Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Koronka Traded

Apparently Texas and Florida are the place where Cubs pitchers go when they're unwanted. The Cubs traded LHP John Koronka to the Texas Rangers for infielder/outfielder Freddie Bynum. Bynum was traded earlier to the Rangers along with pitcher John Rheinecker from the Oakland A's for pitcher Juan Dominguez. Bynum is 26 years old and was a 2nd round selection of the A's back in 2000. His minor league numbers indicate a player with very limited hittings skills who strikes out way too much for a utility player with no power. Like any good Oakland Athletics player though, at least he's not allergic to taking walks. He did have a fantastic spring as he hit .373/.439/.667 in 51 AB's. He does have a bunch of speed(rated the fastest baserunner in the A's organization by Baseball America the last 2 years and it may go farther back then that) and can play both the infield and outfield, more specifically second and third base along with left and center field. The most that I could find on his defense was that he's at best, "competent"; *COUGH* Jose Macias *COUGH*. This should be the final piece to solve the 25-man roster puzzle as Wade Miller will be put on the DL before Opening Day and Ryan Theriot sent down to AAA Iowa most likely. ----- OPENING DAY 2006 ROSTER STARTERS Carlos Zambrano, Glendon Rusch, Greg Maddux, Sean Marshall RELIEVERS Jerome Williams, Michael Wuertz, Will Ohman, Scott Williamson, Scott Eyre, Bobby Howry, Ryan Dempster CATCHERS Michael Barret, Henry Blanco INFIELDERS Derrek Lee, Todd Walker, Jerry Hairston Jr., Ronny Cedeno, Neifi Perez, Freddie Bynum, Aramis Ramirez OUTFIELDERS Matt Murton, Juan Pierre, Jacque Jones, John Mabry, Angel Pagan DL Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Wade Miller

Comments

Just like Todd Wellemeyer, Freddie Bynum is out of minor league options. He would have to clear outright waivers if the Cubs want to send him down. This means either Dusty intends to go with six relief pitchers once Jerome Williams moves to the starting rotation, or not only will Ryan Theriot get sent down now, so too will Angel Pagan when Jerome Williams moves to from the bullpen to the starting rotation the second week of the season. (Pagan DOES have options left). The Texas Rangers selected John Koronka from the Cincinnati Reds in the 2002 Rule 5 Draft, but returned him to the Reds before Opening Day 2003. The Cubs acquired Koronka from Cincinnati for LHP Phil Norton in 2003.

not a bad trade, not a good one considering the cubs situation they needed a bench player with power. the have bench guys with every other attribute. they traded for a player who's fast, versatile defensively, has a decent OBP....but has NO power. he's alright as a player, not what they needed on this 25 man roster though...although i prefer him to theriot i guess. i still would prefer restovich, and could have kept koronka. not that i think he'll do much ever in the majors, but not a bad chip as a lefty.

If it means Angel Pagan goes to Iowa (which is the case if Dusty goes with a 12-man pitching staff come the second week of April), I do not like this trade. Bynum is versatile and athletic, indeed a younger version of Jose Macias.

well I will say that he appears to be able to get on-base better than Macias and he's certainly faster.

Green Lantern: they needed a bench player with power. I suppose Walker will probably be that "bench player with power", although I think he deserves a starting job.

who is Dusty's first option off the bench versus lefties to start the season? My $$$ is on Neifi!

Rob, Neifi is our best option aganist a LHP coming off the bench. I guess this means Pagan will go down once we use a 5th starter and Novoa will brought up. This trade also incrases the chances of a Walker trade in my opinion as with Bynum on board.

chifan- if nobody has bit on walker so far, why would they now? unless hendry simply dumps him, of course.

Kasper and Brenley just said that Walker was named the Opening Day starter, but that Dusty is going to "mix and match" and play all three guys (Walker, Hairston, and Neifi) depending on the matchup

Rotoworld's take: Bynum will be the last man on the Cubs' bench, booting Ryan Theriot back to Triple-A. He can play throughout the outfield and both middle-infield spots, and he'll get on base once in a while, which will serve to differentiate him from Jose Macias. He's not someone who figures to have any fantasy value at all, but it looks like a good trade for Jim Hendry It'll be Koronka's second stint in the organization. The Rangers picked him in the Dec. 2002 Rule 5 draft, only to return him to the Reds the following March. Koronka is basically Terry Mulholland, and we're referring to the 2006 Mulholland, not the quality starter of the early-90s. If he were right-handed, he wouldn't have any shot at all. Since he's a left-hander, he might stick as a middle reliever and spot starter. That's his upside.

Ryno- "I suppose Walker will probably be that "bench player with power"," Dusty said today that Walker will start at 2B for the start of the season and be the primary 2B. Also, that Hairston and Neifi will get playing time based on the oppsing pitcher and who is pitching for Cubs and who would be best defensively. So Dusty stuck with all his promises to start Walker at 2B, Murton in LF and Cedeno at SS.

Oh yeah, this info above came from Kasper on the WGN telecast.

Marshall is getting pounded... pur fourth starter?

OMGMARSHALLGAVEUP4RUNSTHEWORLDISENDING!!!!!!!!11 *waits for the posts proclaiming the end of the season before it begins*

Wow... I just hope this brings him down to earth a little... Hopefully he will put this behind him and give us 6 solid innings next sunday...

There was nothing to freak out about that 1st inning cause in an MLB sized park that Gonzalez double would have been a lazy fly out. Expect for that Castilla HR nothing has been hit hard off him.

Hey, if innings were only 2 outs long, Marshall would have a no-hitter. It's ok, 5 runs and 5 hits and a walk, all after 2 outs...is just helping ease me into Cubs baseball again for this year.

love the fact that we have 3 walks, a stolen base, a sacrifice, and walker hit a grounder to the right side advancing 2 into scoring position. Good fundamental baseaball makes me happy...is it too much to expect we will keep this up next week?

wow... he got 2 outs, then gave up another homer! Ohh god, and these are the Padres...just wait until he faces Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen...

While it certainly wasn't a great night for Marshall, he mostly got hurt by the Home Run, on a night where the wind is blowing out 15mph, in a ballpark that's small by minor league standards. I didn't realise before tonight that Cedeno had taken Nomar's old number 5 this year. And its good to see our broadcasters are in mid-season form already: Brendly has brought up his time as manager of the Diamondbacks about 16 times in the first 2 hours of the game. I've grown to like Kaspar, but Brendly is just flat out bad.

i was confident all along that walker would be the starter....it would have just been ridiculously dumb (even beyond dusty/hendry) not too. sit him against lefties and when maddux pitches, and i'm ok with that. and now we have an answer to who will be (or rather who SHOULD be) the first man off the bench against lefties....hairston! please not neifi...but i'm not as confident in this choice of dusty's as i was in the walker starter situation, which luckily is more important. i smiled when i checked the box score tonight and saw the lineup that I want against righties: pierre walker lee ramirez jones barrett murton cedeno murton just got a dribbler up the middle after working a 2-0 count by taking two close ones. the advantage of being ahead in the count is so important....he also worked a walk tonight. i like NARANJA! and brenly is really annoying. no doubt.

Well, Cedeno and Pierre look ok now.... The Cubs have been playing some small ball, while SD pounded out 3 homers...

Brenly is great compared to the Padre announcers... They are just playing around up there: "For what it's Wuertz, he hasn't had many at bats." They are a laughingstock...

when it comes to hairston vs. walker at 2nd...hell...its nice to have both around, healthy, and playing.

The A's fans consider Bynum a "poor's man version of Chone Figgins", which means...unlike Macias....Bynum can actually be productive. So the comparasion of Bynum to Macias is NOT a valid comparasion, IMO.

The Cubs also owe the Rangers a PTBNL in the Bynum-Koronka deal.

A's fans are a little euphoric over Bynum's spring. The only reason they made the comparision is cause he's fast and can play lots of positions. Figgins can actually play a few of his well and has been a decent hitter in the majors already. Not so sure that's true for Bynum. The Bynum/Macias thing was just a joke anyway. Bynum seems to be capable of stealing a base and seems willing to take a walk at least.

I just think it is great we got something of value for the junk we traded. I'll take a poor man's Chone Figgins over a poor man's Shawn Estes every day of the week.

i think marshall is going to have days like these -- he pitched at daytona most of last year. what else can anyone expect? but it is concerning that he consistently misses his spots -- not just last night but last weekend as well. while johnson's homer last night was a wind-aided cheapie, mirabelli's ball would've gone out of the polo grounds and he made a lot of mistakes all night taht could've been similarly abused. i'm not a major league pitcher, but i DO know that you can't miss spots by six inches or more consistently and expect to be more than chum in the majors. i thought the padres actually let him off lightly, considering some of the mnistakes they just didn't capitalize on.

I tend to agree about Marshall but it should be noted that Las Vegas is essentially the minor league equivalent of Coors Stadium...

I found Marshall's comments to Len and Bob after his appearance reassuring as well. He wasn't distraught or mortified, but he took it in stride and admitted he needed to work a little harder next time around to hit the zone.

go check out mlbtraderumors.com You won't believe your eyes....

CUBBIEFAN: That rumor wouldn't have anything to do with this being April Fools Day, would it?

Cubbie Fan, I think it is a April Fool's joke. But for the sake of arguement that it is real I would be tempted to do it. As much as I love Murton he will never be Clee's equal with the bat and Hill is either going to be a back of the rotation guy or LOOGY. For me Guzman would have to be the deal breaker. If I were Hendry I would try to talk them into Jerome Williams and a guy like Gallagher or Marmol instead.

that's a mean joke the site is playing or someone played on him; sounds like Hendry would be massively overpaying and that's just not his M.O. .284/.337/.488 career with only 2 seasons of 100 RBI ball out of 6. He's not the big hitter everyone thinks he is.... of course he'd fit perfectly with how this team operates. Trade away the one guy who will probably be a 350+ OBP guy consistently for a guy who hits a few more homers.... Unless the part about an extension already being in place, no way that Hendry would pay that much for a pending free agent.

so how does one tell the difference between the regular 1/2 assed crap that site throws up with their "source" vs. this deal? they could have at least thrown in a PTBN that pitches 120mph. in snow boots. FAIL.

After Lee is acquired the Cubs will then trade Mark Prior and Felix Pie for Manny Ramirez to play RF. The batting order will be Pierre Lee Ramirez Lee Ramirez etc. etc.

You nailed it crunch. Every day is April Fools Day at MLB Trade Rumors.

I don't believe it for a second, but I would love it.

Crunch: you are so dead-on. That MLB Trade rumor guy is always full of it and takes credit many times for things that are nearly generally known and usually says, "As MLBTraderumors reported earlier..." He is thin-skinned as well when one questions his "sources", too! I know if I was in Vegas and had gotten tips from that guy, I'd run the other way.

LOL!!1!11!! I just read on mlbtraderumors.com that Hendry was trading Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano for 3 ponies!!1!! They can't play baseball but OMG PONIES!!!1!!

I hate to get upset about something before it happens, but Arizona Phil is right; it sure looks like Angel Pagan will be out the 2nd week of April for a 12th pitcher. He may be the best defensive outfielder on this team. If he's sent down, that means the Cubs' best defensive outfielder is at Iowa; the RH bats for the bench are Hairston and Perez and Jacque Jones plays against all left-handed starters, which is significant because there will be at least 10 of them in the division. While others complain about the Cubs not getting Zito (wasn't going to be traded) or Giles (wasn't going to leave San Diego), it would be a move like this that would bother me even more.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).