Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Game 61 Recap: Cubs 0, Pale Hosers 0, Rain 1

Rainout
W - Nature
L - Humans
Things to Take from This Game
1. It got rained out.  No reschedule date set, yet.
 
The soggy details, below.
Game Recap
Pregame
  •  ach mutti, es regnet.
  •  Ozzie Guillen is talking about rats.
  • LouPa on Von Joshua:  "He's got some work to do."
  • LouPa is Not a Dragon.
  • LouPa has enough problems handling the Chicago Cubs
  • LouPa is not a specialist on steroids.
  • LouPa wouldn't know a steroid from a reefer.

Parachat Recap
 
Pregame
  • Crunch wants to have Carlos's babies.
  • we make No Cheaters take a pee-test.
  • What are we apologizing for?
  • LouPa's New Hat. 
  • Soriano is Leading Off!!
  • LouPa Is Not:
    • a member of Devo
  • Ryno needs to change.
    • and he should start with his haircut.
  • Carlos wins at Gay Chicken.
Cubs record in games recapped on the new, functioning computer moves to 1 Rainout.
Tags

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

No, I don't think he'd take it back either. But that means very little. They needed DeRosa and have an abundance of young pitching. If the Ramirez were not injured and the offense not tanking - as was expected when the trade occurred - then Hendry would not want to take back the trade either. Again, I'm not a fan of the trade, but we do enjoy when guys like Fontenot, Novoa, Ascanio, Hart, Murton, etc. help the big league club. And we like having guys like Mike Nannini, Jose Ceda, and Murton around to trade for the Derrek Lees, Kevin Greggs, and Rich Harden's of the world. So it is just too soon to be that down on this trade, especially given Hendry's track record for coming out ahead on these types of deals.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

I have a ranking of Cub pitching prospects according to a "Marmol index." Marmol led the league last year in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (4.1), and his K/9 of 11.75 was third behind Lidge and Fuentes among pitchers with 60 or more innings. The Marmol Index subtracts H/9 from K/9. In this ranking, Gaub and Archer are 1 and 2 among Cub minor leaguers. If you use WHIP to factor in walks, Huseby and Hart move to the head of the list. With prospects, though, you're looking for lights-out stuff, and you're hoping that command will come later. Since Gaub and Archer were strikeout pitchers last year, it's hard to justify their low rankings with the Indians. I'm sure Wilken and his scouts did not think they were C level.

For anyone who might be interested, the two Asian players recently signed & given substantial bonuses by the Cubs (Taiwanese RHP Yao-Lin Wang and Korean OF Dong-Yub Kim) have been assigned to the MLB Australian Acdemy (MLBAAP). If the Cubs can help them find a couple of H2B visas, maybe Wang and Kim can attend the AZ Instructional League in September.

And for those who may have missed my comment at the end of another thread the other day, RHP Oswaldo Martinez is in the starting rotation of the Reynosa Broncos (Mexican League). O. Martinez (post-2007 TJS) was "loaned" to the Reynosa club as part of the Cubs informal working agreement with the Mexican League club that was formerly located in Tijuana. Martinez has gone 1-5 with a 5.40 ERa and 1.59 WHIP, allowing 67 hits in 56.2 IP, with 23/27 BB/K in 14 games (13 GS) so far in 2009. (

Some of you may remember a couple of years ago, when two Tijuana pitchers (LHP Marco Tovar and RHP Alan Guerrero) attended the Cubs AZ Instructional League camp in Mesa. The Cubs could have acquired both pitchers at that time, but declined. Guerrero is now the closer at Reynosa and has 15 saves.

Last year, the Cubs "loaned" RHP Rafael Cova and INF Issmael Salas to Tijuana, and the Cubs signed catcher Enrique Lujan in 2005 and assigned him ("loaned" him) to Tijuana, but so far the Cubs have not acquired any players directly from the Mexican League. However, given the Cubs expanded international scouting, I suspect they will acquire a player or two from Reynosa, even if it's just token roster filler for Peoria or Daytona.

With Dylan Johnston the latest position player to be converted to pitcher, the Cubs have now converted 15 position players to pitcher over the lsat four years (with varying degrees of success):

ex-OF (RHP) Dylan Johnston - at AZL Cubs
ex-OF (RHP) Pedro Medina - at DSL Cubs 2
ex-INF (RHP) Gian Guzman - at AZL Cubs
ex-OF (LHP) Ryan Sontag - at Boise
ex-3B (RHP) Josh Lansford - at Boise
ex-OF (LHP) Leon Johnson - since released
ex-OF (LHP) Luke Sommer - at Daytona
ex-C (RHP) Jake Muyco - at AA Tennessee
ex-C (RHP) Gasner Guerrier - since released
ex-OF (RHP) Andres Quezada - at Boise
ex-C (RHP) Blake Parker - at AAA Iowa
ex-INF (RHP) Junniol Lami - since released
ex-C (RHP) Oscar Bernard - since released
ex-3B (RHP) Brandon Taylor - since released
ex-OF (RHP) Randy Brown - since released

This list doesn't even invclude earlier conversions involving ex-C Carlos Marmol and Randy Wells (both now in MLB with Cubs) and ex-INF Federico Baez (pitched for Team Puerto Rico in WBC and now is in AAA with Cincinnati Reds) and Adalberto Mendez (now in AA with Florida Marlins).

from the Sun-Times/Wittenmyer... Aramis Ramirez, one of the Cubs' biggest Sox killers, said he expects to start using his own bat to hit soft toss and off a tee by the end of the week and talked optimistically about the possibility of starting a rehab assignment in as little as two weeks after that. ''I feel pretty good right now,'' said Ramirez, who has swung a fungo bat the last three days, building up strength in the shoulder he badly separated May 8. ''Once I start swinging my bats, I've got to see how I feel. If everything goes well and I feel pretty good, then maybe two weeks after I start swinging a bat. But I don't have any idea. I've got to see how I feel after I swing a bat and after I hit live pitching.'' http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1625931,CST-SPT-cubnt17.ar…

Acccording to WGN Dempster will pitch today. Terry Cowley of Sun Times on WSCR said the Cubs might be underplaying the severity of Aram's shoulder and fans should not be suprised if Cubs pull plug on rehab and have him get season ending surgery.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Not necessarily Neal. There is just as much anecdotal evidence that they would be less than forthcoming in regards to a players health. 1. Wood, Prior and “when we get those guys back, it will be like making a deadline trade!” was less than 3 years ago 2. Todd Walker at first and Neifi! at 2nd to replace DLee was less than 3 years ago 3. There has been numerous rumblings about the ownership situation keeping the purse strings tight. 4. The Cubs (especially with the sale up in the air) surely don’t want to cause fan backlash by not filling the Aramis hole by admitting he could be done. Not saying this is a smoking gun. But to ignore this regime’s history is just hiding your head in the sand.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I think that players are optimistic by nature. I couldn't imagine Aramis saying something along the lines of "My career might be over." or "I'll probably never be the same player again". I said it at the time of the injury, nothing is worse for a hitter than a Shoulder or Wrist injury. Look at BJ Upton as exaple #1 of a guy who had "minor shoulder cleanup" in Spring training. Point being is that it's in Zell/Trib/Cubbie best interest to sell "Hope" as long as possible. And it surely isn't above this regime to spin things how they see fit.

the Cubs might be underplaying the severity of Aram's shoulder --- I kind of doubt there is anything other than speculation on worst case scenerio in what reporter Cowley is implying. In a recovery from ANY injury, ANY scenerio is possible, so why not stir the pot, especially on sports talk radio. I don't buy that it's the Cubs brass underplaying it even with their history of poor transparency with regard to injuries. Any take they have on this is based on what their medical staff is relaying to them and if he is permitted to swing with a fungo bat he's pretty much on or ahead of schedule and that's about as transparent as it gets at this point. The only thing that would lead to surgery in season would be another re-dislocation event or the inability to swing without apprehension and it's too early to do anything but speculate on that as a problem. If he's hitting fungo's now, that's a good sign. I didn't expect even that to be permitted until after 6 weeks post injury (this weekend). He plans on taking controlled swings (with his regular bats) by this weekend, so as that part of his rehab goes without incident a rehab assignment is the next logical step. He's on what seems to be an expected recovery sequence at this point just short of 6 week post injury (from 5/8 date of injury). If the projection holds true and he goes to a minor league rehab assignment around monday, July 6th. Then he could be available for the Stl series at Wrigley July 10th, just before the all-star break. If they go slower it will be after the All-Star break, July 16th at Washington.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

If indeed ARam is a wash, the Cubs should let it be known so we can proceed to Plan B which would be trying to find another piece of lumber in the shed. (No not our shed, the neighbor's). Whatever the case, it might take him till end of September to finally get his groove back. By then, it might be too late. Not to be a pessimist, but the make up of our team just doesn't seem like a well balanced enough squad to carry us to greener pastures. Yes, we are only 3.5 back and play STL and MIL 18 more times (12 in a row at home then the final 6 on road). I don't feel the same clubhouse togetherness as was present last year. I'm not giving up hope but surely we are better than what we have shown so far?

I never did see a response from Chad in the previous thread. Unlike many of you, I'm not interested in rubbing this in Chad's face (after a douchy turn two days ago taunting Chad for no good reason, I'm done). Instead, I'm just earnestly curious what his feelings are about the Sosa revelation. Both Chad and I have been regulars on TCR since (I think) that 2003 season and over that time, I've heard Chad's enthusiasm for his favorite active player turn from defense of his injuries, to defense of his falling performance, to refusal to accept allegations without concrete proof, and finally to what others have mentioned, an avowal that he will turn his back on his biggest baseball hero of this era if the rumors were ever substantiated. Full disclosure, Chad and I also play for the same team--and by that I mean we're both members of the Mosaic faith (not that other team you nimrods). That said, I see a number of ways Chad might react to this: 1) The most plausible reaction in my opinion is for Chad to say that this is still unsubstantiated rumor. He would have a point in that this is hearsay from an attorney who saw the list of 104 and is now leaking the name anonymously. Knowing Chad (as well as you can know someone on a sports blog over a span of years), all other reactions I believe are significantly less likely. Here are some other possibilities. 2) Chad rejects Sammy and all that he has done. 3) Chad feeling disappointed takes a break from TCR and we don't find out what he thinks. 4) Chad continues supporting Sammy, now saying the whole era was tainted and it isn't right to single any one player out (this one I believe highly improbable based on Chad's consistency about performance enhancing drugs being inexcusable cheating). 5) Chad refuses to comment. Despite what you might think, there's no snarkiness here. I really am interested in how this long-time TCR member reacts to these revelations about his hero.

Well I am a well known Sammy Sosa defender. I didn't jump on the bandwagon and accuse Sosa just based on looks and with no evidence. And out of all the athletes he had the least amount of evidence against him. I am just not really cool with the idea of blatantly accusing someone without proof and i believe in the idea of innocent until proven guilty. I am sad if this is the truth about Sosa and if it is, then i believe he deserves the same fate I have said about all people caught. Have their records erased from history, reset them to zero, deny them HOF entrance, treat them as a Pete Rose and banish them from baseball. I am not of the belief it is a who cares moment. Baseball's very foundation is its stats because in no other sport can you accurately compare players spread over such a long period of time. That is why Baseball and its stats are so revered. And if a player decides to take it upon himself to attain those records by enhancing their body illegaly then their legacy needs to be destroyed in the sport.

[ ]

In reply to by granolaCUB

I think using performanc enhancing drugs are way worse than anything Pete Rose did. You can argue till your blue in the face whether Rose bet on his team or against it and whether he made decisions to make them lose if he was betting against them. The athletes on these drugs, every day they stepped on the field they affected the outcomes of games. So if Pete Rose can be banned for life for destroying the integrity of the game i think baseball should come down on these athletes alot harder. You mess with the legacy of the game, MLB should have no problem destroying your legacy within the game.

[ ]

In reply to by Transmission

I'm not sure that is really a big deal. I mean if Rose's #5 starter is on the mound that day against the ace of the other team's, he probably doesn't place a bet. Do you think that would be some sort of revelation to the bookie? Hell, for all we know Rose was terrible at predicting when his team would win or lose. Maybe the bookies bet the opposite that he did!! I also don't think going for broke to win is a big deal either. We should punish a guy because he wants to win MORE than he normally would? We could say the same thing about a manager facing a manager he has a rivalry with, etc. But, I do worry about betting against his team. That creates a conflict of interest that bothers me.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

I disagree, Wisc. If Rose goes for broke on certain days, using his best relievers for example, he may limit his team's success on other days, days he didn't place bets. Saving his best talent for the days he makes his bets is not serving the competitive interests of his team. And that's a much more grievous offense than a player trying to make his performance better with drugs, legal or illegal. Also, I believe Rose has claimed to have bet on his team to win every day to defend against this point. I don't find that creditable.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

Sure, I see your point. My point is just this. What if Rose really HATES a fellow manager and would be willing to burn relievers to win that game? Maybe Lou manages differently against LaRussa because of their personal friendship and rivalry. What if someone from the other team talks shit in the papers and the manager really wants to beat that team at the expense of the team they play the following day? What if the manager promises a kid with cancer that he will win one for him today? Granted, I am deliberately stretching things here, but the point remains, there are a thousand reasons to want to win one game more than another - having money on the game just being one of them. We don't control them all. Granted, we can best control gambling, and I think the rules in place against it are fine, I just think the crime of putting money on your team to win pales in comparison to juicing for a decade so as to distort the record books of the great sport of baseball for EVER. In my opinion, Rose's crimes lie somewhere between personal screwups that tarnish mainly the player - like Fergie being caught with coke - to a guy like Bonds who leaves a major stain on the game. So I would have punished Rose, but not a life-time ban, and he should be in the Hall. He's been punished, the punishment has been great enough to act as a deterrent, and future generations will learn the lesson. Now it's time to move on. But all of that is just my two-cents.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

nah, it's pretty much a who cares moment....once you get into rewriting history, your on the slippery slope to hell because it's virtually impossible to know everyone who did and didn't.

Bonds isn't going to make the HOF, he's certainly not making any money from being the home run king and folks are smart enough to ignore most of the WWII players, they're smart enough to know that the steroid numbers aren't as impressive as they are at first glance.

The players made their money, the owners made their money, the writers and newspapers made their money...it's just time to move on and try to prevent it from happening again like the Black Sox scandal.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I'd be shocked if Bonds never makes it into the HOF.* Given enough time, PEDs won't be forgotten, but the emotions involved will be tempered. *I'm also of the opinion that PEDs aren't that big of a deal. The players were still working their asses off to get into top physical condition and no amount of steroids can help the amazing coordination involved in hitting a 95 mph fastball or 87 mph slider off the sweet spot of the bat. Plus, baseball's never been about pure mass/strength like football or powerlifting or something. Guys like Soriano generate tons of power mostly through their wrists and body torque, not by being able to bench press 400 pounds. I think PEDs helped the most by getting guys out of the trainer's room faster.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

No it's not satire. I just personally don't give a shit about PEDs. It's become this ridiculous issue for people to glom onto without ever actually thinking about it. Where's the outrage over Shawne Merriman? Dude got busted for steroids and made the Pro Bowl the same year. Why is baseball the one sport where people actually care about this? Because Barry Bonds was unlikeable? People get so high and mighty over steroids in baseball, and I personally don't really care. Pitchers doctor baseballs, Ty Cobb tried to shred middle infielders' knees with his spikes, and Babe Ruth never had to play against African-Americans. Baseball's full of asterisks, and I personally don't care that much about this one. I practically had a seizure every time Sosa came to the plate in 1998 just like I nearly shit myself when Hulk Hogan beat the traitorous Sgt Slaughter. I love those memories regardless of whatever they were pumping into their bodies. It's fucking entertainment, so get off the high horse.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

'...and no amount of steroids can help the amazing coordination involved in hitting a 95 mph fastball or 87 mph slider off the sweet spot of the bat.' Double D - I slightly disagree I'm not convinced that steroids would help the coordination part of hitting a fastball. I'm sure you have played before and realize how truly difficlut it is to hit an average speed fastball, let alone a heater. Steroids would help with how hard you hit the ball and the resulting distance or power in which you connected. Hitting the fastball and slider would be a timing thing - a talent (that differs from power) which would have been essential to enable a player to make it past the early stages of baseball development.

Soriano LF Theriot SS Bradley RF Lee 1B Soto C Johnson CF Fontenot 3B Miles 2B Dempster P

Podsednik LF Ramirez SS Dye RF Konerko 1B Piezynski C Anderson CF Getz 2B Beckman 3B Danks P Wow if Getz and Beckman were flipped both line ups would be LF, SS, RF, 1B, C, CF, 3B, 2B, P. I wonder how often teams use the same position order?

The 4th inning should be framed as the a momento of this super-terrific 2009 season. First and third, no outs, 4-5-6 RH hitters due up vs. a LH pitcher.....and they don't score. Fire Von Joshua!

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Each Cubs game is like the microcosm of the grieving process. 1. Before the game starts. "Today is the day the Cubs are finally going to get it going!" (Denial) 2. The first time they don't score a run with a guy on 2nd or 3rd and no outs. "Motherfucker!!" (Anger) 3. The starting pitcher tries to keep it close enough. "If they can just hold him here, the Cubs can score three runs in the 7th to 9th" (Bargaining) 4. The Closer comes in. "God, another freaking loss, this is pathetic." (Depression) 5. Game's over. "Well, it's only one loss." (Acceptance). Rinse/repeat.

Submitted by Stevens on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 10:35am. First I've heard of the Australian Academy. How long has that been around? A league-wide initiative or owned by just a few teams?

=================================================

STEVENS: The MLB Australian Academy Program is a consortium run by MLB, sort of like the Arizona Fall League. The main difference between the AFL and the MLBAAP is that all of the players in the AFL are under contract to an MLB club, while some of the players at the MLBAAP have already signed with an MLB club, while others are hoping to sign with somebody.

There is also an MLB European Academy in Italy, and that's where the Cubs found RHP Alessandro Maestri and 2B Dwayne Kemp. I believe MLB is trying to start one up in the People's Republic of China, too.

The Cubs have two Australian scouts who are also coaches at the MLBAAP, pitching coach Larry Home and hitting instructor Brent Phelan. (Both played college ball in the U. S.). LHP Cody Hams was a star high school cricket player (bowler) in South Australia who had never seen a baseball game, much less played in one. But a friend of his suggested he try baseball, and so Hams paid his own way to the MLBAAP and caught the eye of Larry Home, and Hams was signed to a Cubs contract by Home ($150,000 signing bonus). Then Hams was sent back to the MLBAAP the next year, but this time he was sponsored by the Cubs

At about the same time he signed Hams, Home signed RHP Adam Spencer, and Brent Phelan signed OF Sean Williams, and both Spencer and Williams were sent to the MLBAAP by the Cubs a year ago to begin their pro careers. (Hams, Spencer, and Williams are presently at Fitch Park and will be playing for the AZL Cubs this summer).

In addition, Korean SS Hak-Ju Lee was sent to the MLBAAP after he signed with the Cubs a year ago, and this year Taiwanese RHP Yao-Lin Wang and Korean OF Dong-Yub Kim have been assigned to the MLBAAP, probably because the Cubs were unable to get H2B visas for them on short notice. (In the years since 9/11, getting an H2B visa has become increasingly difficult and with longer delays, due to heightened security & background checks). 

Submitted by Raisin101 on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 12:30pm.
Thanks for the info, AZ Phil. Does that mean the Cubs don't value Martinez much as a prospect since they've loaned him out?

==============================

RAISIN: I don't think it's a negative reflection on Oswaldo Martinez that he was loaned to Reynosa. Martinez is a decent-enough prospect. He was VERY impressive (pre-TJS) with the AZL Cubs in 2007, and he's still only 20 years old.

I think the Cubs want to sign more Mexican players (perhaps Reynosa closer Alan Guerrero might be the next one?), and when they do, they will probably assign (loan) most of them to Reynosa (the Mexican League being Mexico's version of the DSL and VSL), instead of sending them to the DSL or the AZL. The big difference between the Mexican League and the DSL or the VSL is that the Mexican League has no age limit, so there are some really old players down there. You just don't see that in the DSL or VSL.

In the case of Martinez, loaning him to Reynosa was simply an alternative to assigning him to Extended Spring Training and then to Boise, and he got a lot more work at Reynosa than he would have gotten at EXST. Pitching in the starting rotation at Reynosa, Martinez has already logged 15 games (13 GS) and 57 IP (the Mexican League season started in March), and if you look at the box scores, you'll see he pitched really well in April, and then not very well in May, and then even worse in June. But if he had continued to pitch well through May into June (let's say), the Cubs might might have moved him to Peoria at mid-season. Now he'll probably stay at Reynosa all year, and then maybe pitch winter ball in the Mexican Pacific League.  . 

BTW, MLB lists the Mexican League as a "AAA" league, but it's really equivalent to somewhere between Peoria and Daytona. Many of the players in the Mexican League have spent several years there, and stay with the same club as they continue to develop. So there really isn't any league to compare it to, except maybe one of the U. S. independent minor leagues (Frontier League, Can-Am League, American Association, et al).

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).