Cubs Minor League free-agents

11/8 UPDATE: 

19 Cubs minor leaguers were declared MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agents Monday afternoon:

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11/7 UPDATE: RHP Jose Rosario has indeed been added to the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster).

Also, RHP Andury Acevedo, RHP Dallas Beeler, and C Tim Federowicz have been sent outright to AAA Iowa.

Acevedo will be declared an MLB Rule 55 minor league 6YFA if he does not sign a 2017 minor league successor contract, and Federowicz has the right to elect to be an Article XX-D minor league free-agent (because he has been outrighted previously in his career), but even if he doesn't elect free-agency per Article XX-D he will be declared an MLB Rule 55 6YFA if he does not sign a 2017 minor league successor contract.

Beeler does not have the right to elect free-agency if outrighted and he is not eligible to be an MLB Rule 55 minor league 6YFA post-2016 either, so he will remain under club control through the 2017 season, although he is eligible for selection in next month's MLB Rule 5 Draft. However, since he wasn't claimed off waivers ($20,000 waiver claiming price with no roster restrictions), it is very unlikely that he will be selected in the Rule 5 Draft ($50,000 draft price plus roster restrictions);

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Post-2016 MLB Rule 55 minor league 6YFA and second-contract free-agents who decline to sign 2017 minor league successor contracts are now being added to MLB 40-man rosters in advance of next week's deadline, as the Cincinnati Reds have added RHRP Ariel Hernandez and the Texas Rangers have added OF Drew Robinson to their respective MLB Reserve Lists.

Usually no more than a dozen potential minor league free-agents are added to MLB 40-man rosters each year. As far as potential Cubs minor league free-agents are concerned, I would expect the Cubs to add RHRP Jose Rosario to the 40 by next Monday's 5 PM (Eastern) deadline, unless he agrees to sign a 2017 minor league successor contract.

A minor league successor contract is essentially an agreement between the player and the club to extend club control for one more season, usually with a financial inducement for the player (and sometimes an NRI to Spring Training as well). However, a potential post-2016 Rule 55 minor league free-agent who signs a 2017 minor league successor contract prior to Monday's deadline becomes eligible for selection in next month's MLB Rule 5 Draft, as does any free-agent who signs a 2017 minor league contract prior to the Rule 5 Draft, so the only way the club can be sure to retain the player is by adding him to the 40. 

For example, LHRP Jack Leathersich (previously non-tendered by CHC) was eligible to be a Rule 55 second-contract minor league free-agent post-2016, but he signed a 2017 minor league successor contract with the Cubs in September. However, he will be eligible for selection in next month's Rule 5 Draft if he is not added to the Cubs MLB 40-man roster pror to the deadline for submitting MLB and minor league reserve lists to the MLB Commissioner on 11/18. NOTE: The roster filing deadline usually is 11/20, but it is moved up two days this year because the 20th falls on a Sunday.  

The Cubs released LHRP Manny Parra, INF Munenori Kawasaki, and OF Shane Victorino today, but hope to re-sign all three players. The trio were signed to minor league contracts during the off-season and were in big league camp as NRI (Non-Roster Invitees). 

Here's why this happened today... 

Baseball America reports that the Cubs have signed Rule 55 second-contract minor league free-agent RHSP Drew Rucinski(ex-LAA) and Rule 55 minor league 6YFA LHP Jeffry Antigua to 2016 minor league contracts. 

Both will be eligible for selection in next month's Rule 5 Draft, although it's not likely that Rucinski would get picked because he was not claimed off waivers when he was outrighted in September, and the only way Antigua gets claimed is if the Cubs placed him on the AA Tennessee reserve list, which would make him eligible for selection in the AAA Phase of the draft ($12,000 draft price with no roster restrictions and no chance to be re-claimed).  

NOVEMBER 10th UPDATE: BA transactions reports that the Cubs have re-signed RHP Starling Peralta to a 2016 minor league contract. So now the Cubs have re-signed eight of their 24 2015 Rule 55 6YFA (RHP Frank Batista, OF Pin-Chieh Chen, C Willson Contreras, INF Ryan Dent, RHSP Felix Pena, RHRP Starling Peralta, RHP Jose Rosario, and INF Logan Watkins). Unless added to an MLB 40-man roster by 11/20, each of the eight re-signed Rule 55 6YFA will be eligible for selection in next month's Rule 5 Draft.    

Beginning tomorrow (Monday 10/5) and extending through Thursday 10/15, four Cubs minor leaguers with ARTICLE XX-D or ARTICLE XIX-A status will be able to elect free-agency, as long as the player is not added back to an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) prior to making the election. 

Each of the four players spent time on the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) during the 2015 season. 

Here is an updated list of Cubs post-2015 MLB Rule 5 Draft & MLB Rule 55 Minor League Free-Agent eligibles. (There are no Cubs minor league players eligible to be a post-2015 Article XX-D minor league free-agent at this time). 

It is not an oversight that players like LHP Hunter Cervenka, OF Pin-Chieh Chen, C Willson Conteras, RHP Felix Pena, and RHP Starling Peralta (plus a couple of dozen more) are not on the list of Cubs 2015 Rule 5 Draft eligibles. A player who is eligible to be a minor league free-agent post-2015 is eligible for selection in the December 2015 Rule 5 Draft only if the player signs a 2016 minor league contract or agrees to a minor league successor contract prior to the Rule 5 Draft (see full list of Cubs post-2015 MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agent eligibles below), and any player eligible to be a minor league FA can't sign a minor league successor contract for the next season until after the conclusion of the current minor league season. 

15 Cubs minor league players were declared MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agents at 5 PM (Eastern) last Monday, including 13 "six-year free-agents" (6YFA) and two "second contract" free-agents.

The Cubs selected the contracts of LHP Eric Jokisch and C Rafael Lopez from AAA Iowa and added both to their MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) last week. Both players would have been eligible for selection in the December 2014 Rule 5 Draft if they had not been added to an MLB 40-man roster by the November 20th roster-filing deadline, so the Cubs decded to give the two a "cup of coffee" in September, since they apparently had already decided to add both players to their 40-man roster.   

Besides Jokisch and Lopez, #1 pitching prospect C. J. Edwards is the only other Cub minor leaguer eligible for selection in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft who is likely to get added to the MLB 40-man roster by the 11/20 deadline (in fact Edwards is a "lock" to get added), but that doesn't mean the Cubs don't have some decisions to make regarding a number of other players in their minor league system.

When looking ahead at the Cubs likely post-2014 MLB Reserve List (40-man roster), whether a player presently on the 40-man roster is eligible to be an MLB Article XX-B free-agent or will be eligible for Salary Arbitration, or whether a player presently on a Cubs minor league roster is eligible to be a minor league free-agent post-2014 or is eligible for selection in the December 2014 Rule 5 Draft, will be determining factors. 

Here is the updated list of Cubs minor leaguers (including Rule 55 6YFA and "second-contract" players) who were declared free-agents by MLB yesterday at 5 PM (Eastern), and the updated December 2013 Rule 5 Draft eligiblility list (including Rule 55 eligibles who have signed 2014 minor league successor contracts and "second-contract" players signed for 2014 who are eligible for selection):