Padres 2024 Rule 5 Draft: Full details, roster deadline, players who are eligible

The San Diego Padres will have some decisions to make in the coming days. The Padres, like every other major league organization, will need to decide how many prospects to protect from the 2024 Rule 5 Draft.

The Rule 5 Draft is an annual event that takes place at the MLB Winter Meetings next month, but teams have been prepping for the happenings over the past few weeks. The Rule 5 Draft allows teams to poach certain players from other organizations.

There are a number of rules that govern who can be selected and how, but for the most part, any player with four (and sometimes five) years of professional experience is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft unless they're protected. In order to protect these young players, teams simply need to add them to the 40-man roster.

Padres 2024 Rule 5 Draft: When is the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster?

Tuesday, November 19 is the deadline for all teams to protect their players from the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. Barring any new acquisitions to the 40-man roster between now and next Tuesday's deadline, San Diego has plenty of room for additional prospects to be added.

The Padres' 40-man roster is currently set at 34, meaning that if AJ Preller is so inclined, he could protect six prospects from the Rule 5 Draft. However, that's quite unlikely, and the Padres are more likely to fill those vacancies with free agent signings or through the trade market.

Obviously the two players that most Padres fans would have concerns about are Ethan Salas and Leodalis De Vries. But you needn't worry, Pads fans. Salas does not need to be added to the Friars' 40-man roster until 2027 and San Diego has until 2028 to add De Vries.

Padres 2024 Rule 5 Draft: Which players are eligible?

But while Salas and De Vries do not need to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft, there are several young players who would need to be added to San Diego's 40-man roster in order to keep them safe.

There is more to adding a player than just his availablity in the Rule 5 Draft. If a team selects one of the Padres players next month, they'll owe San Diego $100,000 and must keep the player on the active roster — not just the 40-man — all season. Otherwise, the selecting team must offer the player back to the Padres in order to option him to the minor leagues. In short, just because a High-A pitcher is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, don't expect him to be added to the 40-man roster.

• Brandon Valenzuela, C
• Javyien Sandridge, LHP
• Nerwillian Cedeño, 2B
• Josh Mears, OF
• Jagger Haynes, LHP
• Ruben Salinas, OF
• Omar Cruz, LHP
• Henry Baez, RHP
• Gabe Morales, LHP
• Albert Fabian, OF
• Ryan Bergert, RHP

The Padres have some decisions to make, with Valenzuela, Mears, Cruz, and Baez as four of the most likely players to be added to the 40-man roster. The Friar faithful will know very soon who will be protected and who might be left exposed.

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