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

Gameday Open Thread/Rockies @ Cubs & 2 Get Cut

Colorado strolls into Mesa today with lefty Franklin Morales to start and Lou trots out what might be the regular lineup versus lefties to start the season.

LF Alfonso Soriano, SS Ryan Theriot, 1B Derrek Lee, RF Milton Bradley, 3B Aramis Ramirez, CF Reed Johnson, C Geovany Soto, 2B Aaron Miles, P Chad Gaudin.

Also, Sam Fuld and Jake Fox have been sent to minor league camp and there should be more roster cuts later today.

UPDATE: As suggested, there were more cuts...Jose Ascanio will join Fuld and Fox in Triple A for the time being, with pitcher Jason Waddell and INF Bobby Scales being assigned to minor league camp. That leaves 37 left in camp. Also, Richie Robnett was outrighted to Triple A, which now leaves two spots open on the Cubs 40-man roster.

Comments

CLAY RAPADA, 6K's 1 BB 0.00 ERA in 7 appearances for the Tigers got some kind of one year deal announced today. JOHN KORONKA, 4Hits 2K's 1BB 1.50 ERA in 6 appearances for the Marlins is said to be vying with Dan Meyer for the last spot in the bullpen.

says 3-4 more cuts later today, and more this weekend.

Also, chicagocubs.com reports more spring cuts (besides Fuld and Fox): Waddell Scales Ascanio This puts the spring roster at 37. And they outrighted Robnett to AAA, bringing the Reserve List down from 39 to 38. I hope AZ PHIL can weigh in on these transactions. Go CUBS!

Richie Robnett, Jason Waddell and Bobby Scales all got sent down too. Waddell might emerge later as a situational lefty in the pen if he excels at Iowa, whether or not we see Fox before September will depend more on injuries and Fukudome's bat. FWIW Fukudome had a terrible World Classic, he wasn't even on the field last night after hitting .200 during the tournament. Dude has a lot to prove.

I haven't been advertising for any spots in the fantasy head-to-head league I run each year at yahoo because, well, 16 of us all returned from last season to play this year. One of us had to drop out, however, so if anyone here wants in, drop me an email at trans.at.tcr at gmail.com and I'll hook you up. The brief version: A head-to-head league that uses lots of stat categories with a mildly sabrmetric bent to it, and lots of active roster positions. The big thing to know is that if a team goes "Dead" for thirty days (no activity from the owner) it will have its players dispersed to waivers to get redrafted by the rest of the league owners. So don't inquire about the league if you aren't convinced that you can stay active for the year. If you join, you get to play with 15 fellow Cubs fans in a very active and friendly league. Not a bad deal. Draft is this saturday.

offense is waking up..2 runs in the first. Theriot dooble, Lee and Bradley single, sac fly Ramirez

soriano got a hit in the first...what happened to him as it was followed by a theriot dooble? Baserunning blunder? Boxscore doesn't say anything about out stealing, must have been thrown out at 3B. Fielder's choice on a dooble?

Bradley HR, Soto dooble as well 4-2 at the moment, 3 SB's off Gaudin/Soto so far, error on Miles. 2 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K for Gaudin

[ ]

In reply to by Transmission

For a good sense of his wicked sense of humor, try this.  He's the guy commenting as "The Bones McCoy of THT" in a hysterical thread about baseball players saving drowning women.

 

FWIW, if I ever drop dead, I expect Parachat to be renamed in my honor.

[ ]

In reply to by Transmission

if you drop dead, how will we ever know?

I read his last article about David Cone's HOF chances and at the bottom it mentioned he was going in for heart surgery. Apparently that didn't go too well...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Actually meaning this seriously, it'd be through Sister Trans.  She is friends with one of Ruz's relatives, and knows of my work here.

 

Mordibly,

T.

hitting good, pitching bad today Samardzija pretty much guaranteed to go to Iowa now..

Bobby Scales has a real nice swing, it's easy to see why he tore up AAA last year. I'd be surprised if he saw any time in Chicago with Fontenot, Theriot, Miles, German-type depth at 2B. Plus he's 31. Who knows. Too bad for him.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Mr. Scales has deserved a shot with somebody for years. He's got a career .285/.371./.430 line in the minors and has hit as many as 15 HRs in a single season. He could be a fringe starter with a fringe team or a backup/substitute with a number of major league teams, but instead he's been in the minor since 1999. Look at Aaron Miles's career minor league numbers: .289/.338/.401. How 'bout German's: .296/.397/.397 On offensive numbers at least, Scales compares favorably to other backup infielders. He's played almost no shortstop, but he's played plenty of 2nd and 3rd and has even occasionally played 1B and the OF. Anybody know what he does with the glove? I hope the guy finds a major league job soon.

5 Reasons to be Concerned: 1. Kosuke Fukudome looks to be an unbelievable bust....could they swap with GMJ from the Angels? 2. D Lee has become an average-at-best 1B...and desperately needs to be moved lower in the batting order (6th) 3. Iffy health of Rich Harden 4. Iffy health of Milton Bradley 5. Potential that Aaron Miles logs more than 300 PAs 5 Reasons to be Optimistic: 1. (Hopefully) 150+ games of Alfonso Soriano's bat in the lineup 2. Sean Marshall will be a much better 5th starter than Jason Marquis 3. Heilman will be a much better bridge reliever than Home Run Howry 4. Micah HoffPOWER will be a much better bench bat than D Ward 5. If healthy, Milton Bradley's overall production > Jim Edmonds' production If you view these as roughly a wash, there's no reason not to expect a 90+ win season and a three-peat atop the Central. I'm ready for the real games to start! PS for Phil--why the hell didn't the Cubs cut Stanton? Is it more of that Jim Hendry, "showcase the veterans as a courtesy" BS for which he's become famous? Is that why others like Taguchi and Fox are still hanging around, as well?

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...