Hernandez, Hoyt and Rodgers will likely be on a 25 man roster next year. The rest might be worth rolling the dice on in the draft.
Will definitely need to be added to 40 man roster: Teoscar Hernandez, Brady Rodgers, James Hoyt Will probably need to be added to the 40 man roster: Tyler Heineman, Mike Hauschild, Reymin Guduan, Kent Emanuel, Jordan Jankowski, Edison Frias, Aaron West Probably won't need to be added: Roberto Pena, Chris cotton, Amgel Heredia, Evan Grills, Brian Holmes, Albert Minnis, Elieser Hernandez No worries: Tyson Perez, Chan Moon, Jack Mayfield, Jon Kemmer, Kevin Comer, Kyle Smith, Conrad Gregor, Chase McDonald, Danry Vasquez, James Ramsay, Andrew Walter, Marlon Avea, Artiro Michelena, Kristian Trompiz, Agapito Barrios, Brauly Mejia, Rod Ayarza There may be a couple names down in the GCL or DSL but no chance they get taken.
I disagree on the probables. I'd worry about Guduan and Hauschild the most. I wouldn't bother with Frias or West. I'm very doubtful that Emanuel gets picked being only recently removed from TJ, and him not having any plus stuff. Jankowski certainly has an interesting case, though I'd be surprised to see him crack our bullpen. I don't think Heineman gets picked, but I'd love to add him, especially given Castro is a FA. I'd actually rather have him than Stassi at this point.
Injury history actually tends to help players get picked in the Rule 5; it's why we've seen a few PED busts on Rule 5 players. If a team picks a guy and he gets hurt, they can then stash him on the DL instead of having a guy who may not be ready occupying a 25 man roster spot. So in Emanuel's case, his pedigree (3rd rd pick), results (putting up pretty good numbers in AA), and upside (lefty starter) make me think he's a prime candidate for the Rule 5 draft. Teams would probably love for him to get hurt so they can stash him in the DL.
if we're making cases for who will go on the 40, clearly there needs to be more space on it. Guys who should come off: Peacock Fontana? Singleton? Valbuena or Marwin? I'd imagine a trade is made among the infield glut, esp. if Valbuena is brought back. They won't go into next year with Reed/White/Singleton/Marwin/Altuve/Correa/Valbuena/Moran/Bregman/Gurriel. 10 ML-ready or ML-aged (Singleton) guys for the 4 infield spots. And I'm leaving Kemp off that list. Beyond that, I know FAs like Rasmus, Gomez, Fister, Neshek are coming off, but I also think new players will be brought in to replace them. Unless Bregman moves to the OF full-time for one of those slots. And perhaps Musgrove stays on for Fister if he performs well
