CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians’ front office faced tough decisions ahead of the Rule 5 draft roster deadline, choosing to protect just four prospects while leaving several intriguing names exposed to the other 29 MLB teams. This calculated risk could result in significant talent departing the organization when the Rule 5 draft takes place at the winter meetings next month.
The list of unprotected players includes some surprising names, with Milan Tolentino perhaps being the most eye-catching. The son of a former major leaguer, Tolentino experienced a power breakthrough in 2025, smashing 21 home runs while advancing to Triple-A Columbus after never hitting more than 10 homers in any previous professional season.
“Tolentino hit 16 home runs at Columbus last year. Trenton Denholm, a pitcher that just was named Arizona Fall League Pitcher of the Week was left unprotected. Ryan Webb, Steve Perez, two other pitchers that could draw some interest,” Paul Hoynes noted during the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast.
Tolentino’s newfound power comes with significant swing-and-miss concerns, as he struck out 158 times in just 394 at-bats last season. However, his combination of pedigree, versatility, and developing power make him an attractive target for teams looking to take a chance in the Rule 5 draft.
“He’s an infielder. His dad was a former big leaguer. He went up to Columbus and then showed some power. He’s got some swing and miss though, so he’s going to have to get that under control, but definitely put himself on the map,” Hoynes explained. “Twenty-nine other teams are scouring these unprotected lists. I’m sure they have kind of circled his name.”
The pitchers left unprotected are equally intriguing. Denholm recently pitched four hitless innings for the Surprise Saguros in the Arizona Fall League semifinals, showcasing his talents against some of baseball’s top prospects. Ryan Webb, another notable name, has been highly regarded within the organization for years.
Tanner Burns and Jack Leftwich, high draft choices from the Guardians’ pitching-heavy draft in 2021, are also among those left exposed. These arms have worked their way through Cleveland’s system but now face the possibility of continuing their careers elsewhere.
The Rule 5 draft carries specific requirements that sometimes deter teams from selecting players. Any player chosen must remain on the selecting team’s major league roster for at least 90 days, or be offered back to their original club for half of the $100,000 draft price.
“If they get selected in the major league phase, the selecting club has to keep them in the big leagues,” Hoynes explained.
This requirement often leads teams to target players they believe can contribute immediately at the major league level, despite some developmental needs. For players like Tolentino, Denholm, and Webb, their combination of talent and proximity to the majors makes them vulnerable in the upcoming draft.
For deeper analysis on which Guardians prospects might be poached in the Rule 5 draft and why the organization made these difficult roster decisions, check out the full episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast with Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, it’s time to talk prospects. Rule 5 draft deadline was Tuesday evening and the guardians set their 40 man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft which will take place at the end of the winter meetings next month. The Guardians added four players to their 40 man roster which was at 37 at the beginning of the day they actually designated Nick Enright for assignment. Enright who has undergone elbow surgery and won’t be pitching in 2025 or I’m sorry, in 2026. So that gave them four open spots and they added four players from their farm system including Yorman Gomez, El Hanau and as well as Austin Peterson and Khalil Watson. Peterson and Gomez are right handed pitchers. Watson, an outfielder, and Angel Hanau of course highly rated infield prospect is as far as those four players go. Who do you see as having an impact on the major league roster? The soonest out of those four.
Paul Hoynes: Interesting, interesting four choices. Joe, you know, I would think perhaps Watson just because you know, they moved him to the outfield this, this past season he showed some power. Sixteen home runs, bunch of, you know, what like 30, like you know, bunch of doubles, some triples. You know, that former number one pick of the, of the Marlins that they got in the Josh Bell trade. So you know, maybe you know, and they’re looking for help in the outfield. They certainly need it. So I think he’ll probably be in spring training. Obviously he’ll be in spring training and well, you know, maybe he’ll get a shot to, you know, make an impression and, and help them somewhere down the stretch. And another guy, I think maybe Peterson, Joe, this is a guy that, you know, former ninth round pick out of UConn. You know, he’s a starter, you know, had, you know, really good year last season. You know, durable. I think he led the minor league system and then he’s pitched and strikeouts. So this is a guy that you know could help them because they need some pitching depth, especially in that rotation.
Joe Noga: Yeah. 26 years old, Austin Peterson too. So you know, a little, a little bit more further along on his career path there. The 127 strikeouts in 145 innings. That’s you know, nice to, to, to see out of a starter. So, but I want to go back to Watson. Like you said, 22 years old. He was a, a first round pick for the, the Marlins and, and you know, a guy that has all the athletic ability and, and sort of all that talent, you know, I think 77 career stolen bases in the, you know, a guy that we know can, can run, he can play all over. He started as an infielder and they moved into the outfield, so. And you know, I, I guess it came over with sort of that reputation as a, you know, as a, as a firebrand, as a, you know, sort of a fiery sort of hothead type guy. Got ejected from a few games when he was at the Marlins minor league system. But maybe he’s, he’s, he’s found something and, and sort of matured and developed a little bit and with that has come some, some pop and some power. Like we said, he’s played in center field, he’s played in right field. He’s just an interesting prospect and somebody who you’re going to see late in games in spring training for sure. But you know, maybe this is a guy who at some point during the season gets a chance at a call up.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, and he was in camp with the big league club last year, spring training invitation, you know, solid guy, you know, you know, physical guy, looks like, you know, he had a lot of swing and miss. That’s what I remember watching him in spring training show. I think he was putting some pressure on himself, trying to make an impression. But he certain, you know, he played. He had a solid year at Triple A, you know, put up some numbers like, like we’ve been talking about six triples, 30 doubles to go along with those 16 home runs. So it’s a guy that can run a little bit, you know, so an interesting guy. Yeah. And I would think if all goes well in spring training, he’d put himself in position to help the Guardians down to stretch May.
Joe Noga: 19 strikeouts, 48 walks last season between Akron and Columbus for Khalil Watson. So just like you said, something to keep an eye out on there, but really the, the guy that sort of, sort of is the headliner of this group is Angela. Now very highly thought of prospect. I think he’s, you know, in their top 10 prospects. According to MLB Pipeline. Last season he was with the, the Arizona Complex League. And then, you know, started off the season because he had, had been injured there at the end of spring training. But by the time he made it to Akron, he was, he was going pretty Good, you know, what.323 on base percentage.359 SL slugging for a six 82 OPS. He hit.259 at Akron. So just, you know, not, not great numbers there. But uh, he’s, he’s got a little bit of pop and, and, and can play all over the infield. Just a, a guy that they really like, you know, what’s to, what’s to look forward to here with Angel?
Paul Hoynes: And now Joe, this was a guy that, you know, as you’ve mentioned, you know, his season was kind of set delayed because of the shoulder injury in spring training. He really didn’t get to Akron until June 6th. So it’s, you know, it’s, you got to take his season I think the, you know, with a grain of salt. But in, in 2024, this guy hit 341 at Lynchburg. Then he moved up to Lake county, hit.322, you know, combined for 10 home runs, 71 RBIs. So he makes, you know, this is a guy that, that makes contact.
Joe Noga: And.
Paul Hoynes: He can, and he can run. Joe, he stole like 25 bases in 30 attempts. So kind of, you know, an interesting guy. But I don’t think that last season was a true read just because of the shoulder injury.
Joe Noga: And you know, he’s still young, he’s 21 years old. So this is a guy that is still developing and you know, it depends on where he ends up. I would imagine he’d probably start out again at Akron this year and chance to prove himself and move up to, to Columbus by the end of the season. But his, his clock now starts with, you know, being added to the 40 man roster and eventually we’ to see him at some point at the big league level unless they decide to use him as a trade piece at some point. All right, with that, with those decisions to, to make those moves to, to add those, those four players. Those are guys that, you know, the, the guardians think that other teams would know, want to take a chance on maybe in the Rule 5 draft if they were left exposed so they, they protect them on the 40 man roster. Now you’ve got a whole bunch of guys who are Rule 5 draft eligible list that has some names from that, that top 30 guardians prospects. There are some, some draft choices in here. There’s some guys who are, you know, highly thought of of this list of guys, you know, who do you think is, is exposed and, and could be taken maybe in that Rule 5 draft at the end of the, the winter meetings.
Paul Hoynes: I think, you know, I think it’s wide open, Joe. And I think, you know, guardians usually lose some people in the Rule 5, whether it’s in the major league phase or the, you know, double A and, or the triple A and double A phase. But Wilfredo Antunes is a guy that they could lose. Cody Huff, Milan Tolentino, who hit 16 home runs at AAA last year. Trenton Denholm, pitcher that just was named Arizona Fall League Pitcher of the Week was left on unprotected. Ryan Webb, Steve Perez, two other pitchers that you know, could draw some interest.
Joe Noga: Ryan, we guy, I believe a couple years back, didn’t he start the, the minor league championship, you know, game, wasn’t he, you know, he’s very highly thought of in the organization. I think just might not be developmentally where they feel like other teams would, would roll the dice on taking him and having to add him. The rule there is you have to stay with the major league club throughout the season. Otherwise the, the other, the team that takes you has to offer you back to the team you were drafted from. Tanner Burns, I remember, is a, you know, another guy who’s a high draft choice within the last couple of years and just looking a guy like Jack Leftwich was, was a highly regarded prospect as well.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, a bunch of those guys came in that one draft where they hit what they took 19 pitchers out of, out of 21, plus 21 picks. You know, these guys worked their way up through the system and you know, this is their one, this is a big chance for them. But because as you said, if they get selected in the major league phase, the big league club has to keep them in the big leagues, you know, you know, preferably all year, but the requirement is at least 90 days or they have to offer you back for, you know, half of the 100,000 grand or the 100, 100 grand, you know, draft price.
Joe Noga: Jose Devers is on this list of potentially exposed prospects. Devers, of course, the cousin of Rafael Devers, the now San Francisco Giants slugger formerly with Boston, Jose Devers, a guy who, you know, we’ve seen him at Lake county and I believe he’s been up in Akron, just, you know, another prospect who they like him but obviously needs to develop a little bit more there. Just like Milan Tolentino, you mentioned he’s a guy who developed some power last year. He had more than 20 home runs.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, he, you know, he’s an infielder. His dad was a former big leaguer. He went up to Columbus and then showed some power. He’s got some swing and miss though, so he’s going to have to get that under control, but definitely put himself on the map. I’m 29 other teams scouring these unprotected lists, you know, I’m sure have kind of circled his name.
Joe Noga: Yeah, I didn’t he have a good spring training showing as well? He hit a bunch of home runs in spring training as well.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah. Yeah. And you know Joe, there’s still, and they’re you know come as we approach Friday with the non tender date there still could, there could be more openings on the 40 man depending on what the, what the guardians do with you know, with the arbitration eligible players they have.
Joe Noga: Yeah, Tolentino is. He joined the organization in 2021 and had never hit more than 10 home runs in a season. And then last year 2025 he hit 21 home runs, drove in 66 and did he struck out 158 times in what or 394 at bats. Those are numbers that, that sort of jump out and catch your eye there for sure. All right. So yeah, the, the 40 man roster set now the rule 5 draft and all the research that the clubs are going to be doing taking a look at you know, what potential players of the guardians they could be taking. Just, just interesting to see you know what the, the guardians evaluated of their own roster of their own players who were eligible that you know they think they couldn’t leave exposed or at least players that they, they wanted to bring back. So you know the process is going to play out through September. I wanted to mention the, the Surprise Cigaros won the Arizona Fall League championship and that team, I had a bunch of Guardians prospects on it. In fact one of the players that’s left exposed here, Joe Lampy, he’s, he was on that team made a catch in right field in the championship game. Third baseman Juan Benjamin had a big two run single early in that game as the Cigaros had an eight run inning and went on to, to win the championship of the Arizona Fall League. It’s just a nice little note. You mentioned Trenton Denholm having a winning a pitcher of the week award there. It says a lot about the, the depth and the quality of the Guardians minor league system.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And the Arizona Fall League, I think it’s over now, Joe. And you know it’s kind of a. As we’ve said before, it’s a finishing school for the top prospects in the organization. And it also gives guys like Lampeon and Denholm a chance to face that quality Competition from the 29 other teams. Gets them, puts them, gives them another chance to put themselves on the maps. If they don’t make it with the Guardians, they, they could have another shot somewhere else. So you know it’s always, it’s always good Baseball and you know, there’s nothing like the fall league in Arizona. That’s the best time of year.
Joe Noga: You know, another thing that happens around this time of year is the, this idea of DFA players in order to make that space on your 40 man roster. And now there’s guys who are in that, you know, couple of days limbo state that, that phase where they could be traded if a team can work out a deal or they become free agents after that. Two names that really stand out, Rangers outfielder Adoles Garcia and catcher Jonah Heim. Those, those guys, they weren’t designated for assignment but they are being talked about for trade possibilities. We go back a few months here. The idea of the Guardians maybe trying to trade for Adoles Garcia, but he would, he would carry a heavy price tag. Wouldn’t he think so, Joe?
Paul Hoynes: And, but this is a, this is a power hitter. He was hurt last season with Texas. We’ve seen him at his best with the Rangers, but last year was not one of his best years. So. An interesting guy, Joe. I don’t what, what is his price tag? I’m not sure.
Joe Noga: He’s. He made 9.25 million in 2025. He’s third year arbitration eligible in 2026. So you would only, you would imagine that would, you know, probably go up, you know, substantially from that based on just. He’s had a lot of success in Texas and you know, helped them to a championship there. He’s 32 years old. So yeah, I, I think, you know, he, he would be, he would fit in, in right field for sure for the Guardians. But again, you got to ask questions about his health and questions about, and really they, they’ve got nine. They would probably have enough money to pay him for, you know, just this one year and it would it be a matter of what they would have to give up to get him from the, the Rangers. And what the Rangers are looking for is definitely pitching health, definitely.
Paul Hoynes: But this is a guy that if you’re looking for power, if you’re looking for pop, if this guy’s going to have a, you know, kind of a platform year and a bounce back year, he would certainly look good in your lineup in the Guardians lineup. So interesting name to consider.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And you’re, you’re looking at what he’s projected to make in arbitration this year. Heim projected to make 6 million and Garcia projected just a little over 12 million. So they had 12 million laying around last year for Carlos Santana. I wonder if that same 12 million is available to go after Adoles Garcia. Anyways, I wanted to mention as well some of the names that took the qualifying offer. Hoyncy, have you ever, do you ever remember this many players? 4 players opting in to take the qualifying offer which is at 22.025 million this year. So every player that opts in and takes the qualifying offer is paid, you know, 22.025 million for the the 2026 season. Really that move is kind of crazy because you’re expecting a lockout in 2027 and you’d be a free agent again that at that point and you wouldn’t be guaranteed any money. So the list of the four players that decided to take the qualifying offer includes Glaber, Torres from the the Detroit Tigers.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Torres had a, you know, really good first half for the Tigers last year. Struggled in the second half and I’m joining, I’m wondering maybe these guys are you know, because of the looming labor negotiations with the perhaps a lockout coming, maybe they wanted to find a safe harbor, take, take the one year deal and you know, 22 million. I guess you could get by on 22 million, right? You could weather I could make it work.
Joe Noga: Yeah, I guess.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah. But the guy that interested me Joe, was Trent Grisham, a left handed hitter, had a great a breakout year with the Yankees. You think he’d be in position to really cash in on a multi year deal. But he elected to stay in in New York, you know, kind of came out of nowhere this year. 34 home runs, 74 RBIs, 8.12 OPS. He was making like I think 5 million around there last season. You know, so he takes the 22 million on a one year deal and he, and he gets to hit in the same lineup as Aaron Judge. So. And he’s a left handed hitter at Yankee Stadium. So I guess there’s a lot of reasons why he may have taken that qualify.
Joe Noga: I’ll say that right field porch in Yankee Stadium probably had a lot to do with it. But yeah, that one. I don’t think the Yankees were expecting him to, to accept the 22 million qualifying offer. I think that’s what the, the surprise was. Brandon Woodruff from the brewers and Shota Imenaga from the Cubs also picking up their qualifying offers. I, I don’t recall a time when we had that many. Out of the 13 eligible, there were four. Four guys took the, the qualifying offer. Nine turned it down. So just an interesting, maybe a look at what’s to come in terms of the what’s expected to come in terms of the labor negotiations with these guys picking up these options and getting paid now as much as they can, probably expecting the teams weren’t going to be willing to lock them up with bigger contracts that cover the, the 2027 season. Kind of a, kind of a strange things as we get closer to that. And again, I wanted to talk about Torres just briefly. He hit only.184 against the Guardians last year because he’s the guy that they’re going to see the Most. He only hit.184 against Cleveland last year, but he was hot during the beginning of the season. Early in the year, he pretty much earned his spot as a. An all star at second base. But in his career against Cleveland, most of it with the Yankees when he was dominant against Cleveland, 6 home runs, 20 RBIs,268 batting average in something like 40 games against Cleveland in his career. 46 games against Cleveland in his career. So, you know, Gleyber Torres, a guy who has tormented the Guardians in the past and you know, at least one more year in Detroit, we’ll have an opportunity to do that.
Paul Hoynes: And Joe, wasn’t he the guy that rocked the baby, made the final out at second base? He, you know, he recorded the final out at second base in the ALCS a couple years ago against the Guardians. I think he, he made the force and kind of rocked the baby toward the Guardians. I’m pretty sure that was him.
Joe Noga: Yeah, that was directed towards Josh Naylor. And Josh Naylor is, is laughing all the way to the bank in Seattle right now with 92.5 million over five years. Yeah, yeah, we’re not, we’re not going to be concerned about that. That was a completely different team, wasn’t it, back then with, with Gleyber Torres? But, you know, he’s back. I also wanted to mention the, the big trade that happened yesterday. Our friend Craig Alvarenez got a little bit of pop in his lineup, added a little bit of pop to his lineup in Baltimore as he take Orioles new manager. He brings in Taylor Ward from the Angels Award. Hit 36 home runs last year and he’s entering his final year of arbitration eligibility. The Orioles and Angels swapped players. Ward goes to Baltimore and Grayson Rodriguez, who missed, you know, pretty much all last season with an injury. He goes to the Angels.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Rodriguez really a talented guy, Joe, but he’s dealt with elbow and lat problems since. He really hasn’t pitched since. In a big league game since 2000, 20, 24. Missed all the last season but the Angels really need pitching and that they’ve I think it’s a gamble on their part, obviously, but I think they’re in a position where they’re they’ve got to do that. They’ve they have to take a chance on this. And the Orioles certainly can use some power. They really struggled last season after, you know, looking like, you know, they were going to really emerge a couple years ago. They got a power hitter and hopefully Craig Alberna is a happy man right now. Yeah.
Joe Noga: It’s certainly good. Good to see for Albie as, as they move forward. All right, Hoinsey, that’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. We’ll check back in with you on Thursday.
Paul Hoynes: Good deal.
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