Here are 3 prospects the Astros absolutely must protect from upcoming Rule 5 draft

The Houston Astros have a lot of work to do this offseason, and adding new talent is only part of the equation. After they signed Nate Pearson towards the end of October, their 40-man roster was full, which means if they wanted to add anyone, it is going to require others to be removed. Houston did do a relatively expensive roster culling, which helped, but the upcoming Rule 5 Draft is only going to add to the roster headache.

The way the Rule 5 Draft, which occurs at the Winter Meetings every year, works is that minor leaguers who have been in the minors for certain lengths of time (exactly how long depends on their signing age) are eligible to be drafted by other teams unless their current clubs have them on their 40-man roster. There is some more nuance to how Rule 5 picks work, but that is the short-hand version.

The Astros will need to add top 30 prospects Miguel Ullola, Alimber Santa, and Jose Fleury if they want to protect them from getting picked in the Rule 5.

Here are the Astros' top prospects that the team cannot afford not to protect from the Rule 5 draft

Miguel Ullola

With his swing-and-miss stuff, Ullola is a lock to get protected unless there is information that is not publicly available. The Rule 5 Draft is very often dominated by relief pitchers getting scooped up as they are easier for other teams to carry on their active roster, and Ullola's track record and stuff would make him a top Rule 5 target. If the Astros don't add him to the 40-man roster to protect him, it would be an upset.

Alimber Santa

When you look at Ullola's swing and miss profile out of the bullpen, Santa is weirdly similar, although his command issues in the minor leagues and relative lack of track record could make his inclusion on the 40-man roster less certain than Ullola's. However, the relatively low risk associated with making a Rule 5 pick when compared to the upside of adding a quality bullpen arm for cheap probably makes it where Houston will need to protect Santa from the Rule 5 if they want to keep him.

Jose Fleury

As for Fleury, the Astros may opt to take their chances and leave him unprotected. While he has an interesting arsenal of pitches, he doesn't miss bats a ton and profiles more as a back-end starter, which is not usually the demographic that gets picked in the Rule 5 unless they have a lengthy track record. The same goes for some of the hitters like Colin Barber and Tyler Whitaker, who have interesting tools, but are risky for other teams to pick and try to carry. Given his upside as an innings eater, if Houston is going to protect a potential starter this year, it is probably going to be Fleury.

There is a chance they make some trades via their big league roster, which would limit the need to make space. However things go this offseason, the Astros are going to have to make some tough roster decisions and soon.