To protect a trio of their top prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, the New York Yankees added three minor leaguers to their 40-man roster on Tuesday.
The Yankees selected outfielder Spencer Jones and pitchers Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and Chase Hampton.
Jones, 24, is one of the most perplexing prospects in baseball. The Vanderbilt University product draws comparisons to Aaron Judge because of his size and power, but strikes out at an alarming rate. Following a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in June, the lefty swinger hit 13 home runs in his first 19 games and finished the year with 35 total across Triple-A and Double-A Somerset.
Rodriguez-Cruz was named the Yankees' 2025 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America after his surge from High-A Hudson Valley to Triple-A. Acquired from the Red Sox last offseason in exchange for catcher Carlos Narvaez, the right-hander led all Yankees minor league pitchers with 176 strikeouts while posting a 2.58 ERA in 27 games.
Hampton missed the entire season due to Tommy John Surgery and will turn 25 next August. The Yankees believe in his abilities enough to wait out his rehab process. He had a 3.63 ERA in 106.2 innings in 2023, but threw just 18.2 innings across three levels in 2024.
Who did the Yankees not protect?
Six players on the Yankees' top 30 prospect list on MLB Pipeline were not added to the 40-man roster by New York, and rival teams are eligible to select them in the Rule 5 Draft.
The pitchers are Henry Lalane, Brock Selvidge, Brendan Beck, and Eric Reyzelman. Outfielder Jace Avina and first baseman T.J. Rumfield make up the unprotected position players.
Reliever Garrett Whitlock became a key member of the Boston Red Sox a few years after the Yankees did not protect the right-hander in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. Whitlock is just one example of many players who have gone on to have successful careers despite going unprotected.
This year's Rule 5 Draft will take place on December 10 at MLB's winter meetings in Orlando, Florida.
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