Potential Rule 5 Decisions for Rangers

With the offseason comes many decisions for Texas management, which includes which players to expose in December.

The Texas Rangers could have a Rule 5 problem this offseason.

Lone Star Ball Blog noted that the Rangers have several top prospects that could be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, if they’re not added to the 40-man roster.

Who could those players be? Well, they could include Josh Jung, Jonathan Ornelas, Owen White, Cole Winn, Luisangel Acuna, Dustin Harris and Antoine Kelly.

All of those players, currently in the farm system, are in the Rangers’ Top 30 prospects per MLB.com.

That means the Rangers face some big decisions on these players, assuming there is a Rule 5 Draft and assuming there are teams eligible to select players via the Rule 5 Draft.

The Rule 5 Draft was canceled in 2021 due to the lockout and the agreement of the new 2022-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Assuming there is a Rule 5 Draft in 2022, it would take place at the end of MLB’s December meetings.

The reason these players would be eligible is because players signed at 18 or younger must be on a team’s 40-man roster within five years. Players signed at age 19 or older must be on the 40-man roster within four seasons.

Every team has a 40-man roster, but only teams with fewer than 40 players on its 40-man roster are eligible to select in the Rule 5 Draft. Teams also don’t have to select a player in the Rule 5 Draft, either. If a team selects a player in the Rule 5 Draft, that player must be put on the selecting team’s 26-man roster and must remain on the roster for one season.

Right now, the Rangers have a full 40-man roster, which includes two players on the 60-day injured list that don’t count toward the 40-man. If the Rangers decided to keep all of the players listed above, the Rangers would have to create seven openings on their 40-man roster by December.

So, yes, decision, decisions for the Rangers.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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