Nationals Add Three Players to 40-Man Roster; Protect From Rule 5 Draft

The deadline to add players to the 40-man roster was tonight at midnight and the Nationals have added left-handed pitcher Sammy Solis, outfielder Michael Taylor and right-handed pitcher Aaron Barrett. The reason they are adding these players is to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. They also DFA’d Fernando Abad and Tyler Robertson to make room on the 40-Man roster. The Nats’ 40-Man roster is now full.

Basically the Rule 5 Draft is a draft of players that have been in the same minor league system for an extended period of time. If the player was drafted before he hits age 19, he can stay in the system for five years, 19 years or older can stay four. This prevents teams from stockpiling prospects in their minor league system.

Sammy Solis pitched well in the Arizona Fall League so it was no surprise that the Nats’ wanted to protect him from the draft. He could end up pitching in the bullpen some time in 2014. He has great stuff, but was just a late bloomer of sorts to the competition he was facing.

Michael Taylor an outfielder in High-A is an on-base machine. He was on base 34% of the time last season and stole over 50 bases. You can understand why they want to protect him from the draft. He is a few years away from the show, but all in all could be a very good player with such speed. He can not only make a difference on the base paths but also saving runs in the outfield.

Aaron Barrett a right-hander in Double A has some pretty good late inning stuff. He saved 26 games and struck out over 12 batters per nine innings. You can’t complain one bit about that. He took a while to get going as well. In just over 50 innings for Double-A Harrisburg he only allowed 12 earned runs.

I couldn’t agree more with the players they protected. It might take the last two a while to make it to the bigs, but the potential is there. Also Solis, could end up pitching in the majors this season. The Nats’ are making some smart moves this offseason in my opinion, let’s just hope this continues as the winter rolls on.