At midnight tonight, every team in the MLB is required to have their 40-man roster set, positioning themselves  for next month’s Rule 5 draft.

Photo courtesy of Metsmerized Online contributor Gordon Donovan

Players 18-and-under who signed their first professional contract in 2009 and players 19-and-over who signed their first professional contract in 2010 are eligible for the draft. This means that we are likely to find many high school and international players who signed in 2009 or before and college players who signed in 2010 or before filling this years’ draft class.

The Rule 5 draft will take place on Thursday, December 12.

With 36 men on the roster prior to the deadline, the Mets have a fair amount of room for movement. The only “extremely likely protections” were pitchers Jacob deGrom and Steve Matz. In addition, Baseball America named outfielders Cory Vaughn, Darrell Ceciliani and RHP Jeff Walters as “possible protections.”

Part of the section on the Mets read.

DeGrom will probably be ready to help the Mets in some role in 2014. Matz is a tougher decision, as the oft-injured 2009 second-rounder hasn’t made it out of low Class A, but he showed plus stuff and some feel for pitching.

Outfielders Vaughn and Cecilliani don’t have the profile of a typical Rule 5 pick, so the Mets could likely gamble and leave them unprotected