Who Gets Left Unprotected on the 40 Man Roster for the Rule 5 Draft

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

playing off the other thread (about who to call up on 9/1), who are the minor league players we're likely to lose in the rule 5 draft? This disadvantage of having a great farm system is that other teams will raid us during the offseason, but i'm wondering when we remove the Mota, Counsell, Gagnes etc. of the world will we have enough spots on the 40 man to protect all of our key prospects.

 

How many years do new draftees get in the minors before they must be added to the 40 man? 3 years?

[Minigoon]

TwinsBrewersWorldSeries wrote:

How many years do new draftees get in the minors before they must be added to the 40 man? 3 years?

It depends on their age when signed. 18 and younger, it is the 5th draft after they have signed and 19 and older it is their 4th.

- Example: 18 year old drafted and signed in 2000. He would need to be protected for the 2004 draft and for 19 year old or older in the same situation, the 2003 draft.

 

For the 2008 draft, I see 5 "for sure" protects currently in the Brewers system. Alexandre Periard, Angel Salome, Omar Aguilar, Mat Gamel, and Lorenzo Cain. A few others that could possibly be protected are David Welch, Mike Bell, Brendan Katin, Derek Miller, David Johnson, (Both were eligible after last season as well and were not protected) and Patrick Ryan. The toughest call could be Mark Rogers. I'm sure the Brewers want to hold on to him and the odds of some team taking him after all the injury troubles would be slim. I believe he would slip through the draft and the Brewers would hold onto him without having to protect him. Then there are the players like Joe Bateman. If he's added to the 40 man for September and pitches well, he very well could be kept.

[1e Corbeau]

The toughest call could be Mark Rogers. I'm sure the Brewers want to hold on to him and the odds of some team taking him after all the injury troubles would be slim. I believe he would slip through the draft and the Brewers would hold onto him without having to protect him.

 

I agree that the odds would be very low to lose Rogers through the Rule V.

 

But, can't teams take a player in the Rule V, ad him to their 25-man, then realize he's injured and needs time on the 60-day DL (and possibly minor league rehab assignments)? They'd have to pay him to be on the 40-man and DL, but wouldn't have to waste a 25-man spot on him. ...After a little research, it looks like a team could kind of do this:

 

To prevent the abuse of the Rule 5 draft, the rule also states that the draftee must be active for at least 90 days. This keeps teams from drafting players, then placing them on the disabled list for the majority of the season. For example, if a Rule 5 draftee was only active for 67 days in his first season with his new club, he must be active for an additional 23 games in his second season to satisfy the Rule 5 requirements. [wikipedia]

 

(What would we do without the GFDL? Thanks, collaboration!)

 

But, yeah, Cain, Salome, Aguilar, Gamel and Periard make lots of sense. Periard and Aguilar are furthest, but guys who throw low- to mid-90s with sink and who can touch triple digits can be prime candidates for the back end of a pen on a lower-tier team. Welch being a lefty could be a smart protect, too. I think Katin might be ready to hit 250/450, if that gets you excited as a 25th man that might become a 4th OF with pop.

 

Obviously, it'll be interesting to see how many spots the Brewers will have to work with on the 40-man.