With the calendar turned to December, the Rule 5 Draft -- which takes place Dec. 10 during the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla. -- is officially near.
Two weeks ago, the Phillies kicked off what should be a busy offseason by adding three prospects to the 40-man roster: top prospect Andrew Painter (MLB No. 16), outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. (PHI No. 9) and right-hander Alex McFarlane (PHI No. 20). Those moves protected all three from being selected, but they also left a handful of interesting names unprotected.
Three of them -- all unranked, all coming off breakout 2025 seasons -- stand out as Rule 5 candidates that other clubs could have their eyes on.
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OF/1B Felix Reyes
One of the biggest surprises in the system this year was the 6-foot-4 outfielder. In his first four professional seasons, Reyes never posted an OPS of .715 or better. A strong offseason changed the trajectory heading into 2025: he logged an .881 OPS over 101 plate appearances in the Colombian Winter League, a hint that a step forward might be coming.
Reyes broke camp with Double-A Reading and never really slowed down. The 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic set pro highs in batting average (.331), home runs (16), extra-base hits (54) and OPS (.923). Before a late promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he hit .335 in 95 games for Reading, earning the Eastern League batting title.
RHP Griff McGarry
A move back into the rotation gave McGarry some needed redirection. The Phillies’ 2021 fifth-round pick spent '24 in a relief role at Triple A and struggled, finishing with a 4.55 ERA and a 42:36 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 30 appearances as command issues piled up.
He went into the winter looking for answers and found enough to build on. McGarry made five appearances (four starts) in the Arizona Fall League and posted a 3.75 ERA with 15 strikeouts for Glendale, setting the stage for a reset in 2025.
Back in a starter’s role this year, the 26-year-old delivered a 3.44 ERA in 21 outings (17 for Reading). The strike-throwing in particular took a real step forward: his walks per nine dropped from 10.2 in 2024 to 5.3 in '25. The swing-and-miss never went away -- among Minor League pitchers with at least 80 innings, McGarry ranked fourth in K/9 (13.3), striking out 124 over 83 2/3 innings, behind only Jonah Tong, Trey Yesavage (TOR No. 1/MLB No. 26) and Thomas White (MIA No. 1/MLB No. 22).
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RHP Saul Teran
The Phillies signed Teran as an 18-year-old out of Venezuela in 2021. After four Rookie-ball starts to conclude his first season, the organization shifted him full-time into relief -- and he’s grown into a late-inning arm.
In 2025, Teran put together his best season yet. Working across three levels (Single-A, High-A and Double-A), the 23-year-old posted a 1.30 ERA and leaned on an improved arsenal: a four-seam fastball that sat 93-95 mph and a slider that ticked north of 2,900 rpm.
The results matched the stuff. Teran’s 1.30 ERA ranked sixth-lowest in the Minors among pitchers with at least 40 appearances. He converted 15 of 16 save chances (tied for fifth-most) and did an excellent job limiting hard contact -- he didn’t allow a home run in 48 1/3 innings.