NEWSLETTER
Today the Chicago Cubs added three prospects to their 40-man roster in advance of the deadline to do so for Rule 5 Draft purposes: righties Cory Abbott and Keegan Thompson, and infielder Christopher Morel.
Not surprisingly or coincidentally, these three are probably the best Cubs prospects who were eligible for Rule 5 selection this year, thus they get protected. As we’ve discussed this week, that still doesn’t make it quite a lock to add a guy to the 40-man roster (not all good prospects would get drafted in the Rule 5, because they can’t necessarily stick on a big league roster the next year), but these guys were close enough and/or talented enough that the Cubs didn’t want to mess around.
Much more from Bryan on Morel here and Abbott here, with a bit on Thompson, too. Morel is one of the Cubs’ highest upside prospects, and was at the alternate site this past year (but has not played games above Low-A). He’ll probably play at High-A next season – third base, most likely – and we’ll see how the weird 2020 season treated his development.
Abbott and Thompson are just-about-big-league-ready starting pitchers, with Abbott the Cubs’ 2019 minor league pitcher of the year, and Thompson potentially just as effective, though slowed by injuries. Each could easily factor into the depth starting mix for the Cubs in 2021, though each figures to start the year in the Iowa Cubs rotation.
The Cubs 40-man roster now stands at 37.
