Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
* Matt Mervis
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Vizcaino DFA'd

Submitted by Rob G. on

As had been rumored, the Cubs have gone and designated Luis Vizcaino for assignment and promoted Jeff Samardzija. Vizcaino has 72 hours to clear waivers and then the Cubs have 7 days to trade or release him. Vizcaino is owed $3.5M for 2009, some of which has already been paid by the Cubs, plus he had a $4M option for 2010 with a $500K buyout, which I believe the Cubs are still responsible for.

Muskat's article suggests that Jim Hendry was trying to deal Vizcaino - possibly to the Washington Nationals - but he was unable to finalize anything, so they decided to DFA him instead. Which makes me ask, what's the fucking rush? A Trib article that Cubnut linked to in the previous post  that I can't seem to get to work now, suggested Vizcaino got in Lou's doghouse by showing up late on Opening Day, but that's hardly enough to burn $4M. As far as I know, Jeff Samardzija bobblehead day wasn't scheduled yet, so I don't know why he needed to be called up by April 23rd at the expense of Vizcaino. And you know, Vizcaino hasn't sucked so far, say like one Neal Cotts. A matter of fact, you could say he's been good with 3.2 IP, 3 K's, 0 BB's and 0 ER. And let's not even get into the Cubs burning over $5M between Vizcaino and Gaudin (if they don't find someone to take Vizcaino's contract) and then crying poor all offseason on why they didn't want to resign Kerry Wood and had to move Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis.

But, the Cubs and Hendry have 10 days still to do something with Vizcaino so I'll save flying off the handle until the final end game is clear, but at the moment this series of moves sure looks like some of the most serious roster blundering since the day they resigned Neifi Perez.

 

The other bit of news is that Milton Bradley will sit until he's 100% and when he comes back he'll be batting 6th in the lineup. Anyone who watched the game last night could see that Bradley was still favoring his groin, so probably the right move, although the Cubs probably should have just DL'd him from the beginning to start saving themselves from that third year option that is contingent on days on the disabled list. With Bradley struggling and Micah Hoffpauir hitting, probably not a big deal in the short term. I'll be curious how this will affect the lineup though.

 

Tags
Cubs Roster Moves
Jeff Samardzija
Luis Vizcaino

Comments

Submitted by Charlie on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:20 pm

Interesting lineup change today. Fukudome, the hot hand, gets to bat 3rd, and Theriot and his .400+ OBP bumps all the way from 8th to 2nd. Soriano Theriot Fukudome Lee Ramirez Hoffpauir Soto Fontenot Zambrano Hopefully we get effective Zambrano today.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:27 pm

Taveras, Dickerson, Votto, Encarnacion, Bruce, Phillips, Hernandez, Gonzalez, Harang for the Reds

Shouldn't Soto get a day off today?

Lou said Bradley would bat 6th on his return, so I'm guessing he just slots where Hoffpauir is hitting and that'll be the lineup for awhile.

Submitted by Cubnut on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:20 pm

Have to wonder if any DL decisions regarding Bradley, now or in the future, automatically become contentious because of their potential impact on that option year. Not saying Bradley would necessarily raise a stink, but I'm sure his agent would be on the phone if Bradley felt he could tough it out and the Cubs wanted to DL him anyway.

This afternoon's lineup by way of Wittenmyer/Twitter: sori, riot, fuku, lee, rami, hoffp, soto, font, z

 

Submitted by Ryno on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:20 pm

DL'ing monopoly guy seems to be the popular move, but I disagree. All you gain by DL'ing him is a roster spot so you can bring up some scrub from Iowa. I say let him sit day-to-day, who knows, maybe he'll clobber a game winner one of these days. Plus, it would be a good time for him to serve his 2-game suspension as long as he's active. And the Cubs, geesh, throwing money around like Timothy Geithner. Still Vizcaino represents the past, Samardjiza is the future... ... yea that was sarcasm.

Submitted by navigator on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:22 pm

"Bradley was unavailable after Piniella's remarks. A Cubs spokesman said Bradley had no comment" -- Sullivan Apparently Milton missed the part of Lou's nice chat where he suggested MB talk to the media.

[ ]

Submitted by Ryno on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:25 pm

I guess he should just do his thing and talk to the media, but to be honest, I don't really give a shit if he does or not. He's a ball player, not the mayor. I think the media thing is blown out of proportion.

Submitted by blibli5 on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:29 pm

So now it looks like, what, we got zippo for Marquis except giving away millions to a guy who won't be around for even one month? Man, I know a lot of people felt Marquis was nothing but he was not all that bad as a # 5 starter. Hendry obviously has had the touch with some moves but this has to rank as one of his top ten worse moves.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:45 pm

if a deal can't be worked out in the 10-day window, the Cubs will be on the hook for Vizcaino's salary minus whatever he signs for with another team (chances are the league minimum). If that's how it goes down, the Cubs will have saved a grand total of $1M plus the pro-rated league minimum on the deal.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:20 pm

technically it's $9.875 for Marquis and $875K to the Rockies plus the $4M they owe Vizcaino, but still $5M in savings on the deal.

But you're right, I was assuming they'd need to spend money to replace Vizcaino, but at the moment, it's on someone they're already paying.

Submitted by Thisistheyear on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:47 pm

Wasn't there talk of giving Soriano and Theriot the day off today? At least Soto, day game after a night game.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:58 pm

Top ten favorite memories from the Luis Vizcaino era? So many to choose from, it's hard to know where to start. Beyond bizarre. Cotts has been a disaster (but not a surprise), they send Shark to Iowa to stretch out as a starter, Vizcaino has a 0.00 ERA --- so the logical move in April is to cut Vizcaino and move Shark to middle relief, where he will get inconsistent work, and keep Cotts because any lefty is a good lefty. Oh, I get it. No, wait, I don't.

[ ]

Submitted by John Beasley on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:43 pm

Are you really surprised? He showed up out of shape and seemingly out of touch with his role on the team. We're talking about a guy who's been inconsistent his entire career. I wish we had the cash to just work him into a platoon situation so they can try to give him some months off here and there..

Submitted by Ryno on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:41 pm

Lordy, they're talking about the bat issue again... geez... Probably because of the ump who got smacked with the bat and had to be taken to the hospital. Well if it was anything like the umps we've seen in the past week or so he probably got hit with the bat because his eyes were closed or he was drunk or something. Bleh... Want a safe sport? Go golf.

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:57 pm

Is today April Fools Day? I mean Hendry can't be serious can he? I know, I know I hate Hendry so anything I say is biased. But when he does stupid shit like this it is obvious why so many people don't like him as a GM. He releases a guy who has a 0.00 ERA making $3.5MM while keeping a guy who has a 3.33 WHIP and .354 BAA only making $1.1MM. Why cry poor the past 6 months, but then throw like $10MM down the shitter releasing/trading players? This seriously makes ZERO sense. There has to be some part of the story we are not hearing as it makes no sense to release Vizcaino over Cotts. What a fucking joke!!!

[ ]

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:19 pm

Len and Bob alluded to some "tardiness issues" during the telecast today, which leads me to believe it wasn't a one time thing on opening day. Seems like the Cubs are trying to go the ATL route and make sure everyone in the organization does things the right way (although signing MB would seem to contradict that theory). Anyway, all of these issues will become insignificant once half our starting lineup gets out of their current slumps (Bradley, Soto, Fontenot, Lee).

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:43 pm

The Cubs are almost unbearable to watch right now.

Submitted by Rob Richardson on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:58 pm

Did Theriot get thrown out on a strike steal or a botched hit and run?

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:02 pm

Straight steal, he had a great jump and had it stolen if not for the fact that it ended up being a high fastball on Hernandez's throwing side. He was standing up to catch it and then threw a perfectly placed ball to second. Any other pitch he would have been safe. But it was a total rally killer regardless.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:22 pm

Wow, Neal Cotts is a fucking bum. Can we just throw at Votto's head every time he's up? The dude kills us.

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:23 pm

Cotts just gave up HR to Votto...HA HA HA HA HA Neal FUCKING Cotts Amazing...Absolutely...Amazing!!!

Submitted by navigator on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:29 pm

I see Vizcaino is available. Maybe Hendry can deal Cotts for him....

Submitted by Ryno on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:29 pm

I think The Joe was kidding, but it's true, I'd rather see Cotts make the guy earn runs over walking them on base. Of course better yet, I'd prefer to just not see Cotts pitch at all. I'm willing to cut him some slack, though, because he's white.

Submitted by Jace on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:52 pm

Yeah, sure is great to have this guy back... More gas for the fire!!!

Submitted by mannytrillo on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 04:56 pm

You really can't make this shit up. The Cubs decide to release Vizcaino, keep Cotts and bring up Samardick. Cotts gives up a HR to a lefty and Samardick gives up 4 hits and 2 runs in an inning. And sometimes I wonder why this organization hasn't won a title in 101 years now.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Thought it might have been David Peralta given the open 40 man spot and how PCA has played so far. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I hope they keep Mozeliak a few more years. Marmol too!

  • crunch (view)

    wow, counsell coming with the early lineup.  rarity.

    canario/tauchman/happ RF/CF/LF

  • crunch (view)

    PCA called up.

  • crunch (view)

    welp...

    bellinger...fractured rib.

    a not-very-ready PCA will probably be called up when it would be much better for him to be in AAA getting regular ABs.

  • crunch (view)

    i have no hard data, but i'm seeing the same thing.

    there used to be some parks where that was rampant (colorado during the todd helton days comes to mind), but i'm seeing it all over the place the past couple seasons.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I’ll spare the details which I’ve stated before but, in short, the Cardinals have lost their sight of their successful identity and strategy over last several dominant decades. From the beginning of the season I saw the Cardinals being in last place or near it again this year, and my prediction is that Mozeliak will be gone after the end of the season.

  • Bill (view)

    I would have kept Cooper rather than Wisdom, but at least I can understand why they did it.  In a team that lacks dominant power hitters, Wisdom can be a dominant power hitter, at least in streaks.  I suppose that there is always the possibility that the streaks longer in both duration and frequency.  I will be content if they essentially make a 100 % DH commitment to Mervis against righties and Wisdom against lefties.  When a regular needs rest, give them total rest, rather than a DH rest.  Do this for at least 2 months, and then re-evaluate at that point.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    This is Cubs adjacent but…


    Jordan Walker just was optioned by the deadbirds. For all the talk of the Cardinals development machine, they’ve really missed on a lot of can’t miss superstars lately. Walker has struggled. Gorman has been okay. They’re already trying to push Carlson out the door. Their pitching system has been so bad they had to go out and sign basically a full rotation over the last two offseasons.

    They’ve still developed a few of those pesky solid players, like Donovan, Edman, and Nootbaar. Their two best prospect to MLB players have been Adolis and Arozarena, neither of which is a cardinal.

    I hope they never figure it out again. Cardinal failure brings me such joy.
     

  • Raisin101 (view)

    Thank you so much! I really appreciate not only all your posts but how eager you are to respond to our questions.

Click HERE for the last 50 comments