The major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft has been postponed indefinitely, but the minor league portion is still being held this week.  While we know whom the Phillies protected by adding them to the 40-man roster by the November 19th deadline, we do not know who was added to the Lehigh Valley roster for protection from the minor league portion of the draft.

The MBL decided to discontinue posting minor league transactions on the MiLB and team websites.  In some cases, they have removed the menu options that would take you to the league transactions.  Since I save the links to shortcuts, I could attempt to access transaction lists.  But, this is the message I receive.

“At this time we’re currently down for scheduled maintenance. We’ll be back online shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience.

There was an error. We apologize for the inconvenience. If the problem persists, please send email to customerservice@website.milb.com.”

I emailed as instructed a few times and got the following canned response and no further communication.

This is another example of how poorly the minor league websites are managed since the MBL took over last year. (IMO)

Anyway, teams are permitted to place 38 players on their Triple-A roster to protect them from the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft.  The Phillies have over 50 players who are Rule 5 eligible.  Their Lehigh Valley website shows 18 players on the roster.  Thirteen of those players are among the 50+ eligible players.

RHP Mike Adams, LHP Brian Marconi, RHP Braden Zarbnisky, C Logan O’Hoppe, and SS Bryson Stott have not been in the minor leagues long enough to be Rule 5 eligible.  Two other players (2B Daniel Brito and INF Scott Kingery) are eligible but unlikely to be selected.  Brito had his unfortunate seizure that would likely scare teams off and Kingery not only had surgery but has a major league contract.  I imagine there are some here who would love to see Kingery selected by another organization to get his salary off the books.

Now, these seven players could be (or could have already been) moved to the Reading roster to make room for the maximum number of players they could protect.

However, teams that have 38 players on their Triple-A roster are not permitted to make selections during the draft.  When a team’s roster reaches 38 during the draft, they are not permitted to pick again.  Each pick costs the receiving team $24,500 but there are no assignment restrictions.  Players can be assigned to any level after the draft.

Pitchers make up the highest percentage of players selected last year (over 50%).  Then catchers and middle infielders.  Here are the 50+ players who are eligible.  Those in bold text are those I think are on the Lehigh Valley roster.  Those struck through are those I don’t think will be protected.  Those in red talics are guys who I think might be protected.

1. Leonel Aponte, RHP: 22-year-old w/14 appearances at Clearwater
2. Mark Appel, RHP: control issues, 14.94 BB%
3. Andrew Bellatti, RRP: 1.36 ERA, 11 saves across 2 levels
4. Carlos Betancourt, RHP: 3 appearances after coming off IL
5. Trevor Bettencourt, RHP: went on 60 on 5/8, no stats or 2021
6. Andrew Brown, RHP: solid at Jersey Shore, stumbled at Reading
7. Ben Brown, RHP: finally healthy, 16 IP after coming off IL
8. Tyler Carr, RHP: 9.69 BB% and 19.38 K% at AA
9. Joel Cesar, RHP: went on 60 on 5/26, elbow
10. Jonas De La Cruz, RHP: bad at two levels
11. Kyle Dohy, LHP: 35.14 K%, solid AA numbers, re-signed by Phillies
12. Colton Eastman, RHP: 2 months on the IL
13. Ethan Evanko, LHP: went on 7 on 5/8 for rest of season
14. Julian Garcia, RHP: failed at multiple levels
15. Luis Gomez, RHP: 10 IP in DSL in 2021
16. Jonathan Hennigan, LHP: 21.69 K%
17. Cristian Hernandez, RHP: 9.09 BB%, 29.47 K%, 3.69 ERA at Clearwater
18. Jakob Hernandez, LHP: 9.13 BB%, 30.0 K%
19. Mike Kelly, RHP: 2.70 ERA, 18 BB and 62 K in 50.0 IP
20. Keylan Killgore, LHP: went on 60 on 5/4, missed entire 2021 season
21. Taylor Lehman, LHP: went on 60 on 6/21, elbow
22. Lin Hsin-Chieh, RHP: regressed after solid 2019
23. Ethan Lindow, LHP: struggled at Reading, better at Jersey Shore
24. Tyler McKay, RHP: 4.76 ERA at Jersey Shore, high AVG and WHIP, 2:1 GB:FB
25. Jhordany Mezquita, LHP: 6.09 ERA at Jersey Shore, high AVG and WHIP
26. Braeden Ogle, LHP: solid numbers before mid-season trade
27. David Parkinson, LHP: 7.29 BB% 19.01 K%
28. Jack Perkins, RHP: mixed results across 3 levels
29. Tyler Phillips, RHP: meh stats after trade
30. Mark Potter, RHP: 12.22 BB% and 27.22 K%, .319 AVG, 1.97 WHIP
31. Austin Ross, RHP: 28.64 K%
32. Bubby Rossman, RHP: 3 years in Indy ball, 13 K/9
33. Rodolfo Sanchez, RHP: 11.34 BB%, 31.17 K%
34. Manuel Silva, LHP: 3.24 ERA, solid season at Jersey Shore
35. Jeff Singer, LHP: 10.92 BB%, 28.15 K%
36. Tom Sutera, RHP: 6.03 BB% other stats a little high
37. Victor Vargas, RHP: 8.01 BB%, 22.74 K%, rough at A+ but solid AAA start
38. Zach Warren, LHP: 19 Holds, 3 Saves, 34.62 K%
39. Gabriel Yanez, LHP: 9.94 BB%, 30.94 K%, solid 121 IP across 3 levels
    

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40. Juan Aparacio, C: .213/.315/.349/.664 and 6 HR in 197 PA
41. Jack Conley, C: well below Mendoza
42. Colby Fitch, C: well below Mendoza
43. Oscar Gonzalez, C: 60 plate appearances at 3 levels, mostly in FCL
44. Nick Matera, C: 9 HR (5 at Reading)
    

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45. Daniel Brito, 2B:
46. Dalton Guthrie, SS: .262/.320/.401/.721 across 2 levels plus an FCL rehab
47. Jonathan Guzman, SS: good glove, bat dropped significantly at Jersey Shore
48. Darick Hall, 1B: blocked by Rhys, team has shown no interest the past 2 seasons
49. Scott Kingery, INF: went on the 60 on 7/1, shoulder
50. Matt Kroon, 3B: .301/.361/.466/.827 at Reading
51. Edgar Made, SS: good glove , not much bat
52. Luke Miller, 3B: 13 HR, 15 2B at AA
53. D.J. Stewart, 3B: .265/.327/.436/.763 with 14 HR at A and A+
54. Madison Stokes, IF: .240/.306/.406/.712 w/11 HR, but 104 K in 380 PA
55. Nicolas Torres, INF: solid season, tore it up in A+
56. Jose Tortolero, INF: good glove, not so much bat at A+
    

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57. Carlos De La Cruz, OF: disappointing at Clearwater, better at Jersey Shore
58. Ben Pelletier, RF: big slash in FCL almosts hides dismal stops at A and A+
59. Josh Stephen, LF: bit of a disappointing season after solid 2019

I’ve identified 29 players who I think are on the Triple-A roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft tomorrow.  These are just guesses on my part.

I’ve identified 17 guys who I think are not on the roster.  Again, just guesses on my part.  This doesn’t mean that I think that the Phillies aren’t interested in these players.  It means I think that the Phillies don’t think another team will select them for various reasons.  Recently injured or coming off the IL are two such reasons.

The other 13 are players I could see the Phillies going either way on.

I’ve left 9 spots open for some of those 13 players.  I believe the Phillies would have left one or two spots open for possible Rule 5 picks.