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

Sgt Hulka says: It Only Hurts When You Laugh

 

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here. I'm gonna volunteer my leadership to this platoon. An army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe. And Sergeant Hulka isn't always gonna be here to be that big toe for us. I think that we owe a big round of applause to our newest, bestest buddy, and big toe... Sergeant Hulka."  (Cub fan, Bill Murray as John Winger, Stripes. 1981) 

 

This team needs a kick in the pants. Unfortunately, it won't be Ryan Dempster to administer the sorely needed swift one.  It's hard to do that when your foot hurts because you acted like a knucklehead tripping over a dugout fence and injuring your big toe. Accidents happen. Anyone with a broken toe knows how painful it is. Typically, they don't need an orthopod to treat this injury and the pain usually subsides in 1-3 weeks depending on how bad the toenail injury is. Of course, running and pitching may be a problem if swelling, which can persists for months, leads to problems wearing shoes. I just hope it doesn't lead to ruining his pitching mechanics and the ever dreaded career altering sore shoulder.

I can't recall an exact comparable injury but I did remember when Sammy Sosa had an infected right big toe nail and had the nail removed surgically back in 2003. He was on the DL from May 10th to May 30th (essentially 3 weeks). Unfortunately it's a little harder to assess how Sammy did upon his return because his corked bat episode happened 4 days later leading to an 8 game suspension.

It was quite the media feeding frenzy when the Dempster news broke. Here's how he 'splained the accident:

Sunday after the game, I was coming out of the dugout and I was stepping over the top of the railing and I caught my left foot on the rail as I was coming over," Dempster said. "It spun me around and slammed me into the ground. When I did it, I thought I ripped my nail back on my foot. Unfortunately, the result wasn't funny."

Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee was laughing when he saw Dempster's awkward fall.

"I'm sure it looked hysterical from his angle," Dempster said. "The unfortunate part is my foot, because of the way it hit, came down straight into the ground. My toenail was ripped back and bleeding."

The team knew the toe was injured (click this link only if you're not squeemish) but as of tuesday morning Dempster thought his ouchie would just need something to numb it so he could pitch but (as a good trainer should) they took an X-Ray which showed a hairline fracture. So tuesday became another day of roster scramble including making sure Carlos Zambrano was OK with pitching on 3 days rest.

When asked about an estimate of how long the injury should take to recover, manager Lou Piniella quoted his head trainer, Mark O'Neal who apparently told the skipper 3-4 weeks. Seems about right to me.

As a sidebar, according to WSCR's field reporter David Schuster, after the Dempster news the media bunch all went out to the dugout to reinact Demp's crime, CSI style. As Schuster tells, Tribune reporter Paul Sullivan was the media's fall guy and almost killed himself... but the entourage now believes that one could break something falling over the dugout fence. Ah, for a photo of Sully falling on his noggin in front of the dugout.


Geovanny Soto's ribcage injury while taking batting practice earlier today caused him to be pulled from the lineup and is being evaluated with an MRI. The muscles involved are called internal/external obliques which attach around the lower rib cage. It's an area in the body that isn't helped by much except for supportive treatment (mostly rest) and can take anything from a few days off up to a month. Cardinal all-everything Albert Pujols had an oblique injury leading to a DL stint in June 06. He was out from June 3rd to June 23rd (3 weeks).

Oddly enough, Ryan Dempster was on the 15 day DL with an oblique strain on June 26th, 2007. Rembering that Dempster was the team's closer in 2007, he was out of action from June 23rd until returning on July 21st (4 weeks).

As to planning for a Soto absence, I'll dredge up a recollection of the post Michael Barrett era. The Cubs went most of the summer of 2007 with the catching tandem of Koyie Hill and Rob Bowen. They did a nice job of catching and game-calling but couldn't hit a lick. Of course this year is different. "Not hitting a lick" seems to be the team modus operandi.

Treatment of oblique injuries includes not telling jokes around the injured player, cause it only hurts when...

Comments

George: "You know how the big toe is the captain of the toes, but sometimes the toe next to the big toe gets so big that there's a power struggle and the second toe assumes control of the foot." Jerry: "The coup de toe!"

Sorry, dudes, saying this again cuz I am fucking disgusted: I am a Cubs fan. I truly am. I have watched Andre Dawson run into the well and dig it out, and Sammy, too. I am not going to go into some old dude poetic thing. For me, it's really fucking simple. Hendry needs to go, because our outfield is the joke of the NL. Nobody can even field the fucking position, much less fucking hit. This is fucking ridiculous. I am beyond pissed. I don't even fucking watch this joke of a team any more.

Bruce Levine blog update on Soto: The injury is said to be in the soft tissue under the left side "love handle." It appears catching and throwing will not be a problem for Soto. The key for him returning to the field and staying off of the DL will be if he can swing the bat without pain and avoid reaggravating the injury. Infielder/outfielder Jake Fox, a converted catcher, could back up Koyie Hill over the weekend if Soto can't go. "I've got my gear ready," Fox told me after Wednesday's game. --- http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4315037&name=levine

Yes, everyone in the world knows Jake Fox is a defensive liability. And if you've been around TCR for more than 15 minutes you know I'm huge into defense. Still, I let Jake Fox back up Koyie Hill until Jake Fox's defense loses a game. Give the guy a chance. He's not the most athletic guy in the world, but he's beefy and willing to give you 100%.

close ending to the Stl/Milw game: bottom 8th, brewers take the lead on an infield single by Prince Fielder top 9th: Schumaker leads off with double off Trevor Hoffman (throwing mostly 73 mph changeups), Rasmus K'd, Pujols intentional BB, Ludwick pops up to Kendall who almost overran the ball and fell flat out backwards on his ass... two outs vs Duncan, 3-1 count then swing strike on a changeup before ball four and bags loaded. Molina grounds out to third, unassisted force. Final 5-4 Milwaukee

Phillies, Cardinals and Rangers all with "real" interest... from MLBTR link... According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals' interest in Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay is very real. Here's what Strauss tweeted just a moment ago: Asked about the price tag for Halladay, a club source said: "Give Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names."

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I also saw a story in the L.A. Times yesterday or the day before stating the Angels might have finally found a player they're willing to trade their prospects for. The article said they want an insurance policy on Lackey becoming a free agent. Halladay + NTC /= TEX

Halladay as this year's CC? Can't see it, but I can see Z going on short rest after the break. It's do or die, unless Jeff S can be Mr durable and earn that singing bonus money! But firs, my furry friends, we must find a way to pitch at Puo-joels' toes and seee how it feel to celebrate a win.

from the tribune... The matchups for the first two games of the Cubs-Cardinals showdown are Rich Harden vs. Chris Carpenter on Friday and Ted Lilly vs. Brad Thompson on Saturday. Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse will pitch in Sunday's day-night doubleheader, though the order was not announced. Randy Wells pitches Game 1, with Zambrano going in the nightcap.

"It's like driving to Wisconsin." "Sammy did upon his return because his corked bat episode happened 4 days later leading to an 8 game suspension" and more juiced then an East German woman shot putter. " tripping over a dugout fence " Rob G can you give this the Mamol photoshop treatment and put a gun in the kids hand pointing at Dempster, that way it looks like a little more macho of an injury.

Being mad about not being told you're not in the lineup (when you're usually told) is really dumb (telling the press is dumber), but it doesn't mean he's not a team player. Though I suppose one could argue that any time someone says something along the lines of what Soriano did say -- or that he needs to be told in the first place -- it means he's not all about the team. Complaining that he should be in the lineup over someone else (or coming right out and saying, "I refuse to bat anywhere but leadoff or else") would be a better example of that, IMHO.

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus on clairvoyance as well as Soto's injury: The first comment yesterday asking me about Soto came twelve minutes after Soto's injury, an apparent oblique strain. In that twelve minutes, Soto had been examined by the team's trainers, walked back to the training room, and as best I can tell was lying on his side with ice on his injury when I was asked what was wrong. I'm a reporter, not Miss Cleo, people. At this stage, I have neither contacts with info on this or context for what happened, the two things I rely on to do what I do. Soto injured himself on a normal batting-practice swing, and seemed to respond well afterwards. The mild strain will keep him out for a couple games, and with the All-Star break coming up, the Cubs might elect to let him rest through it with Koyie Hill handling most of the catching, with Jake Fox in reserve. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9206

and one more WC (Baseball Prospectus) update, this one on Mark DeRosa which sounds pretty pessimistic (est. 4-8 weeks) as DeRo's wrist injury apparently comps with what David Ortiz went thru last year (out 7 weeks): You wouldn't think that Mark DeRosa and David Ortiz would have much in common. Sure, they're both baseball players, but not similar in style or skill. I think both would rather that they didn't share a common injury, the torn tendon sheath in their wrist. It's one that is both painful and lingering, but DeRosa's not a power-only guy. Unlike Ortiz, he can go up there and be a bit slappy and still be effective. The wrist won't affect him in the field or on the bases, so this isn't as devastating an injury for him as it was last year for Ortiz. It's still not good, though and DeRosa is looking at anywhere from four to eight weeks off. (Ortiz was out seven weeks, for the record, and certainly affected the rest of the season.) I'd guess the low end of that, coming back in early August. Cards fans are already e-mailing asking if the trade can be voided; the answer is a simple 'no.' DeRosa doesn't seem to have any pre-existing indications, let alone the injury itself, and they passed him on his physical when accepting him. This is just bad luck on the Cards' part, and they'll just have to regroup around what looked like a great acquisition. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9193

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s a fantastic deal for SF

  • 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?