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

Good Thing They Didn't Lift Niemi for John Grabow

In the spirit of honoring the Chicago Blackhawks, who are now just two games away from the Stanley Cup championship, and temporarily ignoring the black comedy that is the Chicago Cubs, here is a video that will warm the heart of every Hawks fan who remembers the joy of listening to the great Lloyd Pettit. (Pettit, of course, also worked alongside Jack Brickhouse in the Cubs broadcast booth for several years.)

The video was mentioned in Ed Sherman's Business of Sports column last week in Crain's Chicago Business.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Absolutely agree.

I am fascinated to see how aggressive--at least for them--the Cubs have had to become in marketing the team. The "It's A Way of Life" ad campaign they're running is the first, coordinated, multi-media campaign I recall them running, ever. And each time I have heard Kasper or Hughes reading announcements that "Good seats are still available," I figure the team is just trying to push those harder-to-sell early season tickets and the announcements will end...but then they crop up again.

On the one hand, I am thrilled to see the fans finally forcing a new level of accountability on the organization to put a first-class product on the field. On the other hand, I think Ricketts is already "all in" financially, and if the gate receipts aren't there, I don't know that he is going to be dipping much further into his own pocket to invest in the club.

In other words, they find themselves in the same boat as most of the rest of Major League Baseball, including, God forbid, the White Sox.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubnut

I'm not sure you fully understand the deal. It's a highly leveraged transaction meaning that it was accomplished with a large pile of debt. The money, even the money the Ricketts put in, was "borrowed" by the Cubs and the holders of the debt, including the Ricketts, are earning interest. That means the Cubs HAVE TO generate income in order to stave off bankruptcy, which explains insane ticket price increases and the desperation Ricketts expressed over the need for a Toyota sign. However, the Ricketts want to pull a chunk of their money out of the team, reducing their exposure, by selling the debt to new investors, but to do that they have to fix up Wrigley Field because Wrigley is the only asset the Cubs have to secure the loans in order to keep the interest rates low enough so the team revenue can service them without defaulting. All in all, the Ricketts Year 1 is well on its way to being a bust. And if the Cubs attendance should fall back to 2002 levels (34,513) things could really get interesting.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I was going to put this up yesterday, but nobody was here to read it. Cubs average attendance: 2007 40,153 2008 40,743 2009 39,610 2010 38,369 and dropping. That means the Cubs project to draw 200,000 fewer fans than they did in 2008. Using the numbers furnished by the Cubs, that translates into -$16 million in anticipated revenue. The dopey Ricketts kids' solution? Clearly raising ticket prices in a recession didn't work. And their "improvements" to the field isn't bringing in the crowds. So let's Plaster Wrigley Field with neon signs. (If you read the fine print of their agreement with the City commission, the Cubs have agreed to wait four years...that's all...before they erect another sign after putting up that Toyota thing).

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

In general, the cheap seats go last, so even the $52.56 isn't accurate. That $52.56 included the weighting of the platinum and premium and whatever the hell else they call the harder to get tickets. What we're talking about is them not selling the crappy tickets for the crappy games - probably $30 is the high side for those average ticket prices lost to the Cubs. Also Navigator's basic premise: the Cubs have to sell all their seats to avoid going bankrupt isn't founded on a solid logic of how finance works. Banks don't give loans based on business plans that show "if we maximize profits, we'll break even".

Lou Boudreau sure was awful. I was glad to have been reminded of how much I disliked him, while at the same time I always was a HUGE Petit fan. Thanks Cubnut! I blame Zell for the Cubs sucking. If McDonough was still the Cubs President - things would be different!

Bobby Hull, Dennis Hull, Stan Mikita, Pit Martin, Keith Magnuson, Chico Maki, Tony Esposito, and Meister Brau. Wow, that really brought back some memories. I admit to being a fair weather Blackhawks fans, but I'm on the bandwagon now. It would be great to watch the Hawks win a Stanley Cup.

I can remember Lloyd Pettitt doing Blackhawks TV broadcasts (road games only) back in the early 60's. He was great ("A shot and a goal!"). Before Jack Quinlan died, Vince Lloyd was the #2 guy on WGN-TV's Cubs & White Sox TV broadcasts (he did the pre-game "The Lead-Off Man" show and then the play-by-play in the 3rd & 4th and 7th innings when Jack was taking a libation break). Lloyd Pettitt was the 3rd guy on the list for baseball, and he would take VL's slot when Vince replaced Jack if Jack was absent doing a Bears radio broadcast or a Sox road TV game or when he was covering a political convention. Then Vince Lloyd replaced Jack Quinlan on the Cubs radio broadcasts in '65, at which point Lloyd Pettitt became the full-time #2 guy on Cubs & Sox WGN-TV broadcasts until he left WGN around 1970 (although he continued to do Hawks games on radio at WMAQ throughout the 1970's). Baltimore's "Handsome Jimmy" West (as Jack Brickhouse used to call him) replaced Lloyd Pettitt on the Black Hawks TV broadcasts and as Jack Brickhouse's second banana on Cubs games in 1971. West didn't last too long at WGN, because GN lost the Hawks games about three or four years after West arrived. After West left, Lou Boudreau would come over from the radio side and relieve Brick for a couple of innings.

grew up on Lloyd & 'Good Kid' Boudreau...cruised into chicago friday morn only to be slowed to a snail's pace by expressway traffic and crowded trains - finally raced into wrigley just in time to catch breath during the anthem, tear open a bag o' nuts & settle into our seats for a game that was over after 16 *%$@# pitches! plus, my companion was a redbird fan! after the respite of saturday's game [marred by a near catfight right in front of us in the club boxes]i had to ride home w/ him on sunday listening to pujols jack one every 50 miles or so...

In case you missed it, the Dodgers beat Arizona yesterday on a walk-off balk. The winning run was scored by Ted Lilly's old balk-spotting buddy, Casey Blake. http://bit.ly/9Ce0TI According to research by the AZ Snakepit blog, since 1954 walk-off balks have been even more uncommon than perfect games.

Fukudome, Castro, Nady, Colvin, Soriano, Fontenot, Baker, Hill, Lilly vs. Jeff Karstens

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't a lot of that debt financed specifically so that Sam Zell would be able to avoid some tax liabilities? Meaning that Ricketts had more cash on hand, but they set it up this way to give the seller a better deal. Not that I disagree that falling attendance could be a big potential problem, but I don't see the Ricketts or the Cubs going into bankruptcy over $5-$10 million in lost ticket receipts.

Cubbery reaches through the ether too... June 1st 1969 (ether), Headlines: Ernie Broglio winner of game 7 in the 1964 and 1968 World Series for StL, starts the 1969 season with a 7-0 record. Cub OF Lou Brock, who hasn't stolen a base in 5 seasons after he broke his ankle back in July 1964, is now going to platoon with rookie Don Young.

Recent comments

  • 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. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.