Which Rule 5 Draft eligible players should Rangers protect before deadline?

One of the many offseason checklists across Major League Baseball is the Rule 5 Draft which occurs each December and history has shown it has the ability to create superstars for a franchise.

Among the 30 clubs, every year teams without a full 40-man roster get opportunities to select players from other clubs and draft in reverse order of the standings from the previous seasons. Players signed at 18 years old need to be added to the team's 40-man within five seasons or a player signed at 19 years old need to be protected within four seasons.

In order to protect players, a team must add that player to its 40-man roster prior to the November 18 deadline. For the Texas Rangers, four minor leaguers are up for Rule 5 eligibilty: INF Cameron Cauley, RHP David Davaillo, 1B Abimelec Ortiz and OF Aaron Zavala.

Breaking down each Rangers' Rule 5 Draft eligible players chance of being protected before Nov. 18 deadline

Cameron Cauley, INF

Upon the end of the 2025 regular season, Cauley is the Rangers' No. 17 prospect, drafted out of high school in the third round of the 2021 Draft. In five seasons in the organization, the 22-year-old hits .240 with 44 home runs, 189 RBIs, 77 doubles, 23 triples and a .721 OPS.

This past season Cauley spent the year with Double-A Frisco and matched his power numbers from the year previous with 51 RBIs and nine more doubles. He ended the season with a monster four-hit, two home run game, including a walk-off homer for the Roughriders.

Cauley's numbers across the board have seen increases and at just 22 years old, he provides a great future middle infield option as the team decides to move toward the future. It would seem safe that Cauley is added to the roster and protected from the Rule 5 this season.

David Davaillo, RHP

The right-hander emerged as one of the best pitchers in the organization after being signed as a free agent by Texas in 2021 out of Venezuela.

Spread out across two minor league levels in 2025, Davaillo played 23 games (22 starts) and recorded a 2.44 ERA 126 strikeouts, 28 walks and 0.93 WHIP in 107 innings. Barely in the Rangers' top 30 prospects at the mid-season mark, the 23-year-old is now the seventh-best prospect.

With a 2.35 ERA across 241 innings in his five seasons with the Rangers' minor league teams, there is no doubt Texas saves Davaillo from the Rule 5 Draft by Nov. 18.

Abimelec Ortiz, 1B

The 18th ranked prospect in the organization played 130 games in Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock and blasted 25 home runs and 89 RBIs in an impressive display of power that was among some of the best in all their farm systems.

Ortiz, 23, was a free agent signing by Texas and made his professional baseball debut at 19 years old. Throughout 2025 Ortiz played two different defensive positions (1B and RF) while also splitting time at DH. In over 3,000 innings on the field, he's committed just 25 errors and over 2,400 putouts.

Ortiz's versatility and power is intriguing but it's a 50/50 that Texas decides to protect him because while it would possibly be helpful in the future, they have to consider other moves and only have three spots on the 40-man roster.

Aaron Zavala, OF

Out of the four players, Zavala is the lilkely player that the Rangers choose not to protect before the deadline and will be entered into the Rule 5 Draft in December.

The 23-year-old outfielder was selected in the second round of the 2021 draft out of University of Oregon and in five seasons has a career .238 average with 43 homers, 231 RBIs and a .736 OPS across all levels of Texas's minor league system.

Zavala is just about average in his scouting grades and lack of production on the field mixed with the Rangers' surplus of young outfielders, the former Oregon Duck might be in a new organization next spring.