10 Notable MLB Prospects Added To 40-Man Rosters On Deadline Day
Image credit: Tink Hence (Photo by Tom DiPace)
MLB’s 40-man roster protection deadline passed Tuesday evening. Now, any eligible player left unprotected is eligible for next month’s Rule 5 Draft — one of Baseball America’s favorite days of the year.
We’ll have plenty more to come on the under-the-radar prospects who could be snatched up as Rule 5 picks in the coming days and weeks. But first, let’s dive into 10 of the best prospects added to 40-man rosters who are now in line for big league debuts in 2025.
Tink Hence & Tekoah Roby, RHP, Cardinals
Hence ranks No. 3 in the Cardinals’ system entering 2025. He was the top-ranked prospect from our final Top 100 update of the regular season to get added to a 40-man roster. Few question Hence’s bat-missing stuff, although the 6-foot-1, 195-pound righthander faces more questions regarding his ability to hold up over a full season. Hence leans heavily on his 93-95 mph four-seam fastball that plays up from his low release height. He also has a trio of secondaries that all grade above-average or better and generate plenty of whiffs.
Roby similarly faces durability concerns after making just 10 starts in 2024. He also leans on his fastball nearly half the time sitting 95-97 mph and topping out at 99 mph. He mixes in a plus curveball. Roby has the requisite starter’s frame and build and an intriguing pitch mix if he can post consistently.
Given St. Louis’ aging starting rotation and bevy of interesting arms on the way — don’t forget LHP Quinn Mathews — Hence and Roby could soon help fortify the Cardinals rotation with a new wave of homegrown arms assuming they can stay healthy.
Colson Montgomery, SS, White Sox
Montgomery was an easy Rule 5 addition even despite a disappointing 2024 season. The 2021 first-round pick hit .214/.329/.381 with 18 homers and a 28.6% strikeout rate with Triple-A Charlotte. White Sox fans seeking consolation can view his Arizona Fall League stint as a success. Montgomery cut down on his swing-and-miss and had a generally productive stint. He’ll need to do more of that in 2025, because he otherwise has the on-base skills and power to be an impactful regular.
Owen Caissie, OF, Cubs
The toolsy Caissie has ranked squarely among the Cubs’ top prospects over the last two seasons. He’s a tall, powerful lefthanded hitter who has produced some of the better exit velocities to all fields in the minors during that stretch. Caissie’s hit tool has faced some skepticism, especially when he struggled to sync his long levers earlier in his professional career, but his contact skills improved in 2024, even if 45% of his plate appearances ended with either a walk, strikeout or home run. Coaxing enough contact out of his hit tool will go a long way for a player with otherwise solid-average to plus tools across the board.
Zac Veen, OF, Rockies
Veen hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations set early in his career. He ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the 2020 draft and at one time sat squarely in the Top 100. Injuries have sapped some of his power and development time over the last two years. Still, he was an easy add for a rebuilding Rockies club. Veen is adept at parsing balls and strikes, has excellent intuition on the base paths and fared well against both breaking balls and velocity. He has not produced the exit velocities many hoped for earlier in his career — he was once billed as a potential middle-of-the-order slugger — but he could still become a useful contributor.
Moises Chace, RHP, Phillies
Chace may not be the most well-known pitcher Philadelphia added to its 40-man roster today in the public sphere — that distinction belongs to Mick Abel. But Chace ranked ahead of Abel in our new Phillies Top 10 Prospects ranking for 2025 after a strong season that begin in Baltimore’s system and continued on with the Phillies after the trade deadline.
Eagle-eyed Baseball America subscribers, though, have likely been onto Chace for months. He showed up in our…
- List of pitching prospects showing better stuff in 2024
- 10 unheralded young pitching prospects with plus stuff & performance
- Minor league pitchers with traits to target in 2025
He also ranked second behind only Jackson Jobe, baseball’s top pitching prospect, in Stuff+ among all 21-year-old pitchers in 2024.
Chace’s mid-90s fastball is the gem with impressive underlying data and unusual carry from a lower slot. He also throws two separate sliders along with a solid changeup. He needs to sharpen his command, but there’s plenty to like entering 2025.
Emiliano Teodo & Winston Santos, RHP, Rangers
Similarly, both Teodo and Santos have been favorites of various Baseball America writers at points over the last calendar year. Teodo revamped his fastball last year and carried that momentum over to 2024. He tickles triple digits and was the hardest thrower in the Rangers’ system in 2024 while also showing improved secondaries and a chance to stick in a rotation long-term. In the process, Teodo went from relative to unknown to the fringes of Baseball America’s Top 100.
Santos isn’t far behind. Scouts have long coveted his mid-90s fastball. This year, he finally found a reliable slider grip and settled on more of a gyro shape. The improved offering helped unlock more swing-and-miss across his entire arsenal. As a result, Santos reached the Futures Game and is now positioned for a big league callup in 2025.
Marco Raya, RHP, Twins
Had the Twins left Raya unprotected, another organization may have been tempted to take a flier in the Rule 5 Draft and stash him in their bullpen, where his mid-90s fastball and impressive secondaries could wreak havoc. Minnesota ensured that wouldn’t happen. Raya is quite athletic and has long teased considerable upside. He has a variety of different pitch shapes to accumulate outs and some of the best stuff of any Twins starting pitching prospect? But Raya has also never thrown more than 100 innings in a season. He has plenty to prove before he can help a big league rotation.
Denzel Clarke, OF, Athletics
Clarke has yet to reach Triple-A and will be 25 years old next year. However, his combination of power, speed and premium center field defense was too tempting for the A’s to leave unprotected. Clarke has teased that upside plenty since he was drafted in the fourth round in 2021. Finding a comfortable swing and approach to unlock more contact has proven to be a bugaboo. Clarke shook off a disastrous start to the season with a productive second half for Double-A Midland. The A’s are hopeful he made some slight adjustments to get himself into a more consistent position to hit. If those changes stick in 2025, a future A’s outfield of Clarke, Lawrence Butler and J.J. Bleday is mighty interesting.
