Colorado Rockies: Who will they protect from the Rule 5 draft?

The Colorado Rockies have some decisions to make over the next week that could impact the fates of some of their up-and-coming prospects.

Six Colorado Rockies prospects are available to be chosen in the Rule 5 draft, which will take place on December 12 at the end of baseball’s Winter Meetings in San Diego. As a note, Rox Pile will be at these meetings, bringing you the latest news and rumors involving the Rockies.

Those six prospects are left-handed pitcher Ben Bowden, right-handed pitcher Reid Humphreys, outfielder Daniel Montano, infielder Tyler Nevin, first baseman Roberto Ramos and right-handed pitcher Robert Tyler. Colorado must decide by November 20 which, if any, will be added to the 40-man roster and protected.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com broke down the Rule 5 framework easily in this article:

"Players first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons. Clubs pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. If that player doesn’t stay on the 25-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $50,000."

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The Rockies currently have 36 players on their 40-man roster so there is room for adding some, but not all, of the prospects.

The likeliest to be added to the roster are Bowden and Nevin. There was talk that Bowden might have been added as a September call-up last season but he did struggle a bit after being called up to Triple-A Albuquerque on June 20. At Double-A, the 25-year-old Bowden went 20-for-20 in save opportunities while posting a 1.05 ERA in 25.2 innings. However, at Triple-A, his ERA rose to 5.88 in 26 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

For Bowden, however, there is good news in the numbers. In nine August outings covering 12.1 innings, the ERA was 3.65. However, there were eight walks issued versus 13 strikeouts.

The 22-year-old Nevin had a solid season in his first year at Double-A, slashing .251/.345/.399 with 13 home runs and 61 RBI. He has battled injuries throughout his career but also won the Arizona Fall League batting title in 2018 with a .426 average.

Additionally interesting is Ramos, who could potentially play into Colorado’s future plans at first base. In 2019, he hit 30 homers and drove in 105 runs last season in his first Triple-A campaign. He was named as a PCL All-Star and his teammates voted him as the team’s Most Valuable Player.

We talked about Ramos and his potential future with the Rockies with Bryan Kilpatrick of RockyMtnBaseball.com in this podcast.