Early December marks the arrival Major League Baseball’s other draft, commonly known as the Rule V draft. The gist: unlike THE draft, this one makes players on other teams available to the Cubs. Basically, players who are not on a team’s 40-man roster, and who have been in the organization for at least four years (or five years, if they were signed when they were 18 or younger), are available for selection. The selection costs $50,000.
The catch is, the selecting team then has to keep the selectee on the 25-man (i.e., Major League) roster for the entire next season (unless you pull disabled list shenanigans, like the Cubs did with David Patton), otherwise, they have to offer that player back to the original team for $25,000.
So with that super cursory primer, this news makes sense: yesterday, the Cubs added five younger guys to their 40-man roster, some of whom were added specifically to “protect” them from the Rule V draft. In theory, the additions are also the first line of call-ups during the season. The guys added: relievers John Gaub and Blake Parker, starting pitcher Rafael Dolis, catcher Welington Castillo, and outfielder James Adduci. If you’re wonder who you’re most likely to see this year, it’s probably Gaub or Parker in the bullpen at some point. Adduci could make a nice reserve outfielder eventually, and Castillo looked close to breaking out in 2008, before falling flat last year. Dolis is a talented kid, but still a bit away.
The Chicago Cubs today added five players to the 40-man roster, including left-handed pitcher John Gaub, right-handed pitchers Rafael Dolis and Blake Parker, catcher Welington Castillo and outfielder James Adduci. Chicago’s 40-man roster now stands at 38.
Gaub, 24, combined to go 4-2 with five saves, a 2.25 ERA (15 ER/60.0 IP) and a .172 (36-for-209) average against in 52 relief appearances between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa. He began the year with Tennessee and went 3-1 with four saves and a 2.83 ERA (9 ER/28.2 IP) in 26 outings, and posted a 1-1 mark with one save and a 1.72 ERA (6 ER/31.1 IP) in 26 appearances with Iowa.
The six-foot-two, 200-pounder boasted a 20.0-scoreless innings streak with the I-Cubs, July 17-August 16. The southpaw was acquired by the Cubs December 31, 2008, along with right-handed pitchers Jeff Stevens and Chris Archer, for infielder Mark DeRosa. Gaub most recently went 1-1 with a 9.31 ERA (10 ER/9.2 IP) in 10 relief appearances for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League.
Dolis, 21, posted a 3-9 record with a 3.79 ERA (42 ER/99.2 IP) in 27 games (25 starts) for Single-A Daytona last season after missing the entire 2008 campaign recovering from right elbow surgery. He allowed just four home runs in 99.2 innings of work and limited the opponent to a .221 batting average (78-for-353), including a .202 mark by right-handed hitters (40-for-198). The six-foot-four Dolis allowed two or fewer earned runs in 18 of his 25 starts and went 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA (3 ER/19.0 IP) in five May outings (four starts).
Dolis was signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent in August of 2004 and is 6-12 with a 4.13 ERA (71 ER/154.2 IP) in 46 minor league games (34 starts) since making his pro debut with Rookie-League Mesa in 2006.
Parker, 24, combined to go 2-3 with 25 saves and a 2.70 ERA (19 ER/63.1 IP) in 55 relief outings between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa. The righthander spent most of the season with Iowa, where he went 2-3 with 22 saves and a 3.00 ERA (17 ER/51.0 IP) in 45 appearances after starting the campaign with no record, three saves and a 1.46 ERA (2 ER/12.1 IP) in 10 relief outings for Tennessee.
A Fayetteville, Arkansas native, Parker led the I-Cubs and ranked fifth in the Pacific Coast League with 22 saves, second-most among Iowa’s single-season leaders with Marc Pisciotta in 1997. Parker converted his final 15 save opportunities with Iowa from July 2 through the end of the season.
The six-foot-three, 225-pounder was selected by the Cubs in the 16th round of the 2006 draft. He garnered a 2-1 ledger with two saves and a 4.50 ERA (6 ER/12.0 IP) in 11 games with the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League.
Castillo, 22, batted .232 (74-for-319) with 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 39 RBI in 95 games for Double-A Tennessee in 2009. The right-handed batter closed out the season by batting .282 (24-for-85) in his final 27 contests dating to August 1. Behind the plate, Castillo threw out 44.4-percent of runners attempting to steal (32-of-72) and had a .990 fielding percentage (629 TC/6 E). He batted .357 (5-for-14) in four games for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League before he was shut down as a precautionary measure due to a minor right knee injury.
Castillo owns a .266 career batting average (318-for-1,196) with 60 doubles, 27 homers and 148 RBI in 354 minor league contests since he was signed by Chicago as a non-drafted free agent in December of 2004.
Adduci, 24, hit .300 (140-for-467) with 63 runs, 35 stolen bases, 21 doubles, four triples, four homers and 51 RBI in a career-high 131 games with Double-A Tennessee last season. The left-handed hitter had the third-most hits of any player in the Southern League with 140, falling short of the leader by two hits. He led the Smokies in hits, stolen bases and walks (58), while he was third in runs scored and RBI.
The six-foot-two, 210-pounder batted .394 (37-for-94) with nine doubles, 11 RBI and a .467 on-base percentage in 27 June contests. He went 37-for-109 (.339) with 46 RBI with runners in scoring position with the Smokies.
The Evergreen Park, Illinois resident was acquired from the Florida Marlins in September of 2006. Originally selected by the Marlins in the 42nd round of the 2003 draft, Adduci owns a .283 (452-for-1,598) career batting average with 89 stolen bases, 68 doubles, 12 triples, 10 homers and 187 RBI in 447 minor league contests.