NEWSLETTER
Today was the deadline to protect eligible prospects from next month’s Rule 5 Draft by placing them on the 40-man roster, which means the Cubs could pick up a squeezed out player (like they did in the Miles Mastrobuoni trade), and also means some prospects of their own are getting added to the 40-man roster.
To that end, the Cubs today added outfielders Brennen Davis and Kevin Alcántara to the 40-man roster, as well as pitchers Ben Brown and Ryan Jensen. It’s the three everyone knew would be protected, plus former first round pick Ryan Jensen.
Bryan guessed that Jensen would be protected in his analysis here, but also suspected the rest of the close calls – guys like Chase Strumpf, Cam Sanders, Kohl Franklin, Riley Thompson, and even Luis Devers – would not be protected. The bet the Cubs are making on these guys is that no team can realistically carry them on their active, 26-man big league roster next season. In most cases, I’d agree, even if the thought of the Cubs losing the org’s pitcher of the year in Devers reeeeally makes me squeamish.
More analysis on the Rule 5 Draft to come in the weeks ahead. Ultimately, a number of teams have to roll the dice on guys they’d like to protect, all else equal. But there aren’t infinite spots on the 40-man.
As for the four protected prospects, we know that Davis will have a chance to play some big league games next year if he gets healthy and turns it back on at Triple-A. Brown and Jensen haven’t yet pitched at Triple-A, so that’ll be the next step for them. But since they’re on the 40-man using option years anyway now, they could be pulled up to the big league team if there is a need or if they truly break out. As for Alcántara, he hasn’t played above Low-A, so he’ll just stay in development mode for now. But the Cubs couldn’t risk losing him, no matter how far away he is from the bigs.
For now, the Cubs’ 40-man roster stands at 38, leaving them openings to claim guys who hit waivers this week, and/or to make an actual big league free agent signing soon …
Featured image by the one and only Rich Biesterfeld.
