Cubs MLB Roster

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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

Free Fallin'

Tail spin

Thanks to our pal Tim at Cubby Blue for the animation...

I ask, can anything save the Cubs season at this point?

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Comments

I ask, can anything save the Cubs season at this point? YES. Save the cheerleader, save the Cubs.

1. Fire Hendry; give the new GM the option to keep Pinella or not. 2. DFA Miles and Baker (and Reed Johnson) to give younger guys a chance to play; hang on to Gregg/Harden for possible draft pick compensation 3. If Sori won't pass thru waivers, then dump him on the claimer 4. Wells shouldn't pitch more than another 20 innings this season; shut him down after that. 5. Let Samninja start every fifth day for the rest of the year; if he doesn't show you anything by getting MLB hitters out with a subpar repertoire, DFA in October and stop blocking potentially real prospects with a waste of a roster spot. 6. Can Marmol close? If the Cubs can get another 3-4 save opportunities this year, time to find out. 7. Let Theriot get comfortable at 2B again and start figuring out a real solution at SS. 2B has been an offensive void all year for the Cubs - I'd rather have Theriot playing there and a premiere defender at SS if they can't solve how to get hits from that spot in the lineup. Those would be some of my first steps to save the season, by which I mean 2010. I would give the team six more games from today to pick up at least two games in the division or wild card; if it doesn't happen, move on and do the dirty work.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

Just in case you didn't know. Samardzija's last start before the game against Philly on August 12th was June 26th. Last night he pitched 4 innings gave up zero runs one hit 2 walks and three strike outs. He was limited to 60 pitches since his return to triple A. I think he pitched 58 pitches not sure. The thing with Samardzija is the Cubs need to decide what they really what him to do. If they want him to be a starter then leave him alone until he is fully ready. If they want him in the pen then keep him there. He can bring the heat and help the team like he did last year. C'mon they need to make up their minds.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

Having trouble with this one, please run it by me again. DFA the guy with the .942 OPS (139 OPS+) to clear the spot for Theriot of the 95 OPS+? Then bring in who to play shortstop? Also Wells isn't some 21 year old kid straight up from AA. He's a year younger than Harden and two younger than Zambrano. Let him pitch as much as he is comfortable with.

1. I agree that Hendry has to go, but won't that have to wait till ownership is in place? 2. Johnson, too? I'd like to see him around next year. 3. We are stuck with him. Get used to it. 4. Agreed. 5. Are we close to giving up on the Shark already? He was sort of rushed to the majors, so he's owed a bit more time. I don't think we know what we have yet, certainly not enough to do something that extreme. 6. Agreed. 7. Agreed. We should also shut down ARam and see what Fox can do.

Remember when we won 97 games last year? 1. Hendry should not go. He should be forced to sell beer in the stands during weekend games and work with the grounds crew during the week. All of his earnings should then be donated toward a fund to help pay Soriano's contract. 2. Johnson should stay. He is an excellent off the bench defensive option for when Soriano and Bradley get hurt. We all know they will get hurt. We need back up options. 3. This one makes me sick. I don't want to talk about it. My therapist recommends I avoid this topic. 4. Randy Wells is the bright spot of this year. Let's hope he doesn't go all "Rich Hill" on us next year. 5. Too early to tell on Samardzija. He has shown some positive signs. They need some depth for the bullpen so they can give him a full year starting in AAA. He needs to learn how to pitch. 6. Shutting down Aram is a good idea if we are out 6 or 7 games in September. 7. I like the Theriot to 2nd/new SS idea. 8. Remember when Soto was good?

[ ]

In reply to by DJH

1)Hendry should not go. He hould be forced to watch with the rest of us. 2)Johnson is good off the bench...Baker is the Cubs hottest hitter..Miles don't let the door hit you on the ass. 3)Not going there 4)Agreed..let Wells have a few more starts then shut him down. 5)Samardzija has shown positive signs...I am positive he needs more time in AAA...like 3-6 seasons. 6)Play Fox at 3B 7)I'd like to see who is playing SS first.. 8)Soto...he had a good season in 2008..

[ ]

In reply to by DJH

6. Only do this if there is some clear value to it. Just shutting him down because he was hurt earlier in the year isn't a good enough reason. If he is hurting and pain is lingering, fine, but you can't just shut down your best players because the playoffs are out of reach. Adam Dunn would have been sitting since June. 7. I do too! 8. Vaguely

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

If Aramis is going to need corrective surgury, now is the time to do it. Last thing we need is to do is wait til the offseason and watch him miss April 2010. Ala Kerry Wood in 2005

Unrelated to silly ideas such as DFAing Samardzija, but amid all the bad news from the Cubs in the past couple of weeks, Kosuku Fukudome has continued to hit well. Which has, strangely, caused navigator to forget to update us on his downward spiral.

For the record, I'm pretty sure I suggested putting Samardzija into the rotation, which is about the exact opposite of DFAing him. He can still get 6-8 starts this year to show what he can do.

The only thing that keeps me going these days about baseball is watching what the kids are doing in the minor leagues. Lets see what they can do in the final month and sit most of the the "irregulars". Cliffy

"I would give the team six more games from today to pick up at least two games in the division or wild card; if it doesn't happen, move on and do the dirty work." If we didn't have a GM desperately trying to hold onto his job in the face of new ownership, I'd agree with this strategy - but it ain't gonna happen. Shades of Larry Himes and Ed Lynch.

[ ]

In reply to by Dmac

Exhibit A of this happening "Omar Minaya version" June 27, 2002: Bartolo Colon Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Tim Drew to the Montreal Expos for Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Lee Stevens. OUCH!

When do you call it a season and start auditions for next year? I would say lets see what happens with the Dodgers series. If it's as bad as it should be then call it a year. I'll keep watching the games, though, because before you know it, it will be winter and we'll all be missing baseball dearly.

What scares me the most about this, is the thought that we might trade Vitter,Castro and Jay Jackson for a Heath Bell or Chad Qualls.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Not improving the team so they can reach the playoffs because you want to hold on to some guys that may or may not be good five years from now is equally scary, imo. I'm not trying to start shit, I respect you and what you're saying and it's valid... I just think sometimes people put too much stock in prospects.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I totally agree that people put too much stock in prospects. Jim Hendry seems to do just that much of the time. I'm saying it more of a "Know when to hold em, Know when to fold em" type of logic. Example Not getting Brian Roberts because you don't want to part with Felix Pie = Not playing your hand very well Getting Rich Harden last year with prospects = much better use of your system Closers are WAY overrated to get anyway. Heath Bell was a scrap-heap pickup 2 years ago.

Bell was a dominate bullpen arm in 2007 and hasn't looked back since. What really hurt this team was last year we had a kick ass bullpen. The most mind boggling move was not letting Kerry Wood walk or trading DeRosa, it was giving away Michael Wuertz for peanuts when he was this teams most reliable bullpen arm since 2005. He may have worked through some troubles last year but it certainly didn't warrant the franchise to just give him away. Oak stats - 57ip, 16 BB, 73 SO, 3.16 ERA. That move alone Hendry deserves to be fired on, but its also the least talked about or known of his mis-adventures this past off-season.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

I railed against this offseason's moves as they were happening. We got worse with literally EVERY move that was made. Marquis - Sold Low Pie - Sold low Cedeno - Sold low Hill - Sold low Wuertz - Sold low Wood - No Arbitration compensation Dempster - Payed full retail Bradley - Outbid ourselves above and beyond full retail Gregg - Not a terrible move at the time, especially with Wood compensation picks DeRosa - Made no sense at the time for a contender Miles - Ugh, Why give this guy 1/2 the money you saved on Dero?

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I get it, Big, my numbers are meaningless and yours are full of meaning. If you say so. Why do pitchers get wins and losses? Because that is how they have done it traditionally. And pitcher wins/losses are also flawed stats, and don't tell us a lot about the quality of a pitcher's performance. In hockey, with free substitution, they grade players by goals scored, for and against, in those minutes that they are on the ice. Are those grades meaningless? We are not talking about hockey, so I am not sure what your point is. Nor do I care to argue about hockey stats, as I don't follow the sport enough to know what I am talking about with it.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

I talk about Wuertz frequently, as a reminder that Dr. Frankenstein is still the pitching coach of the Cubs. Larry Rothschild created the Michael Wuertz who had to be shipped to Iowa for most of July and all of August last year. It's not surprising that Wuertz is pitching well this year. Oakland is far away. Pitchers who have been around Rothschild a while frequently return to the minors, I guess to get a second opinion concerning whatever mechanical problem has been stumping Rothschild. It happened to Cotts this year. It happened to Hill last year. Yesterday, Real Neal suggested that Marmol belongs at Daytona. And Zambrano often looks like he could use some remedial training, doesn't he? Get a competent pitching coach. The Cubs biggest problems right now are Soriano's contract and Rothschild's effect on younger arms. Maybe the new owner has a plan for what to do about Soriano, maybe not, but the Rothschild problem is easy to fix.

Good point about prospects, but I would much rather have ARAM sit down and see what Fox can do out there - granted, it may look pretty ugly at times, but the guy can still rake. I also hope that they sit down Wells by Sept. 1st, if not sooner. He looks to be fairly tired out there, someone take the hint and please shut him down.

Whats the deal with people wanting Aram to sit so Fox can play?

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

Because we want ARam to be fully healthy for 2010, and we want to see what Fox can do given the opportunity to play everyday rather than 1-2 games/week. I'd also let Fuld play everyday somewhere in the outfield (just alternate sitting Soriano and Bradley, with KFuk moving to RF on the days Bradley sits). Tryouts for the 2010 squad began Monday night with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

Nevermind the fact that unless your going in for surgery or a young prospect, shutting you down for the last month of the season is almost unheard of. Teams pay alot of money for their players and they are not going to just shut down an All-Star talent so they can let a career minor league have some playing time. Thats not how you treat your baseball players. 2nd of all, say we did shut down Ramirez and played Jake Fox at 3rd and then what? He isn't going to play 3rd, or 1b next year so it really doesn't help us at all. Managing a team in a fantasy world you can do all that crap. Managing people in real life is an entirely different manner. And now were back to THEEEEE great Sam Fuld getting more playing time. He is a sub .300 minor league hitter with no power and little speed. He is the Ryan Theriot of OFers. If he played 2nd base he might have some value, as an OFer he is your 25th man at best. We accomplish nothing by giving him more playing time. We certainly don't improve the team and we get worse in the process.

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In reply to by MikeC

not that i think these are comparable players, by any means, BUT... Milton Bradley, Alfonso Soriano, Reed Johnson - all sub .300 minor league hitters... Felix Pie leads that crew with a .299 BA and 600-1000 at bats more than the others. Just saying...

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In reply to by MikeC

Wait..so if the Cubs keep spiraling downward, and A-RAM's shoulder becomes an issue...then could they sit him for Fox and let him heal for 2010?

this has to be the dumbest thread in recent memory.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

I suggest they trade all of their veteran shitty players for younger guys with upside. Moreover, they should try to make their younger guys perform better.

Not to worry -- the Cubs have a lot of games left against teams with losing rec.... Aw, forget it.

Call me crazy (or worse), but..... The BillyBucks calculator has the Cubs finishing with 88 wins. No crazy assumptions, other than the Cubs play near their potential, which, come to think of it, is crazy. Yes, it has been a slow work day.

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.