At 7:00 p.m. central time on Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals needed to make some big decisions on who they are going to protect with a 40-man roster spot so that they are ineligible for the Rule 5 draft. Any minor league player signed at 18 must be added to the 40-man within five seasons and any player signed at 10 has to be added within four seasons.
The biggest stipulation for drafting this player is that the player has to stay on the 25-man roster of the team who drafts that player for the full 162-game season, or else they are returned to the team that drafted them.