With the Rule 5 Draft approaching, the Mets have added a handful of eligible minor leaguers to protect them from being selected by another Major League club. Andres Gimenez, Jordan Humphreys, Ali Sanchez, and Thomas Szapucki have all been added to the Mets’ 40-man roster, thereby protecting them.
The Rule 5 Draft, which will take place on December 12 this season, was instituted as a means to protect teams from signing and stockpiling players in their minor league systems. For a fee- $100,000- a team may select a player that has been left exposed to the Rule 5 Draft.