Q and A: Mack with… Erik… Rule 5, 40-man, who’s coming and who’s going

Mack, Is there some rule about the rule 5 draft that forced the team to move these 4 from the DL to the 40 man?  Who do you think should be protected, and who gets removed from the 40 man to open the slots? I'm guessing they don't have to worry too much about protecting the guys in A ball and below since they'd be a long shot to stick at the major league level next year.

Mack:   Okay, first, the four players were returned to the 40-man because that’s where they started out when they were injured. This doesn’t mean all four will remain there, which we’ll get to.

Regarding the Rule 5 (don’t say “Rule V” because there’s someone on this site that goes bat shit every time I use a roman numeral), here’s who are eligible:

Triple-A: - Mark Cohoon, Jose De La Torre, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Dylan Owen, Raul Reyes

Double-A: - Eric Campbell, Robert Carson, Rhiner Cruz, Allan Dykstra, Jeurys Familia, Michael Fisher, Kai Gronauer, Reese Havens, Brad Holt, Juan Lagares, Collin McHugh, Roy Merritt, Brandon Moore, Edgar Ramirez, Sean Ratliff, Tobi Stoner, Erik Turgeon

Single-A Advanced: - Eric Beaulac, Matt Bouchard, Juan Centeno, Dock Doyle, Wilmer Flores, Jim Fuller, Jeff Kaplan, Jefry Marte,Scott Moviel, Eric Niesen, Francisco Pena, Michael Powers, Cesar Puello, Adrian Rosario, Brant Rustich, Stefan Welch, Pedro Zapata

Single-A: - Rafael Fernandez, Gonzalez Germen, Alonzo Harris, Guillame Leduc, Ronny Morla, Luis Nieves, Luis Rojas, Miguel Tejada, Juan Torres, Wilfredo Tovar

Short Season: - Eduardo Aldama, Chris Hilliard, Richard Lucas, Orlando Tovar, Amauris Valdez

Rookie League: - Julio Concepcion, Jeyckol De Leon, Lachlan Hodge, Nestor Moreno, Breiner Soto 

Next, here is your current 40-man squad:

Pitchers:    Manny Acosta, Miguel Batista, Pedro Beato, Taylor Buchholz, Tim Byrdak, Chris Capuano, D.J. Carrasco, R.A. Dickey, Dillon Gee, Daniel Herrera, Jason Isringhausen, Jenrry Mejia, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, Mike Pelfrey, Armando Rodriguez, Johan Santana, Chris Schwinden, Josh Stinson,

Catchers:  -  Mike Nickeas, Ronny Paulino, Josh Thole

Infielders: - Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Nick Evans, Zach Lutz, Daniel Murphy, Jose Reyes, Josh Satin, Ruben Tejada, Justin Turner, Jordany Valdespin, David Wright

Outfielders: - Mike Baxter, Jason Bay, Scott Hairston, Willie Harris, Fernando Martinez, Angel Pagan, Jason Pridie 

I don’t have the perfect answer here. The last time I did this I was highly criticized on the net.  

I believe six players should be protected from the Rule 5 draft. All of them are prospects: Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Wilmer Flores, Jefry Marte, Juan Lagares, and Reese Havens. Lagares is recent addition to a prospect list and he should be protected simply because he’s the closest thing the Mets have right now to a pro outfielder in the minors.

Some of you reading this might protect others, like Robert Carson or Brad Holt, but I wouldn’t. Neither have come close to proven they are worth this honor.

Now, regarding, the 40-man, I have highlighted 12 names that could easily be dropped from the 540-man. Many of them, like Jose Reyes, are free agents, though they still for some reason are on this list.

My six names I would remove to add the six I want protected would be Buchhotz (offer him a minor league contract), Nickeas, Paulino, Harris, Batista, and Pridie.