YOUR 2017 CHICAGO CUBS..... WELL MAYBE (Part One)

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

There was news this week about the Cubs re-assigning a few of the Non Roster Invitee players to the minor league camp. Six NRI players Andury Acevedo, Ryan Williams, Daniel Corcino, Fernando Rodriguez, Gerardo Concepcion and Manny Parra will no longer participate with the big club. Acevedo, Rodriguez, and Parra didn’t even pitch this Spring.

There have actually been 95 players in the World Champs camp this Spring. The Non Roster Invitee list consisted of 26 names (now down to 20), along with the 40 man major league roster. That means there have been 29 other minor league players that have participated this Spring with out a reasonable chance of making the team. Expect more of these players to slowing transition to the minor league camp.

News of Addison Russell getting a raise and what that means for likes of Kris Bryant, also made the headlines. Let’s take a closer look to see how it affects other players. The 2017 Chicago Cubs 40 man and 25 man rosters might see some changes over the next 25 days. What might it look like if opening day was this Sunday? How does a major league roster get constructed? And what limitations or rules must be followed? Using the 2017 Cubs, in layman terms let’s figure that out.

Today the focus is on:

the two rosters, 40 man versus 25 man
the two type of contracts, minor league versus major league
DFA’d, Waviers, and Minor League Options

CONTRACTS AND ROSTERS

When a player is officially on a 40 man roster, he receives a major league contract. This can happen either through a free agent signing, like Koji Uehara. It can happen by promotion from a minor league deal, like Albert Almora in 2016. A team can also accept a players existing contract from another team via trade, a la Wade Davis. All other players within an organization carry a minor league contract. The only time a team can exceed the 40 man limit is when they assign player(s) to the Disabled List.

Zac Rosscup was on the 60 Day DL, which means he could not play for 60 days or longer. In fact, he was on the 60 Day DL most of 2016. After the World Series victory, Rosscup was activated and then released to free agency. He then re-signed with the Cubs to a minor league deal and he is no longer on the 40 man roster.

You can track who is on the 40 man roster at the team website:

http://m.cubs.mlb.com/chc/roster/40-man/

During the season, up until September 1^st, teams can only have 25 players available to play each game. Only players with major league contracts, those on the 40 man roster, are eligible to be part of the 25 man roster. In September all 40 players are eligible to be available for games, but most teams tend to limit that to 33 to 35 players. This is commonly referred to as Fall call ups. This coincides with the end of the minor league season. Players not on the 25 man roster are typically playing with either the AAA or AA minor league affiliates until this time. Of course they are available all season in case someone is injured or is under performing.

MINOR LEAGUE OPTIONS AND WAIVERS

Once a team establishes their 25 man roster they can make changes at any time for various reasons, but still with limits. When a player signs their initial major league deal, the team is allowed to move the player back and forth from the 25 man roster three times. Tommy La Stella may come to mind. La Stella was one of a few players last year that still had minor league options when Chris Coghlan come off the DL. Since Coghlan no longer had minor league options, the decision was made to option La Stella back to the minors. Another choice would have been to release Coghlan or another player. No reason to re-live what happened last summer.

When a player no longer has minor league options and is not injured, the only way a team can remove them from the 25 man roster is to designate them for assignment (DFA). This basically is just getting cut from the team, also known as being put on waivers. When this occurs, the other 29 teams have the opportunity to pick up the player and add him to their 25 man roster. If no team claims the player, the original team can keep the player in the minors by signing him to a minor league deal. Once a player goes through the option process once, he no longer can be shuffled back and forth between the 25 man roster.

EXAMPLES

Matt Szczur and Mike Montgomery are players who no longer have minor league options. In order for the Cubs NOT to include them on their 25 man roster they would have to be DFA’d. There are many other exceptions to this rule, you can read more about it and see which players have options at:

http://www.thecubreporter.com/cubs-40-man-roster

These are a few of the things a team must consider when constructing their roster. Tomorrow the focus will be on Rule 5, minimum salaries, Pre-arbitration, arbitration, and free agency.