by Sports Xchange

Infield prospects Brandon Snyder, Josh Bell, Pedro Florimon, Ryan Adams, Blake Davis and Rhyne Hughes would be exposed to the draft process should the club leave them unprotected. The same goes for pitchers Brandon Erbe, Steve Johnson, Luis Lebron, Jim Hoey and Pedro Beato, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Snyder and Bell have outside shots of cracking the big-league roster early in 2009 and would be considered shoo-ins for the 40-man roster. Baltimore natives Erbe and Johnson, acquired with Bell from the Dodgers in the July trade of closer George Sherrill, are also locks to be protected.

Historically, the Orioles have been one of the more active clubs in selecting players in the Rule 5 draft and trying to hide them at the end of the 25-man roster. The club would seem capable of taking on a reliever with potential, particularly a left-hander.

The Rule 5 draft was established in the middle of the last century, and it enables clubs to pick overlooked prospects off another club's minor league roster. The selecting team must keep the player in the majors for the entire season -- barring injury -- or offer him back to his original team for a nominal fee. There are also minor league levels of the draft.