The Philadelphia Phillies made sure teams wouldn’t be able to poach three of their star prospects by adding them to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.
After prolonged years of not having a solid farm system, the Philadelphia Phillies remedied that by continuing to emphasize development after drafting players and acquiring prospects.
This is something that Bryce Harper implored the organization to do, and is something they clearly took to heart.
While they still aren’t towards the top of the prospect rankings lists, the Phillies have some superstar minor leaguers who project to be franchise cornerstones for them whenever they are ready to make the leap up to the Majors.
However, they also had some tough decisions to make ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to add players to their 40-man roster who are eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.
Those added are protected from being selected by other teams around the league on Dec. 11.
Philadelphia decided to protect three of their pitching prospects by adding Moises Chace, Mick Abel and Jean Cabrera to the roster according to Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors.
Abel is the highest-ranked out of the trio, coming in at No. 6.
Once viewed as a top two guy behind only Bryson Stott and Andrew Painter in separate years, he struggled mightily at the Triple-A level this season with a 3-13 record and 6.46 ERA across his 24 starts that caused the organization to reevaluate his future with the team.
Still, at just 23 years old, there is time for him to correct some things and get back on track, so protecting him ahead of the Rule 5 Draft was a no-brainer.
Cabrera is another youngster who could become an impact arm for the Phillies at some point.
Coming off his best season since he played rookie ball in 2021, the right-hander was able to showcase better control of his pitches with a 1.21 WHIP while also holding opposing lineups to a .240 batting average during his 20 appearances and 19 starts.
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