on the roster and lost him to the Angels on a waiver claim.  To understand the changes we need to review the rules.

The Reserve List – 40 Man Roster

As noted above during the season the reserve list may have more than 40 players on it because teams may replace players on the 60 day DL during the season,  Rule 2 (a) of The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book says that the exception for disabled list players vanishes after the season ends.

This year the date is Friday, November 18th as the the 20th falls on a Sunday.

The Roster Now

There are 45 players currently on the reserve list.  Five of those players are on the 60 day DL; Jesse Biddle, Andrew McKirahan, Eric O’Flaherty, Paco Rodriguez. Mallex Smith and Daniel Winkler.

Two of those players will absolutely be added back to the roster; Rodriguez and Smith. Winkler will likely be retained as well depending on how well his elbow is progressing.

Biddle and O’Flaherty are both a free agents after the season. EOF will not be tendered a contract and Biddle hasn’t yet thrown a pitch so it’s unlikely he will either.

If those assumptions are correct the roster sits at 43.

Who leaves?

There are six unrestricted free agents who won’t be on the roster unless the Braves  choose to sign them back after this season; Gordon Beckham, Joel De La Cruz, Jim Johnson, A.J. Pierzynski, Brandon Snyder and Blake Lalli.  Those signings are unlikely until after December fifth.

Unless my math is off that brings the roster down to 37 and others will probably leave and lower that number.

More from Tomahawk Take

Chaz Roe is arbitration eligible and out of options but unlikely to be tendered a contract before the rule 5 draft   Anthony Recker is arbitration eligible but as far as I can determine, out of options.

He’s 33 years old so It’s far more likely they will ask him to sign a minor league deal again after December fifth.  Keeping him requires a spot on the active roster next year. When they acquire the catcher upgrade they are openly seeking, Recker would have to pass through waivers to remain in the system.

Other arbitration eligible players include Casey Kelly and Brandon Cunniff.  I could see Cunniff being tendered a contract but the Kelly is probably nontendered.

Pre-Arb Players

Chase d’Arnaud is pre-arb but, he’s also of options. I’m not sure how they handle him but like Recker he’s probably nontendered and signed back later if he’s still available.

Daniel Winkler and Andrew McKirahan are pre-arb as well. I’ve already suggested they keep Winkler unless the elbow isn’t healing to their liking. McKirahan is probably safe under that criteria as well but that could go either way.

Those assumptions put the roster at 34 leaving six slots open for rule five protection but, who needs protection.

A Rule 5 Primer

(Note: if you know all about rule five feel free to jump to the next page.)

The MLB Rule 5 Draft takes place every year on the last day of the Winter Meetings after the final 40 man roster and the reserve lists are submitted. There are three phases to the Rule 5 draft:

Who is Eligible?

The rules making a player vulnerable to the Rule 5 draft are a little convoluted but I’ll try to make it as simple as possible.

Rule 5

A minor league player is Rule 5 eligible if:

If a player signs his first contract after the conclusion of the season of the team he is first assigned to the next season is considered his “first qualified season.” This largely applies to undrafted free agents or international free agents since the signing date for Rule 5 draftees is in July.

After the 2004 season, former Braves first baseman Mike Hessman became a minor league free agent and went on to become the all time minor league home run champion.

Rule 55: The Six-Year Minor League Free-Agent

Rule 55 free agents – commonly called or six-year free agents – are, as noted, another special case. Here’s the criteria for Rule 55 free agency.

A player is a Rule 55 free-agent five days after the World Series ends at 5 PM (Eastern) if:

As it relates to this rule a player is not credited with a minor league year if:

Taking part in the AZL, or winter league ball doesn’t count as a minor league season.

Got all that? Good there will be a test later…open book. . . So with those things in mind off we go into eligibility.

Lists

Here’s a list of players I believe are Rule 55 free agents and would have to be signed back to be protected.

Aside from Max Fried, players below AA are unlikely Rule 5 claims as they have to be on an active roster all year. Those players can be protected from the later phases through addition to a minor league reserve list.

Below is a list of the players I see as at risk. The table includes midyear prospect rankings from various sources including our list of course.

(Note:The BA and BP midseason lists only rank the their top ten players thus not having a rank in their column doesn’t mean they aren’t prospects just not top ten prospects.)

Several names jump off the list as ranked players whose protect is assured;  Fried, Sims, and Ruiz. Others like Janas, Lien and Dave Peterson are also likely to earn protection and a case can be made for Camargo, Odom and Meneses.

Alan suggested protecting Lipka in an earlier post but he seems in the same category as Cunningham. For that reason I doubt he’s added.

That’s a Wrap

The roster isn’t as jammed up as was once thought. Admittedly determining who is Rule 5 eligible is confused by the Rule 55 free agent issue. I asked the folks at Roster Resource and they indicated they have the same issues so I don’t feel so bad.

The roster is also more of a moving target than I expected this far into September. The AJ saga and odd addition of Lalli so late forced a rewrite this morning. He is however a free agent after the year so in the long run it made no difference to the final list.

I polled the writers here for there must save guys and found most were covered in this list. Teams willing to carry an A ball player for a year might grab Bird or Parsons but that’s unlikely. I’m sure you all have opinions; let’s hear them.

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