The Rule 5 Draft is always an interesting Phase of the Winter Meetings.  If you have room on the 40-man roster, you can draft unprotected players (not on the 40-man), for a $50,000 fee.  You must keep them on your 25-man roster for the entire season, or you must offer them back to the club the player was drafted to for $25,000. 

Well the draft is complete, and the Phillies drafted two players, pitchers Travis Blackley and Lincolin Holdzkom in the Major League Phase.

Blackley was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners in 2000, by then GM Pat Gillick.  In 2003 he was the  Mariners minor league pitcher of the year where we 17-3 at Double San Antonio.  He didn’t respond well to AAA, where he went 8-6 before he was recalled to Seattle.  He struggled with the Mariners going 1-3 with an ERA over 10. After another before being dealt to San Francisco.  He made two starts for the Giants last year, where he didn’t get a decision, but allowed seven earned runs in eight-plus innings. 

Blackley …