In a mild surprise, the New York Mets opted not to add any Rule 5 eligible prospects to the 40 man roster. This means all Rule 5 eligible prospects may be drafted by other teams at the draft scheduled on Wednesday, December 7.

As noted earlier on MMN by Jacob Resnick, much of that heavy lifting was done in-season. Francisco Álvarez, Brett Baty, and Bryce Montes de Oca would’ve needed to be added to the roster had they not been added during the season.

With them already having been added to the roster, the Mets were left contemplating if they should protect additional prospects. Jake Mangum and Dedniel Núñez were probably the two prospects who merited consideration this year.

Mangum is an older prospect who will be 27 on Opening Day 2023. He provides speed ABs defense. At the plate, he is a contact hitter who strikes out infrequently.

The Mets 2019 fourth round pick played for Double-A Binghamton (36 games) and Triple-A Syracuse (33 games). Overall, he hit .306/.363/.441 with 15 doubles, six triples, four homers, and 35 RBI. He was successful in 14/17 (82.4%) of his stolen base attempts.

Núñez, 26, was previously selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. After he missed the 2021 season due to Tommy John, the Giants offered him back in the ensuing offseason.

After the Tommy John rehab, Núñez made his season debut on May 28. After three outings with St. Lucie, he was promoted to Double-A Binghamton.

In 26 appearances, Núñez was 1-0 with two saves, a 3.00 ERA, 1.515 WHIP, 3.5 BB/9, and a 13.5 K/9. He struck out 32% of the batters he faced, and he saw his fastball return to the upper 90s.

With the ability to strike out batters like that, and with his being another year removed from Tommy John, Núñez may be the Mets prospect most likely drafted. As we have already seen with him, a prospect must last a full season on the Major League roster to remain with the drafting organization.