Prospects Make Up Large Portion Of 40-Man Roster Spots
Image credit: Gabriel Moreno (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
Right now, teams in Arizona and Florida are holding mini camps at their minor league complexes. Hitters are taking batting practice, pitchers are throwing bullpens and prospects as a whole are warming up before backfield games begin in mid March.
This all should be occurring in the shadow of games in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues, but Major League Baseball’s lockout of its players is still ongoing. Big league spring training cannot begin until the lockout is lifted, and reports say that if it does not happen by Feb. 28, regular-season games will be canceled.
The minor league season will play on as scheduled—Triple-A opens on April 5 and the rest of the full-season leagues begin on April 8—but that does not mean they will be unaffected by the lockout.
Until an agreement is reached, no players on a team’s 40-man roster can access team facilities, which means that plenty of players will miss out on innings and at-bats they sorely need. Moreover, teams will have to figure out how to fill the roster spots of 40-man players who would normally begin the season in the minors.
The problem is going to be especially stark in Triple-A, where fringe big leaguers and prospects usually play until they are needed in the big leagues. That means teams may have to sign more players out of independent or partner leagues to fill the holes until the lockout is lifted, or assign players more aggressively than they would under normal circumstances.
The number of prospect-eligible players—by BA standards that means no more than 130 at-bats for hitters or 50 innings or 30 games for pitchers—on 40-man rosters is significant. Of the 1,200 possible spots, 389 are occupied by prospect-eligible players.
There are some extremely high-caliber prospects among that group, including three of the top 10 on BA’s Top 100 Prospects—the Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez, the Rays’ Shane Baz and the Blue Jays’ Gabriel Moreno—and 35 of the Top 100 overall.
That’s 35 of the best prospects in the sport missing out on valuable chances (to say nothing of the missed paychecks) to prove themselves and get one step closer to the big leagues, while hundreds more will lose opportunities to improve and possibly put themselves into the conversation for the game’s elite young talent.
The minor leagues will play on no matter how long the owners keep the players locked out, but that doesn’t mean the games will be unaffected.
National League
| D-BACKS |
| J.B. Bukauskas |
| Zack Burdi |
| Luis Frias |
| Tyler Gilbert |
| Corbin Martin |
| Humberto Mejia |
| Kyle Nelson |
| Edwin Uceta |
| Ryan Weiss |
| Jose Herrera |
| Seth Beer |
| Drew Ellis |
| Geraldo Perdomo |
| Stuart Fairchild |
| Cooper Hummel |
| Jake McCarthy |
| ROCKIES |
| Yoan Aybar |
| Noah Davis |
| Ryan Feltner |
| Julian Fernandez |
| Lucas Gilbreath |
| Ashton Goudeau |
| Justin Lawrence |
| Helcris Olivarez |
| Ryan Rolison |
| Jordan Sheffield |
| Elehuris Montero |
| Ezequiel Tovar |
| Alan Trejo |
| Colton Welker |
| Ryan Vilade |
| PADRES |
| Pedro Avila |
| Michel Baez |
| Efrain Contreras |
| MacKenzie Gore |
| Javy Guerra |
| Ray Kerr |
| Adrian Martinez |
| Adrian Morejon |
| James Norwood |
| Robert Suarez |
| Steven Wilson |
| Luis Campusano |
| Eguy Rosario |
| DODGERS |
| Justin Bruihl |
| Garrett Cleavinger |
| Michael Grove |
| Andre Jackson |
| Darien Nuñez |
| Mitchell White |
| Jacob Amaya |
| Eddys Leonard |
| Jorbit Vivas |
| James Outman |
| Luke Raley |
| GIANTS |
| Kervin Castro |
| Camilo Doval |
| Hunter Harvey |
| Sean Hjelle |
| Sammy Long |
| Randy Rodriguez |
| Gregory Santos |
| Joey Bart |
| Jason Vosler |
| Jaylin Davis |
| Heliot Ramos |
| PIRATES |
| Blake Cederlind |
| Roansy Contreras |
| Eric Hanhold |
| Max Kranick |
| Luis Oviedo |
| Miguel Yajure |
| Diego Castillo |
| Rodolfo Castro |
| Oneil Cruz |
| Tucupita Marcano |
| Hoy Park |
| Liover Peguero |
| Jared Oliva |
| Canaan Smith-Njigba |
| Jack Suwinski |
| Travis Swaggerty |
| CUBS |
| Cory Abbott |
| Scott Effross |
| Anderson Espinoza |
| Brailyn Marquez |
| Tommy Nance |
| Ethan Roberts |
| Manuel Rodriguez |
| Michael Rucker |
| Alexander Vizcaino |
| Miguel Amaya |
| Christopher Morel |
| Alfonso Rivas |
| Alexander Canario |
| Greg Deichmann |
| Nelson Velazquez |
| REDS |
| Alexis Diaz |
| Daniel Duarte |
| James Marinan |
| Dauri Moreta |
| Riley O’Brien |
| Reiver Sanmartin |
| Tony Santillan |
| Jared Solomaon |
| Mark Kolozsvary |
| Jose Barrero |
| Alejo Lopez |
| Allan Cerda |
| TJ Friedl |
| CARDINALS |
| Freddy Pacheco |
| Johan Quezada |
| Angel Rondon |
| Brandon Waddell |
| Jake Walsh |
| Kodi Whitley |
| Ivan Herrera |
| Ali Sanchez |
| Brendan Donovan |
| Edmundo Sosa |
| Juan Yepez |
| Lars Nootbaar |
| BREWERS |
| Aaron Ashby |
| Alec Bettinger |
| Jake Cousins |
| Dylan File |
| Angel Perdomo |
| Miguel Sanchez |
| Justin Topa |
| Mario Feliciano |
| Brett Sullivan |
| Corey Ray |
| NATIONALS |
| Joan Adon |
| Gerardo Carrillo |
| Josiah Gray |
| Gabe Klobosits |
| Evan Lee |
| Patrick Murphy |
| Francisco Perez |
| Seth Romero |
| Jhon Romero |
| Riley Adams |
| Tres Barrera |
| Keibert Ruiz |
| Yasel Antuna |
| Lucius Fox |
| Donovan Casey |
| PHILLIES |
| Hans Crouse |
| Bailey Falter |
| Damon Jones |
| James McArthur |
| Francisco Morales |
| Scott Moss |
| Nick Nelson |
| JoJo Romero |
| Cristopher Sanchez |
| Rafael Marchan |
| Donny Sands |
| Garrett Stubbs |
| Luis Garcia |
| Nick Maton |
| Luke Williams |
| Simon Muzziotti |
| Jhailyn Ortiz |
| Matt Vierling |
| MARLINS |
| Edward Cabrera |
| Paul Campbell |
| Daniel Castano |
| Braxton Garrett |
| Sean Guenther |
| Louis Head |
| Jordan Holloway |
| Cody Poteet |
| Sixto Sanchez |
| Nick Fortes |
| Payton Henry |
| Jose Devers |
| Jerar Encarnacion |
| BRAVES |
| Tucker Davidson |
| Dylan Lee |
| Alan Rangel |
| Spencer Strider |
| Freddy Tarnok |
| Brooks Wilson |
| William Woods |
| Chadwick Tromp |
| Cristian Pache |
| Drew Waters |
| METS |
| Jose Butto |
| Yennsy Diaz |
| Adam Oller |
| Jake Reed |
| Antonio Santos |
| Thomas Szapucki |
| Patrick Mazeika |
| Travis Blankenhorn |
| Ronny Mauricio |
| Mark Vientos |
| Khalil Lee |
| Nick Plummer |
American League
| RAYS |
| Shane Baz |
| Calvin Faucher |
| Brendan McKay |
| Tommy Romero |
| Rene Pinto |
| Ford Proctor |
| Jonathan Aranda |
| Taylor Walls |
| Vidal Brujan |
| Josh Lowe |
| RED SOX |
| Eduard Bazardo |
| Brayan Bello |
| Kutter Crawford |
| Jay Groome |
| Connor Seabold |
| Josh Winckowski |
| Ronaldo Hernandez |
| Connor Wong |
| Jeter Downs |
| Hudson Potts |
| Jarren Duran |
| Jeisson Rosario |
| YANKEES |
| Albert Abreu |
| Deivi Garcia |
| Luis Gil |
| Yoendrys Gomez |
| Ron Marinaccio |
| Luis Medina |
| Stephen Ridings |
| Clarke Schmidt |
| JP Sears |
| Oswaldo Cabrera |
| Oswald Peraza |
| Estevan Florial |
| Everson Pereira |
| BLUE JAYS |
| Anthony Castro |
| Hagen Danner |
| Bowden Francis |
| Zach Logue |
| Julian Merryweather |
| Nate Pearson |
| Tayler Saucedo |
| Kirby Snead |
| Alejandro Kirk |
| Gabriel Moreno |
| Leo Jimenez |
| Otto Lopez |
| Kevin Smith |
| Josh Palacios |
| ORIOLES |
| Bryan Baker |
| Mike Baumann |
| Felix Bautista |
| Kyle Bradish |
| Logan Gillaspie |
| DL Hall |
| Joey Krehbiel |
| Zac Lowther |
| Isaac Mattson |
| Kevin Smith |
| Alexander Wells |
| Rylan Bannon |
| Jahmai Jones |
| Terrin Vavra |
| Yusniel Diaz |
| Tyler Nevin |
| GUARDIANS |
| Cody Morris |
| Tobias Myers |
| Konnor Pilkington |
| Trevor Stephan |
| Carlos Vargas |
| Bryan Lavastida |
| Gabriel Arias |
| Ernie Clement |
| Tyler Freeman |
| Nolan Jones |
| Richie Palacios |
| Brayan Rocchio |
| Jose Tena |
| Steven Kwan |
| George Valera |
| WHITE SOX |
| Jason Bilous |
| Jimmy Lambert |
| Anderson Severino |
| Bennett Sousa |
| Jonathan Stiever |
| Jake Burger |
| Romy Gonzalez |
| Micker Adolfo |
| Blake Rutherford |
| ROYALS |
| Ronald Bolaños |
| Jonathan Bowlan |
| Dylan Coleman |
| Jon Heasley |
| Jackson Kowar |
| Daniel Lynch |
| Collin Snider |
| Gabe Speier |
| Daniel Tillo |
| Nathan Webb |
| Angel Zerpa |
| MJ Melendez |
| Sebastian Rivero |
| Maikel Garcia |
| Nick Pratto |
| Emmanuel Rivera |
| Kyle Isbel |
| TWINS |
| Jordan Balazovic |
| Jhoan Duran |
| Blayne Enlow |
| Ralph Garza Jr. |
| Jovani Moran |
| Joe Ryan |
| Cole Sands |
| Drew Strotman |
| Chris Vallimont |
| Josh Winder |
| Ben Rortvedt |
| Royce Lewis |
| Jose Miranda |
| Gilberto Celestino |
| TIGERS |
| Angel De Jesus |
| Miguel Del Pozo |
| Alex Faedo |
| Jason Foley |
| Rony Garcia |
| Elvin Rodriguez |
| Joey Wentz |
| Kody Clemens |
| MARINERS |
| Matt Brash |
| Aaron Fletcher |
| Joey Gerber |
| Wyatt Mills |
| Juan Then |
| Jose Godoy |
| Kevin Padlo |
| Donovan Walton |
| Julio Rodriguez |
| Alberto Rodriguez |
| ANGELS |
| Cooper Criswell |
| Reid Detmers |
| Jhonathan Diaz |
| Janson Junk |
| Jose Marte |
| Packy Naughton |
| Oliver Ortega |
| Elvis Peguero |
| Chris Rodriguez |
| Kyle Tyler |
| Andrew Wantz |
| Austin Warren |
| Brendon Davis |
| ATHLETICS |
| Domingo Acevedo |
| Wandisson Charles |
| Grant Holmes |
| Brent Honeywell |
| Daulton Jefferies |
| Jorge Juan |
| Sam Moll |
| AJ Puk |
| Austin Allen |
| Nick Allen |
| Jonah Bride |
| Jordan Diaz |
| Vimael Machin |
| Luis Barrera |
| Skye Bolt |
| Cody Thomas |
| RANGERS |
| A.J. Alexy |
| Brock Burke |
| DeMarcus Evans |
| Ronny Henriquez |
| Glenn Otto |
| Yerry Rodriguez |
| Nick Snyder |
| Ricky Vanasco |
| Sam Huff |
| Sherten Apostel |
| Ezequiel Duran |
| Zach Reks |
| ASTROS |
| Shawn Dubin |
| Tyler Ivey |
| Seth Martinez |
| Jairo Solis |
| Peter Solomon |
| Forrest Whitley |
| Taylor Jones |
| Jeremy Peña |
| Joe Perez |
| Jose Siri |
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