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

Loss Ends Rich Harden's Season

Just when you let that little piece of hope back in, the Cubs yank it out of you like their Mola Ram from Temple of Doom. Rich Harden left his change up in the zone all game and paid for it as the Brewers knocked him for 5 runs in 3 innings. The first two courtesy of back-to-back two out hits by their 8 and 9 hitters in the 2nd. In the third, Aramis backed up on a chopper by Ryan Braun with a man on first. The ball went past him and one of the nicest gift doubles was awarded to Braun by the official scorer. That changed the whole inning, because instead of a man on 2nd and 1 out, you've got 2nd and 3rd and Prince Fielder up. He was intentionally walked and after a Casey McGehee sac fly (should have been the 2nd out and wouldn't have scored a run), Harden walked another and got a fielder's choice that would have ended the inning in theory and kept the game at 3-0(or possibly 2-0). But after seeing Alcides Escobar flail at 2 change-ups down and away, Harden went to the well one more time but missed right over the plate and Escobar pretty much ended his night (UPDATE: It appears they changed their mind and gave Ramirez the error afterall, just 2 ER for Harden last night).

It looks like it may have ended Harden's career as a Cub as well, as the team announced this morning that he will be shutdown the rest of the season. I imagine his agent is thrilled with the news considering his impending free agent status. I imagine the Cubs are thrilled at the prospect of not getting those two draft picks for his Type A free agent status. Tom Gorzelanny will slide into the rotation.

(UPDATE #2: Looks like Sullivan had a case of the jump to conclusions, as Muskat is reporting that Harden is just being skipped a turn in the rotation and there's nothing wrong with him).

The Cubs got 2 back in the bottom frame and were looking for more, but Milton's epic September slump continued, thanks to a fine play by Escobar to end the threat. That was Bradley's last at-bat of the game, as Lou curiously double switched, even though he has a 12-man pen and brought in Micah Hoffpauir to play RF and David Patton to pitch. Patton coughed up a run in the 4th and three more in the 5th, although two scored after Justin Berg relieved him. The Cubs battled back to make it 9-5 on an Aramis Ramirez home run and Bobby Scales RBI, but that was all the scoring for the night and the Cubs 3-game win streak ends.

In the Southern League Finals, Tennessee dropped behind 0-2 to Jacksonville(Florida affiliate) as they head back to Tennessee for Game 3 and hopefully Games 4 and 5. Jeremy Papelbon started for the Smokies and got saddled with the loss after throwing 5 shutout innings, but surrendering the winning runs in the 6th. The Smokies got a run back in the top of the 7th after Tyler Colvin reached after a strikeout, advancing to third on a Starlin Castro single and scoring on a Robinson Chirinos double play. They put a man on second with one out in the 8th, but couldn't push through and now have to win three in a row to take the Southern League crown.

In Game 1, the Smokies lost in dramatic fashion, tying the score at 4 in the 9th, taking the lead in the top of the 10th and then getting 2 outs before Brian Schlitter coughed up 2 runs to lose the game. Apparently a controversial overturned call, mired the proceedings.

 

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Comments

Maybe that Braun double was changed to an error, since the box score shows an error by Ramirez and only two ERs against Harden.

OT - I was camping with a bunch of family this summer and I said something to the effect of "well he's good, but he's no kid rock", obviously with sarcasm. My sister and brother-in-laws got real serious and were all up in my face, "why don't you like Kid Rock?" "He has a really good song, I think" and before I knew it they were firing up an iPod for me to listen to some Kid Rock. Anyways I listened to this song and after a few seconds I was like.... WHAAAT THE FUCK? That's Sweet Home Alabama, Kid Rock didn't even write original music for it. God I hate him. Anyways, yeah, Rich Harden... don't care. I have definitely stopped caring about this season. C'moooooon off season!

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

It's even worse than that. That Kid Rock song is a combination of Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" (identical instrument arrangement also) & "Sweet Home Alabama". I'm thinking of getting my guitar out and releasing a few songs from the Beatles old catalog. There's gold in them thar hills. Gotta hurry though, before the kids playing the new "Beatles Rock Band" game realize they've been duped.

Theriot, slumping Fukudome, Lee, Fox, slumping Bradley, Baker, Fontenot, tiring Wells

From Ben Maller's site: "Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee leads the majors with 22 home runs since July 1. He has eight in his last 14 games. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"

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In reply to by Ryno

"The Cubs called up veteran outfielder So Taguchi from Class AAA Iowa to help with their depleted center-field depth. It took Taguchi's agent to reach the surprised player on his cell phone Tuesday night because Taguchi kept ignoring the calls when a Chicago area code appeared on his caller ID. ''I said, 'Chicago? I don't have any friends in Chicago.''' -- Chicago Sun-Times" "I don't have any friends in Chicago..." LOL

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I thought Lee was struggling and if they could move him, great, but I never really thought for one second Hoffpauir was a better or even equal option.

That being said, you've gotten on your I hate stat geeks pulpit yet again and missed that it was equal amounts of just about most everyone here not wanting Derrek Lee around and frustrated by his warning track flyballs and double plays. Stats, scouts, numbers, eyes, they all noticed he hadn't been doing too well for a good part of 2007 and 2008.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

i keep explaining this but it keeps pissing you off still... ...it's just a generalized term i throw around carelessly... i got no agenda or i'd be stamping out crap with more regularity. "stat geeks" i use the way someone would use the phrase "bleacher bums"...just tossing it around without much critical thought to the group of people i'm lumping. when i call out a bad/fishy stat or stat article i'm not as generalized.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

I and others were annoyed that Lee had lost the ability to get around on a fastball middle-in. Lee has been pulling the ball this season. It's a good idea to pull if you want to be a power hitter. Maybe it's a coincidence, but Lee started cranking balls out of the park to left when Von Joshua arrived and Gerald Perry left. (At the end of last season, while advocating that the Cubs trade Lee, I also urged that they get rid of Perry.) On June 19th, the same week that Joshua joined the Cubs, Lee turned on a ninth-inning fastball by Kerry Wood and pulled it into the stands near the left-field line. Since that homer, Lee has hit fourteen balls out of the park in left or left-center. That’s fifteen homers to the left of straightaway center in 79 games. Prior to the bomb against Wood, Lee had four homers to the left side in 51 games. Lee has four home runs this year near the left-field foul line, three since Joshua’s arrival. In 2008, he had none, also none in 2007. Hoffpauir has not been a starter at any position for any period of time this season, and as a pinch hitter with little ML experience, he has been predictably crappy. But his 10 homers and 31 RBI in 200 ABs do project to 30 and 90 in Lee's typical 600+ ABs. All anybody said was that Hoffpauir could do what Lee did last season. That was also the year that Lee had 27 GDPs. I said at the time that I loved Lee but he was messed up. He was. This year I am reminded why I loved him.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I don't necessarily want to quibble with you on Lee's ability to "get around" on a fastball--he certainly gets tied up inside on occasion--but to suggest that he pulled the ball this year and didn't do so last year seems inaccurate to me. His hitting charts for both this year and last look pretty similar regarding the grouping of his hits and, outs, and homeruns. The biggest difference seems to be that there are a lot more homeruns to both left and right field.

what's more amazing...a prince fielder triple or that it's his 3rd of the season? MB playing shallow for some reason helped that out.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Well... being that Bradley rates as an average, at worst, defensive OF in every defensive metric that I have seen, as well as from my own observations, I guess I will have to strongly disagree with you if you think that Bradley is just a bit better than Kingman. Bradley isn't going to win a gold glove any time soon, but he isn't terrible either. He is a solid defensive player.

I haven't been watching much so should I be encouraged by Baker's hitting line since joining the Cubs (317/380/465) or is it just due to a small sample size?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

About a week ago, Baker's batting average of balls in play (BABIP) was .421 as a Cub. The ML average is consistently around .290-.300, so he's had more than his share of luck as a Cub so far.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

I attribute it to his DeRosa-like body type.

dennis "hi, im dennis miller. omg 9/11" miller up talking about his favorite subjects...himself, obscure name-dropping stories, and how humbled he is to be an american.

Witteeyer tweets: cst_cubs: Bradley never ceases to amaze. Took himself out after routine 1B, no trainer, no nothing. Team says knee.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

Sullivan just in with this: (at first Lou blew off the press conference then later) Piniella called reporters into his office. He said Bradley's mysterious reaction to questions about his injury was uncalled for. "All he had to say was I talked to (the trainer) in front of the manager, which he did, and he said 'My patella is bothering me,'" Piniella said. "And when he went over to first base, I motioned to him and he said he couldn't run, and we just took him out of the ballgame... He was in his perfect rights to come out of the ballgame, and that's all he needed to say. "All he's got to say are the facts. And if he says the facts, nobody is going to dispute anything. That's all. Just say the facts."

I just have to refer you to what Bradley did in Texas last year. If you don't think he does it in Chicago, your living in fantasy world.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/09/s… Get your double standards here....double standards for everyone!! "Every day, somebody else is hurt on something different," he said. "It gets frustrating. It really does. I mean, it seems like every day there's something else that goes wrong here. Remember, this is a major league season of 162 games, and you've got to have people who are capable of going 162 games to the post." He was apparently referring to Rich Harden and Milton Bradley, who added to his own legend with a raucous postgame interview session. let's ignore Soriano yet again, who hasn't made it through a full season in Chicago yet. We also have Bradley being surly again, Lou being surly, then relenting and Cubs in drag. Your 2009 Cubs.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

lou (again) blows off his press conference, explains it with... "Once in a while, I don't have anything to say, and sitting in my office here and just having a bottle of cold water, it helps me relax a little bit, and you all can't get my goat as easy." ...and in his followup office press conference he called lou throws milton under a bus for not wanting to talk to reporters right then? okay, sure.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Soriano will go out and play everyday, only devestating injuries knock him out, and he played on a shredded knee for most of the year without making a big deal of it. On the flip side Bradley will take himself out for dizziness, or any assortment of injuries that he always seems as if by miracle to get over without ever reaching the DL. Also add in his Texas comments for taking himself out of games, and inventing injuries to not play. And yet Bradley still can't out perform Soriano. Gee who will give his heart and soul for the team and who could give a flying fuck about anyone but himself? Defend Bradley all you want, but he cares only about himself and his paycheck. If he wasn't such a pussy he might have more than one 500 AB season in his career. Face it Bradley is the biggest punk/pussy in baseball who will sit out games just because he can. And i have no doubt that he is doing it in Chicago just like he did in Texas.

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In reply to by MikeC

Soriano will go out and play everyday, only devestating injuries knock him out,

that worked out great...

and it wasn't devastating until enough people associated with the Cubs got so tired of watching him butcher the game of baseball that they finally had the guts to sit him down.

And yet Bradley still can't out perform Soriano.

No amount of your blind-hatred wishing makes that statement true.

Gee who will give his heart and soul for the team

Derrek Lee? it sure isn't Soriano

And i have no doubt that he is doing it in Chicago just like he did in Texas.

amazing insight you have on someone I'm assuming you never met based on a few newspaper articles.

 

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In reply to by Rob G.

I have been aware of Bradleys antics for a great many years. I have seen the same tired train wreck over and over and just shocked its happening again in Chicago, actually i am not. Its not like i didn't warn of Bradley the eternal fuck up, the biggest i don't give a shit player in baseball. And Rob seriously by the time the season is over Bradley will have matched or exceeded Soriano's plate appearances and his numbers will be woefully under a guy who played on one knee and finished the year on the DL. No OBP is gonna save Bradley when he might barely beat Soriano in runs, and come in dramatically below Soriano in extra base hits and RBI. You can spin it, flip it, smack it down but Bradley will finish with a less productive year than Soriano and no amount of denial will change that. Cuz you know what ROB i don't think Bradley has 8 doubles, 8 HR, and 15 RBI in him to finish out the year. Because thats what its going to take to finish with a better season than Soriano. Hell, Bradley will struggle to get 14 more hits to match Soriano.

A couple of thoughts on Carlos Zambrano: 1. I had the pleasure of sitting in the first row right behind the Cubs dugout for Tuesday's game. Zambrano did not change speeds the entire game. He moved the ball around but threw everything hard, hard, hard. 2. It's apparent to me that he doesn't listen to his coaches-I make that assumption based on the expression on Rothschild's face. 3. He's a thrower not a pitcher. Doesn't pace himself, doesn't use his head. Strong with electric stuff-but absoutely no deception. 4. I conclude that he will be traded in the off season.

More thoughts on the Cubs: If the Cubs want to be the Yankees of the National League, they'll take their lumps on both Fukudome and Bradley and get themselves at least two new outfielders.

Ichiro beats the White Sox in the 13th. Made me curious, so I looked up his career stats. Holy Mackerel what a ballplayer. In addiiton to getting 200 hits every year and playing great defense, from 2006-208 he stole 125 bases and was caught only 14 times. I think Hendry thought all Japanese players could do that in the U.S.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9539 Chicago Cubs: Outfielder Kyler Burke always had intriguing size and athleticism, and those qualities began to translate into performance on the field with a .303/.405/.505 line at Low-A Peoria that also involved his chipping in 15 home runs, 14 stolen bases, and 78 walks. If some of his 43 doubles turn into home runs, look out. Runner-up: Righty Chris Carpenter has first-round stuff, but a long injury history dropped him to the third round last year. But he stayed healthy all year, earned a pair of promotions, and finished with a 2.82 ERA in 27 starts while consistently throwing 94-95 mph fastballs.

I've wondered why Lou has replaced Soriano with Scales in LF (instead of Fox or a Fox/Hoffpauir platoon). I just can't understand it. C Kahrl from Baseball Prospectus has an explanation. Scales is a "Soriano-Analog" (secondbaseman-ish?), so Lou basically thinks Soriano is still in LF by using Soriano-lite. LOL! http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9538 --- This isn't really a setback as much as it's an opportunity to take looks at Micah Hoffpauir and Jake Fox in left field—except that's not what the Cubs seem to have in mind, preferring a more Soriano-like analog in starting Bobby Scales in left field in seven of their last 10. After all, he's a second baseman-ish sort of guy with pop, and he's lighter on his feet—maybe the home folks won't even notice the difference as they wrap up their season-ticket packages, right? It's a bit odd, in that Scales does have his uses, but starting left fielder in anything other than a pinch isn't really one of them, especially when you're porting around Fox and Hoffpauir. For all of the exaggerated enthusiasm for moving Soriano back to second base, that was out of a faith that Fox and Hoffpauir could be parked in left and take up the offensive slack, not out of any great faith that Soriano could play second any better than badly. Even if defensive concerns over Fox and Hoffpauir contribute to this odd bit of lineup selection, this would seem to me exaggerated, because the Cubs are still a team fielding a fine defense as a whole.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

oh, he's done with low-A, definitely. and k/bb ratio matters...it's just that the K part in the lower levels (independent of the BB) isn't that good at 100 per 450/500-ish ab's. the BB's rising, however, adds a dimension to his numbers game. while he's still whiffing a lot he's showing some pitch selection he hasn't shown in the past. i can't just point to 100Ks in low-A and say "well that's 125-150 Ks in AA" or anything like that...especially since he's now showing a better eye for the ball with his walks along with his Ks. he's both K'ing a bit too much and walking a good amount for the amount of PA's he's had at that level. and yeah, for a 21 year old he's doing just fine.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • 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.