Cubs 40 Man Moves

[Bertz]

 

These are in addition to Colin Rea about a week ago. I'm surprised at no catcher being added, and figured Mekkes would have been first choice out of the relievers, but nothing here is particularly crazy.

[Cubswin11]

Rodriguez is a pretty shocking add, it seems like, he can hit 100. 4 (really 5 since Russell is gonna be gone in 2-3 weeks at the tender deadline) spots open is also interesting/intriguing......

[Post Count Padder]

So seems like strong odds Giambrone and Mekkes are taken right? Both would be Opening Day contributors on, like, the Orioles or Marlins or Tigers.

[Bertz]

So seems like strong odds Giambrone and Mekkes are taken right? Both would be Opening Day contributors on, like, the Orioles or Marlins or Tigers.

 

Giambrone's probably safe. The weirdness from the ball certainly makes evaluation tougher for us on the outside, but he was not great last year. That being said with the extra roster spot and to your point a few teams just completely devoid of talent it's a lot harder to say.

 

Mekkes certainly looks like an option to go. The two things that help are 1) he was kind of a disaster down the stretch last year and 2) the upside (a Darren O'Day/Steve Cishek type) isn't all that high. Teams often go either for guys who can step in and help on day one or electric arms that they can dream on. Mekkes might be in between enough to be safe.

[mul21]

AZPhil had a really good post on how teams make Rule V decisions:

 

I've talked to Player Development people over the past many years about the Rule 5 Draft and how an organization goes about deciding whether to protect or not protect a player from selection.

 

STEP 1: How many of your Rule 5 Draft-eligible players are actually legit candidates to get selected in the Major League Phase?. Usually there a dozen or more who could conceivably/realisticaly get selected. You need to identify them and then carefully evaluate them.

EXAMPLES: See my lists above.

 

NEXT: Among the Rule 5 Draft-eligible players you believe are legit candidates to get selected in the Major League Phase, does it matter that much if the player gets selected? Or would you rather have $100,000 (the Major League Phase draft price) and maybe use it to make a couple of waiver claims later instead? (The waiver price is $50,000).

NEXT: Are any of your top five or even top ten prospects Rule 5 Draft-eligible? If so, they really need to be protected, regardless of what position they play or how far away the player may be from the big leagues.

 

NEXT: For a player who is not a top 5 or top 10 prospect, is he MLB ready or near MLB ready? If you think the player is a decent but not great prospect and is not MLB-ready or near-MLB ready and if you think you will probably have a better than a 50-50 chance to re-claim him later because you think it's unlikely he could stay on an MLB 26-man roster for an entire season, then you leave the player unprotected.

 

NEXT: How redundant is the player's position in your system? Having depth at a particular position makes it easier to lose a player if you have more prospects in your system (especially better prospects) who play that position. However, this is more of a tie-breaker. And it does not apply to top 5 or top 10 prospects.

 

NEXT: How useful is the player to you right now? Is he ready or very close to being ready to help the big club, or is he a couple of years away? If his primary value is that he's MLB ready or near-MLB ready, how easy would it be to replace the player with a waiver claim or a minor league free agent?

 

As far as deciding which Rule 5 Draft-eligible players to place on the AAA reserve list and which players to leave on reserve lists below AAA (players on reserve lists below AAA are eligible for selection in the AAA Phase for $24,000 with no mechanism to re-claim later). it's all about talent, upside, and remaining years of club control before the player can be a 6YFA. It's not about position redundancy or if the player is ready for AA or AAA. If the player has any degree of MLB potential he needs to be placed on the AAA reserve list (if feasible) even if he's just a "second-tier" prospect.

 

Pretty concise and probably explains why guys like Mekkes and Giambrone got exposed

 

 

It only says Rule 5 like 4 times in the blurb you posted. Did you go out of your way to type Rule V wrong on purpose?