Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* 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: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Independent Living

Submitted by Arizona Phil on
The Cubs purchased the contract of RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx from the Victoria Seals of the Golden Baseball League last week. Bibens-Dirkx is a former member of the Seattle Mariners organization (16th round pick in 2006 out of the University of Portland), who was released by the Mariners at the end of Minor League Camp this past April. He will be assigned to the Cubs Peoria affliate in the Midwest League, where he will probably work out of the bullpen.

The Cubs acquire players from independent leagues from time-to-time, and Bibens-Dirkx is just one of many players who have received a second chance to continue their professional baseball career in recent years by playing independent ball. A typical salary for a player on an independent team is $1,000 a month, so a fellow really has to love the game to spend his summer playing indy ball.

Independent leagues are located all over North America, from Canada to Mexico, and from New England to California. Ex-major leaguers like Jacque Jones, Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, Felix Jose, Willie Banks, Keith Foulke, Pat Mahomes, and Jose Lima dot the rosters, as do a number of former Cubs minor leaguers

 

EX-CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS PLAYING IN INDEPENDENT LEAGUES

 

FRONTIER LEAGUE:

Florence Freedom:
3B Billy Mottram

Kalamazoo Kings:
RHP Tommy Mejia

Traverse City Beach Bums:
1B Sean Hoorelbeke

Rockford RiverCats:
RHP John Muller

Windy City Thunderbolts:
RHP Billy Petrick

 

ATLANTIC LEAGUE:

Bridgeport Bluefish:
OF Adam Greenberg
1B Brandon Sing

Long Island Ducks:
INF Kyle Reynolds

Camden RiverHawks:
LHP Chris Shaver
OF Chris Walker

 

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION:

Sioux City Express:
1B Luis Bautista

Ft. Worth Cats:
LHP Taylor Parker

 

NORTHERN LEAGUE:

Gary Southshore RailCats:
RHP Grant Johnson

Schaumburg Flyers:
LHP Carmen Pignatiello

Fargo-Morehead RedHawks:
OF Nic Jackson
LHP Scott Koerber
C Alan Rick

Winnipeg GoldEyes:
RHP Bear Bay

 

Among the ex-Cub minor leaguers playing indy ball, Billy Mottram (selected by the Cubs in the 36th round of the 2007 draft out of Dowling College before getting released in 2008) leads the Frontier League in home runs and John Muller (signed as a NDFA 5th year senior out of St. Thomas Acquinas College in May 2007) is 2nd in the FL in saves, Adam Greenberg (hit in the helmet with a pitch in his one and only MLB AB on July 9, 2005) and Chris Walker are 3-4 in the Atlantic League in stolen bases, while Brandon Sing is 2nd in the AL in OBP, 3rd in SLG and RBI, 4th in HR, and 8th in BA, and Nic Jackson (2000 3rd round pick out of the U. of Richmond and perennial BA Cubs Top 10 Prospect who was hampered by injuries throughout his seven seasons in the Cubs organization) is 1st in doubles and runs scored, 4th in hits, 5th in stolen bases, and 10th in BA in the Northern League.

RHP Bobby Brownlie (selected by the Cubs in the 1st round of the 2002 draft out of Rutgers and then later released in 2007) was probably one of the two best pitchers in the Atlantic League in May and June while pitching for the Newark Bears, before being acquired by the Atlanta Braves about a week ago. Brownlie is currently in the starting rotation at the Braves AAA International League affiliate in Gwinnett County, GA. (The Braves also acquired the other top starting pitcher from the Atlantic League last week, ex-MLB LHP John Halama from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs).

And Cubs 2005 #1 pick LHP Mark Pawelek (released by the Cubs the last week of Spring Training) signed with the St. George Roadrunners of the Golden Baseball League in April before being acquired by the Cincinnati Reds in May, and he is presently working out of the bullpen for the Reds Sarasota affiliate in the Florida State League.

Tags
Cubs Minor Leagues

Comments

Submitted by Hagsag on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:57 am

Phil, any rumors regarding DJ Lemahiew signing a contract soon? Thanks.

Submitted by tbone on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:27 am

I saw Bobby Hill play for Newark before he signed with the Cubs. Jersey Transit stops a block from the park. I was living in NYC at the time and it was fun to take a ten minute ride from Penn Station to see some cheap baseball in a nice little ballpark.

Submitted by jacos on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:29 am

Austin Bibens-Dirkx Isn't he the little alien bad guy Superman has to get to say his own name to get him back into his own universe?

Submitted by Stevens on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:24 am

Austin Bibens-Dirkx Easily makes up in nomenclature what we lost in Albuquerque.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:38 am

So Pawelek goes from Boise doghouse to Daytona equivalent by way of release in 2 Months? Chances he makes the majors at this point? 20%

[ ]

Submitted by Ryno on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:08 am

ESPN: "Their starting pitching is a lot better than ours," Braun said. "They threw the ball a lot better than our starters did. They certainly swung the bats better than we did. Clearly they were the better team. It's nice to get the one win but they clearly outplayed us and outperformed us all series." Wwwwwwwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? A pitching staff featuring Jeff Suppan as the opening day starter is only a mediocre pitching staff? F'real? Oh, and I hate the guy anyways, but to hear him blame the team and front office for not being better is bad form and vindicates my feelings on this douchebag. jacos: Hey get off our ledge!! lol :)

Submitted by Q-Ball on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:20 am

AZ Phil, with your post I was thinking about Independent League signings that panned out for us. I thought of Joe Borowski as one right away, any others that I am missing? Are there any prospects we have that look pretty good that were Independent League signings? Amazing thing about Borowski, he wasn't exactly tearing up Newark when we signed him, had a 5.50 ERA and 1.617 WHIP; guess our scouts saw something there.

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:21 am

But the Brewers staff has one thing ours does not - it's called an ace & theirs is named Gallardo; closest thing we got was named to the AS squad yesterday...and to think he was slotted #4 in last year's playoffs

[ ]

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:58 pm

Boy, I'm with you there. They need something other than a radar gun to evaluate a guy's fastball--like the way a hitter's eyes widen in the on-deck circle. In Samardzija's second inning Saturday they were taking BP. Even Kendall couldn't resist trying to hit one out. (His shot made it to the warning track.) I like Tim Wilken and worry about his reputation, which has two stains right now, Samardzija and Colvin. Colvin may have begun to wipe away one stain; but I'd also like to believe that Samardzija was entirely Hendry's call and not Wilken's. Not that Samardzija wasn't a decent 5th-round pick, but there are rumors that Wilken was very high on him. When I google Wilken and Samardzija all I see is tepid praise. Can anybody point me to a quote where Wilken is saying that Samardzija was a top pick if people knew he would play baseball? Otherwise, it's just Hendry throwing away money again.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:11 pm


DL: Samardzija has less pitching experience than most college signs, while Huseby has had Tommy John surgery. In recent drafts, projectable former position players with fresh arms have been taken by other teams. Are we seeing the start of any trends here?

TW: It’s probably more cyclic than anything. We didn’t really do it by design, as we thought those guys were our best options, talent-wise, when we picked--in the case of Samardzija, one of the best in the whole draft.

and...

“He’s got a chance to be a front-line pitcher and top-of-the-order guy. He’s got a very free and easy arm action; a very fast arm and a very coordinated delivery. He has a chance to have a solid to average slider, if not better. There’s a lot of untapped promise there. He’s very competitive and has a chance to be a power pitcher that could be a top of the rotation guy.” 

[ ]

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:26 pm

"One of the best in the whole draft" is a strong statement. Thanks for that. The rest, I think, is consistent with what you might say about a fifth-round pick, including that he could be front-line and top-of-the-order. "We thought those guys were our best options, talent-wise, when we picked." "He has a chance to have a solid to average slider, if not better. There's a lot of untapped promise there." "He’s very competitive and has a chance to be a power pitcher that could be a top of the rotation guy.” There's a double hedge in there--"has a chance to be a power pitcher that could be a top of the rotation guy"--but maybe it's just a professional scout being low-key. When Wilken talks about a real first rounder, he's more specific:
“He’s got a four-seam fastball and has pretty good control and command of his fastball," Wilken said of Cashner. “I liken his breaking ball ... this is about as close to a power curve as you’re going to see in baseball. This is one of the reasons why we drafted him, because he’s got two put-away pitches for us and he’s also shown some feel for a changeup. “He’s very athletic (and) he gets off the mound extremely well. He’s flexible and holds runners pretty good. He’s about as good a package as what you might see out there.”

Submitted by allinginge on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:32 am

what will they be??? Aramis, Johnson and Guzman back with Hart and Fuld going down, 3rd spot??

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:59 am

follows up 2 near no-hitters by giving up 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning of work...

thanks for the update AZ Phil...

[ ]

Submitted by The E-Man on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:25 am

Thanks 10-Man. We'll have to see. I would not bet on any Hendry firing scenario in the short-term. Rickets and Hendry "go back". In any case, I wonder how contracts move forward with new owners? Would a contract entered into by the Tribune Corp., be honored/moved forward by a new entity? I suppose there is a "buyout clause" in these situations? Just wondering out loud.

[ ]

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:34 am

I wonder how contracts move forward with new owners? Would a contract entered into by the Tribune Corp., be honored/moved forward by a new entity? A new owner assumes any contracts that the previous owner entered into. Not sure if there are buyout clauses for these situations, but I would doubt it.

[ ]

Submitted by navigator on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:31 am

Hendry: Sale is done. Ricketts taking over. More Money! First priority: contract extensions for Soriano, Bradley and Samardzija.

Submitted by OakLawnGuy on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:44 pm

AZ Phil, maybe you know the answer. I found this on the Boise website, regarding minor leaguers' long summers away from home: http://boise.hawks.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090701&content_id=56… Outfielder Jae-Hoon Ha thinks about his family every day that he suits up for the Hawks. "I really miss my parents, my brother and my friends," said Ha. "I talk to them every day on the phone." But Ha knows that his time in Boise will pay off in the long run. "I have a plan," said Ha. "I will do my best this season and next season I will go home and play in Korea because my family is there." Ha won't return as soon as his minor league season is over, however. After the season ends, he will head to Mesa for running camp for about a month. He won't make it back home until late October. So Jae-Hoon Ha plans to play a season at Boise then go back to Korea for a year? Or is he referring to winter league ball in Korea (if there is such a thing)?

Submitted by DavidP on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:53 pm

Winters in South Korea are pretty much like winters in Illinois. Darn cold in the northern part, a little bit milder in the southern part. But I doubt that there is much winter ball played there. Sounds like a homesick kid talking off the cuff.

Submitted by falcon on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 07:23 pm

If Ha doesn't report to training camp nex't spring will they put him on the reserved list? Will they release him and ask for his signing bonus to be returned? I thought they "own" a players' rights for 7 years. Does he have the freedom to play in Korea without paying a huge price?

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 07:24 am

Submitted by Q-Ball on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 9:20am.
AZ Phil, with your post I was thinking about Independent League signings that panned out for us. I thought of Joe Borowski as one right away, any others that I am missing?

Are there any prospects we have that look pretty good that were Independent League signings?

Amazing thing about Borowski, he wasn't exactly tearing up Newark when we signed him, had a 5.50 ERA and 1.617 WHIP; guess our scouts saw something there.

==========================================

Q-BALL: The Cubs have acquired probably about a dozen guys out of indy ball over the past few years, including RHP Joe Borowski, RHP Jermaine Van Buren, INF Aaron Sisk, LHP Issac Pavlik, RHP Ryan Bicondoa, INF Jake Whitesides, 1B Jesse Hoorelbeke, INF Andrew Lane, SS Albenis Machado, RHP Dumas Garcia, RHP Tanner Watson, RHP Vince Perkins, and C Shawn McGill, and now RHP AuStin Biebens-Dirkx. The best one was Borowski, but Van Buren pitched in the big leagues, too.

[ ]

Submitted by toonsterwu on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 07:58 am

Perkins has had himself a decent year out of the pen for us. A nice signing, and one I really liked, considering how highly touted he was coming up with the Blue Jays. Still has the same control issues, but the stuff seems like it hasn't really regressed. Only 28, I think he could perhaps still see the bigs in a middle relief role, although with our plethora of righty middle relief types, I'd venture it'd be with someone else.

Submitted by Romero on Wed, 07/08/2009 - 07:08 am

Living in Philly, the Camden (New Jersey) Riversharks play just across the river and are fun to watch. They've had a number of ex-Cubs (as well as Jose Lima, who played with them last year) and I got to see former not-really prospect Chris Walker play earlier this summer. I knew these dudes weren't paid that well but...$ 1,000 a month? Dang.

Recent comments

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

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