MLB teams had a busy Tuesday.
Some of them are negotiating with free agents, others are on the phone trying to pull off some traded.
Most general managers, however, were busy trying to decide which prospects to protect on their 40-man rosters ahead of the Rule 5 Draft.
This was, of course, the Cleveland Guardians’ case.
When prospects have been in the system for a specific amount of time, they need to be added to the 40-man roster or they become available to be drafted by other squads on December 11.
The Guardians, therefore, protected four prospects and, to open up spots on the roster, designated three players for assignment.
We've made several changes to our 40-man roster.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/PA4IoeWdmi
— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) November 19, 2024
The Guardians have several enticing prospects they couldn’t protect due to a lack of roster spots, such as Ryan Webb for example.
They did a good job working with what they had: roster spots are limited, and they had to remove Peter Strzelecki, Connor Gillispie and George Valera from the roster in order to create space for Franco Aleman, Nic Enright, Petey Halpin and Doug Nikhazy.
Aleman is a fantastic relief pitching prospect and should have a chance to make his debut next year, with a big frame and power stuff.
Nikhazy is a highly regarded left-handed starting pitching prospect, Enright is a promising righty and Halpin is a glove-first outfielder with potential.
The Guardians have a deep system and weren’t going to be able to protect everybody they would have preferred to protect, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will lose the ones they couldn’t add to the roster.
We will know more after December 11.
NEXT: Guardians' Stephen Vogt Takes Home AL Manager Of The Year Award
