Today is the day! Well, not really, but depending on how you look at it, today actually is an important day for a couple prospects within the Washington Nationals organization. That is because by today at 6 PM EST, all 30 teams must decide on which prospects they are going to add to their 40-man rosters in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft that will take place at the Winter Meetings next month.
So who will the Nationals decide to keep around? Well, for starters, the club's 40-man roster currently only has 36 players on it, so in theory they could choose to protect 4 prospects from the Rule 5 Draft, but whether or not they have 4 players who could be deemed worth enough for protection is more of the question right now.
At this time I can confidently say that there is one guy who is a virtual lock to be protected in outfielder Robert Hassell III, who appears as if he is finally putting some of the issues that plagued him over the last couple seasons behind him. He turned in a stellar performance in the Arizona Fall League, and was named to the All-Star team for the offseason league as well. As one of the big pieces in the return for Juan Soto, he has failed to live up to his once lofty prospect ranking, but should have a great chance to make his MLB debut at some point in 2025.
The other guy who could be considered close to a lock would have to be righty Andry Lara. He took a big step forward this year, and at still just 21-years-old and the 17th-ranked prospect in the organization, should be considered on track to potentially make the MLB in the next 2 seasons, as he is already at the AA level and was more than able to hold his own.
A guy who is squarely on the bubble of being protected is going to be infielder Kevin Made. He was part of the package that the Nationals got in return from the Chicago Cubs along with lefty DJ Herz, but hasn't shown nearly as much promise as his pitching counterpart from the trade. Without a ton of upside with the bat or speed on the base paths, his defense likely won't be enough to allow him to become an MLB player, thus potentially leaving him exposed in the Rule 5 Draft.
There are other names that aren't on the team's Top 30 Prospects list who could also be protected, but I would consider the ones listed on here to be the most crucial decisions that the organization will have to make with regard to the Rule 5 Draft.
Who do you think the Nationals will protect from the Rule 5 Draft? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.