The Royals added hard-throwing reliever Henry Barrera to their 40-man roster before Thursday&#8217;s deadline after clearing space by designating lefty Tyler Lumsden for assignment.</p><p>The move means Barrera, a right-hander who turns 23 on Tuesday, can&#8217;t be selected by another team Dec. 11 in the Rule 5 draft.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s seen as a power reliever with a fastball at 95-96 (mph),&#8221; general manager Dayton Moore said. &#8220;He also has a breaking ball and a split.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;ll begin the year in Double-A in the bullpen, but our guys think he could possibly be someone we&#8217;re looking at sometime next year or certainly in 2010. He has major-league out pitches right now.&#8221;</p><p>Barrera was a fifth-round pick in 2004. He was 0-3 last season in 42 games at Class A Wilmington but compiled a 2.81 ERA while registering 78 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings.</p><p>Lumsden, 25, represents a failed gamble by the Royals, who acquired him as part of a July 24, 2006, trade that sent former All-Star closer Mike MacDougal to the White Sox.</p><p>Lumsden was the 34th overall pick in the 2004 new-player draft but missed all of 2005 after undergoing major surgery on his left elbow. He was 3-13 with a 7.21 ERA last season in 28 games at Class AAA Omaha.</p><p>&#8220;We think he still has a chance to rebound and have a productive career,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;But at this point in time, with the number of lefties that we have, we just felt this was the only move we felt comfortable in making.&#8221;</p><p>Thursday was the deadline for clubs to protect Rule 5 draft-eligible players. Clubs are now prohibited from adding any other such players to their 40-man roster until after the Rule 5 draft.</p><p>Teams can add major-league players through trades and free-agent signings before the draft.</p><p>The Royals have the 11th pick in this year&#8217;s draft but would have to clear space to make a selection.</p><p>&#8220;There are other things we can do if we decide we want to create a spot,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;It&#8217;s safe to say as we move further into the offseason, we&#8217;re going to have to create more space on our roster.&#8221;</p><p>The list of players the Royals left unprotected includes outfielder Chris Lubanski, the fifth overall pick in the 2003 new-player draft. He batted .242 last season with 15 homers and 54 RBIs in 116 games at Omaha.</p><p>Others unprotected are right-handers Juan Abreu, Greg Atencio, Blake Johnson, Chris Nicoll and Mario Santiago; left-hander Dusty Hughes; outfielders Jos&#233; Duarte and Brian McFall and shortstop Chris McConnell.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Staying sharp</span></strong></p><p>Shortstop Mike Aviles chose to play winter ball again in hopes of keeping his swing in tune. So far, so good. Aviles is batting .300 for Santurce in Puerto Rico despite a recent slide in which he got just three hits in 17 at-bats.</p><p>&#8220;I figured if I sat around for four months straight,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I might have to revamp my whole swing in trying to get back to where I was.&#8221;</p><p>Aviles was also chosen Thursday as the shortstop on Topps&#8217; annual all-rookie team. He is the 14th player in club history so honored. The last was pitcher Brian Bannister in 2007.</p><p>The Topps&#8217; recognition follows Aviles&#8217; recent selection as the Royals&#8217; player of the year. As for winter ball, he vows not to overdo it.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just a creature of habit,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s almost like I get home and my body wants to play again. The only difference this year, compared to the last couple of years, is I&#8217;m not going to stay out here the entire time. I&#8217;ll be home Dec. 13.&#8221;</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">Royals&#8217; 40-man roster </span></strong><br /> &#8226;<strong>Pitchers (18):</strong> John Bale**, Brian Bannister**, Henry Barrera, Jairo Curvas, Kyle Davies**, Jeff Fulchino, Jimmy Gobble**, Zack Greinke**, Luke Hochevar**, Devon Lowery, Ron Mahay*, Gil Meche*, Neal Musser, Joel Peralta**, Julio Pimentel, Carlos Rosa, Joakim Soria* and Robinson Tejeda</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Catchers (3):</strong> John Buck**, Miguel Olivo* and Brayan Pe&#241;a</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Infielders (12):</strong> Mike Aviles, Billy Butler, Alberto Callaspo, Esteban German**, Ross Gload*, Alex Gordon, Mike Jacobs**, Kila Ka&#8217;aihue, Mario Lisson, Tony Pe&#241;a, Ryan Shealy and Jason Smith**</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Outfielders (7):</strong> Shane Costa, Coco Crisp*, David DeJesus*, Joey Gathright**, Jos&#233; Guillen*, Mitch Maier and Mark Teahen**</p><p>*signed for 2009</p><p>**eligible for arbitration</p><p></div>