With the 40 man rosters now set among MLB teams some organizations had some tough deacons with regards to which players they could protected from the upcoming Rule-5 draft and which players would be left exposed. Will the Phillies strike again?

As is often the case, good players may be left on the outside looking in. This, as most Phillies fans know, creates opportunity for teams that might not be in a competitive position and can afford the 25 man roster spot for a full year.

The Phillies Way

The Phillies, of course, obtained it’s current lone 2016 All-Star Odubel Herrera in this manner. They also obtained Phillies legend and integral piece to the World Championship 2008 team Shane Victorino this way.

They haven’t all been winners though. The team was forced to carry Michael Martinez for a full year and he never really panned out. The jury is still out on last years Rule-5 pick up Tyler Goeddel, who may still develop into a valuable MLB player with a little more minor league time.

Are The Phillies Facing Future Challenges?

The challenge with picking up players in the Rule 5 is that not all worthy players are ready to be on a major league roster for a full year. Indeed this may have been what we saw last year with Goeddel. He had never been exposed to that level of competition and, unlike Herrera, it was way too much for him.

In order to be considered worth taking a chance on, the player typically has to be older than 21 and played in a level at or above AA for an extended period. In other words, it would most likely be an unmitigated disaster to bring in a 21-year-old who’s highest level played was A ball.

I believe for this reason Andrew Pullin, who hit .322/.362/.572 for an .885 OPS – but has only 46 games played above A ball – won’t get poached.

With that being said, here’s a few to consider: