The MLB offseason is beginning to heat up, and we’re about to hit another significant milestone tomorrow when teams have to finalize the list of prospects they want to protect from next months’ Rule 5 Draft.
If a team doesn’t add a prospect to its 40-man roster by the deadline, then they’ll enter the player pool for the Rule 5 Draft where they could be selected by any team with a pick.
If a player is picked then they are immediately added to the picking team’s 26-man roster, and can only be removed from the roster by being placed on outright waivers — they can’t be sent down to the minors.