Yesterday, the Chicago Cubs added pitchers Chris Archer, Kyle Smit and Alberto Cabrera, and outfielder Brandon Guyer to the team’s 40-man roster, which will protect them from the upcoming Rule Five Draft. It also means that the players will have a chance to make the big club out of Spring Training.
Archer, the organization’s top pitching prospect, will get a chance to win a rotation spot, while Smit and Cabrera will vie for bullpen spots. Guyer, the organization’s positional player of the year in 2010, will hope to land a bench spot in the clogged outfield rotation, unless a starting spot is opened up via trade.
The 40-man stands at 39. A curious non-addition is third baseman Marquez Smith. Smith, 25, is coming off a solid year in 2010 and was expected to compete for a bench job on the 2011 big club. He’s ready to be tested in the Majors, and it would be unsurprising to see him selected in the Rule Five Draft if he’s left unprotected.