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

TCR Tuesday Notes

I'll have to keep this brief...deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

- Another solid outing by Randy Wells, albeit against another poor offensive team. Of his 10 starts, only 3 have been against offenses currently in the top half of runs scored for their league (Brewers, Dodgers sans Manny and Indians sans DH). Of course, he pitched pretty well in those 3 starts, so I'm not really sure I have a point here. Besides Wells, the three scoreless innings by the bullpen were kind of neat to watch and it looks like a Sean Marshall/Angel Guzman 7th innning combo may help solidify the bullpen along with Marmol scrapping his Mike Fetters impression.

Wells did hit in the bottom of the sixth, and then was immediately lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 7th. This is nothing new for Lou, but now he has a 6-man bench. I somewhat understand the reasoning, as a pinch-hitter was due to lead-off for the Braves and Lou wanted to force Bobby Cox to burn a player, and indeed he did, putting in Gregor Blanco and then lifting him for Jeff Francouer when Lou went to Sean Marshall. Yet, I would have rather seen a pinch-hitter up there in a close game.

The other curious move is the slow de-evolution (is that a word?) of Lou Piniella into Don Baylor. It's becoming rather common for Lou to call the sacrifice bunt with Ryan Theriot early in games if the lead-off hitter gets on to start an inning. A strategy that I can only politely call...fucking ridiculous.

- Bruce Levine covers most of the days Cubs-related news of the day over at ESPN Chicago. It looks like the Cubs final sale price will be $850 million with Sam Zell and the Tribune forming a new partnership and retaining a 5-7% stake in the team, an elaborate plan to minimize Zell's capital gains tax hit. On top of that, the Ricketts were essentially forced to borrow $450M from three banks to finance the deal at interest rates between 5-6% (not bad), which means they'll need to come up with $25-30M to just cover the interest. Levine says the Cubs netted about $45M last year, so expect some creative ways to add revenue, such as personal seat licenses for season ticket holders (maybe, I'll get out of the 70,000 range on the waiting list).

- The same article says that Reed Johnson will bat lead-off when a lefty takes the mound, which doesn't look like it will happen until after the All-Star Break against the Washington Nationals. Alfonso Soriano begrudingly accepts the move down in the order on certain conditions.

''That's fine,'' Soriano said, ''as long as we play like we're playing. If the team hits better, and we start winning, that's fine.''

- Once the Ricketts do take over, they'll need to decide what to do with Wrigley Field, including a potential major upgrade to be done by 2014.

Known as Wrigley 2014, the plan calls for new concourses, washrooms, concessions, skyboxes and a club seating lounge.

Adjacent to the ballpark, the team would finally develop the so-called triangle building and turn the street in between into a Fenway Park-style pedestrian promenade bustling with shops and restaurants.

- For all the hand wringing about the Cubs so far this season, they're currently tied in the loss column with both the Brewers and Cardinals, a game out of second place and two out of first place. The Cards and Brewers face off for a three game set this week and then the Cubs play four against the Cards this weekend at Wrigley. The team run differential so far shows they're right about where they should be, as are the Cardinals and Brewers. The Reds 21-run loss last night hurt them dearly in the expected win-loss category, but looks like they were playing a little over their heads before that. The Pirates should be around .500 if not for a 5-12 record in one-run games. But as they continue to trade away their better players, that'll be tough to maintain. Here's hoping the return of Aramis and the rest of the bats starting to warm up, that they start to pound their opponents appropriately (that also sounded dirty).

UPDATE: An update on the sale from Crain's Chicago Business thanks to Cubnut . Zell has lined up a second offer led by Marc Utay that he will be presenting to the bankruptcy court. The deal is said to be for a higher purchase price but requires more financing and less money upfront. Great...let's drag this on a little longer. If the bankruptcy court has its say, they'd probably favor the Ricketts deal as they want as much money as soon as possible, but the owners could possibly favor the Utay deal and the higher purchase price which would up the value of their franchises. Zell and Trib would probably prefer the Utay deal if I understand this all correctly, as the more that is financed, the less Zell has to pay in taxes.

(tears hair out)

Comments

''That's fine,'' Soriano said, ''as long as we play like we're playing. If the team hits better, and we start winning, that's fine.'' But if we go back to stinking, I want my rightful place as the lead-off hitter back. I wish Bradley was a team player like me.

Crain's reporting that Tribune Company has lined up a deal with the Utay group and will be presenting both that and the Ricketts offer to the bankruptcy court. http://bit.ly/RGvDw

[ ]

In reply to by Cubnut

As I mentioned here a couple months ago, "Nothing new about this really. Ricketts was the top choice of the owners rather than Zell. But you have to have the owners on board to get the deal done so they went to the top of the list. Other bids were higher and as it's turning out probably more viable." It should be clear now that Utay's bid is as genuine as Ricketts', NOT just a PR move by Zell. Zell would prefer the Utay deal because (1) Zell wants the deal financed and (2)the $$ are bigger.

[ ]

In reply to by SJS

dueling stories then as that is the opposite of the Crain's story and previous reports on why the Ricketts offer was taken in the first place was because it was for more cash and less debt than the other offers.

I suppose we'll see...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I should know more about this, but can someone explain to me why there can be any other bidders at this point? I thought that the Ricketts just won out on the bidding when this was done over the winter. Also, in a short format, what is the next step once a bidder is choosen? Does it go to the bankruptcy court or the MLB first?

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

accoring to Levine in the link just below, major league baseball would look at the "contract draft" and could approve it by this weekend with a final 75% approval vote taking place in August (usually a formality).

Not sure when bankruptcy court would look at everything, but I'm guessing it takes some time to get that scheduled and for the most part would also be a formality, although I guess they now could have their say on which offer they prefer.

[ ]

In reply to by SJS

when they picked the Ricketts deal originally, the two parties entered an exclusive negotiating window (I believe 90 days) to complete the deal. It was not completed within that time period, so Trib could reopen talks which they did with the Utay group while still talking with the Ricketts. It's my understanding Trib preferred the Utay deal, but the Ricketts deal had a better chance of getting past the bankruptcy court and major leagues for approval.

Levine runs down the sale process here:

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4309203&name=levine

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

The Utay deal is likely just a failsafe incase MLB or the bankruptcy judge have an issue with the Ricketts deal and they dont want to make the changes. Just get this thing over with by October so we can spend cash in the off-season, its not like a big impact player is going to be avalible at the deadline.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

"Just get this thing over with by October so we can spend cash in the off-season . . ." I don't understand this sentiment. I just don't get it. What does a franchise have to do to prove to its fans that high-priced free agents tend to be bums? Once upon a time, the Braves had two players named Jones who were future hall-of-famers. One of them was allowed to become a free agent. Was he the real future hall-of-famer, or the bust/bum?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

That's true, and I'm sure there are other examples, including Lilly and DeRosa, but Hendry's streak right now is Soriano, Fukudome and Bradley, and Hendry is the one whose wallet people want to stuff with more dough. Maddux was always a keeper, as even the Cubs dimly perceived. Most teams would have held on to him. It's the bounce-around guys like Soriano and Bradley who are poison.

Actually, among pitchers in the NL with 50 innings or more, Wells is 34th out of 79 in difficulty of opponent OPS against (0.725), and he has faced the toughest hitters in comparison to the rest of the staff (although the differences are small - ~0.05 to -0.10 points of OPS). He's also 2nd in VORP among rookie pitchers after last night's outing. He's a pleasure to watch - mixing pitches and location and throwing strikes.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

No problem - you were more than clear about the hypothetical nature of your musings. In reality, Wells really does have it easy (as does everyone in the Senior Circuit): in comparison, the 34th toughest opposition OPS in the AL is .754.

Brett Jackson drove in the tying and winning runs last night with a triple in the bottom of the 7th. Boise 5-4 over Eugene.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

He has pitched very well, which isn't that much of a surprise since he's always pitched well in the first half. His career record before the all star break is 60-38, a .612 winning percentage, with a 4.16 era. In the second half he has a carer mark of 30-37, .448, with a 4.93 era. And he's in a contract year.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

He won 14 games, despite being left in by Larussa to take a shelling twice when the bullpen was exhausted. Those two outings raised his season era almost a full point. And despite his less than stellar reputation, he's 76-60 in the last 5 1/2 seasons.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

So it comes to a 5+ ERA and still lead the league in losses. The guys' been a free agent twice, and the first time he had a bad year. Concluding that he's having a good year this time because he's a free agent doesn't make any sense. The data you have on that indicates the exact opposite.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Well my bet that Marquis would have more wins than Marshall this year is looking pretty good. Marquis 11, Marshall 3. ^.^ A few people took me up on that. The thing is a lot of sinkerballers end up in Colorado or Arizona eventually and they usually do pretty well there. Especially for a workhorse like Marquis. He might fall off a little during the second half, but I don't think it will be anywhere near the dramatic falloff he usually has. Marshall on the other hand... you never know if you're going to get Johann Santana or Glendon Rusch. I did enjoy the two games in a row he appeared against the Tigers. In both games he came in just to face Granderson and struck him out on 3 pitches each time.

Just got back from the game down here in N'awlins. Shit game for the Cubs as they lost 4-1. Harldy anyone there as it rained early today and the first pitch was at 11.30a. Once the game started the rains had completely stopped. Sat near the Cubs bullpen and Jeff Stevens (saved last night's game) tossed the wife a ball so that was pretty cool. So Taguchi led off the game with a homer but that's about all they could muster against NOLA. 8 players got 1 hit each (including notibles Scales and Dubois). Casey Fossum started and was decent with 7 K's / 0 BB but had two tough innings back to back. Could have escaped the 4th with mininal or no damage but also misplayed a sacrifice bunt (hit given) and they wound up scoring 2 big runs. Here is the box: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t588&t=g_bo…

i'm getting word that dempster is going to the DL and Zambrano will pitch tonight. the extra silver lining is that means z will probably pitch against the cards on sunday.

WSCR is reporting that Dempster broke his big toe on his right foot and is headig to the DL retro to 7/3/09. Kevin Hart is on his way back to Chicago.

Wow, Z on 3 days rest. Didn't Demp take a hard grounder off his foot in his last start? Then again, I guess the Cubs would have known about it sooner if that were the case.

"by my count we don't need a 5th after the asb. i think he's retro'd to 7/3 so he could come off and be ready to pitch in the 4th slot." How quickly does a broken toe heal?

CUBSTER will be able to give more info on this, but as a middle-age guy, who is not a pitcher, broke my 4th toe two years ago and it still hurts. This can be a nagging, painful affair that can only take longer to heal when needing to push off. Since I have tickets for tomorrow's game expecting to see Z, I just threw up in my mouth. Hart is no replacement for Dempster. So now we will have two starters on the Defending Central Champs from AAA. Kevin Hart has been only completely shit every time I have been in attendance at Wrigley when he's pitched. I am really, really, bummed... FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!FUCK!

I wonder who will be starting wednesday then? The best guess I think would be Samardzjia. I know Hart has been stretched out as a starter at Iowa but I imagine his 2 weeks in the pen here have unstretched him a bit. Marshall is too vital of a cog in the bullpen to have him throw an emergency start. Harden would be on 3-days rest from his aborted start on Saturday, but his injury issues and his suckiness of late that is a bit dangerous. I guess they could do a BP game with Samarzjia and Hart going to 3 IP a piece and then hope you have a lead and let your the back end finish it. I believe we are at 39 on the 40-man so I guess Jay Jackson could always get a callup but that would start the arb clock and waste an option year which is stupid to do for 1 start

countdown until someone mentions Marquis and his MLB leading win total....3....2....1.....

This is a really, really bad thing. There is no easy solution here, imo, and, trading with many teams in the race PLUS the Cubs situation just is not going to happen. Wasn't Heilman (ducks from CUBSTER) vying for a starter's spot in ST? I'm not advocating, just grasping... Very bad...

from twitter: @dat_cubfan_dave Unconfirmed reports are that Demp broke his toe jumping over the dugout railing after #Cubs win. Call it the Gatorade machine's revenge.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.