Indians: Impending Rule 5 Draft decisions to be made

The Cleveland Indians have already made some roster moves this offseason but they have bigger decisions to make soon as they prepare for the Rule 5 Draft.

The Cleveland Indians entered this offseason with some rather big decisions right out of the gate. They had to trim their 40-man roster back down to a maximum of 40 players as their 60-day injury list guys had to be activated. A couple of big casualties from that were oft-injured pitchers Danny Salazar and Cody Anderson.

These moves the Tribe made got their 40-man down to 38 players heading into the offseason, which only leaves (for the moment) two open spots to add players before the December Rule 5 Draft.

The Indians, therefore, can add only two players as of now, though they can still release (or trade) players to open a 40-man spot before the November 20tdeadline. I’d imagine we do see some more cuts/moves before the deadline, as it looks (to me at least) like there are more than two guys the Tribe should add.

Here’s a look at some of the players who are eligible for the draft and how likely they are to be rostered.

And this year adds a new wrinkle to the Rule 5 Draft because in 2020 major league teams will see their big league rosters expand from 25 players to 26 players, allowing them to carry an extra bench player or bullpen arm.