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

Cubs Get a B.J.

The Cubs have signed recently released Toronto Blue Jays reliever B.J. Ryan, according to the Chicago Tribune. The article says he'll first report to Mesa and then Triple A Iowa before supposedly joining the Cubs at some point in the 2009 season.

I figured they'd sign him and rush Sean Marshall back into the rotation until Ryan Dempster was back, but it looks like the Cubs have another plan. Maybe when Ryan is set to join the major league club, they'll send Marshall down and have him stretch out in the minors getting ready for an inevitable injury. Or they'll just send Jeff Stevens or Jeff Samardzija down and go with two lefties. 

UPDATE: Bruce Levine says it's a one year minor league deal and he'll be working on building up his arm strength, so he might not be joining the Cubs any time soon. They could even be breeding him to try to return as closer for next season assuming Kevin Gregg leaves via free agency.

Comments

This actually intrigues me. The guy was good just last year. A change of scenery, with a new pitching coach, may help him make that minor adjustment to be a dominating, or at least good or decent, pitcher again. He was pretty good in June. And has been decent against lefties this year. Definitely well worth the risk.

great signing. he could be hurt but his numbers against lefties weren't horrible. at worst he'll be a real loogy.

I think it's a good move as well, even if he doesn't face a righty at all. The bullpen definitely needs some 6th and 7th inning support, and he's one guy who can potentially do that.

I forgot Option C... Lose Aaron Heilman at the airport...

from the last thread Johnson, Theriot, Bradley, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Baker, Hill, Harden.

Who are they going to breed him with so that the baby is ready to pitch next year, Mork?

I wish it were B.J. Surhoff. Still not a bad gamble, just don't expect anything and you won't be disappointed if he can't get it together.

mmm...useless. thank god it's a minor league deal. maybe he'll be up by september to throw 86mph fastballs with no control. i didn't know the deck chairs needed rearranging that badly...but at least it's low/no risk.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I don't think that Escobar or Guzman are really going to be that much better than Baker/Fontenaught in the 2nd half, assuming the idea is to move Theriot back to second. I wouldn't think the braves are too high on Hoffpauir, his bat seems to be a lot like Kotchmans', trading some power for some OBP.

ibid for what ya'll are saying. Wasn't Troy Percival out for a year with perhaps similar issues? He has had an excellent re-birth. Maybe the Cubs will get lucky with another reclamation project?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

troy wasnt throwing mid/high 80s with no control, though. i see very little upside to bj...that said, i see very little downside considering it's a minor league deal and it's highly likely he'll stay there until Sept. unless someone gets injured or he shows something.

from Randy Bush "What's great is that he wants to do it the right way -- he wants to go to Mesa, he wants to work on his delivery," Bush said. "He wants to get back to where he feels good about where he's at. When he's ready to go, that's when he'll go to Iowa."

Damn, I got all excited and thought the Rays had given up on Upton.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Sadly, yes. I am not going to google it for you, and I am not trying to imply that this particular one is a shared experience, but Perry Ferrel has got a story about a bad one.

Speaking of reclamation projects, Marmol has given up his hup-hup-pose (I call it mad dog, but it could be called walking dog). Although he walked Morgan, he picked him off in a crucial 8th inning moment. Now if we can get Sori to stop da hop.

Was Harden throwing a slider tonight? He struck out Zimmerman on a wicked-looking pitch in the first or second inning. It was timed at 88 mph on the TV radar gun. I didn't even know he throws that pitch. He's just two different pitchers, home and road.

[ ]

In reply to by Mitterwald

looked like he threw a few sliders early in the game to me...seems to be throwing them more often lately (which means he's actually throwing one again)

he was also sitting between 93-96 most of the game on the CSN gun...maybe the smell of free agency will inspire him the 2nd half.

Milty: "I'm gonna be hitting the whole second half. Um, starting tomorrow." What a complete tool.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

No, but it's just classic for a all-mouth tool to guarantee he's gonna hit, then go 0-for-5 and be the only starter not to reach base against a team that is 40 games below .500. Just shut up and hit, Milton. Don't worry, we'll notice.

I see this as a low-risk, high-potential move. His name still evokes memories of that lights-out closer he used to be; He's not that guy anymore, this is clear, but he's a veteran and knows what it takes to get back on track and could be the next effective Cub's loogy. They could even be breeding him to try to return as closer for next season assuming Kevin Gregg leaves via free agency. Thank god this is just speculation. This isn't going to happen.

I figured it was almost a certainty when I heard about it a few days ago. I'm just glad it's a minor league deal. I'm really glad he wants to "do it the right way" and "figure his delivery out", but I'm just not sure what there is to figure out. He doesn't throw 92 anymore. Draw your own conclusions as to why that is, but he just doesn't. He can't come inside to right-handers and he's gotten into a nice routine of hanging breaking balls. I'm not particularly optimistic that there's anything to figure out or fix. But, the good news is that if there isn't, he can learn that in Iowa instead of in a pennant race.

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

imo...there is nothing to figure out. he's thrown 1 way most of his life...an inverted L style of delivery kinda like the inverted W people like to pick on except he keeps his elbow on line or below the shoulder. he's shredded his elbow and had it patched, his shoulder is an on/off nagging thing...even with a healthy elbow it doesn't look like he's comfortable throwing the way he knows how. i would be pretty surprised if he changed anything now, but when you're throwing mid-80s and lacking clear control it's time to do something i guess. he's made a claim to "work on delivery" before, but he's never made it while going to A-ball to do it.

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).