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Which 15 Players Should The Cubs Protect In An Expansion Draft?

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In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR – just for the fun of it!  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Cubs are up next.

First, we’ll remove free agents Jon Lester, Daniel Descalso, Tyler Chatwood, Jose Quintana, Jeremy Jeffress, and Steven Souza from consideration.  I’ll assume Anthony Rizzo’s $16.5MM club option is exercised and the Cubs use a protected spot on him.  I’ll lock in Jason Heyward, Craig Kimbrel, and Yu Darvish due to their no-trade clauses.  We’ll protect these 11 players out of the gate:

Anthony Rizzo
Jason Heyward
Craig Kimbrel
Yu Darvish
Nico Hoerner
Kyle Hendricks
Kris Bryant
Javier Baez
Willson Contreras
Ian Happ
Kyle Schwarber

That leaves four spots for 17 remaining players:

Albert Almora Jr.
Adbert Alzolay
David Bote
Victor Caratini
Jharel Cotton
Robel Garcia
Dillon Maples
Alec Mills
James Norwood
Colin Rea
Kyle Ryan
Casey Sadler
Ryan Tepera
Duane Underwood Jr.
Rowan Wick
Brad Wieck
Dan Winkler

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly four players you think the Cubs should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Diamondbacks Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR – just for the fun of it!  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Diamondbacks are up next.

First, I’ll remove free agents Mike Leake, Jake Lamb, Andrew Chafin, and Robbie Ray from consideration.  Hector Rondon and Stephen Vogt have club options for 2021, but we’ll take them out as well.  In the case of Starling Marte, I’ll assume his $12.5MM club option is exercised, and that the D’Backs will protect him.  In the case of Merrill Kelly, I’ll assume his $4.25MM club option gets picked up, but I’ll let you decide whether to use a protected spot on him.

I’ll lock in Madison Bumgarner due to his no-trade protection.  I’ll also put Daulton Varsho on the list, as a Baseball America Top 100 prospect with a 2020 ETA.  This will be the initial ten-player protected list:

Madison Bumgarner
Starling Marte
Ketel Marte
Daulton Varsho
Luke Weaver
Carson Kelly
Christian Walker
Zac Gallen
Nick Ahmed
Eduardo Escobar

That leaves five spots for the 20 players listed below.  It’s worth considering that in this scenario we’re in November 2020, and the player’s remaining amount of control is a big factor.

Silvino Bracho
Archie Bradley
Kole Calhoun
Taylor Clarke
Stefan Crichton
Kevin Cron
Jon Duplantier
Kevin Ginkel
Junior Guerra
Merrill Kelly
Domingo Leyba
Tim Locastro
Yoan Lopez
Corbin Martin
Joel Payamps
David Peralta
Josh Rojas
Bo Takahashi
Ildemaro Vargas
Alex Young

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly five players you think the Diamondbacks should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Rockies Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR – just for the fun of it!  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Rockies are up next.

First, we’ll remove free agents Daniel Murphy, Wade Davis, Jake McGee, and Bryan Shaw from consideration.  The relievers have 2021 options that could vest, but we’ll assume they won’t or at least that they wouldn’t get protected spots.  Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon will take spots on the list, due to their no-trade protection.  We’ll add five more players, starting off by protecting these seven:

Nolan Arenado
Charlie Blackmon
Jon Gray
Trevor Story
German Marquez
David Dahl
Brendan Rodgers

That leaves eight spots for the following 22 players:

Yency Almonte
Yonathan Daza
Ian Desmond
Jairo Diaz
Phillip Diehl
Carlos Estevez
Kyle Freeland
Josh Fuentes
Chi Chi Gonzalez
Garrett Hampson
Sam Hilliard
Jeff Hoffman
Tyler Kinley
Peter Lambert
Ryan McMahon
Dom Nunez
Scott Oberg
James Pazos
Antonio Senzatela
Raimel Tapia
Jesus Tinoco
Tony Wolters

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly eight players you think the Rockies should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Dodgers Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR – just for the fun of it!  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Padres, Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Dodgers are up next.

First, we’ll remove free agents Mookie Betts, Justin Turner, Blake Treinen, Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, Enrique Hernandez, Pedro Baez, and Jimmy Nelson from consideration.  Next, we’ll add Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen to our protected list by virtue of their no-trade rights (Jansen will acquire ten-and-five rights this year).  We’ll lock in Gavin Lux, Dustin May, Brusdar Graterol, and Tony Gonsolin as Baseball America Top 100 prospects with a 2020 ETA (they’ve actually all already arrived in the Majors).  I’ll also lock in another six players, giving us these 12:

Clayton Kershaw
Kenley Jansen
Cody Bellinger
Walker Buehler
Max Muncy
Will Smith
Corey Seager
Julio Urias
Gavin Lux
Dustin May
Tony Gonsolin
Brusdar Graterol

That leaves three spots for the following 14 players:

Scott Alexander
Austin Barnes
Matt Beaty
Caleb Ferguson
Dylan Floro
Joe Kelly
Adam Kolarek
A.J. Pollock
David Price
Edwin Rios
Dennis Santana
Josh Sborz
Ross Stripling
Chris Taylor

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly three players you think the Dodgers should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Padres Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR – just for the fun of it!  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Padres are up next.

We’ll start by removing free agents Garrett Richards, Kirby Yates, and Jurickson Profar from consideration.

Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer will make the list due to their no-trade protection.  For this exercise, I’ve also decided to automatically protect any Baseball America Top 100 Prospect to whom they gave a 2020 ETA.  That means Adrian Morejon is on the list.  Otherwise, I’ve decided to make minor leaguers ineligible for our mock expansion draft.  Here’s the full list of 12 Padres I’ll protect out of the gate:

Manny Machado
Eric Hosmer
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Chris Paddack
Adrian Morejon
Tommy Pham
Dinelson Lamet
Joey Lucchesi
Trent Grisham
Drew Pomeranz
Emilio Pagan
Francisco Mejia

That leaves three spots for the following 22 players:

Michel Baez
David Bednar
Ronald Bolanos
Jose Castillo
Franchy Cordero
Zach Davies
Ty France
Greg Garcia
Javy Guerra
Austin Hedges
Pierce Johnson
Andres Munoz
Wil Myers
Josh Naylor
Luis Perdomo
Cal Quantrill
Gerardo Reyes
Craig Stammen
Matt Strahm
Luis Torrens
Breyvic Valera
Trey Wingenter

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly three players you think the Padres should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Giants Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Giants are up next.

We’ll start by removing free agents Hunter Pence, Jeff Samardzija, Tony Watson, Drew Smyly, and Kevin Gausman.

Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, and Brandon Crawford will make the protected list by virtue of their no-trade clauses.  I’ll also protect Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson, Mauricio Dubon, and Logan Webb out of the gate.  So these seven players will be protected:

Buster Posey
Brandon Belt
Brandon Crawford
Mike Yastrzemski
Alex Dickerson
Mauricio Dubon
Logan Webb

That leaves eight spots for these 26 players:

Shaun Anderson
Tyler Anderson
Abiatal Avelino
Tyler Beede
Sam Coonrod
Johnny Cueto
Jaylin Davis
Steven Duggar
Wilmer Flores
Enderson Franco
Aramis Garcia
Jarlin Garcia
Trevor Gott
Jandel Gustave
Evan Longoria
Conner Menez
Reyes Moronta
Wandy Peralta
Dereck Rodriguez
Tyler Rogers
Sam Selman
Chris Shaw
Austin Slater
Donovan Solano
Andrew Suarez
Kean Wong

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly eight players you think the Giants should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Rangers Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve covered the Mariners, Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles.  The Rangers are up next.

We’ll start by removing free agents Jeff Mathis, Shin-Soo Choo, Jesse Chavez, and Mike Minor from consideration.  We’ll also remove Todd Frazier and Robinson Chirinos, who have club options for 2021 but probably aren’t worth protected spots.

Corey Kluber has an $18MM club option for 2021, and the Rangers’ decision on that will be dependent on how he performs in a possible 2020 season.  I’ve decided to make the guess that the Rangers would use a protected spot on Kluber.  We’ll also lock down Elvis Andrus due to his no-trade protection.  I’ve decided to lock down starting pitchers Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles as well, who signed with the Rangers as free agents last December.  That’s debatable, but some judgment calls are made in this process.  Here’s the entire initial protected group of nine players:

Corey Kluber
Elvis Andrus
Lance Lynn
Danny Santana
Joey Gallo
Willie Calhoun
Nick Solak
Kyle Gibson
Jordan Lyles

That leaves six spots for the following 18 players:

Kolby Allard
Brock Burke
Luke Farrell
Nick Goody
Ronald Guzman
Taylor Hearn
Scott Heineman
Jonathan Hernandez
Ariel Jurado
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Jose Leclerc
Brett Martin
Yohander Mendez
Rafael Montero
Joely Rodriguez
Rougned Odor
Joe Palumbo
Jose Trevino

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly six players you think the Rangers should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Mariners Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve done the Athletics, Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  The Mariners are next.

First, we’ll remove free agents Dee Gordon, Taijuan Walker, and Yoshihisa Hirano from consideration.  I’ve decided to lock down these 11 players out of the gate:

Mitch Haniger
Marco Gonzales
Evan White
Logan Gilbert
Justus Sheffield
Justin Dunn
Kyle Lewis
J.P. Crawford
Shed Long
Jake Fraley
Tom Murphy

That leaves four spots for the following 25 players:

Austin Adams
Dan Altavilla
Gerson Bautista
Braden Bishop
Brandon Brennan
Nestor Cortes
Carl Edwards Jr.
Kendall Graveman
Zac Grotz
Taylor Guilbeau
Sam Haggerty
Yusei Kikuchi
Tim Lopes
Matt Magill
Nick Margevicius
Dylan Moore
Austin Nola
Kyle Seager
Mallex Smith
Erik Swanson
Daniel Vogelbach
Donovan Walton
Art Warren
Taylor Williams
Patrick Wisdom

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly four players you think the Mariners should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Athletics Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve done the Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  The Athletics are next.

First, we’ll remove free agents Marcus Semien, Joakim Soria, Yusmeiro Petit, Khris Davis, Mike Fiers, Liam Hendriks, T.J. McFarland, and Robbie Grossman from consideration.

Then, we’ll lock down this group of nine players:

Matt Chapman
Matt Olson
Frankie Montas
Ramon Laureano
Mark Canha
Sean Manaea
Sean Murphy
Jesus Luzardo
A.J. Puk

That leaves six spots for these 17 players:

Austin Allen
Luis Barrera
Franklin Barreto
Chris Bassitt
Paul Blackburn
Skye Bolt
Seth Brown
Jake Diekman
Daniel Gossett
Tony Kemp
Daniel Mengden
Sheldon Neuse
Chad Pinder
Stephen Piscotty
Burch Smith
Lou Trivino
J.B. Wendelken

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly six players you think the Athletics should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Which 15 Players Should The Angels Protect In An Expansion Draft?

By | at

In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve done the Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  The Angels are next.

We’ll start by removing free agents Jason Castro, Andrelton Simmons, Julio Teheran, and Tommy La Stella from consideration.  We’ll lock down Albert Pujols, Justin Upton, Mike Trout, and Anthony Rendon due to their no-trade clauses.  We’ll also protect Jo Adell, Shohei Ohtani, and Griffin Canning out of the gate, giving us this group of seven:

Mike Trout
Anthony Rendon
Justin Upton
Albert Pujols
Shohei Ohtani
Jo Adell
Griffin Canning

That leaves eight spots for the following 28 players:

Justin Anderson
Matt Andriese
Luke Bard
Jaime Barria
Cam Bedrosian
Anthony Bemboom
Ryan Buchter
Dylan Bundy
Ty Buttrey
David Fletcher
Brian Goodwin
Andrew Heaney
Michael Hermosillo
Kyle Keller
Mike Mayers
Keynan Middleton
Felix Pena
Dillon Peters
Jose Quijada
Noe Ramirez
Luis Rengifo
Hansel Robles
Patrick Sandoval
Max Stassi
Jose Suarez
Matt Thaiss
Jared Walsh
Taylor Ward

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly eight players you think the Angels should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

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