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

TCR Friday Notes

- Wade Miller is scheduled for a rehab start in AA on Tuesday. The Cubs can keep him on a rehab assignment for up to 30 days before having to make another move with him. - Same article says Kerry Wood has yet to throw off a mound. - Some theories on Carlos Zambrano's struggles from the Sun-Times and Ken Rosenthal. Some choice cuts from Rosenthal's article:
Maybe Zambrano's ERA would have been 5.83 after eight starts if the Cubs had finalized his five-year, $80 million-plus contract. ----- Zambrano wants to stay with the Cubs, but he needs to postpone further negotiations until the end of the season, if only to clear his head. ----- Tribune executives are probably too preoccupied with the sale to care, but they had a heck of a deal with Zambrano in place. ----- If the negotiations dragged into November —and Zambrano still chose to stay in Chicago — he could perhaps double the team's initial $80 million guarantee. Try explaining that to Cubs fans. Or to the team's next owner. Tribune can't.
For what it's worth, Zambrano emphatically states that it's not the contract that's distracting him and his early season problems stem from issues with his mechanics. - The same Rosenthal article says that Ryan Dempster has the 4th lowest batting average against for closers with at least 5 saves.

Comments

the Cubbies have moved up to 8th from 15th place in ESPN power rankings...for what its worth...

Someone just called up WFAN and proposed that the Yanks trade Cano and the Farns for Derrek Lee. As if..! Oh, the arrogance of New York fans.

How about Cano, Melky, Phillip Hughes, Humberto Sanchez, and about $50 million? That might get it done. Nah.

"play the youngs" - Failed, but for Dusty it must've seemed like a radical success "don't overpitch Eyre and Howry" - Failed "don't worry yourself to death over wins and losses" - Success ... one outta three ain't bad.

that sounded like those instructions were given to him after Maddux was traded for the last 2 months fwiw....

Dusty's working full time making himself unhireable. "At this point I'm not ready to [call a game at Wrigley]. I don't need any more abuse, you know what I mean? I was booed and jeered enough. You use every experience to your advantage to learn. Some you'd just as soon forget; some you don't. But it wasn't all bad."

WEAVER: I truly was astounded how well he pitched for the Redbirds. Go figure... Apparently, he's just punching a clock, now.

As far as Z goes, my money is on back problems being the cause of his terrible pitching. It might account for his weird arm angle issues and the general goofiness of his mechanics lately.

"Someone just called up WFAN and proposed that the Yanks trade Cano and the Farns for Derrek Lee. As if..! Oh, the arrogance of New York fans." What was the response from the host of the show? And if we can make trades like that, I say we trade Wade Miller and Ronnie Cedeno for ARod.

I truly was astounded how well he pitched for the Redbirds. Umm... Weaver had a 5.18 Era with a 1.50 WHIP for the Cars last year after coming from the Angels. Opposing hitters hit .297 against him. With the Angels last year he had a 6.29 ERA with a 1.52 WHIP. Opposing hitters hit .309 against him. He was a bad pitcher last year also. He did pitch better in September, but was by no means good. He did come out of nowhere and pitcher very, very well in the playoffs, but that went against a clear pattern of crappy pitching over last few years.

DAVE: "He did come out of nowhere and pitcher very, very well in the playoffs..." This is really what I was alluding to. To go from being a pretty crappy #5 (I think) on the Cards, to notching a WS win, and pitching exceedingly well in the playoffs, to me is very interesting. Maybe the Cubs will get a whack at him again when the Pilots...er...Mariners come to Wrigley?

Speculation continues that former Minnesota Twins general manager Andy MacPhail will become baseball's next commissioner when Bud Selig decides he has had enough. Yikes! From Yahoo! Sports Rumors.

andy's got a pedigree of experience/relatives plus knowlege of all the existing owners. non-confrontational and without a huge ego, too. has an ability to accept blame and spin without sounding like a victim or a bully. hopefully he can keep his hands off the game. selig has had a lotta fun playing with how the game is played and the expansion of territories. he's probably put the greatest impact on the game during his tenure since the creation of free agency and the DH in the 70s. for better (the current playoff system and 3-tier division, imo) or for worse (the over expansion of teams)...selig's had has hands all over the game seemingly yearly with a new quirk to "innovate" the game.

The E-Man: Maybe the Cubs will get a whack at him again when the Pilots…er…Mariners come to Wrigley? Good theory. Unfortunately he pretty much shut down the Cub's lineup in ST. :(

Still agree with Z's mechanics not being right. I've said it a few times, but he still has to get that elbow up a little bit. He has said something to that effect after every start, but then goes right out there the next time and has his arm in the same slot. You can't outcoach being stubborn. I think I read something where Roth said that he and Z have talked several times about where his elbow needs to be, but then Z goes right back out there and doesn't change anything.

On a silly Friday note regarding this weekend, did anyone notice that the starting pitchers for this weekend's series with the Phillies all have last names starting with the same letter each day? Hill/Hamels Guzman/Garcia Lilly/Lieber When was the last time THAT happened?

Unfortunately he pretty much shut down the Cub’s lineup in ST. Yea... and Wade Miller pitched great in ST also... I think I read something where Roth said that he and Z have talked several times about where his elbow needs to be, but then Z goes right back out there and doesn’t change anything. I am not sure that this means Z is uncoachable or stubborn. Patterns are hard to break, especially when you have somehow become accustomed to a certain arm angle.

"Aw, I was kinda hoping we’d face Jamie." You wanted to get shut down by yet another soft tossing lefty?

dave, that's not his normal arm angle. If it was, I might understand. He's doing something incorrectly from his normal mechanics. That's an easy fix for nearly every pitcher. Habits are hard to break, unless you can't make it out of the sixth inning. Typically, that will get you to fix whatever's causing you problems.

I'm not going to try and breakdown the warped psyche of Carlos Zambrano, but he knows what the problem and he agrees that it's the problem. So it doesn't make much sense that he's being stubborn, at least not to me. What makes sense to me is there's something in his body right now that's not letting him repeat his normal delivery easily even when he wants to, which worries me that there's an arm or back issue that's not being talked about.

Z is gone unless Hendry gets permission to start talks again. There is no way he resigns during the offseason. Selig will drag his feet on approving new owners and they won't get approved until at least February, long after Z becomes a free agent in November. He's gone. The new owners get to take over with that good will gesture.

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.