Chicago Cubs Protect Two Top Prospects Ahead of Rule 5 Draft, DFA Another

The Chicago Cubs made a tough decision ahead of the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, selecting two of their top prospects to the roster while DFA'ing another.

Mar 2, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Owen Caissie against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One of the first major decisions for the Chicago Cubs has been checked off.

Tuesday was the deadline for teams around Major League Baseball to make choices regarding which minor league players they would add to their roster in order to protect those eligible for the Rule 5 Draft from being taken by another club on Dec. 11.

For the Cubs, that involved making a shocking move to designate their former closer Adbert Alzolay for assignment which opens him up to being claimed by another team. While he likely wouldn't have pitched in 2025 following his Tommy John surgery, it was still surprising considering how he performed two seasons ago.

Chicago protected two of their top prospects, Owen Caissie and Ben Cowles, from the Rule 5 Draft by adding them to their 40-man roster per Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors.

Caissie was a no-brainer.

Ranked No. 2 overall in their pipeline, the outfielder is No. 34 in all of the minors, so making sure he's protected was at the top of their priority list.

He's coming off an impressive season at the Triple-A level, slashing .278/.375/.472 with 19 homers, 51 extra-base hits and 75 RBI across his 125 games played.

Cowles is a bit of a surprising one.

Acquired at this past trade deadline in the deal that shipped Mark Leiter Jr. to the New York Yankees, he's still considered one of their best prospects by being ranked No. 29, but the infielder might have his path to playing time in the Majors blocked.

Taken in the 10th round of the 2021 draft, he's put up solid numbers in his minor league career with a slash line of .268/.365/.426, but he's only hit 30 homers and driven in 158 runs across his 329 games and 1,128 at-bats.

Cowles doesn't stand out on the offensive end, however, he can do a bit of everything which could help him in situational spots if he's used as a utility man going forward.

In the other roster move to clear space, the Cubs decided to DFA Brennen Davis.

That's a bitter pill to swallow for the outfielder who peaked at No. 1 in their pipeline back in 2022, but injuries have derailed his career and prevented him from ever getting called up the Majors.

There's a good chance another team around the league is willing to take a chance on the 2018 second-round draft pick in hopes he can get things going in their system by avoiding injury.

But for Chicago, with a logjam in the outfield at the MLB level and on the farm, this decision makes a ton of sense after they protected Caissie.