MLB Rule V: 2020 Prospect List

With the deadline passing to add prospects to the 40-man roster, an accessible list of the top prospects could be of value. Baseball America has a list of the top draft picks (first three rounds with a detailed breakdown of former first round picks) that went unprotected. Unfortunately, though, this list doesn’t include the players most likely to be taken, such as Baltimore Orioles prospect Zach Pop. Pop, a right-handed reliever coming off Tommy John, is a 40 prospect by FanGraphs who has a 70 sinker and 55 slider per the site.

Knowing which types of prospects are available is important. Using FanGraphs The Board for prospects with at least a 35 future value, I calculated rule five eligibility, cross-referenced Baseball America’s protected list, eliminated minor league free agents, and used the Roster Resource feature on FanGraphs to verify players not on the 40-man/rule five status. Any omission is my error, but please let the website know in the comments below if a prospect is not included.

Additionally, the below rankings include the trade value calculated by Craig Edwards and the Theo Epstein school of grading prospects as described in Homegrown by Alex Speier. Below is a table describing the prospect valuation methods:

The following is the ranking of the 141 prospects with a 35 or better prospect grade:

Name Organization Org Rank Position Bat Throw FV Theo Value
Wenceel Perez DET 9 SS S R 45 C1 $6.00
Luis Oviedo CLE 11 RHP R R 45 C1 $4.00
Jhon Torres STL 9 RF R R 40+ C2 $4.00
Jose Miranda MIN 10 3B R R 40+ C2 $4.00
Wander Javier MIN 12 SS R R 40+ C2 $4.00
Seuly Matias KCR 13 RF R R 40+ C2 $4.00
Tirso Ornelas SDP 15 LF L R 40+ C2 $4.00
Oswaldo Cabrera NYY 16 2B S R 40+ C2 $4.00
Abiezel Ramirez TBR 21 SS S R 40+ C2 $4.00
Jose Alberto Rivera HOU 9 RHP R R 40+ C2 $3.00
Riley Pint COL 10 RHP R R 40+ C2 $3.00
Angel Macuare HOU 12 RHP R R 40+ C2 $3.00
Jose Soriano LAA 14 RHP R R 40+ C2 $3.00
Santiago Florez PIT 20 RHP R R 40+ C2 $3.00
Shervyen Newton NYM 12 SS S R 40 C2 $2.00
Israel Pineda WSN 15 C R R 40 C2 $2.00
Kevin Smith TOR 18 SS R R 40 C2 $2.00
TJ Friedl CIN 18 CF L L 40 C2 $2.00
Jhailyn Ortiz PHI 18 RF R R 40 C2 $2.00
Luis Santana HOU 18 2B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Packy Naughton LAA 19 LHP R L 40 C2 $2.00
Jordan Diaz OAK 19 3B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Rodolfo Duran PHI 20 C R R 40 C2 $2.00
Trent Giambrone CHC 21 2B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Leonardo Rivas LAA 21 2B S R 40 C2 $2.00
Payton Henry MIL 21 C R R 40 C2 $2.00
Orlando Martinez LAA 22 LF L L 40 C2 $2.00
Juan Yepez STL 22 1B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Esteury Ruiz SDP 22 2B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Maikel Garcia KCR 23 SS R R 40 C2 $2.00
Moises Gomez TBR 23 RF R R 40 C2 $2.00
Ronnie Dawson HOU 23 CF L R 40 C2 $2.00
Aramis Ademan CHC 24 SS L R 40 C2 $2.00
Ricardo Genoves SFG 24 C R R 40 C2 $2.00
Omar Estevez LAD 24 2B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Will Toffey NYM 25 3B L R 40 C2 $2.00
Eguy Rosario SDP 26 2B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Cody Thomas LAD 26 RF L R 40 C2 $2.00
Yonny Hernandez TEX 26 SS S R 40 C2 $2.00
Jordy Barley SDP 27 SS R R 40 C2 $2.00
Akil Baddoo MIN 27 CF L L 40 C2 $2.00
Tristan Gray TBR 32 1B L R 40 C2 $2.00
Lolo Sanchez PIT 32 CF R R 40 C2 $2.00
Pedro Gonzalez TEX 32 CF R R 40 C2 $2.00
Jovani Moran MIN 33 LHP L L 40 C2 $2.00
Jose Fermin CLE 33 SS R R 40 C2 $2.00
Brewer Hicklen KCR 34 LF R R 40 C2 $2.00
Drew Ellis ARI 35 3B R R 40 C2 $2.00
Brian Miller MIA 35 CF L R 40 C2 $2.00
Resly Linares TBR 36 LHP L L 40 C2 $2.00
Will Benson CLE 40 RF L L 40 C2 $2.00
Diosbel Arias TEX 41 SS R R 40 C2 $2.00
Parker Dunshee OAK 14 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Brian Howard OAK 15 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Zack Brown MIL 15 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Prelander Berroa SFG 17 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Zach Pop BAL 20 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Luis Rijo MIN 20 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Elvis Alvarado SEA 21 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Travis MacGregor PIT 21 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Wilkel Hernandez DET 23 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Josh Roberson MIA 27 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Glenn Otto NYY 31 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Yerry De Los Santos PIT 33 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Joel Peguero TBR 34 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Ismael Aquino KCR 37 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Kelvin Gonzalez TEX 37 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Trevor Stephan NYY 38 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Alex Speas TEX 38 RHP R R 40 C2 $1.00
Enyel De Los Santos PHI 43 RHP R R 35 D/C2 $0.50
Buddy Reed OAK 25 CF S R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Lenyn Sosa CHW 27 SS R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Miguel Medrano CIN 27 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Desmond Lindsay NYM 28 CF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Julian Garcia PHI 29 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Curtis Taylor TOR 30 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jacob Heatherly CIN 30 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Eric Marinez OAK 30 RHP S R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Michel Otanez NYM 31 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Oliver Ortega LAA 31 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Lazaro Armenteros OAK 31 LF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Zach Warren PHI 31 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Mariel Bautista CIN 32 CF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Roither Hernandez TOR 33 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Alec Hansen CHW 33 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Dakota Mekkes CHC 34 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Chavez Young TOR 34 CF S R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jose Mora OAK 34 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Connor Jones STL 34 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Brett de Geus LAD 34 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Ignacio Feliz SDP 35 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jordan Sheffield LAD 35 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Elvin Rodriguez DET 35 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Juan Pablo Lopez HOU 36 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Naswell Paulino TOR 36 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Raymond Kerr SEA 36 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Debby Santana CIN 36 3B R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Rodard Avelino STL 36 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Danny Lantigua CIN 37 RF S R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Victor Santos PHI 37 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Marshall Kasowski LAD 37 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jair Camargo MIN 38 C R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Bryan De La Cruz HOU 38 RF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Luis Mieses CHW 38 CF L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Will Stewart MIA 38 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jason Foley DET 38 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Pablo Abreu MIL 38 CF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Luis Liberato SEA 39 CF L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Braden Webb MIL 39 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jeren Kendall LAD 39 CF L R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Raffi Vizcaino SFG 40 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Dalvy Rosario MIA 40 SS R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Thomas Jones MIA 41 CF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Brenan Hanifee BAL 41 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Wladimir Pinto DET 41 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Caleb Hamilton MIN 42 C R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Yunior Perez CHC 42 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Evan Miller SDP 42 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Manuel Silva PHI 42 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Luis Palacios MIA 42 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Brett Cumberland BAL 42 DH S R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Will Vest DET 42 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Jose Albertos CHC 43 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Garrett Whitlock NYY 43 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Juan Morillo LAD 43 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Ofelky Peralta BAL 43 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Carlos Guzman DET 43 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Eduardo Herrera ARI 44 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Michell Miliano SDP 45 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Angel De Jesus DET 46 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Alfredo Garcia NYY 47 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Felix Bautista BAL 47 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Guillermo Zuniga LAD 47 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Cole Ragans TEX 47 LHP L L 35+ D/C2 $0.50
West Tunnell ARI 48 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Eduardo Diaz ARI 49 CF R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Joe Barlow TEX 51 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Chris Gittens NYY 54 1B R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Angel Felipe TBR 54 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50
Hever Bueno TEX 55 RHP R R 35+ D/C2 $0.50

The top hitting prospect is Detroit Tigers shortstop Wenceel Perez, a switch hitter known for his speed. Keith Law believes that Perez can stay at short in the short run but ultimately will end up at the keystone. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, who ranked Perez as the Tigers ninth best prospect entering 2020, wrote “Perez can hit and play shortstop with some speed and feel for the game. The power is lacking, but there are elements for a low-end regular.”

The best pitching prospect is Luis Oviedo, a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. The righty stands at 6’4″ and 170 pounds, who per Eric Longenhagen FanGraphs, “In about a year, Oviedo went from being asked about in several of Cleveland’s trade discussions to being passed on in the Rule 5; he’s the highest-ranked player on any prospect list who teams decided not to take in December. The reason? Oviedo’s velocity was all over the place in 2019.” After not being selected in 2019 and with no season in 2020, perhaps Oviedo is passed upon again given scouts couldn’t watch the young right hander.

The 2020 Rule Five Draft will take place December 10th and for teams needing to clear space, the non-tender deadline is 7:00 pm on December 2nd.

1 Comment

1 Comment on “MLB Rule V: 2020 Prospect List”

  1. I started writing an article on today’s rule 5 but after 800 words ran out of steam. My guys are Linares in the Rays system, Juan Pablo Lopez in the Astros system.

    Reply

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