Who should the Twins add to the 40-man roster, before today’s rule-5 deadline passes?

The Rule 5 draft is approaching, so it’s time for teams to add anyone eligible to their 40 man roster that they want to keep. In fact—that deadline is today. Players are eligible for the Rule 5 draft if they were signed at 19 or older and have played four years of professional ball, or were signed at 18 or younger and have played five years. Adding a player to the 40-man roster protects them, regardless of other factors. This is because the main goal of the Rule 5 draft is to stop teams from keeping talent hidden away in their minor league system. If a team selects someone during the Rule 5 Draft, that player must remain on their new teams’ major league roster for the whole season or else they are offered back to their original team. If a player is not selected, they stay with their team.

The draft will take place during the Winter Meetings on December 12th.

Here are all of the players who could potentially be added to the roster. The Twins will have to make a decision on these players by 7:00 P.M. on November 20th.

Pitchers:

• RHP Jhoan Duran
• RHP Dakota Chalmers
• RHP Luis Rijo
• RHP Griffin Jax
• LHP Sam Clay
• RHP Moises Gomez
• RHP Jake Reed
• RHP Tom Hackimer
• LHP Jovani Moran

Catcher/Infield

• 2B Travis Blankenhorn
• SS Wander Javier
• 1B Zander Wiel

Outfield

• OF Gilberto Celestino
• OF Luke Raley
• OF Trey Cabbage

Who should be added:

RHP Jhoan Duran, Age 21: Duran was acquired by the Twins in 2018 in the Eduardo Escobar trade. He is the number nine Twins prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Last season, he started 22 games (16 at A+, 7 at AA) with a combined 3.73 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, and 3.1 BB/9. He should definitely be added and it is likely we see him in 2021.

OF Gilberto Celestino, Age 20: Celestino was acquired in the Ryan Pressly trade from the Astros. He is the 20th ranked Twins prospect and he ended the 2019 season on fire. His overall numbers were nothing to go crazy about at .276/.350/.409 (.759), but when he was promoted to A+ for the final month he hit .300 with a bump in his slugging as well.

OF Luke Raley, Age 24: Raley is another player acquired via trade, this time from the Dodgers for Brian Dozier. He is actually not ranked among the Twins top 30 prospects, but that just shows how deep the farm is. He is a power hitting outfielder who in 33 games last season hit .310/.361/.517 (.878) with 8 home runs.

SP Dakota Chalmers, Age 23: Yet again this was a player acquired via trade. The front office nailed these. Chalmers was acquired in the Fernando Rodney trade and he is also not ranked among the top 30 for the Twins. He was very good in a limited 34 innings last season, posting a 3.63 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and an excellent 12.5 K/9.

2B Travis Blankenhorn, Age 23: Blankenhorn was actually drafted by the Twins in the third round of 2015. He ranks 23rd on the Twins prospect list. Blankenhorn is an infielder who spent most of last season at AA and saw some success. He hit .277/.321/.466 (.787) with 19 home runs.

Others who are close:

• SS Wander Javier, Age 20
• RHP Luis Rijo, Age 21
• RHP Tom Hackimer, Age 25
• RHP Griffin Jax, Age 24

Who do you hope to see added to the roster? The Twins have nine open spots so the five adds I highlighted would still leave four spots for free agents or trade targets. Leave a comment below with what you hope to see.