Who needs to be protected....

The winter meetings are scheduled for December 8-11th, on the last day of the meetings is the rule five draft. The draft is to avoid teams from stock piling top prospects in their system, since there isn't a waiver system the rule five draft was developed. A minor league player is under the control of his original team for the first six years of his career and if he never gets called up then becomes a free agent. But minor league players are vulnerable to the rule five draft if they're not on the 40 man roster between their 3rd and 4th year of professional baseball. A player drafted or signed at 18 y/o or younger doesn't have to be on the 40 man roster until he completes four years of professional baseball while a player 19 y/o or older has three years before eligibility. To completely protect a player the team needs to place an eligible player on the 40 man roster, however; that also starts their service time in regards to free agency and options. If a team sees a playe...