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

Independence Day Weekend Open Thread

Brewers vs. Cubs

I'm taking the weekend off from TCR to spend some much needed time with the family, although I probably will be around parachat for some of the games. We did have a decent chat crowd last night for the opener which always makes it more fun.

....Neal Cotts had Tommy John Surgery.

....Alfonso Soriano will be back at leadoff and left field today.

...Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Angel Guzman should be back Monday, goodbye Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld and ? (I assume one of Fox, Hoffpauir or Fontenot). Honestly, that Jeff Baker trade is making no sense. I assumed Ryan Freel was going to be the casualty of Aramis returning, but the Cubs created a bigger log jam with the acquisition. There's no doubt that Fox is hot and can handle major league pitching and while he sure hasn't been smooth in the field, he's made the plays so far. Ramirez isn't going to be able to play every day, so wouldn't you want Fox around on those days that he can't play and to give Bradley and Soriano some breaks (a lot more breaks)? I could see Fontenot getting sent down as he's just stunk up the joint, particularly over the last month, but that means committing to a Blanco/Baker second base platoon and having only three middle infielders which Lou doesn't seem to like.  I think Blanco is safe by virtue of being the only capable back-up shortstop on the team, safe at least until Aaron Miles returns.

I guess the answers will come Monday...Happy 4th!

Comments

Another roster move option is a DL stint for Soriano if the 2 days off dont do any good for him. I think its pretty obvious that leg injury he has been nursing isnt helping with his sitution even if it isnt the cause of it. I guess if Bradley doesnt produce this weekend he could be the next DL stint for anxiety in MLB. Unless Fonenot has a couple multi-hit games he is going back to Iowa as Blanco is safe (unless they trust Fonty to back up SS). I imagine they could always go down to 11 pitchers but that hasnt happened under Pinella.

With Fuld producing in the leadoff spot, it is stupid to take him out of there if he is playing and the postgame show on CSN hinted that he will be playing CF today. With Fuld on the roster the excuse that there is no typical leadoff hitter on the roster is now gone, so either Lou, Sori, or both of them are stubborn about him being there.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 11:03am.
Vitters got two singles and Carpenter didn't give up any runs in his first game in Daytona yesterday.

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

REAL NEAL: 9th round pick C-1B-DH Richard Jones (The Citadel) is a big-time left-handed power-hitter. Jones jacked two home runs in his pro debut at Fitch Park Wednesday night, and if you have been to Fitch and know what a huge park it is, it is really an amazing acomplishment to do what Jones did.

Also, #1 pick CF Brett Jackson is playing for the AZL Cubs for a while before he gets moved up to Boise. I would think Richard Jones will probably go with him.

And 12th round pick OF Runey Davis (played this past season for national JC champ Howard JC after leaving the University of Texas) and 7th round pick IF-OF Blair Springfield (MacArthur HS - Decatur, IL) are also playing for the AZL Cubs.

Apparently, Fuld NOT starting. I like Blanco. A lot. He is consistent in the field, and certainly can make the spectacular plays. However, he looked just horrible at the plate last night swinging at pitches nearly hitting his foot. Really Soriano-like. It won't be long until the league realizes he cannot hit breaking balls well, as Bren. mentioned last night. I hope he sticks. If you compare him to Cedeno (now hitting .126 I think with Seattle), it is an upgrade, imo.

I still can't figure out why Derrek Lee is still a Cub. Why do the Cubs keep playing him every day? Ohh thats right its now Soriano's turn to get the Dlee treatment. Time to bench/release/trade him cuz he is worthless and Sam Fuld can do a better job. ThEEEE Sam Fuld of 14 career AB's.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 11:47am.

Thanks AZ Phil,

Have you got to see this Jones kid catch yet or heard the scuttlebutt on him playing that position? Think the writeup on the draft called him a good hit no field guy, but is that correctable or is he a first basemen?

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

REAL NEAL: It's hard to draw any conclusions so far about Richard Jones remaining a catcher, but if he can stay back there, he would just have to be passably-mediocre because he has plus-power. Or to put it another way, if he was just a 1B-DH type, he'd still have a good shot to make it.

The Cubs got themselves a top pitching prospect (who can also hit, BTW) in the 9th round last year (RHP Jay Jackson out of Furman, who I rank as the Cubs #2 prospect), and it looks like they may have done it again in the 9th round this year, but this time they got a bat.

Interesting that Furman and The Citadel are both in the Southern Conference. They apparently develop some pretty good baseball personnel down there...

2008 11th round pick RHP Toby Matchulat (Wabash Valley JC) has pitched lights out so far for the AZL Cubs (11 scoreless innings) and should be ready for a promotion to Boise, if not to Peoria. Matchulat couldn't hit the broad side of a barn last year, but he has revamped his delivery and altered his arm slot (kudos to Mark Riggins and Rick Tronerud) and has really got it together.

Matchulat, LHP Melvin Vasquez, and RHP Dionis Nunez were battling for the last slot at Boise at the end of EXST, and Nunez won (and he has pitched well so far at Boise), but Matchulat is way too good to remain at Fitch Park.

DFA 2b/3b/SS/OF Russ Adams...don't tell Hendry.

CUBS STILL UNDEFEATED IN JULY!!! tough call to end the game for brewers, it looked just high, but we'd be going nuts if that call went against the cubs.

pitched really well and got of that jam created by Bradley losing the ball in the sun and the phantom HBP.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Everybody pitched well... at the end of the season someone will look at this and say that Zambrano had tough luck because he didn't get a win when he only gave up a run in 7 innings... With that accordion strike zone and the win blowing in it wasn't that hard pitching.

I think we should put Soriano at second. I know it's a terrible idea and he's a butcher etc, but it would be a nice thing to try until Fuld either proves himself or fizzles out (or until KFuk short circuits and Fuld can get some time in center). It might make it easier to replace him with Blanco late in the game due to his treacherous defense Fuld - 7 Theriot - 6 Lee - 3 Ramirez - 5 Bradley - 9 Sori - 4 Soto - 2 Fuku/Reed P Bench LHPH: Hoffpauir RHPH: Fox Hill Blanco Reed/Fuku Fontenot to AAA, I dunno about Baker

i just watched the highlights and boy did Fonty do everything he could to lose that game. he gets doubled off of second and then doesn't score on z's single. it was a bloop, sure, but there was no way cameron was getting that ball.

Since I'm not in the local Chicago viewing area, I followed the game on the computer. Were the HBPs of Fielder and Lee early in the game really accidental, kind of accidental, or pretty much not accidental? Also, it did seem that the strike zone was kind of mobile today.

The Houston-SF game is a fun one if a) you're a fan of watching the Astro's get clobbered and/or b) you're a fan of Pablo "The Fat" Sandoval. I fall into both categories.

Reed Johnson and Aramis Ramirez both seemed to play well at Peoria in the first game of their rehab assignments. Ramirez hit a double, so that's encouraging. It will be REALLY interesting to see what happens with upcoming roster crunch.

Maybe the roster crunch is going to be solved with a trade. There is some pitching depth and a lot of spare parts bouncing around. If we could end up with a major-league-average 2B in exchange for our odds 'n ends, the lineup starts looking pretty solid.

[ ]

In reply to by H_Vaughn

Since you brought it up, The major league average OPS for second basemen is .769 Guess which AL team is posting this line at 2B -- and name their primary second bagger .274 .348 .422 .769 * Mark DeRosa's line -- looks like an average MLB 2B'er to me .261 .334 .443 .777 Mike Fontenot's career line --- still looks pretty average .270 .349 .427 .776 Chicago Cubs' 2009 2B line -- woeful! 28th/30 in MLB .216 .271 .286 .557 .. .. .. .. ... ... .... .... * Baltimore Orioles -- Brian Roberts

Bradley RBI watch: still stuck on 17 On pace for 42 RBI Neifi "Saved us" Season: 54 RBI Can Bradley save the Cubs season and outduel the great Neifi Perez? Stay turned as we watch our off-season middle of the order juggernaught chase history.

What up Cub Nation? Happy 4th. I am a Chi transplant and now living in NOLA. I will be heading out to at least 2 of the 4 Iowa Cubs games this weekend - Tuesday for sure. If anyone is around and wants to talk Cubs or needs any info about the city let me know and will try and help out best I can. Have a safe holiday all.

well we don't have to hear about bradley's RBIs or an arguement about things lost in the sun. seems we have bigger issues or something...sup harden...sup soriano...sup bullpen

wow...they're trying to do things to sori's stance. granted...after about 250ab's of crap it's time to try something, but he hasn't tweaked his stance in a loooooong time. it doesn't seem major, but i've never seen him "relax/wait" on his trailing leg in the box. ---- Manager Lou Piniella wants Soriano to narrow his stance and “get a little weight on his backside so he can sit on (the pitch) a little longer." ---- they're not trying to move him back in the box, evidently. the guy's never been able to see breaking stuff, he sits in the front of the box trying to hit them before they break...so i dunno if moving him back in the box is even an option. ...also fuku is supposedly gonna be leading off for a while (with fuld/reed spelling i'd imagine) for the forseeable future.

On a cloudy day, Cubbers watching the game with $100's 90% tinted glasses... That shows you how far we have fallen. Even Len had to boo the fan who couldn't see out of them. ...then there was Chet Koppeck in his short shorts...ugh... did the Cubs win today?

Todays game is fairly crucial...taking 3 out of 4 from the Brewers means that their is still hope. Splitting the series leaves alot of questions, but isn't a total disaster. I want to at least be 3 games or less back from the Cardinals for next weekends series.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Fuku CF, Riot SS, Lee 1B, Bradley RF, Fox 3B, Soriano LF, Soto C, Fontenot 2B, Lilly P Much improved lineup at home except for the black hole batting sixth. At home: Fukudome .374 OBP Theriot .360 OBP Lee .372 OBP .308 AVG .592 SLG Bradley .417 OBP .315 AVG .522 SLG Fox insufficient data rearranging the final four: Soto -- A good argument could be made that Soto belongs on the All-Star team. Believe it or not, Geo leads all Qualified NL catchers in OPS at the moment. Fontenot (6/15 the last week) has not been a liability recently Soriano (2/20 the last week) just leave him here and forget about him P

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

I haven't seen the final tallies, but, upon checking the current tallies on ESPN, I am firmly of the opinion that voting needs to be taken out of the hands of fans. It is absolutely ridiculous, because A) fans are stupid and vote for their favorites (eg Soriano, Hamilton) and B) small market players have no shot (eg Justin Upton, Scutaro, whoever). The All Star game is a fucking joke if it determines WS home field advantage AND it isn't represented by the best players that year. [Edit] Also Pablo should have been in the mix.

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

That's my thing, too. Either pick one or the other. If you want it to mean something, let the managers, players, or even some stupid suits in NYC pick the most deserving players and then go play. The other option is to let the fans jerk themselves off for 2 months and then play an exhibition. I still can't see how it's a good idea to have it both ways. Although, 2/3 of the NL starting OF isn't even going to play. So it's pretty likely that Justin Upton and Hawpe will start, anyway.

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

The biggest snub in the NL was Reynolds not making it because Manuel went with his own guy (Howard) for his manager's pick. That is why I think the managers picking the starters would be as bad as the fans as they would go with their own guys as much as the fans do. The best way to pick the starters is to divide the vote in fourths. With the fans, the players, beat reporters and broadcast teams and the manager all having equal say.

has to stay in the lineup after A-Ram comes back. Soriano and Bradley can take a seat to get him in the lineup, at least until opposing pitchers figure him out, if they ever do. That might mean that Hoffpauir has to be sent down, though. Frankly, I could do without Baker and I see no need to ever call up Aaron Miles.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

I'd rather just sit Soriano and/or Bradley (or preferably DL one or both of them). It's not like Soriano is hitting much better than Fontenot anyway. Fontenot's swing has looked better the past few days. Actually, Bradley appears to be coming around and is posting an adequate OBP if nothing else, and Fuki has shown signs of life. But Soriano looks as awful as he's ever looked.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

I guess we have to plan on Soriano playing basically everyday, even if it takes him forever to come around. Given that he's in the lineup, him at second would let Fox keep on hitting. It won't happen, of course. With Bradley, Fuku, and Fonty all starting to come around at once it makes for a tough roster decision. I think it will be Fuld, Hoffpauir and Hart down.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

aside from middle IF and C this team has starters locked in for another year (d.lee) and 2+ for most. should be an interesting offseason with the excess talent (or a vet) going somewhere...if they're not shifted in the next few weeks.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

But only 1 reliever is coming back from the DL and you have 2 relievers going down. I guess it's conceivable to have a 11-person pitching staff but standard operating procedure these days is to carry 12 pitchers isn't it? My guess: Fuld, Ninja, and Fox But what I would do... Fuld, Ninja, and Fontenot Interesting that Blanco is listed above Fontenot at 2B on the Cubs.com depth chart. Gives me a little more hope that Andy White sticks around... though I would swap Riot & Blanco because I think Riot does less damage at 2B. Either way the team gets a ton better tomorrow, whether A-Ram hits for power or not by virtue of them having a legit starting third baseman take the field.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Interesting that Blanco is listed above Fontenot at 2B on the Cubs.com depth chart. Gives me a little more hope that Andy White sticks around The Cubs don't maintain Cubs.com, so they don't maintain the depth chart. In other words, the depth chart on Cubs.com doesn't tell us anything.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

When you say 'legit' are you talking about as a 9th inning defensive replacement, or as a spot starter? There's nothing about Blanco's 340 ML PA's that point to him being a legitimate ML player, nor in his minor league career really. To put it in context: OPS+ Pie 60 Cedeno 59 Blanco 55

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

With all due respect... Fontenot's bat will win about as many games as Blanco's bat. Fuck their bats. Get our multi-million dollar batters to hit the damn ball and it doesn't matter if Blanco goes 0-for for the rest of the season. Last week Fontenot booted a completely routine and easy grounder to second base. They ended up getting out of the inning easily, but what if that were an important play in an important game? It's baseball, folks, find some guys that can catch a baseball and throw the baseball. I'm pretty damn sick of this little league b.s. where the ball gets booted around the field. And no I haven't seen either one of their stats, I don't know Blanco's batting average and I don't care.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Mike Fontenot has one error at 2b this year. His defense at 2b has hardly been a problem. I agree with you that Blanco is very good defensive. But I would argue that Fontenot is also at least decent, if not good, defensively at 2b. And using one play as an example of why he sucks defensively is silly. Even Derrek Lee makes the occasional error on a routine play.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

It's not silly. This isn't the Pacific Coast League, it the big leagues and you make routine plays. And you cite only one error at 2B when he's played at 3B most of the season. The thing is, on a scale of 1-10, the level of difficulty on that particular play was probably a 2. Look, I know we all get warm and fuzzies with Fontenot and that's fine... I'm just saying I prefer Blanco. I hope Blanco is our starting 2B. Fontenot might be an effective bat off the bench, though. He has some surprising pop.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

It's not silly. Yea it is. Every major league baseball player makes mistakes, sometimes on routine plays. Even some of the best defensive players (such as Derrek Lee) will drop the occasional ball or make an occasional bad throw. It happens. I am sure it has has even happened to Blanco. And you cite only one error at 2B when he's played at 3B most of the season. Sure... but he has still played more innings at 2b than Blanco. By the way, I know that you don't want facts to get in the way, but Blanco and Fontenot basically have identical fielding %'s - .988 and .987 respectively. Blanco does have better range though. Look, I know we all get warm and fuzzies with Fontenot and that's fine We do? Speak for yourself. I get no warm fuzzies with Fontenot. Look... I like Blanco's defense. I really do. But Blanco has a career minor league OPS of 635. That is just plain awful. I think that we could all probably agree that Blanco is better defensively than Fontenot. But I would argue that Fontenot brings A LOT more to the plate (literally) than Blanco does, and more than makes up for the slight difference in defense.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Well then I've never seen so much argument between two people that agree: Fontenot is the better bat and Blanco is the better defender. I'm saying that defense matters. Get the big bats to earn their paychecks and hit the damn ball and it doesn't matter who you have playing second... in that case I take the better defender and don't think twice about it. And I know ol' Dave must be struggling if he's pulling out Fielding Percentages... so let's just agree to disagree... or agree... or whatever the hell is going on.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I agree that defense matters. And I am using fielding %'s because you want to refer to one individual error. I just don't think that Blanco's defense is that much better than Fontenot to justify Blanco playing everyday over Fontenot. But I think that we are arguing about which mediocre (at best) player is better, and it probably doesn't make much of a difference either way at this point.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

During one of the games this week they said they would try to go with 11 pitchers to the all-star break and, then get the guys some rest and go with 11 for a bit after that as well. It all depends on how well the starters do, of course.

my roster guesses are: Soriano to the DL for that leg injury he has been nursing. Fuld and Hart optioned to Iowa. It looks like Soriano needs a break and with the all-star break its really only a 11-day stint. All of the other guys who have struggled this season have started to turn it around except him. They should take advantage of the role that Fox is on and put him in LF until Soriano comes back.

my best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw patton slip on a banana peel outside of wrigley field last night. i guess it's pretty serious.

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).