It’s been a pretty slow week news wise as the lockout continues.

Today, however, things should heat up quite a bit beginning at 1 PM Central. At that time, the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft will take place.

The Cubs have close to 80 players eligible to be selected in this year‘s draft, which is a little under half of their current stateside minor-league roster. Heading into the day, the Cubs had a little over 170 guys signed for next year.

To avoid being taken, a player has to be on the Iowa Cubs’ 38-man roster. As of this morning, there were 33 players assigned to Iowa. I would expect that number to fluctuate throughout the day as the Cubs add and subtract players to protect.

Some guys I would expect to see the Cubs move to Iowa include Riley Thompson, Danis Correa, Gabriel Jaramillo, and Brandon Hughes. If all four pitchers are left on protected, they will not be Cubs at the end of the day. As well, Andy Weber, Jeremiah Estrada, Luis Vazquez, and Cam Sanders would definitely be on my list to move to Iowa this morning.

As you can see, the Cubs clearly have some juggling to do.

When it comes to the types of players the Cubs could go out and pick up today, I would expect catcher to be at the top of the list along with a left-handed pitcher of either the starting or relieving variety.

I will check back occasionally this morning with any roster updates before the 1 PM draft. My first update will be around 8:45 to 9:15. I can be back about 10:15 and then I’ll check in somewhere close to 12:30, just before the draft.

When the draft is complete, there will be a separate post for who the Cubs picked up and who the Cubs lost.


9:25 a.m.- No changes on Iowa’s roster as of this time.

10:55 a.m. Crickets

12:36 – Still nothing. CUbs look to be waiting until the last minute.