Rookie players are not always distributed through the rookie draft. It is possible for a rookie to be drafted mid-season through the free agent draft.

If a rookie is called up and starts playing mid-season he will be available in the free agent draft when the following conditions are met.

First year players eligible for free agent draft:

Position players: at least 150 plate appearances in this their first year (season) in the MLB.

Pitchers: at least 50 innings pitched or 25 appearances in this their first year (season) in MLB

Prior, Hill and Tankersly will probably fall into this catagory when and if they do in fact get called up and stick this year.

I can't explain Cuddyer.. he does appear to be on the rookie list when you do a search. But when you go to the list he's not there. I do think he should be on it. He may still be added, sometimes the draft list is updated right before the draft. They usually announce when the final rookie list update will be posted. Maybe someone who has the commish's ear can ask him to post that info.