The Arizona Diamondbacks, along with the rest of the teams in MLB, have some decisions to make no later than Tuesday November 18. This is due to the offseason transaction dates and deadline calendar.

November 18: QO and Rule 5

This is the deadline for a player to either accept or reject a qualifying offer. Zac Gallen’s decision must be made by this date.

This is also the deadline to add a Rule 5 eligible player to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

Players signed at age 18 or younger need to be added to their club’s 40-man roster within five seasons or they become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. Players who signed at age 19 or older need to be protected within four seasons.

If a player is left unprotected and taken in the draft, then the drafting team must pay $100,000 to the team he’s taken from.

He also must be put on the that team’s 26-man roster, and can only be removed by being placed on outright waivers. If he clears waivers, then he must be offered back to the team he was drafted from for $50,000.

A recent example of this was Deyvison De Los Santos, who was taken by the Guardians during the 2023 winter meetings Rule 5, only to be returned to the D-backs at the end of spring training the next year.

Related Content: Diamondbacks Guide to 2025-2026 Offseason Transaction Calendar

Who Gets Added to the 40-Man Roster to Protect From the Rule 5 Draft?

The D-backs current 40-man roster sits at 38. So unless they make other moves before Tuesday to free up more space on the roster, they can only protect two draft-eligible players. An unofficial list of eligible players can be found at this link.

It should be noted that there is at least one name missing from the list, Kristian Robinson, who was left exposed last year, but not taken. Below is a breakout of players by risk factor of being taken if left off the 40-man roster.

High Risk of Being Drafted

Kohl Drake is a 25-year-old left-hander acquired from Texas in the Merrill Kelly trade. He has a big fastball and curveball, and overall decent command. Ranked sixth among D-backs prospects on MLB Pipeline, a drafting team would probably try to stash him in a bullpen. It’s risky, but worth a shot with this level arm.

Mitch Bratt is a young 22-year-old with mature, five-pitch mix and top-notch control. He’s ranked ninth in the D-backs system, and it’s easy to see a team taking a chance on him despite his young age.

Moderate Risk of being drafted

Dylan Ray is a 25-year-old right-hander who earned a mid- season promotion from Double-A to Triple-A. His Reno numbers are inflated (6.30 ERA), but he pitched well at times and is another guy who could be converted to reliever and stick in bullpen.

Spencer Giesting is a 24-year-old lefty who had a similar arc to his season as Ray. Success at Double-A, struggles in Reno, but some flashes and good signs there too.

Alfred Morillo may not have had good numbers in Reno last year year, but the 24-year-old reliever has solid stuff, with a mid 90’s fastball and good slider. The righty is another arm teams might take a chance on if left unprotected.

Low Risk of Being Drafted

The following list of players are names most followers of the D-backs minor league system are familiar with, but for various reasons, are unlikely to be chosen. If any of them are chosen, they probably end up getting returned, similar to De Los Santos.

Kristian Robinson, Ivan Melendez, A.J. Vukovich, and Jose Fernandez.

A Final Word about the 40-man Roster

As mentioned above, the roster is at 38. If the team wants to open things up to protect a couple more players, then they’ll have to put a couple more guys on waivers and outright them if they clear. That could possibly be someone like Gus Varland or Taylor Rashi.

And there is always the possibility that Mike Hazen does indeed make an early trade to clear space. That could be difficult however, as most other teams are in a similar situation to the D-backs, so it might be difficult to match up at the moment.

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