Cubs 40-Man Roster

Roster Rules & Procedures

LAST UPDATED: 12-1-2021

Cubs MLB Reserve List ("40-Man Roster")

39 players are on Cubs MLB Reserve List (one slot is open).

MLB Service Time goes by the format of Years+Days, so (for example) "2+155" = two years plus 155 days.

Per the 2016-21 CBA, an MLB regular season ("championship season") must be at least 182 days but no more than 187 days, but 172 days constitutes a "full" MLB regular season when calculating MLB Service Time, and so a player cannot get credit for more than 172 days of MLB Service Time in any one season.

NOTE 1 - The Cubs have no players with Selected Player status on their MLB Reserve List at this time.

NOTE 2 - Because they were eligible for selection in the 2021 MLB Rule 5 Draft and had their contracts selected from a minor league reserve list and were added to an MLB Reserve List after August 15th, Scott Effross, Alfonso Rivas, Ethan Roberts, and Nelson Velazquez will have Draft- Excluded Player status beginning on the 5th day after the final game of the 2021 World Series and extending until 20 days prior to 2022 MLB Opening Day.

NOTE 3 - Any player who has minor league options left and who has accrued at least five years of MLB Service Time (Willson Contreras, Yan Gomes, Kyle Hendricks, Jason Heyward, Marcus Stroman, and Wade Miley), and any international player with Article XIX-A contractual rights has the right to refuse an Optional Assignment and remain on his club's MLB Active List (25-man roster) or elect free-agencv if optioned.
NOTE: Optional Assignment Waivers have been eliminated in the 2016-21 CBA.

NOTE 4 - Justin Steele is eligible for a 4th minor league option in 2022, Miguel Amaya, Anderson Espinoza, and Manuel Rodriguez will be eligible for a 4th minor league option in 2023 if the 3rd option is spent in 2022, and Alexander Canario, Greg Deichmann, Brailyn Marquez, Christopher Morel, Keegan Thompson, and Alexander Vizcaino will be eligible for a 4th minor league option in 2024 if the 3rd option is spent in 2023 (TBD).

NOTE 5 - Any player who has accrued at least five years of MLB Service Time (Willson Contreras, Yan Gomes, Kyle Hendricks, Jason Heyward, Marcus Stroman, and Wade Miley), and any international player with Article XIX-A contractual rights has the right to refuse an Outright Assignment and remain on his club's MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) or elect free-agency if outrighted. Also, any player who has accrued at least three years of MLB Service Time (David Bote, Clint Frazier, and Ian Happ), or who has not yet accrued at least three years of MLB Service Time but who has been outrighted previously in his career (Sergio Alcantara, Michael Hermosillo, Rafael Ortega, Harold Ramirez, Michael Rucker, Rowan Wick, and Patrick Wisdom), or who has not accrued at least three years of MLB Service Time or been outrighted to the minors previously in his career but who qualified as a "Super Two" player after the 2021 season, has the right to elect free-agency if outrighted.

NOTE 6 - Starting at 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the 2021 World Series, an unsigned MLB Rule 9 eligible player (second contract or 6YFA) who is not a Rule 5 Selected Player or Draft Excluded Player and/or is not eligible to elect free-agency if outrighted (Adbert Alzolay, Alec Mills, Frank Schwindel, Justin Steele, and Brad Wieck) cannot be sent outright to the minors until Outright Assignment Waivers are secured and the player has either signed a 2022 Major League contract, had his 2021 contract unilaterally renewed by the club, or agrees (in advance) to sign a 2022 minor league contract (if the Outright Assignment is contemplated prior to a 2022 Major League contract being tendered).
NOTE: For any MLB player not eligible for salary arbitration, an MLB club can unilaterally renew the player's contract from the previous season (subject to the MLB minimum salary rule and the MLB maximum salary-reduction rule) if the player has not signed a contract by March 1st.

NOTE 7 - Most injured players can be sent to the minors only during a period of time beginning on the day after the conclusion of the MLB regular season up until reserve lists are filed in November. (An injured Rule 5 Selected Player can be outrighted during this period only if Rule 5 restrictions have been removed, and an injured Rule 5 Draft Excluded Player can be outrighted during this period only if Outright Assignment Waivers are requested no later than 2 PM Eastern on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series). However, a player on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) who is not MLB Rule 9-eligible, who has accrued less than three years of MLB Service Time in his career, and who did not accrue any MLB Service Time during the previous season, was not selected in the immediately-preceding Rule 5 Draft, and has not previously been outrighted to the minors (Miguel Amaya, Alexander Canario, Anderson Espinoza, Brailyn Marquez, Christopher Morel, and Alexander Vizcaino) can be sent outright to the minors even if he is injured beginning on the day after the conclusion of the MLB regular season up until the 15th day prior to the start of the next MLB regular season, and an MLB Rule 9-eligible player who has accrued less than three years of MLB Service Time in his career, and who did not accrue any MLB Service Time during the previous season, was not selected in the immediately-preceding Rule 5 Draft, and has not previously been outrighted to the minors can be sent outright to the minors even if he is injured during this period only after the player has either signed a Major League contract for the next season, had his previous season's contract unilaterally renewed by the club, or agrees (in advance) to sign a minor league contract for the next season (if the Outright Assignment is contemplated prior to a Major League contract being tendered). Also, a Draft-Excluded Player who has accrued less than three years of MLB Service Time in his career and who did not accrue any MLB Service Time during the previous season and who has not previously been outrighted to the minors (Ethan Roberts and Nelson Velazquez) can be sent outright to the minors even if he is injured only during a five-day window beginning on the 20th day prior to the start of the MLB regular season and extending up until the 15th day prior to the start of the MLB regular season.

NOTE 8 - An Article XX-B MLB free-agent who signs a major league contract after 11:59 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the 2021 World Series (Yan Gomes and Marcus Stroman) will have an automatic "no trade" restriction through June 15, 2022. An Article XX-B MLB Free-Agent who receives a "no trade" right this way can waive the right, but if he does, his club can trade the player only for player contracts and/or cash with a maximum aggregate value of $50,000.
Also, a player with an automatic ("10/5") or contractual full or partial "no trade" restriction (FULL 10/5: Jason Heyward cannot be traded or placed on any type of irrevocable assignment waiver unless he agrees to waive his "no trade" right in advance.

NOTE 9 - A player eligible to be a post-2020 Article XX-B MLB Free-Agent is not eligible to receive an Article XX-B Qualifying Offer if the player has received a Qualifying Offer previously in his career or if the player did not spend the entire preceding MLB regular season on the club's MLB Active List (25-man roster) and/or on one or more of the club's inactive lists and/or on the Active List or an inactive list of one or more minor league affiliates of that club