Everything you need to know about the Rule 5 Draft and 3 Reds prospects to protect

At 6 PM ET on Tuesday, November 14th, all 30 major league ball clubs must make some crucial roster decisions in order to protect some of their top prospects from the Rule 5 Draft.

Last year, the Cincinnati Reds added players like Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, and Brandon Williamson to the 40-man roster in order to keep them within the organization.

But what is the Rule 5 Draft? When is it? How does it work? And which Reds prospects are eligible to be selected this year?

What is the Rule 5 Draft?

The Rule 5 Draft is held every year at the MLB Winter Meetings. This year, those meetings take place from December 3rd through the 6th in Nashville, Tennessee. The Rule 5 Draft itself will be held on December 6th.

Each team will have the ability to select players from another organization that meet certain criteria. In this case, any player who's not part of a team's 40-man roster and was drafted in 2019 (high school player) or 2020 (college player) would be eligible.

However, if a team makes a selection during the Rule 5 Draft, there are some rules that the selecting team must follow. Any player chosen during the supplemental draft must remain on the active roster throughout the entire 2024 season, or be offered back to their original team.

The Reds have had some success through the Rule 5 Draft over the years with Josh Hamilton probably being one the best players to ever be selected through the process.

While the Rule 5 Draft is a few weeks away, the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster is less than 24 hours away. Which prospects will the Cincinnati Reds need to add to the roster before the 6 PM ET deadline?

Reds prospect Rece Hinds must be protected from the Rule 5 Draft

The most obvious Reds prospect who needs to be added to the team's 40-man roster before the 6 PM ET deadline on Tuesday is outfielder Rece Hinds. The slugger has elite-power and can change the complexity of the game with one swing of the bat.

Hinds might have the most raw power of any prospect in the Reds farm system. If you were impressed by what you saw from the likes of Elly De La Cruz and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, then you're going to love Hinds.

However, there is a lot of swing-and-miss that comes with Hinds' game. The former second-round pick had the fifth-most strikeouts in the Southern League last season with 151 whiffs. But, among qualified batters, Hinds led the Chattanooga Lookouts with 23 homers and an OPS of .866.

Hinds made an adjustment to his swing midway through the season and it paid off. After spending the entire year down in Double-A, the assumption would be that the 23-year-old will begin the 2024 season at Triple-A Louisville.

Rece Hinds, more than any other prospect in the Cincinnati Reds farm system, has the chance to be a boom-or-bust prospect. Hopefully, the Reds have no intention of rushing the outfielder to the big leagues, as a full-season in Triple-A would do wonders for his development.

Look for Hinds to be among the handful of Reds prospects added to Cincinnati's 40-man roster before Tuesday's deadline.

Reds prospect Christian Roa must be protected from the Rule 5 Draft

Christian Roa presents a very interesting and intriguing option for the Cincinnati Reds. After being selected in the second-round of the 2020 MLB Draft, Roa has seen the ups and downs during his minor league career.

But it seemed as though the 24-year-old finally put together a healthy season in 2023 and he could be a sneaky-good addition to the Reds 40-man roster this offseason.

Roa is not going to blow you away with any one aspect of his game. The Texas A&M product has a solid four-pitch mix, but doesn't have an overpowering fastball or tight-breaking slider that is going impress anyone with its off-the-charts spin-rate.

Roa, however, is able to get swings and misses. The right-hander posted a 31-percent strikeout-rate, but when you couple that with his 16.6-percent walk-rate, it becomes much less impressive. According to FanGraphs, Roa allowed opponents to hit just .228 but had a WHIP of 1.60.

Roa probably falls into that same category as Lyon Richardson, Carson Spiers, and Levi Stoudt; too much upside not to add him to the 40-man roster, but not enough of a track record to consider him a core piece moving forward.

Regardless, expect the Cincinnati Reds add Christian Roa to the roster before Tuesday's deadline. With the Reds need for pitching, allowing starter who could provide depth in the minors to be pluck during the Rule 5 Draft would be irresponsible.