CLEVELAND -- Under the terms of the old collective bargaining agreement, the Indians would have had no shortage of top-tier prospects needing to be placed on the club's 40-man roster to be protected from the Dec. 7 Rule 5 Draft.

But the new agreement, which owners and players reached during the World Series, changed that, adding a year before teams must make such decisions. Players drafted out of high school will now wait five years before they're Rule 5-eligible, while college players will wait four.

So the likes of Tony Sipp and Adam Miller, two quality pitching prospects in the Tribe's system, are spared from eligibility this year.

That wasn't true, however, of outfielder Ben Francisco and right-hander J.D. Martin, which is why the Indians added them to the 40-man roster before Monday's deadline.

Francisco, 25, hit .278 with 17 homers and 59 RBIs at Triple-A Buffalo this season. He shared the club's MVP award with Jason Dubois, who was recently taken off the 40-man.

A fifth-round pick out of UCLA in 2002, Francisco is viewed by the organization as an important piece of outfield depth.

The 23-year-old Martin was one of the Indians' more highly regarded prospects when he was taken as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the 2001 draft, but he's since run into some injury woes.

Martin had Tommy John surgery performed on his right elbow in 2005. He rebounded this year, making 14 appearances at Class A Mahoning Valley, Lake County and Kinston and going 1-2 with a 2.03 ERA in 44 1/3 innings of work.

Notable Tribe prospects left off the 40-man and eligible for the Rule 5 Draft include left-hander Jason Stanford, right-handers Dan Denham, Jake Dittler, Sean Smith, Jim Ed Warden and Travis Foley, catcher Javi Herrera, infielders Rodney Choy Foo, Jake Gautreau, Matt Whitney and Pat Osborn, and outfielders Ryan Mulhern, Ryan Goleski and Jason Cooper.