3 prospects the Cardinals need to protect before tonight's Rule 5 deadline

For a team focused on player development and opportunities for young players, they must protect the right prospects from the Rule 5 draft this winter.

The St. Louis Cardinals, along with every other team in baseball, are faced with a deadline tonight at 5 pm central time to add players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. We saw last year with Ryan Fernandez that if you make the right selection, you can add a significant piece to your roster. And in the case of the Red Sox, I am sure they have big-time regrets about letting him get away.

Here are 3 prospects the Cardinals need to add to their 40-man roster tonight to protect them from the Rule 5 draft

Tink Hence

Another member of the Cardinals haul from the 2020 MLB Draft, Tink Hence is on track to join Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, and Alec Burleson in St. Louis at some point during 2025.

Hence, depending on the scouting outlet is seen as the Cardinals' second or third-best prospect, but that is no slight against him. He's widely seen as a top-50 prospect in today's game with the ceiling of a future front-line starter if all things come together for him.

Hence pitched in 20 games in 2024, posting a 2.71 ERA with 109 strikeouts in just 79.2 innings pitched. Hence clearly has elite stuff and can rival any prospect on the mound when he's right, but question marks surrounding his durability and ability to go deep into games still linger.

Even so, there is zero reason for the Cardinals not to add Hence to their 40-man roster today. Hence would be the first player off the board if he was left unprotected for the Rule 5 draft, as even if he doesn't hit his ceiling as a starter, he could easily become a weapon out of the bullpen.

Tekoah Roby

Acquired in the Jordan Montgomery trade at the 2023 trade deadline, Tekoah Roby is a 23-year-old starting pitcher whose arm injuries have held him back from being viewed as a top pitching prospect in the game.

Roby, when healthy, boasts a plus fastball in the mid-90s that gets really good extension to go along with a plus curveball that sits in the low 80s and drops off the table for swings and misses. If Roby can bring his average slider or change up up another notch, then he could be a really good stater one day. The stuff is electric, but like Hence, durability concerns are real.

Roby did not have the same success that Hence had in Double-A this year, posting a 6.57 ERA in the 38.1 innings he was able to muster this year. Still, Roby's potential is far too great to leave off the 40-man roster, so the Cardinals must protect him.

Matt Koperniak

While Matt Koperniak is not a high-ceiling prospect like Hence or Roby, Koperniak was excellent at the plate for the Memphis Redbirds this year, slashing .309/.370/.512 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI in 122 games.

Koperniak did not even rank in the Cardinals' top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline this year, but we've seen this story before where they do not give outfielders opportunities, and then they go on to have success elsewhere (Randy Arozaerna, Adolis Garcia, and even Lane Thomas).

The Cardinals have just six outfielders on their 40-man roster right now, and that's including Brendan Donovan, who may find himself playing infield a lot more in 2025. Adding Koperniak to the roster makes a lot of sense, and while he wouldn't have a clear path to playing time in St. Louis, he'd likely have a shot at some point.