Tonight's midnight deadline to set 40-man rosters for the Rule-5 draft meant that the Phillies had to protect some of their minor league talent. According to the rules of the Rule 5 draft, any player not on a team's 40-man roster may be selected by another team. The selecting team pays $50,000.00 for that player's rights. Should the player not make the major league roster, he may be offered back to the original team for $25,000.00.
Minor league players signed at 19 years old or older and have played in professional baseball for four years are eligible to be drafted; players who were signed at 18 and have played five years in a team's system are eligible to be drafted in the Rule 5 draft if they are not on a team's 40-man roster.
To protect them from a potential draft, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reports that the Phillies protected four:
Phillies add OFs Kelly Dugan and Aaron Altherr, C Tommy Joseph, P Rob Rasmussen to 40 man roster, shielding them from Rule 5 draft
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) November 20, 2013
The Phillies chose to add recent acquisitions to the farm system, catcher Tommy Joseph (Hunter Pence trade) and pitcher Rob Rasmussen (Michael Young trade). Outfielders Aaron Altherr and Kelly Dugan were also added.
The Phillies will have to option them to the minor leagues if they do not put them on the active roster each of the next three seasons.
The Phillies have used the Rule 5 draft to add players David Herndon, Michael Martinez, and Ender Enciarte in recent years. Herndon and Martinez stayed with the team for a full season and became Phillies property. Enciarte was returned to the Arizona Diamondbacks after being on the Phillies' big league roster for just a few days. This year, the Diamondbacks protected Enciarte from the draft.
Greg Vince also contributed to this blog entry.
