Phillies: Breaking down the 40-man roster

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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 15: Adonis Medina of the World Team pitches in the seventh inning against the U.S. Team during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Nationals Park on July 15, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 Draft is complicated and knowing who is and isn’t eligible can be tricky. Here’s the official rule pertaining to who is eligible:

"Players who were signed when they were 19 or older and have played in professional baseball for four years are eligible, as are players who were signed at 18 and have played for five years."

As Todd Zolecki of MLB.com breaks down, the Phillies have five prospects in their top-30 who must be placed on the 40-man roster to avoid losing them to the Rule 5 Draft this winter: Adonis Medina (No. 3), shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa (No. 11), second baeman Daniel Brito (No. 12), infielder Jose Gomez (No. 16) and right-hander Tom Eshelman (No. 27)

Medina will absolutely be protected from the Rule 5 Draft being one of the top prospects not just in the organization but in all of baseball.

CLEARWATER, FL – FEBRUARY 20: Tom Eshelman #71 of the Philadelphia Phillies poses for a portrait on February 20, 2018 at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /

The tricky aspect of the Rule 5 Draft is predicting whether or not a team will claim a really young prospect. Players claimed in the Rule 5 Draft must remain with the claiming team’s major league club for the entire season, or else the team must offer that player back to his original club.

Would a team put in a Rule 5 claim on Gamboa, who played last season with High-A Clearwater and is just 21-years-old? Same goes for Brito and Gomez, who also played in Clearwater last year.

Had Eshelman been effective in 2018 like he had in 2017 when he won 13 games with a 2.40 ERA, he’d be a lock for Rule 5 protection.