Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs @ Nationals: Butler vs Gonzalez (Game 76)

CHC (38-37): RHP Eddie Butler (3-2, 4.19) WAS (45-30): LHP Gio Gonzalez (7-1, 2.96) First pitch: 6:05pmCST Butler gave up 1 ER but lasted only four innings (and 92 pitches) against the Padres in his last start. Overall, the Nats are 5-16 against him. Lind is 2-2 with a HR. Gonzalez has won 4 of his last 5 starts, all of which have come on the road. Before you get excited, you should know that he’s 1-0 with a 1.66 in his 7 starts at home. His last outing was a win in Miami (7 IP, 3 ER, 8 K, 2 BB). The Cubs are 20-97 (.206) against him. Bryant is 2-7 with a HR, and Jay is 4-11. Maybe this is the game Rizzo should have been rested; he’s 2-20 against Gio. Tomorrow is Arrieta (7-5) against Scherzer (8-5) at the same time. Go Cubs!

Comments

AZ PHIL: I guess the "flame throwing pitchers" in the AZL take on a new meaning with your temps out there. Any rumblings on the Zac Rosscup exit you have learned? Also, what is your opinion of Jose Rosario? Since his surgery it seemed as if he has fully recovered his velocity. He's only 24 - so maybe he'll be the next "Stropy", or better?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

EMAN: Jose Rosario's FB velocity has been down in the low 90's since Spring Training (he was in the mid-90's last season) and he also has had command issues this year bordering on the yips. Because he had TJS just a little over two years ago he could be considered to still be in the rehab process (to some extent), but even so he has had a disappointing season so far. 

I haven't heard anything about why the Cubs chose to DFA Zac Rosscup instead of somebody else (like Aaron Brooks). They also could have recalled either Rob Zastryzny (oblique) or Alec Mills (ankle) from Iowa and place one of them on the MLB 60-day DL to clear a slot on the 40. 

I did speculate here the other day that Rosscup (who had shoulder surgery in March 2016) might be having difficulty bouncing back from outings (prior to last Monday-Tuesday, he had not pitched two days in a row all season, and in fact he needed at least two days off between outings). Also, Rosscup is 29 years old, he will be out of minor league options next season, and (depending on how many days he spends on an MLB Active Roster or MLB DL in 2017) he could be eligible for salary arbitration post-2017. 

Still, it is odd that the Cubs would have added Rosscup to their 40-man roster (when he was called-up for a day last month) and then ultimately burn his last remaining minor league option year when they sent him back to Iowa the next day and then DFA him a month later, when they could have just left him at Iowa (on the Iowa reserve list) for the 2017 season (or at least until mid-August or September) and preserved his last minor league option until next season. Very strange sequence of events.

It's also interesting that the Cubs did not place Rosscup on Outright Assignment Waivers last Thursday or Friday (in which case he would have either been claimed or outrighted by now), perhaps an indication that they think they can trade him for something more valuable than the waiver price. Remember, Rosscup gets paid at the Major League rate (rather than his minor league split salary rate) every day he is on the Designated List, so it's costing the Cubs about $3,500 (the difference betwen his Major League salary and his minor league split salary) per day every day until he is assigned or released   

Note that the Cubs must decide by 2 PM (Eastern) tomorrow (Tuesday) whether to place Rosscup on Outright Assugnment Waivers (if they haven't placed him on Outright Assignment Waivers already), because the waiver claiming period lasts two days (47 hours) and the Cubs would have to outright him no later than Thursday if he is not claimed (the DFA period was reduced from ten days to seven days in 2017, and since Rosscup was Designated for Assignment last Thursday, he must be assigned -- either by Outright Assignment or by Trade Assignment -- or else released no later than Thursday 6/29).

BTW, Rosscup can NOT elect free-agency if he is outrighted (he has not yet accrued three years of MLB Service Time and he has not been outrighted previously in his career), but he would automatically be declared a Rule 55 minor league 6YFA post-2017 if he is outrighted now and then not added back to an MLB 40-man roster by 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day folllowing the final game of the 2017 World Series. 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

You were right on your conclusion that Rosscup had some trade value beyond waiver price. Cubs dealt LHP Zac Rosscup to the Rockies for RHP Matt Carasiti, 25, 1-1 with 13 saves and 2.37 ERA at Triple-A Albuquerque. was 1-0 with 9.19 ERA in 19 games for Rockies in 2016. not on 40-man

Contreras leading off tonight. I wonder if Joe is trying to send a message to Theo: "We need a leadoff man."

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

If they make a trade for a lead-off guy then one of the non Bryzzo or Contreras young core bats would need to be moved to make a spot in the lineup for him. Christian Yellich would be one name that makes alot of sense if the Marlins go for a complete gut job type fire sale. Has a career .366 OBP and the bulk of his 7 year $49.50 million dollar backloaded contract kicks in next year. Looking at their page on Cot's they have some bad contracts, with that one they gave Yei-Wen Chen likely being the worst in MLB. Looking at the other sellers there isn't a proven quality leadoff caliber hitter that is on the market. I guess since SD has been after Baez for awhile you could see if you could do some sort of deal involving Manuel Margot (who was the last big international signing Theo made in Boston) and Baez.

the lineup is: C Contreras 1B Rizzo LF Bryant 2B Happ SS Baez 3B Candelario CF Almora P Butler RF Zagnauis

m.ozuna has overtaken heyward and zobrist for 3rd (final starting OF slot) in the AS game balloting.

The next time Javy has a 3-2 count, Joe should go out and take the bat away from him. He swings every time (literally, every time), and the pitches are getting progressively further from the strike zone. The Game 7 squeeze bunt is beginning to make more and more sense.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

next time javy has a 3-2 count we should be happy he managed to get that many pitches out of the opposing pitcher. at least he's not first-pitch swinging at everything these days. he may not ever walk much, but it seems he's trying to do something at the plate with some adaptation.

rockies have snagged rosscup for RHP matt carasiti (noted above by mbauer) http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=carasi001mat mid-90s fastball mixing it up with a changeup and a forkball. throwing a forkball and a changeup is a weird arsenal, especially since it seems he throws a lower velocity forkball without the heavy "wrist snap" which makes his forkball act a lot like a changeup. he may throw 1 mostly to lefties and 1 mostly to righties, but i dunno. he's 3-ish years younger than rosscup.

it's nice the cubs are winning going into the bottom 8, but removing e.butler after 5 innings and 64 pitches of 5ip 4h 0bb 1k ball to get into 4 innings of pen was interesting.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I think Maddon was relieved to get the opportunity to pinch hit for Butler with runners in scoring position. Nationals were on Butler all game - so many hard hit outs. Also, Butler now has a single K in his last two starts combined (the one K coming from Gio Gonzalez tonight).

"a 5 run lead going into the bottom of the 9th. at least there won't be much drama." - cubs fans "hold my beer." - 2017 cubs

Too bad for the ninth inning meltdown - distracts from what a sensational game that Javy had - didn't think that his run scoring double would be so important, but then Rondon happened

Ohhhhhhhh man. Why does Contreras do that? Just make a regular throw. Great stuff from CJ, Strop and Grimm, but Rondon's slider is just a disaster. I assume Theo is looking for a setup man to take his place. The defense and the base running -- that was 2016 NLCS Javy tonight. If they can find a way to win this series, it could really change the narrative of this season. But, man, that Nats lineup is deep.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

The lineup reflects the Cubs 2016 one. If Theo can find a top tier starter, it will kickstart the whole thing. Treading water is the best hope until everyone is back healthy. Easy to forget JHey was one of the better hitters when he went down.

Craziness in Chicago baseball tonight -- Yanks lead the Sox 6-1 in the 9th; win 6-5 with the tying run stranded at 2nd.

I really think Albert Almora Jr. is trying to prove to Maddon that he CAN be the leadoff hitter. If Albert keeps up what he's been doing lately, he really should be in CF every day, and at the top of the lineup (at least against LHSP). For the month of June, the kid is hitting .313/.411/.396 with 8bb and 11K. On the season he's got a .345 OBP and is worthy of daily playing time. Edit to add: After further review, Almora Jr. has the 6th highest OBP on the team, yet of the 5 Cubs ahead of him, only Bryant and Rizzo have more AB's. And he's got the highest BA of all the regulars...as regular as he is?

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

D stats tend to be ass. besides that, when you're splitting OF coverage with heyward (who covers a ton of ground) when you're in CF it's not going reflect your true talent because you're going to be giving up some of your assumed coverage to him (or heyward will run you over, your choice). this is before we get into the effect of some of the OF shifts. put j.jay in RF full time, quit shifting, and almora would probably suddenly get a lot better on paper in a lot of D stat measurements even though his D really hasn't "improved." all of this (and more) depends on which particular D stat is being used. some of them are a bit vague about things and fall outside of these examples. it's almost the 'holy grail' of stat-making for baseball, but with increased cameras on everything and statcast data it should eventually be something better. a lot of D stats have him as a league average or slightly below defender. that's not accurate even if the numbers say it is. DRS has been especially brutal to him this year so far...TZ hasn't been much kinder.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

imo, his biggest knock is his arm velocity. that's about the only thing in his D game i'd consider average. the accuracy is good. his routes aren't clunky. his glove is steady. he's got a nice package of tools that work together. i do think his "next coming of CF jesus" D tag he got laid on him was/is overblown, but i wouldn't have an issue calling him a well above average CF guy. he's no young-era kenny lofton even if almora is capable of some flashy plays.

Almora, based on AB's, K's about 20% of the time (149 AB). For comparison, Happ (135 AB's) K's about at a 37% clip. In Maddon's mind, he is rolling the dice on Happ even though he either strikes out or hits it out. Which is almost seemingly the case. The reigning NL MVP this year, for 263 AB's, has a K-rate of 26 percent. I believe in defense when your pitchers are not doing so well which has been the case with Lackey, Butler, Arrieta. Eddie B. was a lucky mofo last night.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Happ K's a lot, but he also leads the team in BA w/RISP, which they sorely need. Bryant has been awful at .200 (one of the worst in the league, plus a very blah OPS w/RISP of .756), while "cleanup" hitter Zobrist checks in at .180. One-eighty! Small sample size for Happ, obviously. Also, having spent only about a month a AAA before getting called up, he is seeing stuff from MLB pitchers that he probably hasn't seen before.

Cubs trade Zac Rossup to Rockies for RHP Matt Carasiti. So now at Iowa Matt Carasiti can pitch to Victor Caratini

[ ]

In reply to by cubbies.4ever

Matt Carasiti is an example of how an MLB club can remove a player from its MLB 40-man roster during the off-season without exposing the player to waivers.

The Rockies selected Carasiti's contract from AAA Albuquerque last August, and rather than try and outright him to the minors after the season (and risk losing him off waivers), the Rocks non-tendered him on 12/2 (MLB contract tender day) and then re-signed him ten days later (after the Rule 5 Draft) to a 2017 minor league contract (presumably agreed to prior to the non-tender) with an NRI to Spring Training.

It's probably self-evident why a club would want to do this (to avoid the possibility that a player they value will be claimed off waivers), but the reason Carasiti or any player in a similar position would agree to the arrangement is because if he were outrighted to the minors rather than being non-tendered, he would remain under club control and on a minor league reserve list through the 2018 season. But by being non-tendered and then signing a minor league contract, he becomes a "second-contract player" (as the "chain" of club options from the original standard seven-year minor league contract is broken with the non-tender), eligible to be a minor league free-agent after the 2017 season if he is not added to an MLB 40-man roster by 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series. Carasiti also probably received a bit more money (plus the NRI to Spring Training) from the Rockies for 2017 than he might not have received if he had been outrighted. 

So Carasiti is a minor league FA post-2017, even though he signed his first contract in 2012 and normally would have remained under club control through the 2018 season. But by using the non-tender process the Rockies were able to remove Carasiti from their MLB 40-man roster (opening up a spot for FA Ian Desmond) while still making sure to retain Carasiti at AAA for the 2017 season, without having to risk losing him off waivers. So the Cubs (and the other MLB clubs) never had a chance to acquire Carasiti via waivers or in the Rule 5 Draft post-2016.   

Other teams use the non-tender process as well (often involving an injured player the club wants to remove from its MLB 40-man roster during the off-season without exposing the player to waivers), but Carasiti is a very good illustration of how and why it is done.  

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    steele MRI on friday.  counsell expects an IL stint.

    no current plans for his rotation replacement.

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Use pitchers when you believe they're good. Don't plan their clock.

    I'm sorry. I'm simply anti-clock/contract management. Play guys when they show real MLB potential talent.

    If Brown hadn't been hurt with the Lat Strain he would've gotten the call, and not Wick.

    Give him a chance. 

    But Wesneski probably gets it

  • crunch (view)

    alzolay...bro...