2014 Rule 5 Draft

UPDATE: The Cubs selected 2B-SS Taylor Featherston off the AAA Albuquerque roster (Colorado Rockies) in the Major League Phase of the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, and OF-1B Ariel Ovando from the AA Corpus Christi roster (Houston Astros) in the AAA Phase... The Cubs subsequently dealt Featherston to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations... The 6'4 225 Ovando was signed by Houston out of the Dominican Republic as a highly-regarded 16-year old left-handed hitting slugging RF in 2010, but he has been unable to hit anywhere over the last four seasons and has yet to get past Short-Season "A" ball... The Cubs are expected to convert Ovando to a LHP... 

The Miami Marlins selected LHRP Andrew McKirahan off the AAA Iowa roster (Cubs) in the Major League Phase of the Rule 5 Draft, and the Texas Rangers selected 1B Rock Shoulders and the Houston Astros selected C Luis Flores off the AA Tennessee roster (Cubs) in the AAA Phase... A 2011 21st round selection by the Cubs out of the University of Texas, McKirahan underwent TJS in 2012 and spent most of the 2013 season rehabbing at Fitch Park, and so 2014 was his first full-season of minor league ball... He had a nice year combined between Daytona & Tennessee in 2014, but he fared better against RH hitters than he did versus LH hitters... A power-hitting LH hitter with below-average defensive skills at 1B, Shoulders was the Cubs 25th round draft pick out of a Florida JC in 2011. and he received an "overslot" bonus ($294,000, which is about equal to "4th round money"),.. Shoulders was blocked by Dan Vogelbach and Anthony Rizzo in the Cubs system, and the opportunity to rotate Vogelbach and Shoulders between 1B and DH every day (as has been the case the last three seasons) is not possible at AA (where the DH is used only sporadically)... A Houston-native, the 28-year old Flores was the Cubs 5th round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2008... He was eligible to be a minor league free-agent post-2014, but opted to sign a minor league successor contract wiith the Cubs in October... He received an NRI to Spring Training as an extra catcher each of the last two seasons... Flores has a really good eye at the plate and has solid defensive skills, and he has been a role model and mentor to some of the younger Cub minor leaguers... 

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The Rule 5 Selection Meeting (AKA "Rule 5 Draft") is the last order of business at the MLB Winter Meetings, and it is a mechanism that allows MLB clubs to select (draft) players off minor league reserve lists.

There is a "Major League Phase" where an MLB club can select Rule 5 Draft eligible players off the reserve lists of minor league clubs for $50,000, a "AAA Phase" where a club's AAA minor league affiliate can select Rule 5 Draft eligible players off the reserve lists of minor league clubs of a lower classification for $12,000, and finally a "AA Phase" where a club's AA minor league affiliate can select Rule 5 Draft eligible players off the reserve lists of Class "A" clubs for $4,000.

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.