Yesterday was the deadline to add prospects to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, a bizarre mechanism whereby teams can swipe veteran minor leaguers from each other, under
the condition that the selecting team needs to then keep that player on the big league roster for the remainder of the following season. The Red Sox added three minor leaguers to the roster: pitchers David Sandlin, Shane Drohan, and Tyler Uberstine, all of whom spent last season at AAA Worcester.
Sandlin was a lock to be added. He was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2025 minor league season, putting up a 3.61 ERA and striking out 86 hitters in 82.1 innings in Portland before he was promoted to Worcester in the second half of the season. He was moved to the bullpen with Worcester, both to manage his workload and in anticipation of a possible late-season call up to help the big league club. The move to the pen didn’t go so well, but he remains a potential big league starter and he’ll likely make his MLB debut as a depth call-up some time in 2026. He would have been one of the first picks in the Rule 5 draft had the Sox not protected him.
Shane Drohan has already been picked in the Rule 5 draft. He was swiped by the White Sox after the Sox left him unprotected following the 2023 season. But after suffering a spring training shoulder injury and struggling upon his return in 2024, the South Siders couldn’t afford to keep him on their big league roster and returned him to Boston. Drohan was a strong performer in Worm Town in 2025, putting up an ERA below three in 11 starts. But he once again struggled with injuries, missing nearly three months with a forearm issue. The fact that the Sox didn’t turn to him in September, when the rest of the pitching staff was running out of duct tape to hold together elbow and shoulder ligaments, indicates that Craig Breslow doesn’t currently see him as big league caliber.
Tyler Uberstine fits a similar profile as Drohan: a strong AAA performer (he posted an ERA of 3.56 in 15 starts) but someone who will sit pretty far down on the staring pitcher depth chart next season. In protecting Drohan and Uberstine, I don’t think the Sox are signaling that either one of these guys is in their immediate roster plans. But I do think they see both guys as potential trade pieces at best and depth pieces at worst.
As for who made room for these three arms, say goodbye to Nathaniel Lowe, Brennan Bernardino, Chris Murphy, and Josh Winckowski, all of whom were removed from the roster in one way or another yesterday.
Lowe did his job for the Red Sox, who found themselves in desperate need of a first baseman for the second year in a row and, for the second year in a row, found someone off the scrap heap who provided a little stability. But given his projected arbitration salary of $13 million and the impending return of Triston Casas, he was an easy DFA. The same can be said of Josh Winckowski, a fungible back-of-the-bullpen arm whom the Sox likely tried to trade before designating him for assignment as well.
The Sox did manage to find trading partners for Bernardino and Murphy, bringing back Braiden Ward, a 26-year-old minor league outfielder from the Rockies, and Ronny Hernandez, a 21-year-old catcher who has spent the last two years with the White Sox single-A affiliate.
As for who wasn’t protected, the two names to now keep an eye on as potential Rule 5 draft picks are Yordanny Monegro and Hayden Mullins. Monegro’s 2025 season ended early thanks to Tommy John surgery. But, ironically, that actually makes him more likely to be selected, as he can be stashed on the 60-day IL for most if not all of 2026 as he returns from injury. Mullins is a 25-year-old lefty who posted an ERA of 2.44 in 18 starts with AA Portland last season.
