The Atlanta Braves protected four players from the Rule 5 draft with moves announced Tuesday morning. Patrick Weigel, Huascar Ynoa, Jacob Webb, and Alex Jackson were each protected.
Let’s first look at the guys protected and then at some that weren’t that could possibly be selected…
Protected
Weigel was the easy guy to protect on the list of eligible players. Having made his way to AAA with elite-level pitching before undergoing Tommy John surgery, Weigel returned at the very end of 2018 and is looking forward to progressing toward the big league club in 2019, but he would certainly have been a bullpen candidate and an early pick in the Rule 5 if left unprotected.