Mets 2024 Eligible Rule 5 Draft Players - Mets decide to not add players to 40 Man Roster

 

The Major League Baseball Rule 5 Draft is scheduled this year for Wednesday, December 11^th - the last day of the Winter Meetings.  Mets have until November 19th to add players to the 40 Man Roster to protect them from the draft.  

Per Newsday's Tim Healey on X/Twitter, the Mets are not adding anyone to their 40 man roster.  

That means the two Rule 5 eligible players that are on MLB/com's Top 30 Mets Prospect list: #15 Dominic Hamel and #18 Mike Vasil, will not be protected.  Any Major League can claim them and put them on their Major League Roster.

While they struggled last year in AAA with ERA's of 6+ after having success in the lower levels, they both showed flashes that have made them top Mets prospects over the years.  Baseball America projects both as back end MLB starters and since they are already at AAA, MLB teams would need to keep them on the MLB roster next year if they are selected. Both will turn 25 next March and given the lack of quality pitching in the majors, it would make sense for the Mets to protect them.

Outfielder Alex Ramirez was recently non-tendered off the Mets 40-Man Roster but was re-signed to a minor league deal and assigned to the Syracuse Roster.  This will keep him out of the minor league portion of the draft.  The once top 5 Mets Prospect has fallen to #26 on MLB.com's Prospect List after tough years in Brooklyn in 2023 (.221/.310/.317) and Binghamton in 2024 (.210/.291/.299).  

Luis R. Rodriguez: Luis is a lefty that threw as hard as 97 MPH.  Then in March 2022, he had Tommy John Surgery missing all of 2022.  He came back to pitch 2 games for St. Lucie and 4 games for the 2023 FCL Mets but ended up missing all of 2024 as well. Lefties who throw hard are valuable and could be chosen in the minor league portion of the draft.

Matt Allan: Matt has not appeared in a minor league game since the year he was drafted in 2019.  Matt had Tommy John surgery in May '21, ulnar transition survey in January '22 and UCL revision surgery in January '23.  Per Anthony DiComo on Twitter, Matt threw off the mound in 2024 but won't see game action until 2025.  

Calvin Ziegler: Was a top ten prospect in 2023 but after just two games with Brooklyn this year, needed Tommy John surgery.  It is not sure when he will get back on the mound in 2025.

In addition, players not added to the 38-Man AAA Roster will be eligible for the minor league portion of the draft.  

Here is the full list of eligible Rule 5 players:

Pitchers: Ty Adcock; Matt Allan; Javier Atencio; Ricardo Baptist; Jace Beck; Jean Calderon; Nolan Clenney; Felipe De La Cruz; Jorge De Leon; Robert Dominguez; Raimon Gomez; Dominic Hamel; Josh Hejka; Daniel Juarez; Nate Lavender; Landon Marceaux; Trey McLoughlin; Luis Moreno; Anthony Nunez; Douglas Orellana; Layonel Ovalles; Hunter Parsons; Jeremy Peguero; Luis R. Rodriguez; Jawilme Ramirez; Bailey Reid; Jorge Rodriguez; TJ Shook; Jake Stevenson; Mike Vasil; Joseph Yabbour; Calvin Ziegler;

 

Catchers: Matt O'Neill;  Drake Osborn; Vincent Perozo;

 

Infielders: Jefrey De Los Santos; William Lugo; Luke Ritter; JT Schwartz; Junior Tilien; Wyatt Young;

 

Outfielders: Omar De Los Santos; Rowdey Jordan; Fabian Machado; Matt Rudick;

Recent Minor League Free Agents: 

All the recently signed minor league free agents will also be eligible such as Hayden Senger, Joshua Corneilly, Joander Suarez and Chris Devenski.  Since they are all currently on the Syracuse Mets Roster, they will need be added to an MLB Roster if drafted.

Rule 5 Draft details:

Per MLB.com: "Players first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons. Clubs pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. If that player doesn't stay on the 25-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $50,000."

There are two portions, the Major League portion and the Minor League portion.  In the Major League portion, each Major League team gets one pick from the pool of unprotected players.  Teams can place players on their AAA Roster to exempt them from the Minor League portion.  Once selected, those players do not need to be retained on a team's MLB roster. 

Dodger Blue: "Teams with a full 38-man Triple-A roster are not permitted to make any picks. Each player taken in the Minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft requires a $24,500 payment to be made to the original team."