The Rays are facing a 40-man roster crunch like none they have experienced in 2018, with several prospects who will need to be added in order to protect them from being snapped up by other organizations, per MLB rules.
For those unfamiliar, prospects with enough years of service time can be stolen away by other teams in the Rule 5 draft. In order to keep from losing them, a team must add them to the 40-man roster. There are several players in the Rays organization who are eligible but are not currently protected:
Triple-A Durham Bulls
1B/OF Jake Bauers (No.