Held each December annually on the last day of the Winter Meetings, the MLB Rule 5 Draft allows clubs without a full 40-man roster to select certain non-40-man roster players from other clubs.
In 2021 the Cleveland Guardians added a record 11 players after the season ended to the teams 40-man roster to protect them from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. The Draft however ultimately ended up being canceled and never took place because of the lockout.
Six of those 11 players made their MLB debut in 2022 for the organization Steven Kwan, Tyler Freeman, Richie Palacios, Bryan Lavastida, Cody Morris and Connor Pilkington.
Other players added included George Valera, Brian Rocchio, Jose Tena and John Kenny Noel who all are just 21-years-of age, and all finished the 2022 season at Triple-A Columbus.
Only one of the 11 players is no longer with the organization in RHP Tobias Myers who the Guardians designated for assignment on July 2nd after a terrible start to his year at Triple-A Columbus. Myers finished the MiLB season 1-15 with a 7.82 ERA bouncing between three organizations.
This upcoming off-season there should be nowhere near the same turnover as last year mostly due to the fact that a number of players that needed to be protected from the Draft have already been added to the 40-man during the season.
Those players that would have needed to protect include Will Brennan, Bo Naylor, Xavion Curry and Hunter Gaddis who all made their MLB debuts this year.
My current thinking is the organization may protect just two or three players maybe four max from the list I have put together in the graphic below with only two being 100% locks.
100% – INF Angel Martinez
The 20-year-old switch hitting infield prospect Angel Martinez is the son of a former big league catcher Sandy Martinez. He signed with Cleveland as an International Free Agent July 2nd, 2018, out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Angel had an outstanding 2022 campaign over two levels starting the season at High-A Lake County and finishing year with Double-A Akron.
Martinez hit .278 with 40 extra base hits including 13 home runs over just 101 games between both clubs while posting an outstanding .849 OPS and 135 wRC+ on the year.
Martinez has an advanced approach for his young age. He has very good bat speed to go along with a sound stroke from each side of the plate. He has a good eye and recognizes pitches well. Martinez has room to add more muscle and size to his frame which along with his bat speed could lead to 15-20 plus home runs in a season.
He has average to slightly above average speed. He has a high baseball IQ that helps to play up his speed on the bases and in the field. Martinez has the chance to stick at shortstop thanks to his strong arm and quick hands but can handle third and second base as well.
100% – LHP Joey Cantillo
The 22-year-old LHP prospect Joey Cantillo came over to Cleveland in the Mike Clevinger trade with the Padres back on August 31st, 2020.
Cantillo had a bit of a lost season in 2021 after he suffered an abdominal injury in spring training. He ended up not pitching in game action until the end of August, only throwing 13.0 innings out of the bullpen between the Arizona Complex League and Akron.
Cantillo came into the 2022 season healthy and back in his usual role as a starter appearing in 14 games for Double-A Akron. Unfortunately his season came to an end early with a left shoulder soreness
It’s what he did in those 14 Double-A games that have him as a lock for me. Cantillo posted a miniscule 1.93 ERA over 60.2 innings pitched including a five-game stretch during May when he didn’t allow a run over 22.0 straight innings. Over the 60.2 innings he struck out 87 batters while allowing just 38 hits with opponents hitting for a paltry .178 average against him.
Cantillo offers a three-pitch mix in his fastball, curveball and changeup. His fastball ticked up a couple mph this year and now sits around 90-93 mph topping out at 96. His best pitch is a sinking changeup that is well above-average and plays well off his fastball. His curveball has a lot of downward action and is graded out as average.
Although he is not overpowering, he utilizes a deceptive delivery, his advanced pitchability and solid command to get hitters out. The one concern with Cantillo is his ability to stay healthy with him missing significant time over the last two seasons.
75% – RHP Peyton Battenfield
Coming into the 2022 season I was certain that the now 25-year-old RHP prospect Battenfield would be a lock to be added after the season. Now I’m not so certain after he saw a drop in his velocity and his numbers were not near as dominate as he put up in 2021.
Battenfield still had a solid season spending the entire year with Triple-A Columbus making 28 starts while posting a 3.63 ERA over a farm leading 153.2 innings pitched.
In 2021 Battenfield struck out 131 batters over 103.0 innings good for an 11.45 SO/9 inning rate holding opponents to a .176 average while sporting a ridiculous 0.83 WHIP.
In 2022 he finished with just 109 strikeouts over 153.2 innings seeing his SO/9 inning rate drop significantly to just 6.38 on the season. Opponents hit .240 off him while his WHIP jumped up to 1.27 on the year.
Battenfield throws four pitches including a fastball that has good vertical movement that in 2021 sat 92-94 but was sitting at 90-93 in 2022. In 2021 his fastball was touching 97 mph but was topping out around 94-95 this year. His best secondary pitch is a cutter that grades above average. Battenfield also throws a curveball and changeup that are average pitches.
His command-and-control grade out above average as he spots his pitches especially his fastball where he wants in the zone. However, he saw his BB/9 inning rate jump from 1.66 in 2021 to 3.34 this season. Battenfield utilizes all of his pitches well and they work well together keeping hitters guessing and off balance.
With the depth in pitching the Guardians have I’m just not sold the organization goes all in with Battenfield who’s best attribute this year was mostly his overall ability to eat innings as a workhorse for Columbus.
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50% – RHP Ethan Hankins
The 22-year-old RHP Ethan Hankins was drafted 35th overall by Cleveland in 2018. He fell in the draft after missing a month during his senior year in high school with shoulder tightness. At the time he was being viewed as a possible No. 1 overall pick.
Hankins coming into 2022 had only thrown 63.0 professional innings all coming during the 2018-19 seasons. He missed the 2020 season due to the pandemic but was selected to train at the team’s alternative site during the shortened MLB season.
During 2021 spring training Hankins injured his elbow and underwent TJ surgery in May of that year. He made his return in 2022 appearing in just one rehab game on August 1st throwing a scoreless inning in the Arizona Complex League striking out one batter without allowing a hit or walk.
Hankins arsenal pre-Tommy John surgery included a fastball that has sinking action with a lot of run it sits around 92-96 mph and peaks at 98. His second-best pitch is an above average changeup that runs and sinks like his fastball. He also offers a curveball and slider which needs continued development but shows promise to be plus pitches
He did struggle at times with his command due to the tremendous movement he creates on his pitches. If his command is on, he can be unhittable at times. Hankins control is average but doesn’t get him in to trouble too often.
Hankins is on this list one because of his draft pedigree and his pre-surgery projection as well as if 100% healthy his overall stuff is some of the best in minor league baseball. The Guardians could risk not adding him because of his inexperience and missed time taking a chance nobody will select him.
However, that hasn’t stopped them from adding high impact arms over the last couple seasons with little to no experience above A-ball in pitchers Carlos Vargas and Jean Carlos Mejia.
50% INF Gabriel Rodriguez
The 22-year-old INF prospect Gabriel Rodriguez signed out of Venezuela in 2018 for $2.1 million, which remains a franchise record for an international position player. He struggled at the plate in 2021 in his first year of full-season ball with Low-A Lynchburg as one of the youngest players in the league.
In 2022 Rodriguez really began to show his potential at the plate while he was again yet again one of the younger players to start the season at the High-A level with Lake County.
Rodriguez with the Captains collected 26 extra-base hits including nine home runs while hitting .272 with a 112 wRC+ and a .759 OPS over 94 games played.
Unfortunately for Rodriguez suffered an injury at the end of the season and underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder on September 14th. There is a good chance he may not be ready in time for the start of spring training or the start of the 2023 season.
Rodriguez has a compact right-handed stroke and will use the entire field. Although he only hit nine home runs in 2022, he has the frame to continue to add strength and with his hitting ability and bat speed he should show more power potential at the plate.
He has only average speed but has great body control and an above-average arm while he can play shortstop and even second base, he spent the majority of his time at third base in 2022.
Although he may not be selected in the draft purely on performance alone he does have the pedigree of a top international sign which the organization invested $2.1MM in and plays a premium position at third base. The other reason the Guardians may want to add him is a team might try to stash him on their 60-day injured list next year like the Orioles did when they selected Anthony Santander from Cleveland in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft.
25% – Others
Finally, I’ll leave you with a list of some other interesting and talented prospects that I feel have a 25% chance or less to be added to the Guardians 40-man roster, but I really would hate for the organization to lose.
- RHP Nic Enright
- RHP Nick Mikolajchak
- RHP Lenny Torres
- LHP Tim Herrin
- LHP Andrew Misiaszek
- C/1B/3B David Fry
- 1B/OF Micah Pries
- OF Alexfri Planez
- OF Johnathan Rodriguez
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Read more:
How The Guardians Managed To Take Game One From The Rays
Age Is Just A Number: Guardians Are A Legitimate Playoff Contender
Watch Jose Ramirez Hit Go-Ahead Home Run vs. Tampa Bay
Bieber Dominates Rays as Guardians Take Game 1 in Wild Card Series, 2-1
Cleveland Guardians Announce Playoff Roster vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Are The Cleveland Guardians Primed For A World Series Run?
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