Twins Protect Six Minor League Players from Rule 5 Draft

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

Heading into Tuesday, some Twins fans (at least those of us who care about prospects) were anxious to find out who the Twins would protect. The assumption was that it would be a sizable group of players, but due to limits, they would still leave several players vulnerable to the Rule 5 draft in a couple of weeks. 

The Twins chose to protect six players. They added two right-handed pitchers (John Klein, Andrew Morris), two left-handers (Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas), and two outfielders (Gabriel Gonzalez, Hendry Mendez). None of the names are terribly surprising. If you read our article previewing and somewhat predicting the Twins roster additions, the first five that were assumed Givens were all added. 

The one surprise, and a minimal surprise at that, is arguably the closest to Target Field. Sure, John Klein ended the 2025 season pitching in St. Paul, but he spends his offseason in the Twin Cities. He is a 2020 graduate of Osseo High School and grew up in Brooklyn Park. At the time, he was a catcher. He went to Iowa Central Community College, and while there, he became a pitcher. One of his coaches was Jonas Lovin who was the pitching coach for the Saints in 2025. He was going to go play baseball at Minnesota State in Mankato, but a Twins scout saw him and signed him in August of 2022 as a non-drafted free agent. Just three years later, he finds himself on the Minnesota Twins 40-man roster. He really impressed at Wichita in 2025. He was throwing harder, touching 96 with a couple of fastballs. At 6-5 and 225 pounds, he's got a chance to pitch for his hometown team as early as the second half of next season.

Tomah, Wisconsin, is about two-and-a-half hours east of Target Field on I-94. That's where Connor Prielipp grew up and went to high school before heading south to Alabama. The southpaw hasn't pitched a lot of innings as a pro, but he was able to remain healthy throughout the season. He ended the year at Triple-A St. Paul and tossed six innings in his final start. Blessed with size and a big fastball, Prielipp also has a tremendous slider and a good changeup too. It will be interesting to see whether he continues to build as a starter or come to the big leagues in the bullpen. We should see that happen, maybe even fairly early in the 2026 season. 

Kendry Rojas presumably has the most interesting story of the bunch. It started in Cuba. He came to the States and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. He missed time early in 2025, but he was pitching very well before the trade deadline, absolutely dominating Double-A hitters. He made one Triple-A start for the Jays before being included with outfielder Alan Roden in a last-second deadline deal with the Blue Jays. He really struggled in St. Paul, getting hit and issuing too many walks, but his stuff is electric. He's a guy they will likely want to keep starting as long as that is realistic. 

The fourth pitchers added to the Twins roster is right-hander Andrew Morris. He was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2022 out of Texas Tech. He pitched at three levels in 2024, ending the season with the Saints. That's where he spent the entire 2025 season, though he missed almost two months on the IL. Morris looks the part of starter. He sits 94-95 mph with the fastball, and yet he has touched 97. He also throws three breaking balls with three different paths to the plate and three different velocities. While the bullpen is always possible, Morris's stuff most shouts starting pitcher. 

The Twins also added two hitters, both outfielders, to the 40-man roster. Like Rojas, Hendry Mendez came to the Twins at the trade deadline from the Phillies in the Harrison Bader trade. At 6-4 and about 220 pounds, he looks like a power hitter, and he has that potential. To this point in his career, however, he has been a batting average, doubles type of hitter. He puts the ball in play, even walking more than striking out at several stops, including his two-month stint with the Wind Surge. With his size, it is likely that he will get some work in at first base this offseason and moving forward. However valuable his becomes will likely depend on how much game power he is able to develop. 

Finally, Gabriel Gonzalez was an easy addition to the roster. The 21-year-old came to the Twins from the Mariners in a February 2024 trade for Jorge Polanco. He struggled in Cedar Rapids last year and missed half the season with injury. But he returned to form in 2026. he played at three levels and hit over .315 at each spot. He combined to hit 38 doubles and 15 homers. He hit the ball hard. Defensively, he's got work to do on reads and routes and such, but he does have a strong arm. 

For more Twins Daily content on these six new Twins 40-man roster members, click their links here:
John Klein, Andrew Morris, Connor Prielipp, Kendry Rojas, Gabriel Gonzalez, Hendry Mendez. 

At Risk: The Other Side of the Proverbial Coin
With their six new additions to the 40-man roster, other minor leaguers (several legitimately called prospects) are now at risk of being lost in the Rule 5 draft in two weeks at the Winter Meetings. 

C.J. Culpepper has to be intriguing to teams. While he was hurt early in the 2025 season and eased very cautiously the rest of the season, he also looks like a starting pitcher. He sits 94-96 with the fastball, but he also has a sinker, a slider, a cutter, a curveball, and a changeup, and probably a couple of variations of each. 

Jose Olivares is the high-upside, hard-throwing pitchers who at 22 is incredibly intriguing to Twins coaches, front office, fans and more. Likely scouts and coaches from other organizations have noticed as well. While he's got some really good stuff and an ability to miss bats, he has a lot of walks. But, with his question marks, would he last with another organization all season? 

For the second straight season, the Twins are exposing Kala'i Rosario to the Rule 5 draft. He's coming off of a 2025 season that started slow and ended with him hitting .256/.358/487 with 30 doubles, five triples, 25 homer runs, and a shocking 32 stolen bases. Could the increased athleticism shown make him intriguing to another organization this year? 

Kyler Fedko broke out in 2025. At glance at the raw numbers is impressive. In 130 games, he had 25 doubles, 28 homers, and 38 stolen bases. Combined with speed, defense, and versatility, he does profile as a guy who some team will like as their fourth or fifth outfielder. 

And there are others who could be selected as well. Cory Lewis had a rough 2025 season, but maybe a team believes in that knuckleball. Catchers are very valuable, and at season's end, Patrick Winkel, Noah Cardenas, Ricardo Olivar, Andrew Cossetti and Nate Baez were all in Double-A or Triple-A. That group shows a mix of great defensive catchers and not-so great defensive catchers. There are a couple of guys that will have to hit their way to remain a backup in the big leagues, but that's possible. 

Other prospects who have ranked in the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins prospects who are eligible are infielders Danny De Andrade, Tanner Schobel, and Rayne Doncon. Former first-round pick Aaron Sabato was left unprotected. 

Lefty relievers like Christian MacLeod and Jaylen Nowlin could intrigue a team. Miguelangel Boadas just completed a nice showing in the Arizona Fall League. 

Again, most years we worry about how many players the Twins will lose in the Rule 5 draft. It is possible the Twins lose their first players since Tyler Wells and Akil Baddoo were lost in the 2020 Rule 5 draft. Most won't. Generally, somewhere between 15 and 20 MLB Rule 5 picks are made. Roster spaces are limited. But it truly does take just one organization who had a coach or scout see the right player on the right day and will vouch for that player. Even then, he'd have to stick with the organization all season. 

Twins Acquire Reliever From Rays
The Twins sent right-handed pitcher Jacob Kisting, their 14th round pick in the 2024 draft out of Bradley to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for reliever Eric Orze. For much more on this trade, click here. 

The trade also puts the Twins 40-man roster at 40. Will the Twins non-tender some players later this week? We shall see. 

What are your thoughts on the Twins additions? Who might they lose? Share your thoughts below. 

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[Cory Engelhardt]

I’m hopeful Culpepper doesn’t get picked. I’m also hopeful they make some more moves this week involving Julien and Larnach in particular. After that, the offseason should be interesting. For tonight though, I agree with who they kept otherwise and Ozre seems decent just looking at the stat line and his pitch mix

[Riverbrian]

And here we go. 

40 Man is full. Additions will require subtractions. 

19 Pitchers 

12 primarily considered to be starters - 7 primarily considered to be relievers. 

21 Position Players

3 primarily considered to be Catchers (Stashing Gasper into this bucket). Because you have to stash him somewhere. 

8 primarily considered to be Infielders (Stashing Mendez and Kreidler into this bucket). I'm going to assume the rumors are true and they will move Mendez to 1B and Kreidler can play anywhere defensively.  

10 primarily considered to be Outfielders

 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Nothing really surprising here. I wonder if John Klein is maybe being thought of as a possible bullpen arm for this season. I would have liked to see them protect Culpepper, but there are only 40 roster spots, and someone had to lose out. I hope no team claims him, but I would not be shocked if someone took a chance on him. I am excited to see what Mendez can possibly bring to the team, maybe as a first baseman.

[Doc Lenz]

As I’ve said before keeping Gasper on this roster makes it illegitimate.

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, Doc Lenz said:

As I’ve said before keeping Gasper on this roster makes it illegitimate.

They can still make trades. This Friday is the deadline for if they are going to offer arbitration or not. More to come 

[Doc Lenz]

1 minute ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

They can still make trades. This Friday is the deadline for if they are going to offer arbitration or not. More to come 

I know Cory but I just am having a difficult time even seeing him on the roster.

[Riverbrian]

If everybody goes to sleep this off-season. 

Here's your infield. 

Lewis - 3B

Lee -SS

Keaschall -2B

Clemens - 1B

Julien - 1B/2B 

Kreidler - SS/3B/CF

 

[Cory Engelhardt]

7 minutes ago, Doc Lenz said:

I know Cory but I just am having a difficult time even seeing him on the roster.

Gasper has two options left. He could spend 2026 in Saint Paul. He isn’t guaranteed to be on the 26 man at all

[Parfigliano]

13 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

They can still make trades. This Friday is the deadline for if they are going to offer arbitration or not. More to come 

I hope part of what's coming is Gasper going away.

[ashbury]

5 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I hope part of what's coming is Gasper going away.

The Mickey Gasper Era is only beginning!

[karcherd]

12 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Gasper has two options left. He could spend 2026 in Saint Paul. He isn’t guaranteed to be on the 26 man at all

But he will be on the 26 man roster as the backup catcher, that is the way Falvey rolls.  He is smarter than everyone else.  I would have liked to see them protect another pitcher like Culpepper rather than wasting a roster spot on a proven non producer like Gasper.

[stringer bell]

Not counting Julien and Larnach, there are four or five guys who can be DFA'd who probably won't be claimed by anyone and then could be outrighted to St. Paul. Gasper, McCusker, Keirsey Jr., Fitzgerald and/or Kreidler.

Many other teams made room by DFAing players previously on the their 40-man rosters. I wonder if there would be someone that the Twins could pick up (cheap). The biggest name let go today was Nathaniel Lowe, but there might be a Willi Castro-like pickup to be made.

[Cory Engelhardt]

19 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I hope part of what's coming is Gasper going away.

Larnach and Julien and McCusker all should go first in my opinion. 

[Mike Sixel]

45 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Gasper has two options left. He could spend 2026 in Saint Paul. He isn’t guaranteed to be on the 26 man at all

Dreamer. 

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

And here we go. 

40 Man is full. Additions will require subtractions. 

19 Pitchers 

12 primarily considered to be starters - 7 primarily considered to be relievers. 

21 Position Players

3 primarily considered to be Catchers (Stashing Gasper into this bucket). Because you have to stash him somewhere. 

8 primarily considered to be Infielders (Stashing Mendez and Kreidler into this bucket). I'm going to assume the rumors are true and they will move Mendez to 1B and Kreidler can play anywhere defensively.  

10 primarily considered to be Outfielders

 

Too many outfielders and Mendez hasn't played first base much if at all in the minors, so it is pretty hard to consider him an infielder. Also, top prospect Jenkins (not on the 40-man) could be the first call-up and he's yet another outfielder. 

[stringer bell]

44 minutes ago, ashbury said:

The Mickey Gasper Era is only beginning!

I'd like to see Gasper succeed and be a productive major league player. He's a switch-hitter who has raked at Triple A and he can fill in behind the plate. He was terrible last year, so there isn't much hope left.

[PatPfund]

Culpepper is the only player I could see on other teams' radars. Position players are really hard to hide even on bad teams. Klein is a bit of surprise; hopefully that works out better than Travis Adams did this year.

[DocBauer]

I'm glad they kept Klein. He would have been a perfect target for a lot of teams: tall and well built with some strong velocity and K rate and easy to hide on the roster. 

But I'm concerned about 2 guys even though I KNOW the rule 5 draft usually turns out to be nothing but nonsense. 

CJ Culpepper could be a target for a team that sees potential, despite some injuries the past 2yrs, and could stash him. And that scares me a little bit.

What SHOULDN'T scare me but does is Fedko. I KNOW he only "put it together" as a 25yo and will be 26yo next season. And I KNOW the Twins OF depth. But I would have protected him 7 days to Sunday over a handful of current 40 man rostered players as a possible 4th OF/1B option potentially. 

I have zero illusions that he'll be a great player. But he just MIGHT be a better version of Lew Ford who can also play at 1B. He's probably not going to be selected. And he might not turn out to be anything. But I'd be looking at him, were I another team, as a possible 4th OF.

Otherwise, they made the right choices. 

But it's going to be interesting when they actually add a few FA eventually. I'm still confused about some of the 40 man roster. For instance, they still have McCusker but don't believe in him? I can only surmise they are just waiting for the rule 5 draft and then try to pass a few players through waivers and then assign them to AAA or re-sign them for the same.

 

[arby58]

1 hour ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

They can still make trades. This Friday is the deadline for if they are going to offer arbitration or not. More to come 

I would rather have Culpepper than Gasper on the 40 man.

[Cory Engelhardt]

7 hours ago, arby58 said:

I would rather have Culpepper than Gasper on the 40 man.

Or Keirsey, or McCusker, or Larnach, or Julien. I agree. Possibly something is up with Culpepper then?

[Riverbrian]

8 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Too many outfielders and Mendez hasn't played first base much if at all in the minors, so it is pretty hard to consider him an infielder. Also, top prospect Jenkins (not on the 40-man) could be the first call-up and he's yet another outfielder. 

Agreed

Mendez has to be our Hatteberg. Just a mere rumor of it combined with a hard to explain acute need at 1B combined with 47 bodies to climb over in the outfield and I'm calling him 1B before he even picked out the mitt. 

The presence of McCusker and Keirsay remains a curiosity. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

8 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Dreamer. 

I’m not advocating for him. If he goes, he goes. I was just saying he is easy to stash and seems like a good dude. Lots of movement still to come this offseason 

[TwinsDr2021]

29 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I’m not advocating for him. If he goes, he goes. I was just saying he is easy to stash and seems like a good dude. Lots of movement still to come this offseason 

There is no reason to have Gasper anywhere near the Twins (St. Paul is very close), because you know he is going to destroy AAA like he has the last two years and with this FO you know if they need somebody he will be the guy they bring up over an actual prospect. So for Falvey's own good Gasper needs to go. 

Having Gasper on the 40 man is Falvey saying he is smarter than everybody else, he shouldn't be on any teams 40 man and he should be in Japan becoming a cult hero with that mustache. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

6 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

There is no reason to have Gasper anywhere near the Twins (St. Paul is very close), because you know he is going to destroy AAA like he has the last two years and with this FO you know if they need somebody he will be the guy they bring up over an actual prospect. So for Falvey's own good Gasper needs to go. 

Having Gasper on the 40 man is Falvey saying he is smarter than everybody else, he shouldn't be on any teams 40 man and he should be in Japan becoming a cult hero with that mustache. 

Cult heroes who destroy AAA isn't the worst thing to ever happen. They aren't. The Saints certainly appreciate being able to win games too, even if that isn't the most important thing development wise.

Anyway, LOTS of offseason left.

[jmlease1]

I'm a little nervous about Fedko, but he's going to be hard to stash on a MLB roster for a full season. After a good half season at AAA at 26 is he really going to be in high demand and ready to hit in MLB from the jump? It's possible he's LaMonte Wade Jr part II, but Wade had at least gotten a couple of cups of coffee in MLB (without getting destroyed) before he got plucked by the Giants.

I understand taking the risk. I'm not sure I understand keeping McCusker on the 40-man?

[rdehring]

Am guessing the Twins would draft very high in the Rule 5.  So I am assuming there will be a few players leaving the roster between now and whenever that open spot is needed.  Who knows, maybe there is a trade about to happen with someone like Larnach/Wallner being exchanged for a solid relief pitcher.

Most disappointing part of your entire report to me, Seth, was that they didn't need to protect DeAndrade or Sabato.  Was excited when they signed DeAndrade.  Just goes to prove that when signing 16 year olds one never knows what to expect.

[stringer bell]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Agreed

Mendez has to be our Hatteberg. Just a mere rumor of it combined with a hard to explain acute need at 1B combined with 47 bodies to climb over in the outfield and I'm calling him 1B before he even picked out the mitt. 

The presence of McCusker and Keirsay remains a curiosity. 

I guess I see Rosario and Fedko as more valuable and more likely to be claimed than both Keirsey Jr. and McCusker. The only thing that gives those two superior value is that they can be designated if the Twins need more room on the 40-man--free agent signing or trading Ryan/Lopez for multiple players--but I can't really get excited about either of the incumbents. 

Yesterday's DFAs contain a couple of interesting players. Colorado designated first baseman Michael Toglia, who has almost a thousand career at-bats. He was above-average in 2024, but cratered last year. He's a switch hitter with better splits against lefties and has played the outfield (not well). Houston designated infielder Ramon Urias, who won a Gold Glove for the Orioles a few years ago and has been a decent player until last year. Urias would probably cost quite a bit more than the minimum. 

[Riverbrian]

6 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I guess I see Rosario and Fedko as more valuable and more likely to be claimed than both Keirsey Jr. and McCusker. The only thing that gives those two superior value is that they can be designated if the Twins need more room on the 40-man--free agent signing or trading Ryan/Lopez for multiple players--but I can't really get excited about either of the incumbents. 

Yesterday's DFAs contain a couple of interesting players. Colorado designated first baseman Michael Toglia, who has almost a thousand career at-bats. He was above-average in 2024, but cratered last year. He's a switch hitter with better splits against lefties and has played the outfield (not well). Houston designated infielder Ramon Urias, who won a Gold Glove for the Orioles a few years ago and has been a decent player until last year. Urias would probably cost quite a bit more than the minimum. 

Relief pitching options is what I would be searching for. 

In regards to McCusker and Keirsay... They confuse me a bit and I assume that I have to get a better understanding of the process. 

Do you need to roster players for future designation purposes? 

 

[stringer bell]

3 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Relief pitching options is what I would be searching for. 

Relief pitchers are so volatile. Previous stats just don't mean much as far as predicting how they will do. I'm sure there are a couple arms that were cut loose that could help the Twins in 2026. 

5 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Do you need to roster players for future designation purposes? 

Rule V eligible players added to the 40-man can't be designated, so if the Twins need to make roster space, for example trading three guys on someone's 40-man roster for Lopez or Ryan, they would have to DFA someone who wasn't added yesterday. Gasper, Keirsey and McCusker could likely be DFAd, not claimed and kept in the system.