A’s protect 3 prospects ahead of Rule 5 draft
The A’s added three players — righthanded pitchers Wandisson Charles and Miguel Romero and outfielder Greg Deichmann — to their 40man roster Friday, protecting them from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft.
The additions put the A’s roster at 35 players, leaving space to address offseason needs.
Teams needed to add eligible prospects to their 40man rosters by Friday to prevent possibly losing them in the Rule 5 draft. Any player taken in the Rule 5 draft must remain on their new team’s active roster for the full season or be offered back to their former team.
A’s players now eligible for the Rule 5 draft include pitchers Parker Dunshee and Brian Howard, outfielders Buddy Reed and Lazaro Armenteros and infielder Jordan Diaz.
Deichmann, the A’s secondround draft pick in 2017, played at DoubleA Midland in 2019 and stood out in that year’s Arizona Fall League, hitting nine home runs in 23 games. He was part of the A’s player pool in 2020 and worked at their San Jose alternate site — where he impressed development staff — and at instructional league.
“He was really good at the alt site,” A’s director of player development Ed Sprague said earlier this month. “I thought he got down to instructional league and tried to start doing too much. … Right at the end he kind of was able to straighten that up and go into the offseason with some positive stuff. But Greg, it’s just a matter of staying healthy.”
Charles and Romero, both hardthrowing righthanders, also worked at the alternate site. Charles, 24, reached DoubleA in 2019 and has totaled 226 strikeouts along with 150 walks in 1701⁄ minorleague
3 innings. Romero, 26, reached TripleA in 2019 and posted a 3.96 ERA in 45 games for Las Vegas.
Sprague said after the A’s wrapped up instructional league that Charles, signed in 2015, has “made good strides” the past two years.
“His confidence dips down here and there but that’s just normal for being young,” Sprague said. “He’s got a phenomenal arm and I think when he keeps his delivery athletic he can pound the strike zone really good. He’s going to be erratic from time to time — most guys that throw 97 to 98 do have a little bit of erraticness in them so you’re going to live with that. But I think his secondary stuff was a priority and I think he was able to improve that.”
Prospects are generally eligible for the Rule 5 draft after four professional seasons if they were drafted or signed their first contract at age 19 or older, and after five seasons if drafted or signed at 18 or younger. So while Deichmann became eligible this year, two other high A’s draft picks in 2017, outfielder Austin Beck and shortstop Nick Allen, did not need to be protected because they were drafted out of high school.
The A’s also announced invitations for 11 nonroster players to spring training. Those players are righthanders Domingo Acevedo, Cristian Alvarado, Argenis Angulo, Matt Blackham, Ben Bracewell, Montana DuRapau, Brian Schlitter and Trey Supak, and infielders Pete Kozma, Frank Schwindel and Jacob Wilson. None of those invitees appeared in a majorleague game in 2020.