According to a report from Adam Rubin (ESPN), Sandy Alderson spoke about the future of the 40-man roster on Monday. His conclusion is that the GM cannot protect all of the players he’d like to because he needs to add several prospects to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Prospects that are not protected (on the 40-man) can be claimed by other teams in the Rule 5 draft. Those players are lost as long as they remain on the major league roster for the entire 2015 season.
Most at risk are veterans without a clear future on the team and young players that have yet to prove themselves. Rubin speculated that Andrew Brown, Cesar Puello, Wilfredo Tovar, Buddy Carlyle, Dana Eveland, Scott Rice, Juan Centeno and Josh Satin could be among those players to be removed from the 40-man. He also made note that Eric Young Jr. and Ruben Tejada could become expendable based on the moves Alderson makes in the off season.
The guys that Rubin feels are the most likely candidates to be added to the 40-man roster, in addition to top prospect Noah Syndergaard, are Cory Mazzoni, Logan Verrett, Akeel Morris, Jack Leathersich, Gabriel Ynoa, Tyler Pill and Dustin Lawley. Adding players to the 40-man roster is a game of chess that Alderson will have to play against other general managers in the off season, figuring out which guys other teams could want and which guys he can sneak through waivers.
