The Yankees Add Four To 40-Man Roster

The Yankees have decided on who to protect from the Rule 5 Draft by adding outfielder Tyler Austin, right-hander Danny Burawa, right-hander Branden Pinder, and outfielder Mason Williams.

Protecting Tyler Austin was a no-brainer. He was great during the second-half of the season for AA Trenton, and kept it going by hitting the ball well in the Arizona Fall League. Austin did suffer a bone bruise in his wrist in 2013, and felt the effects of it in the first half of the 2014 season, however he seems to be over it now. He's slated to start 2015 at AAA Scranton, and should get called up to the Majors at some point.

While I wouldn't use the word "no-brainer" with Burawa, he does have some great stuff, which includes nasty slider and a fastball that tops out in the high 90s. Danny's control has been an issue, but the Yankees have been able to straighten that out with others, so making sure Burawa stuck around was a good decision.

Pinder's ceiling doesn't seem to be as high as Burawa's, but Branden had a great 2014 so adding him to the 40-man is certainly not a head-scratching decision. Like Austin, Pinder will likely start 2015 in AAA Scranton.

I'm a little surprised by the fact that the Yankees added Mason Williams to the 40-man roster, as he's been horrible the past two seasons. But Williams is still a great defender, and his ceiling is still pretty darn high. Along with some poor results, Mason has some maturity and work-ethic issues too. But he is only 23 years old, so it's not as though he can't turn things around and mature.

As a reminder, any team that selects a player in the Rule 5 Draft must keep that player on their active/25-man roster for the entire season. If a team decides not to do that, they must offer that player back to their original team before being placed on waivers. Of course, if the player's original team doesn't want him back, and the player clears waivers, he can then be sent to the minors.