Baseball America

We've got the Rule 5 fever. Geoff Pontes and J.J. Cooper are a day late with the Prospect Podcast this week, but it's for a good reason, as we've been busy working on the 40-man roster protection deadline and doing our early Rule 5 draft preview work. We talk about that and discuss the Orioles-Angels trade that saw Grayson Rodriguez and Taylor Ward swap coasts.Time Stamps(00:00) A Rule 5 name to watch(10:00) Explaining Rule 5 rules, as well as what the 40-man roster deadline is about(16:00) Trends we noticed in 40-man roster additions(19:00) Why the fireballing Class A pitcher doesn't get picked anymore(23:00) Traits to look for when trawling for Rule 5 picks(28:30) It was a bad year for first-round picks being protected, especially for one team(32:00) Two teams with perfect first-round protection records recently(34:00) A few sneaky things to look for in the Rule 5 draft(38:00) Analyzing the Grayson Rodriguez-Taylor Ward tradeRule 5 Draft Preview: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2025-