Kevin Alcantara – Pic by Stephanie Lynn

It’s been a busy day here at North Side Bound! Between dropping a prospect list and a trade taking place, we can now add the fact that the Chicago Cubs added Kevin Alcantara, Ryan Jensen, Ben Brown, and Brennen Davis to the 40-man roster to avoid losing them in the Rule 5 Draft.

All four guys will now have an uptick in salary and an invite to Spring Training.

Brennen Davis is probably the best known of the four prospects and has a chance to debut in Chicago next summer pending good health. As for Alcantara, he is the youngest of the four protected players at 20 years old and he put on a show at times in Myrtle Beach last summer. He will begin 2023 in South Bend. I am excited to see him go at it as I will be in attendance quite a bit!

As for Ryan Jensen, it is still unclear if the Cubs are going to stick with him as a starting pitcher or will they move him to the bullpen. To be frank, the Cubs probably don’t know yet and it is unclear just exactly where he will begin 2023.

When it comes to Ben Brown, he’s the newly acquired starting pitcher the Cubs got in the Robertson deal from the Phillies. He’s still fairly young and finished 2022 in Tennessee where he missed a lot of bats in 6 weeks. One of the top storylines for 2023 is going to be just exactly how the Cubs tinker with him this winter. What will he be throwing next summer and how he will be throwing it will be two things to watch. He will likely begin 2023 at Tennessee..

However, the Cubs, like every other team this year, will now be exposing several of their own top prospects to the Rule 5 Draft. Players like Danis Correa, Cam Sanders, and Darius Hill from Iowa could be taken along with Smokie Riley Thompson and South Bend Cubs Luis Devers and Kohl Franklin. That last move is a gamble as the Cubs are betting on teams not selecting players who have not even pitched at Double-A yet.

To see the full list of Cubs now eligible for the Rule 5, click here. The Rule 5 Draft is set to take place during the winter meeting on December 5.