Oakland A’s have some decisions to make with Rule V Draft

Seven of the Oakland A’s top 30 prospects are eligible for the Rule V Draft. They will have some difficult decisions to make in the coming days.

The Oakland A’s are going to have some difficult decisions to make in the coming days. Seven of their top 30 prospects are eligible to be selected in the Rule V Draft, meaning that they will need to be placed on the 40 man roster in order to be protected.

Nominally, it would be easy for the A’s to protect all seven of those prospects. The current 40 man roster has just 32 players currently listed, giving the A’s the necessary room to keep all of their prospects. But this also ignores the fact that the A’s had ten players leave the roster via free agency – any players signed to fill those openings would need to be placed on the 40 man roster as well.

As of now, this leaves those prospects somewhat in limbo. A decision will need to be made on all of those prospects – Jordan Diaz, Greg Deichmann, Lazaro Armenteros, Buddy Reed, Brian Howard, Miguel Romero, and Parker Dunshee.

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In at least one case, it will be an easy decision. Romero has a high octane fastball and the fearlessness needed to be a piece in the back of a bullpen, something that the A’s will need. He had been considered to be promoted in 2019, but Oakland felt that he had too many other areas to work on.

Armenteros and Reed are both interesting prospects but have major flaws. Both have had issues with strikeouts, but when right, show the potential that made them highly regarded prospects. Diaz and Deichmann are both expected to hit, but there are questions about their future fit in the field, and neither have played above A-ball yet.

Howard and Dunshee are also similar. Both pitchers have to rely upon their command as they do not possess overpowering stuff. Likewise, both pitchers have been exposed at the upper levels, as they simply do not have the arsenal to just throw strikes and get the opposition out.

The Oakland A’s will need to decide what to do with seven of their top 30 prospects. While Miguel Romero is seemingly a lock to be protected, the other players are more questionable.