Phillies Awarded Cubs Rule 5 Pick

The Phillies will be awarded the Cubs Rule 5 pick in this year’s Rule 5 draft. The news was first reported by MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat who states the Phillies were awarded the pick because the Cubs’ 2011 selection, Lendy Castillo from the Phillies, did not meet the required number of days (90 or more) needed on the Cubs active roster. The rules are in place to prevent teams from “draft and stashing” players on the disabled list that they would otherwise need to keep on their active 25-man roster.

It is worth noting that the Cubs do not have any available space on their 40-man roster so, unless they planned on dropping someone, the Cubs would have been unable to draft anyone anyways. The Phillies have one roster spot available, making them eligible to draft a player in this year’s Rule 5 draft. The Phillies will now pick fourth in lieu of the Cubs and seventh on their own if they clear  a second roster spot. It is very unlikely that the Phillies will execute their second pick.

In 13 games in 2012 for the Cubs, Castillo posted a 7.88 ERA with a 2.250 WHIP. Castillo posted a 5.87 ERA across Single-A Kane County and High-A Daytona.