As the 2025 Rule 5 Draft approaches, the Cleveland Guardians find themselves in a familiar but uncomfortable position: choosing which young players to protect and which to expose. The annual event, designed to prevent teams from stashing minor-league talent for too long, forces every organization to examine the depth of its farm system and its long-term projections. For the Guardians — a club built on scouting, development and maximizing internal value — the decisions carry even more weight.
Under Rule 5 guidelines, players who have spent four or five years in professional baseball (depending on their signing age) must be added to the 40-man roster or be exposed to selection by other clubs. Any player taken must remain on the selecting team’s active MLB roster for the entire season, making these picks low-risk gambles for rebuilding teams. For prospects who are unprotected, the Rule 5 Draft presents both a risk for their current club and an opportunity for accelerated advancement elsewhere.
Cleveland’s most notable unprotected prospect this winter is Wuilfredo Antunez, an outfielder whose stock has risen dramatically. Signed for just $10,000 in 2019, Antunez broke out across High-A and Double-A in 2025, posting a 139 wRC+ with over 50 extra-base hits and at least 15 steals. His combination of athleticism, improving power, and raw tools makes him an intriguing candidate for teams willing to gamble on upside. For the Guardians, however, leaving him unprotected opens the door for another club to acquire a potentially impactful contributor at no acquisition cost.
The organization did choose to protect four players: Angel Genao, Kahlil Watson, Austin Peterson, and Yorman Gomez. Each reflects a different organizational priority. Genao, a switch-hitting infielder, has standout bat-to-ball skills and emerging power. Watson, once a high-profile infield prospect, moved to the outfield and now brings speed, athleticism and renewed promise. Both Peterson and Gomez are pitchers — one a durable starter type, the other a hard-throwing reliever who could contribute in the near future. Adding these four to the 40-man roster signals Cleveland believes they have clearer paths to future major-league roles.
Still, the Guardians’ farm system is deep, which naturally means leaving talent exposed. Beyond Antunez, several other names — though less prominent — may appeal to teams searching for inexpensive bullpen help, outfield depth or developmental projects. Because Rule 5 picks cost so little and can be returned if they fail to stick, organizations often use the draft to take chances on toolsy prospects or late-developing arms.
For Cleveland, the risk lies in losing upside without receiving compensation. Although Rule 5 selections rarely turn into stars, notable success stories — including Johan Santana, Shane Victorino, and Garrett Whitlock — illustrate how damaging a miscalculation can be. With a roster reliant on internal development rather than expensive free agents, losing even one high-ceiling player could affect future depth.
On the other hand, making tough decisions is part of the Guardians’ long-term strategy. Protecting every interesting player is impossible; protecting the right ones is essential. By securing Genao, Watson, Peterson and Gomez, Cleveland has prioritized players closest to contributing at the major-league level while trusting that others may slip through the draft untouched.
The Rule 5 Draft represents both opportunity and threat — a moment when teams must balance risk, projection and roster flexibility. For the Guardians, the 2025 edition will reveal how well they’ve evaluated their system, and whether their assumptions about who will or won’t be taken prove correct. In a sport where small decisions have long echoes, the consequences of this winter’s choices may not be fully realized for years.
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