Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# 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 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Scales Sent Outright to AAA

The Cubs opened up a second slot on their 40-man roster today, as they sent IF-OF Bobby Scales outright to AAA Iowa.

The 32-year old switch-hitter made his big league debut in 2009, hitting 242/312/411 in 51 games (138 PA) for the Cubs, while playing 2B, 3B, LF, and RF. Scales was acquired by the Cubs from Iowa on May 4th, after spending ten-plus seasons and playing 1,000+ games in the minor leagues with San Diego, Philadelphia, Boston, and the Cubs.

Scales did his best work for the Cubs coming off the bench, leading all MLB pinch-hitters (minimum 15 PA) in BA, SLG, and OPS in 2009, hitting 500/533/1.204 with 2 HR & 5 RBI, two doubles, and a triple, as a PH.

The University of Michigan alum is eligible to be a Rule 55 Minor League FA, which means he will be free to sign with another organization when the MLB Free-Agent Filing Period ends 15 days after the conclusion of the World Series, unless he opts to sign a 2010 minor league contract with the Cubs.

Comments

scales to AAA? bye bye 2010. i hate this f'n team. how in the hell can you let a talent like that just waltz off the roster? fire hendry and screw you lou.

How can you not like Bobby? He's a good character and contributes here and there as evidenced by his PH numbers cited by AZ Phil. That said, under ideal conditions, he's not playing for your big league team.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

after a little more thought, and to add... even with the fielding deficiency scales isn't a bad option off the bench or as an occasional starter. he's not trash at the bat even if it's not slick. he's got a touch of pop in his bat, too. a lot of people's issue with scales wasn't him failing (except his horribly stiff play at 2nd base or his no-strength arm) as much as it was him playing over jake fox, sam fuld, and/or hoffpower so much.

(from the Hardball Times) 1. Franklin Gutierrez, CF, +28 2. Nelson Cruz, RF, +23 3. Chone Figgins, 3B, +20 4. Evan Longoria, 3B, +18 5. Yunel Escobar, SS, +18 6. Casey Blake, 3B +17 7. Ichiro Suzuki, RF, +17 8. Brendan Ryan, SS, +17 9. Pedro Feliz, 3B, +16 10. Carlos Beltran, CF, +15 11. Willy Tavares, CF, +14 12. Carl Crawford, LF, +13 13. Brett Carroll, RF, +13 14. Colby Rasmus, CF, +13 15. Torii Hunter, CF, +13 Comment: TotalZone seems to have a tilt to the left.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

The problem with ZR and Total ZR and one of the problems with UZR is that they don't take into account fielder preference. If a ball is hit between third and short (or left and center) that both players can make an out on, the third basemen gets there first and gets credit for it. Each of those systems gives too much credit to the third basemen and center fielders because of this. According to Total ZR all pretty much all center fielders are good and all corner outfielders are crap, though there are one or two exceptions. UZR incorrectly breaks down the balls that go through as hits when assigning 'blame' to third base and short. ZR and Total ZR are 'blameless systems'.

If Miles is not on team who will Lou have pinch hit in the fifth inning? I am with every one else screw Miles trade him for a Harry Caray beer stein.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

AZ Phil -- A while back you posted your thoughts on the possibility that the Cubs may leave their Spring Training home in Mesa. I believe you thought there is a good chance the Cubs will leave Mesa, but will likely stay in Arizona. With the push from Naples, has your thinking changed? What are you hearing from the press (and your many contacts) in Arizona? Thanks!

Submitted by Sweet Lou on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 12:38pm.
AZ Phil -- A while back you posted your thoughts on the possibility that the Cubs may leave their Spring Training home in Mesa. I believe you thought there is a good chance the Cubs will leave Mesa, but will likely stay in Arizona. With the push from Naples, has your thinking changed? What are you hearing from the press (and your many contacts) in Arizona?

Thanks!

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

SWEET LOU: I believe the Cubs are using Naples as leverage to help them get the best possible deal in Arizona, either from the City of Mesa or from the Gila River Indian Reservation. And ultimately, I suspect Gila River will outbid Mesa because of the casino money and the preferred location (which probably would be somewhere on Maricopa Road, just off I-10, less than ten miles south of the Angels complex at the Tempe Buttes).

The movement of MLB clubs has been strictly Florida to Arizona for the past 15 years, and with all 15 MLB Arizona teams soon to be located in the Phoenix metro area (when the D'backs and Rockies move from Tucson to their new combined facility on the Salt River-Pima Reservation in 2011), I can't see any club going from Arizona to Florida. If anything, I would say at least one more team (probably the Houston Astros) will move from Florida to Arizona in the near-future. Florida just cannot compete with the shorter travel distances between Arizona's ST sites/Minor League complexes and Arizona's more-predictable weather.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 7:08pm.
shame what's happened to baseball in tucson... i think they got some indie league team playing in TEP now and even trying to reach out to asian countries for them to hold their league's spring training exhibition games there.

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

CRUNCH: Although Spring Training will be dead in Tucson after next season, I think it's fairly likely that the PCL will eventually move back there, possibly sooner rather than later.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022.