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

Cubs Trade for Jason Kendall

The Cubs have traded for Oakland A's catcher Jason Kendall for minor leaguer Jerry Blevins and recently DFA'd catcher Rob Bowen. No word yet on how much of Kendall's contract the Cubs will be picking up but Len mentioned they'll be getting cash considerations from the A's. He was making $13 million this year in the last year of his deal of which Pittsburgh is paying $5.5 million. The big question though is if this is an upgrade? Kendall's hitting a horrific 226/261/281 this year, a far cry from his career line of 298/375/398 and he's been on the decline for a good three years now. About the only thing he does do well with the bat anymore is work the count, averaging 3.79 pitches per plate appearance on the season and 3.89 for his career. Definitely known as a leader in the clubhouse and a "take charge" kind of guy, the kind of terms you use for just about every veteran catcher, he's generally near the bottom in caught stealing percentage every year although he's near the middle to upper ranks of AL catchers in wild pitches and passed balls allowed per game the last few years (as tracked by Hardball Times) . Essentially we've traded Jerry Blevins and Michael Barrett for Jason Kendall and Kyler Burke. Is that terrible? I say no. At worst, we're treading water at the position compared to the triumvirate of suck that Bowen/Hill/Soto brought. At best, Kendall picks it up in the second half and we get a nice little bonus the rest of the season. Of course, we could have just kept Barrett but it appears those waters were poisoned long ago. And there's still two weeks until the trade deadline for Hendry to pull off another move.

Comments

Kendall is hitting over .290 in his last 27 games, hopefully suggesting he's coming back up towards his .298 career average.

Good info. Makes me feel better. And man, he must have had an *awful* start.

He was on my dynasty fantasy team the last couple of years. I finally cut him in June when he was hitting in the .190's. I was actually was pretty impressed when I heard .228.

I really liked the defense we've seen from the catching core we've run out there. Who gives a what if they can't hit. We've been winning lately, why shake it up? We're back to a bad defensive catcher, right?

Blevins...may end up kicking us in the behind in a few years...i always question the Oakland A's....they seem to know more than most... Tennessee Smokies (SL) AA ERA 1.26 Whip. 0.98 IP 28.2 8bb 37K 2.51 .196 avg

I fail to see how the downside is treading water. If defense is counted as a push, Barrett's clearly the better offensive player at this point, as Kendall's power numbers are completely in the tank (6 months with a SLG below 300 since 2005). A 340ish OBP isn't all that great if you're starting from first base all the time. Kendall probably will pick it up, simply because he can't get much worse. This isn't the late-90s Kendall we're talking about, this is another not-plus player that a lot of fans will be familiar with. Make no mistake: Jim Hendry is a Man of Action.

yeah, I've to reword that but treading water with our most recent catching combo...

I changed the channel for a minute - why were we throwing garbage on the field after going ahead?

Why did you change the channel with 2 on and 2 out and the Cubs down by a run? ;)

I changed the channel for a minute - why were we throwing garbage on the field after going ahead? ---------------------------------- Old Style?

Kendall might not be a gold glover, but its really a stretch to say that his defense is a "push" compared to Barrett, especially 07 Barrett who made 06 and 05 Barrett look pretty good. Ultimately, The Cubs traded a struggling catcher, who fought with the staff ace, and will be a FA at the end of the year, for another struggling catcher who is clearly past his prime and will also be a FA at the end of the year.

Wait a sec -- Baseball Tonight just said we sent Marshall to the A's. What? Huh?

Wait a sec — Baseball Tonight just said we sent Marshall to the A’s. What? Huh? Pretty sure baseball tonight is wrong.

From Cubs.com:
The Cubs shuffled catchers Monday, acquiring catcher Jason Kendall from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for catcher Rob Bowen and Minor League pitcher Jerry Blevins.

Rich C/T: I heard that too... I think they mispoke. I have only seen the deal as reported on most major news outlets. Blevins and Bowen.

yeah, someone, somewhere put Sean Marshall out there, it was a headline on MLB.com as well. Hopefully someone just misheard something and it was never considered by Hendry.

ok thank god cuz my heart went to my throat when they said we traded marshall. Talk about a guy I want to see more of before giving up on him. ok. that interview real fast with ramirez on bbtonight, check out the size of that crowd!!! here in texas fans hit the exits in the 8th inning regardless if the team is winning or not.

Uh...why are you including Soto in the triumvirate of suck? He's played, what, 2 games in the bigs? Give me a break.

Now that i just realized this year is 07, the deal does not seem rotten bad. I think the Marshall stuff might be because maybe they disscussed Marshall/Bowen for Kurt Suzuki?

Baseball tonight just reported, again, that the Cubs gave up Marshall in the deal. 9pm Chicago time.

No way we would ever trade Marshall AND Bowen for just Kendall...would we? Or has Billy Beane somehow flipped Hendry's lid?

these guys are journalists, can they be that wrong? seriously, this is your JOB. It is our hobby and we know more, or at least, for the love of god, I hope we know more.

this trade seems to add to the chain of low/no impact moves. at least the pitching staff should be happy with kendall...he's supposedly really agreeable with the staffs he's worked with. i'd rather have barrett, but like someone else said, this 07 barrett is playing behind the plate at levels below what he can afford to play if he wants to continue to be an everyday catcher.

Here is a low/no impact trade......RAMIREZ. sorry, you have to eat it on that one. Luck maybe, but this guy is simply CLUTCH.

All I can say is that I hope ESPN's trade report about Marshall is as accurate as their report that the Jacque to Florida trade was a done deal.

and who cares about barrett. He was sucking big time. couldn't handle this staff worth shit. Look at our record since we stopped playing him. His downside defensively was supposed to be offset by his offense. And this year he looked completely lost at the bat and on the bases. He was playing very bad baseball and couldn't pull his act together. Wish we would hurry up and dump our other 2 slugs.

The written sources are stating its NOT Marshall. espn.com cubs.com Anyone see the Trib?

ESPN BB 2 night Just Corrected themselves! FUCKING IDIOTS! "Our apologies to the MArshall family."

Barrett and Blevins for Kendall and Burke. Personally I call it a wash. Burke is the better prospect. Barrett is the best player. If Kendall turns back the clock to at least 2005. Good deal.

Bruce Levine says Oakland is paying 70-80% of Kendall's salary wrt the cash the cubs are getting

Bruce Levine says Oakland is paying 70-80% of Kendall’s salary wrt the cash the cubs are getting Wow... if Pitt is really paying 5.5 million of this year's deal, that means Oakland owed Kendall 7.5 million this year, with approx 3.25 million left. If the A's are paying 70%, that would mean the Cubs are only on the hook for around $975,000. If that is true, that isn't too bad of a deal.

Kendall is a bad defensive catcher with a bad arm. Hendry is gambling that Kendall will somehow start hitting, but even if he does, he's a $13 million singles hitting/bad defensive catcher. It's a dumb move. All of the improvements and spark the team has picked up since dumping Barrett are thrown out now. Look at Hill's defensive stats vs Barrett's and Kendall's. He allows half the wild pitches/passed balls/stolen base attempts the other two do. Yeah, he doesn't hit, but he's shown he's a good defensive catcher and, most importantly, WE KEEP WINNING WHEN HE STARTS. Hendry is a fucking idiot.

So, is it true that Kendall has the lowest ERA in MLB currently? Kendall is a pitcher? And if true that he has the best CERA, it would make sense, being that he caught one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. CERA is much more related to the pitching staff than than the catcher.

Hendry is gambling that Kendall will somehow start hitting, He has already started hitting - he is hitting .290+ over the last month. Look at Hill’s defensive stats Hill himself says that he is more of an offensive catcher than a defensive catcher. He has never really even been seen as an average defensive catcher. WE KEEP WINNING WHEN HE STARTS. Last I heard baseball was a team game, not an individual battle of catchers. And the Cubs were winning with Bowen too.

Jason Kendall 2007 = Eric Karros 2003? Seems like a move with some potential upside and minimal downside, and it's only half a year with someone else picking up some of the $$$. Why not? Meanwhile, down on the farm: - Murton and Pie (again!) go yard, Murton throws a guy out at 3rd from RF. Think these guys want out of Iowa? - Smardjzzz gets cuffed around again. I wonder if he is having 2nd thoughts about ditching football.

Bowen's superior signal calling was the fuel behind the Cubs' recent offensive outburst. It's all over now that he's gone.

It's pretty amazing about Sam...ja. Watching him in ST... hot gun or not, he threw an amazing 2-seamer with good location, good movement, and some hmphh. What's going on with him? Any reports?

I think this trade will be best evaluated, not this year, but two or three years down the road. I for one am looking forward to seeing how Burke pans out. Maybe something, maybe nothing. Who knows.

What is the deal with Blanco? Is there any chance he goes on the 60 day w/ back/neck surgery? Herniated disc? That must be painful.

There should be a website based solely about the offensive & defensive stats of the Catcher position. It's such a debate!!!

"So, is it true that Kendall has the lowest ERA in MLB currently?" Ugh - the C in the CERA never made it! I know he doesn't pitch...

What is the deal with Blanco? ------- Blanco had some soreness in his left shoulder (non-throwing shoulder and unrelated to his cervical/neck disc problem). He was supposed to go to rehab but it's been delayed until later in the week at soonest. Supposedly his neck/herniated disc is better, hence the plans for a few games in the minors to get his hitting and defense back in tune. He'll probably be back in 7-10 days if he doesn't regress once back on the field.

Hendry on the trade.... "Like I told Rob, he didn't do anything wrong," Hendry said. "When you get a chance to acquire Jason Kendall, you move forward. "I had no intention of trading Rob Bowen a week ago. Things just happened," he said.

I love the Kendall trade. Servicable on defense, can call a good game, the Cubs need a vet behind the plate and he was the best Hendry could get his hands on at the moment. They don't need him to generate a .700 OPS, I think Kendall is the guy that gets those 1 or 2 hits in October that push the team through. I never liked Barrett. One of my favorite Cub moments in the last few years was when Doggie brushed Barrett's hand off of him when he was trying to counsel the HOFer on the mound during a rough spot. He always impressed me as the dude everyone wanted to shut the hell up.

I know Kendall always killed the Cubs at Wrigly...What are his career stats in the Friendly Confines?

Kendall @ Wrigley 279/378/402 2 HR 28RBI in 51 games whoopie

Better than Hill and Bowen...not what I expected though. Any other moves com'n?

Just curious - why is no one talking about A-Ram's bush league standing at the plate to watch a double? I thought Bochy was going to have the SF pitcher hit Pagan with the next pitch.

from this morning’s Tribune (on Kendall): Manager Lou Piniella called Kendall a “tough kid who likes to play” and said he’d probably bat him seventh. “He gives you a good, professional at-bat, and he’ll take a walk,” Piniella said. “Basically, he’s been a .300 hitter his whole career.” http://tinyurl.com/3c4tnj

Buck Martinez on XM radio just said the Cubs didn't get Kendall to hit for power. They got him for the intangible of 'keeping the inning going' If only there were some way to measure such an intangible such as percentage of time on base or some other crazy stat.

Kendall - whoopi! I hope it works but its as exciting as having meatloaf for lunch instead of the regular burger - let me know when they have steak and I will get excited.

Dave, Why do you even bother coming to this site? Why do you even bother watching the Cubs or being a fan? No one is talking about Ramirez's "bush league" move because he hit the GAME WINNING DOUBLE...he made it to second and what....you wanted him to make it to third base? All you need to know about Aramis Ramirez's work ethic is that he was without a doubt the worst defensive third baseman in the NL when we got him and he has turned his defense into a plus in his short time here. I've seen my fair share of hustling third basemen since I've watched the Cubs...Dave Magidan hustled...Shane Andrews and Ron Coomer hustled...unfortunately they didn't have any TALENT, which in my mind, trumps hustle when you are the most feared hitter in a decently imposing lineup. And WHY bash the Kendall trade? I have seen Jeremy Blevins pitch once, and I thought he had a plus changeup and not much else in his repetiore...Kendall is a GOOD defensive catcher, he is not a catch and throw guy, he is a game caller and good at stopping balls. But if you didn't notice, we got NOTHING from the catcher position offensively since the Barrett trade, and even if Kendall hits .270 in his half season here it's gravy. Please refrain from just making ignorant comments and being pessimestic...or please just go root for the white sox 'cause I grow very tired of Cubs fans who just CRAVE misery.

Recent comments

  • 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. 

  • 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...