Minnesota Twins add only 2 prospects to 40-man ahead of Rule 5 deadline

Each offseason, MLB teams have to make several tough calls on whether or not to add certain prospects to the 40-man roster or allow them to be exposed to other clubs in the Rule 5 Draft.

The Minnesota Twins waited up until the deadline on Tuesday afternoon before adding just two prospects to the 40-man: pitchers Marco Raya and Travis Adams.

Raya was a no-brainer. The 22-year-old righty is considered Minnesota’s top pitching prospect and is nearly MLB-ready.

A fourth-round pick in 2020, Raya has had some durability issues and the Twins haven’t given him a big workload, but he’s got good stuff and spent the majority of this past season at Double-A, reaching Triple-A St. Paul in the final week.

MLB Pipeline rates him as the Twins’ fifth-best prospect overall, and he could make his big-league debut in 2025.

Adams, 24, isn’t as highly regarded but has made good progress since the Twins made him a sixth-round pick in 2021.

He spent time at both Double-A and Triple-A this past season, so he’s also close to MLB-ready, and posted a combined 3.90 ERA across 127 innings, striking out 118 and walking 35.

Somewhat surprisingly, the club opted to not add catcher/corner outfielder Ricardo Olivar and right fielder Kala’i Rosario. Other eligible players who weren’t added to the 40-man include pitcher Jaylen Nowlin, utility man Jose Salas, pitcher Christian MacLeod, infielder Rubel Cespedes, utility man Will Holland and catcher Noah Cardenas.

Rosario was a fifth-round pick in 2020 and is still just 22. He's a big, powerful corner outfielder who slashed .235/.321/.405 in 67 games at Double-A in 2024, then hit .291/.383/.430 in the Arizona Fall League while finishing third in the AFL home run derby. Olivar is a 23-year-old with questionable defense but a great bat. He slashed .275/.381/.441 in 2024, reaching Double-A late in the year. Salas was acquired in the Pablo López trade for Luis Arraez and is just 21 but struggled a bit at High-A this past season.

The Rule 5 Draft is slated for Dec. 11.

The Twins now have 37 players on the 40-man roster.