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The Nationals added left-hander Jake Bennett, outfielder Christian Franklin and right-hander Riley Cornelio to their 40-man roster this afternoon, protecting all three prospects from being lost in next month’s Rule 5 Draft and signaling the new front office’s interest in them as potential parts of the club’s long-term plans.
Faced with a 6 p.m. EST deadline to purchase the contracts of any minor leaguers who are Rule 5-eligible this winter, new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and his assistants chose to add Bennett, Franklin and Cornelio. None is likely to make the Nats’ Opening Day roster, but all three could find their way to the majors sometime during the 2026 season.
Bennett is the organization’s sixth-best prospect, according to Baseball America. The 24-year-old lefty, a second-round pick in the 2022 draft out of Oklahoma, made 18 starts (plus one relief appearance) for three minor league affiliates this season, finishing with a 2.27 ERA and 1.075 WHIP for Double-A Harrisburg, High-A Wilmington and Single-A Fredericksburg. He went on to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, posting a 4.50 ERA, with a league-high 25 strikeouts and only five walks in 20 innings.
This was Bennett’s first season back from Tommy John surgery, and he was limited to a total of 95 1/3 innings across all of his stops. It remains to be seen if he’ll open 2026 back at Harrisburg or at Triple-A Rochester, but as a new member of the 40-man roster, he’ll be in big league camp next spring regardless.
Franklin, 25, was one of two prospects the Nationals acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline for right-hander Michael Soroka and quickly made a name for himself with a strong 31-game stint at Rochester to close out the season. Combined with the 86 games he played for Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, he finished the year with a .272/.390/.427 slash line, 23 doubles, five triples, 12 homers, 64 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.
That performance was a continuation of what Franklin has shown since the Cubs used their fourth-round pick on him in 2021. The right-handed-hitting outfielder sports a .394 on-base percentage over the last two seasons, the eighth-highest mark throughout the minor leagues.
Franklin will have a tough time cracking a crowded Nationals outfield that already includes James Wood, Dylan Crews, Daylen Lile, Jacob Young and Robert Hassell III, but he’s likely next on the depth chart should there be an opening. Toboni also could decide to deal from his organization’s top position of strength and bolster another lacking area.
Cornelio has been a pleasant developmental story for the Nats, a seventh-round pick in 2022 out of TCU who broke through this season while pitching at three different levels of the organization. The 25-year-old right-hander finished 6-7 with a 3.28 ERA and 1.146 WHIP in 27 games (26 starts) between Wilmington, Harrisburg and Rochester (though his ERA jumped to 5.35 in eight starts at Triple-A).
Named the organization’s Pitcher of the Year, Cornelio struck out 135 batters in 134 1/3 innings and has been on a similar trajectory as Brad Lord, who made the Opening Day roster last spring and wound up with a 4.34 ERA and 1.293 WHIP over 130 2/3 innings, bouncing between the rotation and bullpen.
Among the prospects the Nationals chose not to protect today were infielder Cayden Wallace (34 extra-base hits, 16 steals at Harrisburg), right-hander Tyler Stuart (4.29 ERA in 10 games, mostly at Harrisburg, before needing Tommy John surgery) and reliever Marquis Grissom Jr. (1.86 ERA, five saves at Harrisburg before he struggled after his promotion to Rochester).
Players who are Rule 5-eligible this winter are those who were drafted out of college in 2022 or drafted out of high school (or signed internationally) in 2021. The draft takes place Dec. 10 at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, with teams required to keep any players they select on their major league roster for the entire 2026 season.
In the case of Stuart (who is likely going to be rehabbing the entire year from his elbow surgery), any claiming team would be allowed to keep him on the 60-day injured list throughout 2026 but would then have to put him on their active major league roster for at least 90 days in 2027 to satisfy Rule 5 requirements.
Today's moves leave the Nationals with 37 players on their 40-man roster.
