Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs May Seek Reliever...Hopefully One That Can Hit

Submitted by Rob G. on

What are you gonna say about last night's game? Rich Harden looked dominating for a second straight game and the offense looked maddening for the about the 60th time this year. There's not a lot of strategy to complain about when the Cubs couldn't even muster a hit. The Cubs need to try to punch through tonight with Carlos Zambrano on the mound versus Father Time to avoid the sweep.

According to Wittenmyer, the Cubs do have some limited payroll flexibility to add a "mid-level" player, but don't expect a run at Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee. Wittenmyer mentions relievers as the most obvious targets and throws out the names of George Sherrill and Chad Qualls. If Geovany Soto has any setbacks recovering from his oblique injury, a catcher will become the focus with Rod Barajas being mentioned.

Milton should be back in the lineup today after a few private hitting sessions with Lou. Lou says he needs to relax at the plate and then spends a few sentences throwing Hendry and Milton under the bus for not getting Raul Ibanez or a left-handed hitter that could actually hit a home run or two.

"The only thing I talked about last season was a need for a left- hand bat in a predominantly right-handed lineup who could hit the ball for power and drive in some runs," he said. "You look at our production last year and it was mainly from the right side.

"We didn't bring [ Jim] Edmonds back and Edmonds hit quite a few home runs, so we needed a left-handed bat. That's it. That was what I mentioned, that we could use a nice productive left-hand bat in the middle of our right-handed hitting."

Piniella paused for some time before finishing his thoughts and finally said:

"Look, we still need a left-hand bat who can hit for some power and drive in runs."

This is as much on Lou as Hendry...as well as Bradley. Fine, Lou wanted a run-producing bat from the left side and Bradley hasn't delivered and Hendry (so far) signed the wrong guy. How about stop being so stubborn and move Bradley from the middle of the order and put him in a spot that his current talents might be better suited for? While I still think he'll start hitting, right now he's nothing more than a guy that can take a walk, move him to the top of the order and let him set-up some guys who are hitting. And while you're complaining about hitting, how about getting Jake Fox a start behind the plate instead of Three-Finger Hill?

You know, I don't think managers are all that important to a team, it starts with the talent, but if there's anything a manager needs to do its to work with the talent he does have and give them the best chance to succeed, not force them into pre-conceived roles that they're not suited for.

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Cubs rumors

Comments

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 07:10 pm

". . . move him to the top of the order and let him set-up some guys who are hitting." Lee is 4 for his last 21, and Aramis is hitting .190 since his return, so I'm not sure who he would be setting up. If you have to play Bradley, then yes, he'll do the least harm batting second, where he'll draw a few walks. But there's something to be said for speed at the top of the order. You're already playing the OBP game with Fukudome at leadoff, where he has stolen zero bases. He's not a real leadoff man, any more than Bradley is a real number two. You'd rather not have either player. Fukudome, at least, is not a bum. He's almost tradeable, which is an improvement. It's conceivable that someone might want Fukudome for, say, six million a year, assuming the Cubs absorbed half his salary over the next two-plus years. Bradley and Soriano may not be worth a third of what they're getting, so you're not showcasing them. You're only putting them in the lineup to protect Jim Hendry. All the more reason to fire Hendry. Meanwhile, Lou is justified in complaining that he didn't get what he asked for and that his hands are tied, lineup-wise.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 07:48 pm

But there's something to be said for speed at the top of the order.

that something is that it's not that important...and Bradley can take an extra base which is all you really need. Lou don't call for the steal much anyway.

Lou is justified in complaining that he didn't get what he asked for and that his hands are tied, lineup-wise.

or he coud fill out a different lineup and not complain, just a thought...

Fuku, Bradley, Lee, Ramirez, Fox, Soriano, Fontenot, Theriot...

see not hard, then Bradley can do what he does which is control the strike zone w/o folks bitching about him not swinging at close pitches

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Submitted by MikeC on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 07:14 pm

Based on Bradleys career and this year Fuld could give Bradley a run for his money. I am not saying Fuld is good or deserves to be a starter its just Bradley is so god damn awful. Your talking about a career .820 OPS from Bradley coming off a career year at age 31. His career year was 22 HR and 77 RBI. Not a 40 HR, 120 RBI season, but a 22 HR, 77 RBI season. A league average OF in his career year. Didnt impress me then doesn't impress me now. If your brought in being billed as our teams huge offensive upgrade, you are batting in the middle of the lineup and all you have to show for it is a .242 average and 22 RBI, i think its time for his ass to take a seat and let Sam Fuld play. I think we can squeeze 22 RBI out of Sam Fuld from 227 AB's. Or even better let Fox play RF.

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Submitted by MikeC on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 07:20 pm

What blinders are those? RF is a prime run producing position right? At what point does a .240 BA and 22 RBI from the heart of the lineup disgust you? And i have blinders on because i believe Sam Fuld if given the same chances as Bradley could easily match those historic numbers? Its not a terribly difficult feat to accomplish what Bradley has done this season with any career minor leaguer. This idea that Bradley is going to suddenly, any day now morph into this massive offensive force knocking in runs left in right is still living in a fantasy world. He hasn't done it his entire career what makes you think he will start at age 31? I think most of you thought you were getting a 30 HR, 100 RBI RFer and are still waiting for that guy to show up. He has never even come close to a 100 RBI season and he isn't a major power hitter. He is an .800 OPS hitter who averages 50 RBI a year. Thats what we paid 30 million for. This isn't a guy who averages 30/100 coming off a career high of 50/150. He is a 13/50 coming off a 22/77. And your shocked he sucks? LoL.

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Submitted by big_lowitzki on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 07:30 pm

First, no one has said that a .240 BA or 21 RBI is good. Second, if you think that the first half of this season is more indicative of Bradley's ability than the rest of his career, then you sure aren't worth arguing with. Third, if you think that Sam Fuld will outproduce Bradley at the plate for the rest of the season, I think that is absurd. I never expected Bradley to put up a 30/100 year this year. But I did expect Bradley to play 120-130 games, and give the Cubs an OPS between 850-900. From 2003-2008, Bradley has had a line of: .295/.391/.488 OPS: .879. That is basically what I expected from him this year. And he has been a disappointment. Bradley hasn't had an OPS this low since 2002. And you are going to tell us that you expected that? Now that is worthy of laughing out loud.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 07:08 pm

you have some strange belief that Hendry is forcing roster moves and decisions on Lou, and that Lou is some poor simpleton that has to play all these overpriced FA's that Hendry stuck him with, when all Lou really wants to do is play the hot hitter.

I guess you just conveniently forgot that Lou left Seattle and Tampa because both organizations didn't spend enough to his liking and weren't committed to winning in his eyes. 

Lou may wanted a different player here or there (and the only one I can really think of is Ibanez, although Lou also said he's not really RF'er), but he's just as culpable for the spending spree as Hendry. No, he didn't sign the individual players, but he's said many times that he wanted an organization willing to put up the money to win and if you give him the players, he'll win with them.

 

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 07:43 am

My point about why Lou plays who he plays is simple and oft-repeated, if a bit lonely. The manager works for the team and part of his job is to protect the team's investment in high-priced players. At this point, I suspect the Cubs would love to pay another team $9 million/year for the next five years to take Soriano off their hands; plus $6 million per the next two years to take Fukudome; plus $5 million per two years to get rid of Bradley. Unfortunately, only Fukudome might be worth half what the Cubs are paying. Soriano's value and Bradley's value go down even further when they don't play. If they played and started hitting, their value would go up. So the manager is always tending to give them starts. Soriano, by the way, loses a lot of value batting sixth instead of first. Half of his value was the other "forty" in forty-forty. Never mind whether Soriano is really a leadoff hitter. Lou has to keep up the pretense. That's my take anyway. Hendry has tied Lou's hands. Otherwise Lou wouldn't complain, he would just play other people.

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 07:56 pm

I just spent a bit of time with Cot's baseball contracts and BR's batting-order splits. If Soriano settles into the #6 hole, he'll be the only $15+ million everyday player batting lower than fourth on a regular basis--with the possible exception of Ordonez, whose contract expires this year. At this point the Tigers have very little investment in Ordonez to protect. Even Andruw Jones usually hits cleanup. Most elite hitters hit fourth, while a few (Manny, Teixeira, Beltran and Helton) hit third. (Pujols makes less than $15 mil.) Michael Young usually hits second, and Ichiro and Jeter lead off. When Cub players are on a hotel elevator on the road, Soriano rides to the top. DLee and Aramis must wonder why the #6 hitter doesn't get off on the same floor they do.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 07:08 pm

Lou has to keep up the pretense. That's my take anyway. Hendry has tied Lou's hands. Otherwise Lou wouldn't complain, he would just play other people.

sorry for the yelling but, LOU ASKED FOR THE CUBS TO SIGN HIGH-PRICED PLAYERS!!!! HE TIED HIS OWN HANDS!

but yes, when you start shelling out big contracts, you do get stuck if those players underperform, I'm not arguing that. I'm arguing your claim that Lou isn't responsible for it or he would do something different if Hendry wasnt' forcing his hand (which Hendry isn't by the way). I really have no idea where you get that from...like Lou in the last year of his deal, in his suppose last managerial job would really give a crap about sitting someone if he wanted to. He plays Soriano and Bradley and a struggling Lee because he believes they will start hitting due to their track records and because he seems to be a bit of a stubborn ass this year.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 07:24 pm

Anyone else have an issue with Lou burning through 2 pinch hitters (Fontenot and Fox) when the Cubs are up 4 runs with a man on 3rd and no outs? Just doesn't seem like it's really necessary to do that to your bench and only backup catcher in that spot. Then again, this is also pretty nit-picky. -- edit -- I should also note the original PH scenario was for Jeff Baker, so it's not even like Lou was hitting for the pitcher. Does he really have so little confidence in Baker just putting the ball in play in that spot? I don't know, I'm confused. Also, I assume Blanco has to come in and play 2B now, and we're out of backup infielders. -- edit again -- By replacing Baker with Fontenot, Lou was essentially forcing them to go with Eyre. Normally I'd be cool with that, but we were destroying Durbin. Leaving Baker in there probably keeps Durbin in the game for at least one more batter. Can anyone tell I'm extremely bored and watching all of this on Gameday?

Submitted by Banks1954 on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 07:21 pm

Why Pinella can't find more at bats for Fox is perplexing - why not start him against a lefty? The offense today obviously did well, but if you're not going to give Fox a start against a lefty when your offense is pathetic, you can't complain about Hendry. Fox played catcher all through college and in his first few years in the minors - it's not like he's just learing the position.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).

    he will be reevaluated tomorrow.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB 

    Just a difference of opinion

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

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