Cubs MLB Roster

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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 

 



 

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3 Teams Zambrano Willing to Get Traded To

This is basically a one-line blog entry, but I'm so over all this Bradley drama.

Nick Cafrado over at the Boston Globe is reporting that if Carlos Zambrano is moved, there are only three teams he'd be willing to go...Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. I would say, I don't know how the Angles wouldn't get on that list. If he's willing to to an AL team or Los Angeles, you couldn't find a classier organization than the Angels, so if the Cubs really pursue that course, I'm sure they'll get a few attentive general managers on the phone.

As for Bradley, pardon my over-used metaphor, but it's a disaster of Hindenburg proportions both by the player and management. Good luck trying to move that $21M off the books Jim, unlike Zambrano, I don't think they'll be a lot of attentive gm's on the phone for that call. The only other parallel I can think of is Jose Guillen getting suspended by the Angels near the end of 2004. The Angels did move him to the Nationals in the offseason for Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera, but Guillen (according to BR.com salaries) only had $3.5M and a $4M 2006 option left on his deal. They also had Jim Bowden as their GM, who made a habit of taking on talented basket cases at a discount.

Comments

It's hard not to compare this off-season that's shaping up to the 2005 one. You've got an underperforming team, you've got openly critical broadcast booth and now you've got a move afoot to get rid of the 'bad apples'. At some point Hendry, or his successor, will figure out that winning makes a good clubhouse, not the reverse. It's hard to say what sort of influence Zambrano has on a clubhouse, he often seems to be having a good time, and luckily when he sucks it only happens at most every five days. Any team that the Cubs try to work out a trade for is going to want to 'buy low' because they know that he has that NTC and erratic play aside he is a bit of a nutcase. I think this guy just pulled those teams out of his ass. He had to throw Boston in there to make it interesting to his readers. Any team that takes on Zambrano is probably going to be a playoff contender in the NL, which means the deal probably will come back to bite us in the ass, unless we get something really great back for him. I just can't see that happening, because even with the thin free agent class, Hendry won't have a lot of leverage. He's over paid, he's inconsistant, he has trouble staying healthy and he's a danger to other players in the clubhouse. The suitors will just be lining up.

I just can't see that happening, because even with the thin free agent class, Hendry won't have a lot of leverage. He's over paid, he's inconsistant, he has trouble staying healthy and he's a danger to other players in the clubhouse. The suitors will just be lining up. I just came from your MB love fest in the other thread to read this. I thought you was talking about Milton but no it was Zambrano. You can bring yourself to say that about Zambrano but will defend a guy to the death who has one 500 AB season to his credit. Clearly your the most insane poster ever in TCR history.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

And your consistent mistake is that you think you know everything or can be explained by a stat or split. Did you ever play or coach the game? Or spend time in a winning/losing locker room? The point isn't Bradley`s talent or stats. He's a miserable human being and given a choice it appears no teammate is blocking the door to keep him on the team This was another of Hendry`s mistakes that could and should get him fired this off season. Lou is an accessory for not managing Bradley among others. Not every discussion point can be or needs to be explained with a stat or your opinion why every poster is wrong. But go ahead, Neal, thrill us with your literary acumen as you pursue Silent Towel as TCR's most obnoxious poster.

Well hopefully, Zambrano will take this season as a wake up call, and start to realize he's squandering his talent. He's 28, with a decent amount of mileage on his body. It's time for him to get in shape, get his act together, and pitch like he can. Or go the Bartolo Colon route...whichever I guess?

Hendry won't be able to unload the $21M, but I'm sure someone would be willing to take Milton for half that over the next two years for some low prospect. The "change of scenary" theory and stats he's put up historically would make him too enticing to an American League team. Hendry will likely have to eat more than 2/3 of that contract plus the distraction and playing time he cost the team (not to mention the Derosa trade), the opportunity cost of signing Milton was far worse than the $20M of cash it cost.

If they uload Zambrano - you better get something pretty special in return. And that means you pretty much have to go trade for Halladay, because there aren't any other big time FA starters this year. The most intersting part of the offseason will be seeing how big of a fan Tom Ricketts really is - is he going to spend some money to make this a better team. The Cubs are one of the most profitable teams in the Majors, so the money is there.

Maybe Hendry can work out a trade for Milton with some Japanese team if Milton really likes to be to himself so much. That way, he won't need to, or be able to, talk to anybody at all in the clubhouse OR the local press. As for Z, he seems, just based on the in-game clubhouse shots, pretty jovial most of the time in games where he is either not pitching or pitching really well. Those shots of him putting his hand out of Fontenot's reach when doing the high five when Fontenot used to hit a little bit were classic.

From the tidbits a the bottom of today's game story: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090920&content_id=70… "Smokies manager Ryne Sandberg told a Chicago newspaper he's willing to listen to big league offers. "I'd have to weigh everything," Sandberg said. "I don't know the situation with all the teams. But if somebody thinks I'm ready, if they want to talk to me, I'd definitely listen." Which implies that I missed it previously... 3/44? Milton Bradley can't hit with RISP?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

kind of what crunch said, although Sheehan happens to agree with me this time so I think it's fucking brilliant this time around. :)

Moreover, the Cubs aren't all that far from where they were supposed to be. They're on pace to go 83-79; I had them going 87-75, and I still think that was pretty realistic. The Cubs are four games off that projected pace, which seems so much worse because the Cardinals are 15 games ahead of theirs. The Cardinals resurrected Joel Pineiro, got a mostly full season from Chris Carpenter, and traded for Matt Holliday, none of which has anything to do with Milton Bradley or the Cubs. The Cubs are off their feed because Aramis Ramirez missed time and was replaced with zeroes, because the bullpen was even worse than expected, because Alfonso Soriano was awful, and yes, because Milton Bradley didn't hit for as much power as was expected. He's part of the picture, but far from the entirety of it.

now let's compare how much time is spent bitching about Bradley on here and the papers versus bitching about Soriano, the bullpen or Lou's playing Neifi2 at 3b when Aramis was out.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

The thing that bothers me the most about it is that it's just so self detrimental. We already know, that with Bradley in tow, we were going to have a tough time making improvements to this year's team because of payroll constraints. Now we're going to wind up paying $15 million for a right fielder when you count the whatever $8 million that we're going to pay some team to take Bradley - or we're going to go with a Fox/Hoffpauir platoon, which will undoubtedly drive in more runs that Bradley did this year, but probably give all that value back in defense and getting on base. So clubhouse considerations aside, this only sets us up to be, as good as this year or slightly better with an even higher percentage of our limited payroll going to the outfield. It just would have made so much more sense to bench Bradley and tell him to stop granting interviews, than suspend him. A couple weeks ago someone, and forgive me for forgetting who it was, was saying that Hendry was totally a reactive manager, with no plan for the future. I argued the point then, but gosh, the evidence keeps building up doesn't it? Maybe Hendry is sure he's going to have $170 million to play with this offseason... the things he does hardly make sense otherwise.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

From the article: "This is a severe and unwarranted overreaction, a cynical public-relations ploy designed to curry favor with fans and the media and distract both groups from a Cubs season that is ending with a whimper." I generally agree with this. As a fan, Bradley hasn't performed to my expectations, but I really don't care about anything else--the interviews, the attitude, etc. If he's actually skipping games when he could play, then that's a problem. But a quote in a paper...your teammates don't like you--who cares? Seems a lot more like Hendry protecting his rep and pandering to the overblown Bradley hate. Or maybe Ricketts told him to do it. In which case, it's Ricketts pandering. But it seems like Hendry's taken full credit.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

There have been a few blogs and articles applauding Hendry for taking action.

Of which I would just like to say horseshit.

He's just as culpable as Bradley for this disaster. I could only wish I had a job where I could throw away $21M and have job security. and if that shit is true in his contract about voiding the deal or last year if he's on the DL, how do you suspend him and not put him on the DL? That's beyond moronic (if true). I haven't read the contract myself so who knows exactly what the wording or clause is, but if that is true, holy epic GM fail.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"I could only wish I had a job where I could throw away $21M." There's a political joke in there but I'm not conservative enough to make it. : ) "how do you suspend him and not put him on the DL?" I think someone mentioned deep in the previous thread that the clause triggered with only a specific injury. But I have no real idea. Also, I think the union would raise hell, and rightly so, if a player was put on the DL specifically to trigger a contract clause. I'm not a Hendry hater, but I like him less this year. He, and the Cubs in general, do not seem to handle adversity well. They're likely to panic and do something rash when faced with a dilemma. Kind of like their right fielder.

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In reply to by Rob G.

Hendry and Bradley went to dinner together, how could he have screwed this up? Bradley was also recommended by the same group who vetted Sarah Palin for VP.

i never thought i'd live to see a day where the cubs got rid of a .370+ob% guy with some pop who can play CF/RF and people are going "about time!" bravo. maybe they can replace him with a guy who waves to the OF bleacher bums and signs more autographs. that's what i watch cubs baseball for...the social experience. we're special.

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In reply to by crunch

i never thought i'd live to see a day where the cubs got rid of a .370+ob% guy with some pop who can play CF/RF and people are going "about time!" Well, just last year a .257 .358 guy with some pop who can play CF/RF better than Bradley lost his starting job in RF which is why we're even talking about Bradley today. But to clear up any confusion you might have, there's this: #3 .734 OPS #4 .699 OPS #5 .665 OPS That's what Bradley did this year batting in the middle of the order -- the role he's paid $30 million to do. Outright strange: the bat-on-the-shoulder walk-a-thon .179BA .304 SLG! performance MB put on whenever inserted into the #4 cleanup spot and the 15 straight starts without a walk to finish the season after protesting that his hot streak in August wasn't due to Lou moving him to #2 in the order where his penchant for taking walks with men on base might actually help the offense.

and Orlando Hudson could be losing his starting gig in L.A. to Ronnie Belliard, which I only mention cause he was suppose to be so awesome for the 2009 cubs and could be an F.A. target.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

McClane gutted the scouting and development budgets to go for it all back in the Pettite-Clemens days and he doesn't understand that he can't compete every year with a $90 million payroll and no prospects coming up to supplement the team. The hot streak they went on last year was sort of a curse, because they may have realized that it was time to rebuild a year earlier. The firing of Cooper, though, seems to indicate more of the same. A smart GM would trade Wandy and Roy and get a windfall of prospects for them this winter and sell the team as 'young and exciting' now that Tejada will be gone. But McClane likes to hire yes men, and assign blame. He's sort of the NL's Angelos, and they're headed for a really bad run if he doesn't put some baseball men in charge and let them do their thing. Now that Steinbrenner and Angelos have stepped back, he's probably the most meddlesome owner. He gets a lot of fan empathy, because he does spend money, but Houston likes winners, and two more years like this one is going to turn that into apathy. Expect a four or five middling free agents to be signed and another 75 win season from the Astros.

why would Z want to play in BOS? it's never been a popular place with the latin players and kevin youkillis is a king sized selfish implosive jackass...how are those 2 supposed to share a locker room without one of them having a bad day at the same time and someone getting hurt? =p

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.

    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?

  • 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.