The Rule 5 Draft for 2012 will take place on December 6 just a little more than a week from now. Will we be an active participant? It certainly doesn't look like we will be going after anyone in the Major League Phase as our 40 Man Roster is at full strength.

Have we left guys unprotected that may be picked up by other teams, in either the major or minor league phases, looking for a sleeper? Josh Fields (RP) and Jeremy Hazelbaker (OF) are frequently mentioned as guys we could lose in the draft. Others that are eligible are: Michael Almanzar, Chris Balcom Miller, Luis Bastardo, Jeremiah Bayer, Carson Blair, Miguel Celestino, William Cuevas, Ryan Dent, Marco Duarte, Leonel Escobar, Jose Garcia, Zach Gentile, Derrik Gibson, Aly Ginzalez, Drew Hedman, Jon Hee, Pete Hissey, Brock Huntzinger, Jeremy Kehrt, Will Latimer, Heiker Memeses, Boss Moanaroa, Gerardo Olivares, Oscar Perez, Ryan Pressly, Manny Rivera, Charle Rosario, Pete Ruiz, Feliz Sanchez, Kyle Stroup, Tony Thomas, Raynel Velette, Ryan Westmoreland, Shannaon Wilkerson and Tyler Wilson. (Hope I got this right).

In my opinion we could lose one or more of the following: Fields, Hazelbaker, Almanzar, Pressly, Latimer, Kehrt and Huntzinger. Do we really care if we lose any of these guys?

Looking at the 40 Man Rosters of the 29 other teams, 11 are at full strength. Houston is at 36, LAA at 34, Atlanta at 36, SF at 36. The rest have between 37-39 spots filled. So it looks like there could be as many as 20-22 players taken in the Major League Phase. An equal number could well go in the Minor League Phases. Looking at last year's Rule 5 Draft, 12 and 25 players were taken in the two phases.

What do you think will happen?