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17 Cubs minor leaguers were declared MLB Rule 55 minor league free agents at 5 PM (Eastern) today (Friday 11/2).
CUBS 2018 MLB RULE 55 MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENTS:
Jeffrey Baez, OF
Alberto Baldonado, LHP
Wynton Bernard, OF
Corey Black, RHP
Stephen Bruno, INF
Chris Coghlan, OF-1B
Casey Coleman, RHP
Ryan Court, INF
Mike Freeman, INF
Terrance Gore, OF
Trey Martin, OF
Cory Mazzoni, RHP
Jose Paulino, LHP
Bijan Rademacher, OF
Jose Rosario, RHP
Kyle Ryan, LHP
Daury Torrez, RHP
A club receives no compensation for losing a minor league free-agent.
A minor league free-agent can sign a major league or minor league contract with any club (including the player's former club) without any restrictions, so it's possible that one or more of the Cubs minor league free-agents will re-sign with the Cubs at some point during the off-season.
INF Gioskar Amaya, 1B-OF Yasiel Balaguert, OF Roberto Caro, C Erick Castillo, RHP Erick Leal, and OF-1B Chris Pieters were eligible to be Rule 55 minor league 6YFA and LHP Danny Hultzen was eligible to be a Rule 55 second-contract minor league FA post-2018, but each of them signed a 2019 minor league successor contract in the days and weeks prior to the deadline.
C-1B Taylor Davis and RHP Allen Webster were eligible to be Rule 55 minor league 6YFA post-2018, but their contracts were selected and they were added to the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) in September.
MLB RULE 55: An unsigned minor league player is automatically declared a free-agent at 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series (the deadline is October 15th if the World Series is canceled) if the player has spent all or any part of at least seven separate seasons on a minor league roster (including all or parts of any season spent on Optional Assignment to the minors and/or on a minor league disabled list) and/or if the player has been previously released or non-tendered in his career and his present contract (known as a "second contract" even if it's his third or fourth minor league contract) has expired.
For purposes of determining eligibility to be a minor league free-agent where spending seven separate seasons on a minor league roster is required, a player does not accrue a minor league season if the player spends the entire season on an MLB Active List, MLB Disabled List(s), and/or other MLB Inactive List, or if the player spends an entire season on the Restricted List, Disqualified List, Suspended List, Ineligible List, Voluntarily Retired List, and/or Military List. Also, participation in a post-season instructional league or winter league and/or the Arizona Fall League (AFL) does not count toward a minor league season if the player otherwise did not accrue a minor league season that year.
Note that a player who ordinarily would have been declared a Rule 55 minor league free-agent is NOT eligible to be a free-agent if the player is either added to an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) or agrees to a minor league successor contract prior to 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series.
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