MN Twins Have Four Must-Add Rule 5 Prospects

We are still multiple weeks away from the Winter Meetings, when the Rule 5 Draft will take place. However, the Minnesota Twins must add eligible prospects to the 40-man roster by November 18 in order to protect them from being selected by another franchise.

Earlier this offseason Derek Falvey cleared multiple spaces on the 40-man roster, including jettisoning Jose Miranda from the organization. They currently have seven openings with 33 players on the roster, but that doesn’t mean all will be filled by internal talent.

There are four absolute givens to be added before the Tuesday deadline, and a few others have strong cases as well.

Four locks for Minnesota Twins Rule 5 protection

There is simply no way the Minnesota Twins will allow some of their best prospects to be poached by the competition. Nothing excites a Pohlad more than the thought of cost control, and that’s what top prospects bring to the table. Falvey has four players that will certainly be added by the Tuesday deadline.

Prielipp has the highest ceiling among the pitchers in this group, and it was disappointing he didn’t see the majors down the stretch this season. The 4.03 ERA across 82 2/3 innings between Double and Triple-A wasn’t great, but the fact that he stayed healthy was. He will quickly be a big league option in 2026.

Gabriel Gonzalez is the lone remaining piece of the Jorge Polanco trade with Seattle, and he rebounded in a big way this year. After a .707 OPS in 2024, he had a .909 OPS in 2025 including 15 home runs. He has big power and controls the strike zone well too.

Among all MiLB hitters under 23, Twins No. 8 prospect Gabriel Gonzalez ranked 2nd in hits (159), trailing only baseball’s top prospect, Konnor Griffin.

He went 4-for-4 in his first game in the @LVBP_Oficial yesterday!

📹: @djcb0000 pic.twitter.com/lPk0quXcrw

— Tobey Schulman (@tschulmanreport) November 5, 2025

Minnesota swung a trade for Rojas at the deadline. Sending Louie Varland packing was the least appreciated move, and Ty France went on to win a Gold Glove. Still, Rojas is an exciting lefty to dream on. He had a 4.70 ERA across 69 innings this season, and it could have been nicer had he not given up 25 runs (20 earned) in 27 1/3 with the Saints.

Morris was probably the next-closest depth arm to seeing a 2025 appearance. He has back-end starter stuff, and he owned a 4.09 ERA in 94 2/3 innings at Triple-A. It’s possible he reaches another level, but even if he doesn’t there should be a safe floor here.

MN Twins have decisions on other players as well

It’s not just the locks that the Twins have to consider. They certainly could use all seven open spots on the 40-man roster, and have even more fat to trim if they want to remove more than that as well. The balancing act to weigh is whether a player will go selected by another team and you want them, or if they can be kept and not added.

You also must consider the readiness of a player for the big league level. A Rule 5 pick must remain on the major league roster all season or be offered back to their original organization. Guys already at Triple-A are often the easiest to project as ready for the limelight.

Minnesota acquired Hendry Mendez from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Harrison Bader deal. He had an .837 OPS at Double-A and went to the Arizona Fall League. Kala’i Rosario parlayed a second-straight AFL experience into a career-best .844 OPS and his 32 steals came out of nowhere. He went unclaimed in the Rule 5 Draft last season, but that seems unlikely to be the case again.

Guys like C.J. Culpepper, John Klein, and Kyler Fedko are typically seen throughout competing organizations. Culpepper had a 2.65 ERA at Double-A though, and Fedko blasted 28 home runs. That sort of production is always going to sting and create a what if scenario.

Several other notable names include Jose Olivares, Ricardo Olivar, Cory Lewis, Tanner Schobel, Noah Cardenas, Andy Lugo, Danny De Andrade, Aaron Sabato, and Christian MacLeod. Minnesota, as a mediocre team looking to limit spending, is a logical franchise to select a player in the Rule 5 Draft as well.