NEW YORK -- The New York Mets added outfielder Brandon Nimmo and right-handers Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Jeff Walters to the 40-man roster on Friday to shield them from Rule 5 draft eligibility.
Among the players left unprotected for the Dec. 10 draft include Class A outfielder Wuilmer Becerra as well as upper-level right-handers Matt Bowman and Paul Sewald, first baseman/outfielder Jayce Boyd and infielder T.J. Rivera.
The Mets currently have 39 players on the 40-man roster.
Nimmo, 22, hit a combined .269 with five homers and 26 RBIs in 376 at-bats in 2015 while primarily playing for Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas. He had a .362 on-base percentage. Nimmo, a first-round pick in 2011, missed a month with a sprained left knee.
After the Mets traded eight minor-league pitchers in July and August, the 22-year-old Gsellman arguably became the organization's top pitching prospect. The club named him the organization's pitcher of the year. He went 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA in 24 starts between Binghamton and Class A St. Lucie this past season. He was drafted in the 13th round in 2011.
Lugo, 26, went 8-7 with a 3.84 ERA as a starting pitcher with Las Vegas and Binghamton. He was drafted in the 34th round in 2011 out of Centenary College in Louisiana.
Walters, 28, actually had been on the 40-man roster before, and is now back on. After returning from Tommy John surgery on June 22, Walters went a combined 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and two saves in 29 relief appearances with Binghamton, St. Lucie and in the Gulf Coast League. Walters set Binghamton's single-season and career records when he amassed 38 saves in 2013.