Miami Marlins Add 5 Players to 40-Man Roster

Feb 18, 2014; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins Justin Nicolino (79) in spring training action at Roger Dean Stadium Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

The deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster to protect them from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place near the end of the Winter Meetings, is midnight EST.

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Here’s a great explanation of the entire process by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.

"For many, that decision will be made on Thursday. A:ll 30 teams have to decide which players deserve to be added to their 40-man rosters by 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday. Those eligible and left unprotected were thus left exposed to selection in December’s Rule 5 Draft. 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 $50,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft, slated to take place on Thursday, Dec. 11. 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 $25,000. In other words, an international player or high school draftee signed in 2010, assuming he was 18 or younger as of June 5 of that year, must be protected. A college player taken in the 2011 Draft is in the same boat. There were 12 players on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list who needed to be protected or become exposed to the Rule 5, led by Twins third baseman Miguel Sano and Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard, both of whom are in the top 10."

The Marlins actually had a bunch of players that were eligible to be added to the 40-man roster this off-season or they’d be at risk to be lost to another franchise at the draft next month. The team was going to have to make a few tough decisions.

Here are the players Mayo projected the Marlins to protect.

"Miami (6): No. 4 Justin Nicolino, LHP; No. 8 Adam Conley, LHP; No. 11 Domingo German, RHP; No. 12 Jarlin Garcia, LHP; No. 16 Austin Barnes, 2B/C; No. 17 Austin Brice, RHP"

Here are the players that the Marlins did protect.

We’ll get into the names the Marlins did protect first before we look at who they did not.

Next: Players Marlins Protected