Looking Ahead
For those of you who might be interested in looking ahead a little bit, he are projections for the Cubs 2009 payroll, potential Cubs free-agents, Cubs players eligible for salary arbitration, 2009 minor league option status for Cubs players presently on the 40-man roster, potential post-2008 Cubs minor league free-agents, and Cubs minor league players who will be eligible for the December 2008 Rule 5 Draft.
Remember, these are projections based on the way things stand right now, and are very much subject to change.
ELIGIBLE TO BE FREE-AGENT AFTER 2008 SEASON:
Henry Blanco (mutual option with buy-out for 2009)
Ryan Dempster
Scott Eyre (has limited "no trade")
Bob Howry
Jon Lieber (has automatic "no trade" through June 15th)
Daryle Ward
Kerry Wood (has 10/5 "no trade" rights)
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SIGNED FOR 2009:
Henry Blanco - $3M club option or $300K buy-out
Mark DeRosa - $5.5M
Kosuke Fukudome - $11.5M
Derrek Lee - $13M
Ted Lilly - $12M
Jason Marquis - $9.875M
Aramis Ramirez - $15.65M
Jeff Samardzija - $1.3M (no minor league split)
Alfonso Soriano - $16M
Carlos Zambrano - $17.75M
TOTAL GUARANTEED SO FAR - $102.875M (includes expected $300K buy-out for Blanco)
NOTE: Most signing bonuses are paid up-front when a player signs a contract (which is why it's called a SIGNING BONUS), so I did not include signing bonuses in projected 2009 payroll unless the bonus is known to be spread-out over the length of contract.
What confuses some people is that per the CBA, signing bonuses (even when they are paid in a lump sum when the contract is signed) are automatically averaged over the length of a player's contract when computing club payroll for the purpose of determining whether a club must pay a luxury tax and for revenue sharing purposes.
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PROJECTED ELIGIBLE FOR SALARY-ARBITRATION POST-2008:
NOTE: Projection based on player spending the rest of the 2008 season in MLB
Ronny Cedeno
Neal Cotts
Rich Hill (projected 2+149 MLB Service Time post-2008 – almost certainly will qualify for salary arbitration as a “Super Two”)
Reed Johnson
Sean Marshall (projected 2+132 MLB Service Time post-2008 – possibly could qualify for salary arbitration as a “Super Two”)
Matt Murton
Michael Wuertz
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AUTO-RENEWAL (PRE-ARBITRATION) PLAYERS FOR 2009:
NOTE: 2009 MLB minimum salary will be $400K with $65K minimum minor league split salary
Jose Ascanio
Mike Fontenot
Jake Fox
Sam Fuld
Sean Gallagher
Angel Guzman
Adam Harben
Kevin Hart
Rich Hill (likely to be eligible for salary arbitration as “Super Two”)
Carlos Marmol
Sean Marshall (could be eligible for salary arbitration as “Super Two”)
Juan Mateo
Eric Patterson
Billy Petrick
Felix Pie
Carmen Pignatiello
Geovany Soto
Ryan Theriot
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PLAYERS SIGNED BEYOND 2009:
Derrek Lee ($13M in 2010, then FA – has full “no trade”)
Ted Lilly ($12M in 2010, then FA - has full "no trade")
Aramis Ramirez ($15.75M in 2010, $14.6M 2011 player option, and $16M 2012 mutual option with $2M buy-out – has full “no trade”)
Kosuke Fukudome ($13M in 2010 and $13.5M in 2011, then FA - has full :"no trade")
Jeff Samardzija (thru 2011 + mutual options for 2012 & 2013 – has full “no trade” through 2011):
2010: $2.5M (no minor league split)
2011: $2.8M (no minor league split)
2012: $3M (mutual option - player can opt out only if he is eligible for salary arbitration)
2013: $3.5M (mutual option - player can opt out only if he is eligible for salary-arbitration)
NOTE: Samardzija still must accrue six years of MLB Service Time before he can be a Free-Agent
Carlos Zambrano ($17.875 in 2010 and 2011, and $18M in 2012, plus $19.25M 2013 vesting-player option – has full “no trade”)
Alfonso Soriano ($18M 2010 through 2014, then FA – has full “no trade”)
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PROJECTED SPRING TRAINING 2009 MINOR LEAGUE OPTION STATUS FOR PLAYERS WITH LESS THAN FIVE YEARS MLB SERVICE TIME:
* To be optioned to minors, player must first clear Optional Assignment Waivers
NO MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT:
Ronny Cedeno
Neal Cotts
Angel Guzman
Geovany Soto
ONE MINOR LEAGUE OPTION LEFT:
Jose Ascanio (see NOTE)
* Mike Fontenot
Jake Fox
Sean Gallagher
Adam Harben
* Rich Hill
Carlos Marmol
Juan Mateo
* Matt Murton
Felix Pie
Eric Patterson
* Michael Wuertz
NOTE: Jose Ascanio will have used three minor league options through the 2008 season, but because he will have spent only four “full seasons” on an active minor league or major league roster through the 2008 season, he will be eligible for a 4th minor league option in 2009.
ONE OR TWO MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT (TBD):
Sean Marshall (see NOTE)
NOTE: Sean Marshall has spent ten days on optional assignment to the minors so far in 2008. If he spends at least another ten days on optional assignment to the minors sometime later in the 2008 season, he will have one minor league option left as of Spring Training 2009. If he spends less than ten more days on optional assignment to the minors in 2008, he will have two minor league options left as of Spring Training 2009.
TWO MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT:
Sam Fuld
Billy Petrick (see NOTE)
Carmen Pignatiello
Jeff Samardzija (see NOTE)
NOTE: Billy Petrick will have used two minor league options through the 2008 season, but because he will have spent only three “full seasons” on an active minor league or major league roster through the 2008 season, he will be eligible for a 4th minor league option as long as it is used prior to completing five full seasons.
Jeff Samardzija will have used two minor league options through the 2008 season, but because he will have spent only two “full seasons” on an active minor league or major league roster through the 2008 season, he will be eligible for a 4th minor league option as long as it is used prior to completing five full seasons.
THREE MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS LEFT:
Kevin Hart
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ELIGIBLE TO BE MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENT POST-2008:
Andres Blanco, SS
Mike Burns, RHP
Andy Cavazos, RHP
Robinson Chirinos, INF
Rafael Cova, RHP
Matt Craig, 1B
Doug Deeds, OF-1B
Danny Fatheree, C (serving as a coach with Boise-Mesa)
Luis Figueroa, INF
Chad Fox, RHP
Dumas Garcia, RHP
Jesse Garcia, INF
Koyie Hill, C
Randy Keisler, LHP
Micah Hoffpauir, 1B
Geoffrey Jones, LHP
Josh Kroeger, OF
Leonel Perez, C
Issmael Salas, IF-OF
Cesar Salazar, OF
Bobby Scales, IF-OF
Andres Torres, OF
Les Walrond, LHP
Tanner Watson, RHP
Randy Wells, RHP
NOTE: A player eligible to be a Minor League free-agent cannot be granted free-agency if he is added to a 40-man roster by the end of the World Series.
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ELIGIBLE FOR 2008 RULE 5 DRAFT
James Adduci, OF
Alberto Alburquerque, RHP
Mitch Atkins, RHP
Matt Avery, RHP
Justin Berg, RHP
Todd Blackford, RHP
Edward Campusano, LHP
Russ Canzler, 1B
Yusuf Carter, OF
Corey Coles, OF
Jeff Culpepper, OF
Rafael Dolis, RHP
Darin Downs, LHP
Jesse Estrada, RHP
Ryan Harvey, OF
Jim Henderson, RHP
Mark Holliman, RHP
Grant Johnson, RHP
Marcos Mateo, RHP
J. R. Mathes, LHP
Casey McGehee, 3B-C
Mario Mercedes, C
Jonathan Mota, INF
Jake Muyco, RHP
Mike Phelps, RHP
Jose Pina, RHP
Mark Reed, C
Kyle Reynolds, 3B
Tony Richie, C
Chris Robinson, C
Jayson Ruhlman, LHP
Chris Shaver, LHP
Joe Simokaitis, SS
Alvaro Sosa, C
Nate Spears, 2B
Donald Veal, LHP
NOTE: A player eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft is designated “Draft Excluded” if added to a 40-man roster by November 20th. Also, any minor league free-agent who signs a minor league contract prior to the Rule 5 Draft is eligible for selection.
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