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

Ricketts Gets the Keys, Spring Training Update and Other Notes

Submitted by Rob G. on

- The Ricketts family are the new official owners of the Chicago Cubs and will have a press conference on Friday. Maybe they'll bring a new GM with them.

 "My family and I are thrilled that this day has finally come and we thank Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball owners for approving our ownership," said Tom Ricketts. "Now we will go to work building the championship tradition that all Cubs fans so richly deserve.  

- It's hard to tell how much is Chris DeLuca taking educated guesses or basing his column off some sources, but he seems to expect much of the same for the next two years with Ricketts in charge. Certainly don't expect a big jump in payroll (he throws out $143M) and Hendry isn't getting a blank check to rid himself of the Bradley mess.

- Speaking of the sale, Paul Sullivan is as bitter as ever.

 Tribune era is officially over as Ricketts familly takes control of the Cubs. First order of business: Get rid of Milton Bradley.

- Bruce Miles offers up some free advice for the new boss.

- While Florida keeps moving forward on their bid to try and lure the Cubs spring training home to Naples, Wittenmyer spells out why Arizona will likely keep the Cubs.

But working against any Florida bid is the lengthy spring travel in that state -- especially in a location nearly three hours from the Tampa area -- and a decadelong exodus of teams from Florida that will put 15 of 30 big-league teams in Arizona next spring for the first time.

And considering the Cubs are the jewel of the Cactus League, the state's biggest spring-training revenue producer, filling stadiums across the Phoenix valley and owning almost every league attendance record, Arizona is especially motivated even in a tough economy to invest in the team's future there.

- Kerry Wood confirms the racist letters sent to some Cubs players. Stop making that shit up Milton.

- The Daily Beast says 5 of the top 10 richest baseball players including endorsement deals and so forth are Yankees. Competitive balance at its finest.

- Via Baseball Musings, some fun caricatures of the Yankees. 

- Kevin "Tampering" Towers, who I must remind everyone is not the Padres GM anymore, has let it be known that it's just a matter of when the Padres will trade Adrian Gonzalez. 

- After missing out on Manny Acta, the Astros have settled on Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills as their new manager. 

- I generally scoff at these "this is how to fix the Cubs" articles, because ultimately the writer falls into the trap that there are no limitations and every player in the league is available and they're all dying to play for the Cubs. And while I don't think John Lackey is headed to the Cubs, Hendry's favorite contract toy - the backloaded deal - could possibly net the Cubs one decent free agent this offseason.

- Kevin Goldstein's recent take on Jeff Samardzija:

It's almost remarkable that the Cubs still think Samardzija can be an effective starter in the big leagues. He's made no secret that he wants to return to the rotation, but two late-season starts in the majors were disasters, and now he's merely holding his own in Mexico, allowing 10 runs and 28 baserunners in 18 innings for the Aguilas. Turning 25 in January, with each passing year, it seems that Samardzija will never graduate from thrower to pitcher, and for most, his ceiling ends at middle reliever.

I'm not really gonna argue against Samardzija detractors right now, but that's a leap on the definition of a disaster start. (5 IP, 3 ER versus the Brewers in his last appearance of 2009).

- Baseball Intellect takes a look at J.J. Hardy's swing and if he can bounce back in 2010. I still don't see any reasonable scenario that involves the Brewers willing to trade Hardy to the Cubs and the Cubs looking for a shortstop.

Tags
Cubs Sale
Cubs News
Cubs Spring Training

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:33 pm

if Phil's estimates are correct ($135M+ if they bring back everybody), that would leave room for a mid-range free agent. If they can save some money on Bradley and arbitration guys, that could lean to the high end side.

[ ]

Submitted by John Beasley on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:46 pm

Or they could save the money to take on a few nice players at midseason a la St. Louis 2009. Even without Bradley, one can construct a respectable 25-man roster from our "under control" guys plus maybe Grabow and/or Skinny Dick. Just sayin

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:50 pm

yeah, for all the bitching about the team and flailing of arms the team still has 3-4 very legit starters and 3 very sold power hitters supported by fuku/theriot...and it's going to be hard for soto to do worse than last season. the cubs don't have much to spend, but it's not like they have an overbearing need for anything. heck, even the pen had some decent arm action going on late. it'd be nice to have something more sure-thing in the pen, though. it's a good place to start even if it ends up the team only has 10m or so to blow on bringing talent in...plus there's always the excess young talent they could trade. should be an interesting offseason...even more interesting once cubs fans find out what milton is going to bring...a new teammate or a money dump.

[ ]

Submitted by John Beasley on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:12 pm

The more I think about it, the more I like it. Soto, Hill Lee, ARam, Riot, Baker, Blanco, Miles Sori, Fuku, RJ, Hoff, Colvin/Fuld Z, Lilly, Demp, Wells, Gorz Marmol, Guzman, Marshall, Caridad, Ninja, two of Heilman/Stevens/Gaub/Berg/Atkins Possibly Grabow in the mix. Leaving Bradley and Fox as trade chips. Then assess what the team needs after 75 games and trade for it.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:16 pm

that is a terrible bench...

and please no Heilman or Miles.

Then assess what the team needs after 75 games and trade for it.

they're gonna need a 2b and either a CFer or RFer just like they need now...

 

[ ]

Submitted by John Beasley on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:31 pm

I left Fontenot off the list. You never know. If Castro's ready in June and the Cubs signed a 2B, then you have a glut. My bet would be there's enough offense there as long as Sori bounces back and that the pen is the question mark.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:41 pm

well Castro is a rant for another day, but there's a kid that need not be rushed...

it's exciting to see a 20-year old holding his own in Hi-A and Double A but it's still a .730 OPS in the minors with a cajillion errors. Let the kid find a bit of power and find some consistency on defense. I mean if some injuries hit and he's still hitting next year, great...you should give him a shot, but by no means they should be making any room for Castro right now or even entertaining the idea that he'd be part of the Cubs in 2010.

I'd rather see Jeff Baker play and well I don't like Jeff Baker much.

 

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:59 pm

sept callup, maybe...although I'd probably just save the service time if I was the Cubs.

if Castro's kicking-ass in Double A or Triple A and enough injuries or ineffectiveness hits, that he's gonna get playing time, I'm all for the callup, but right now it's age, upside and tools with Castro, not much actual performance.

and no, I don't care about the AFL too much...

[ ]

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:02 pm

Since when does one "count on" a September call up? I mean, a prospect might count on being called up in September, but no GM is out there counting on a player not worth activating until rosters expand. It's the same as counting him out for 2010. Which I'm for.

[ ]

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:16 pm

Sorry. My ability to read all of what is written got overwhelmed by my twitchy blogging finger/tendency for jackassitude. It would have helped if I'd noticed that you wrote "26th man in spring training" and not just "25th man" as I read it. It was integral to understanding your meaning.

[ ]

Submitted by Paul Noce on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:37 pm

All this talk about Castro being ready to play in the majors this coming season is nonsense. He's 19. He's a kid. Even if he gets to Iowa and tears things up, expecting him to come to the majors and contribute much at 19 or 20 is crazy.

[ ]

Submitted by Craig A. on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:37 am

Rob G. wrote: they're gonna need a 2b and either a CFer or RFer just like they need now... They got four second basemen and Fontenot makes five. Hendry always makes sure we have plenty of second basemen. Do you want one who should start? Oh, that's different.

[ ]

Submitted by Paul Noce on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:36 pm

It would be nice to get more than 94 rbi's out of RF/CF starters combined. And only 149 rbi if Soriano is included. So I wouldn't say they are without need. They need to get at least 1 starting OF who can drive in runs, and then fire Hendry for sticking us with Fuku/Bradley/Sori's contracts.

[ ]

Submitted by Sweet Lou on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:19 pm

Here we go again...Just because a single Cubs fan or a handful of Cubs fans are ignorant enough to send racist letters, that does not translate into "Cubs fans are racists." Are there some Cubs fans who are racist? Yes, I think there are. Are there some Seattle Mariner fans that are racist? Same answer. You can make the same claim of any team. For better or for worse, hardcore Cubs fans tend to be more hardcore and passionate than most baseball fans. Plus, there seem to be more Cubs fans than fans for most other teams, so there are more idiots among Cubs fans than there are for other teams. That was a long-winded way of saying that, while some Cubs fans are racists, it is wildly incorrect to say that Cubs fans are racist.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:33 am

yeah, arbitrarily labeling an entire fanbase based on the actions of a few is of course moronic. Of course, this happens all the time with Cardinal fans or Red Sox fans and so forth down the line.

my only contention with this whole racist thing is when jackasses say shit like well that's just part of the game and he should ignore it.

that deserves a hardy F U.

If Jacque, Dusty, Bradley or whomever feels like speaking up about, they have every right to, and if they feel there are more racist taunts in Chicago than in other places, they have every right to say that as well and they shouldn't be condemned or told, "well if you just played better"...b.s. that I've read on here and other places.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:13 am

hell, it's not just them... wrigley and fenway have some pretty rotten reputations for their treatment of black players with racist heckling. it's more than just something noticed around chicago players because the away team tends to get it much worse...they just don't get the hate mail. baylor refuses to talk about it only to say you just got to accept it's there...dusty got so freaked out by all of it his family quit coming to the park (which also happened with j.jones mom, too)...speaking of j.jones, he got his cell phone # leaked while in chicago and got lots of interesting hate and racist-hate calls, he didn't specify how much was hate and how much was racist-hate, though. and of course there's more specific incidents involving those guys, hawkins, etc... it's a suck part of how the park's fans are perceived by some in the game like it or not. they know it's not everyone and they know it's a minority of voices, but it's not something some of them have to put up with elsewhere in such high volume.

[ ]

Submitted by MikeC on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:30 pm

Jacque Jones mom inserted her own foot into her mouth on why she stopped coming to the park. When Jones missed a ball in the sun some fans around her were making fun of the fact. She got so mad that she pulled out the ultimate insult, that her baby boy would make more money than all you in your lifetime. Nothing endeers you more with fans than an uppity rich bitch telling us lowly fans how awesome you are by how much money a person makes. And when Jones defended his mom, the party was over with the fans.... Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune says Jones lost a ball in the sun in the top of the seventh, ruining Carlos Zambrano's no-hit bid. In the bottom of the inning, Jones was called out on strikes and a fan allegedly yelled, “The sun must have gotten in your eyes.” According to witnesses, the fan was berated by a finger-wagging woman wearing a replica of Jones' No. 11 jersey. It was Jones' mother, sitting two rows away. “She took care of it,” Jones, a San Diego High alum, told the Tribune. “She took care of it how every parent should. You shouldn't have to listen to that when you come to games.”

Submitted by artskoe on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:29 am

Just a conjecture, but maybe fans USE the racest thing to make their point more meaningful. Has Soriano gotten a ton of hate mail? He's black too, you know. Maybe he just throws it away, puts on his million dollar smile and say, "speak no Eingleesh." It's just his personality. MB was hated before he got here, and the way Lou handled him did not help. If MB lands on the Cards or Angels with a manager who isn't sleeping, he just might do a Cedric Benson on us and it'll be 102 years. It's a sad day when Cub fans, who had Williams and Banks, have to be shown how act colorblind by Yankee fans, and Joe Girardi can show Larry Rothschild how to handle pitchers. Payroll-to payroll just switch managers and Lou will mess the Yanks up. How Bradley got the blame is beyond me. Oh, excuse me, it was because he didn't have Jamarillo this year.... Here's to next year! Give the Phils the trophy and let's get on with it..

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:19 pm

The Cubs are stuck with two highly paid outfielders who are losers and another who is merely disappointing. If you want the fans in the bleachers to be more respectful, either get better outfielders or wrap the bleachers around the infield. I don't think Lee and Ramirez will have much of a problem.

Recent comments

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • 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. 

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