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

TCR Afternoon Notes

Alright, here's my half-ass plan for the next few weeks...try to get one of those offseason target posts up sometime in the morning and then some type of quick notes/news of the moment update in the afternoon or early evening if there's enough news out there and if Phil doesn't have an update from Arizona. I will inevitably fail at keeping up that pace...

- Naples, Florida is making their run at the Cubs to be their new home for spring training.

The Cubs’ 25-year lease with the city of Mesa expires in 2016. However, the team has an escape clause, allowing them to pay $4.2 million to the city next spring in order to leave Mesa in 2012.

That's a pretty well-done and detailed article at the link, so I encourage everyone to check it out. I will say while it's probably better for many Chicago residents, who I know would prefer the shorter trip to Florida, it would likely mean the demise of Arizona Phil here at TCR, so suck it up and write a letter to Ricketts that you want the Cubs to stay in Arizona.

- Things are going well for Jeff Samardzija in Winter Ball....

gave up four runs, five hits, and four walks over five innings in Mexicali's 9-4 win over Navojoa on Sunday

- Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan will be back next year for the Cardinals and LaRussa is dragging Mark McGwire back with him as their new hitting coach. It's the holy coaching trinity of cheaters...

- Speaking of managers, Manny Acta will helm the Cleveland Indians for the next three years, but only because the Astros have some odd policy of not going past two years on a manager contract. Rob Neyer rightfully takes the Astros to task for their odd line in the sand. David Clark, Phil Garner or Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills seem to be the final candidates now.

- Neyer is on fire today, taking on a Mike Celizic article that goes after Joe Giradi for overmanaging...

...For the most part, at this time of the year all a manager can do is wind up his players and send them off to battle like little tin soldiers. Maybe Girardi really has been guilty of overmanaging; if so, he's overmanaged his team to the World Series and lost only two games along the way. I suspect that a lot of teams would love to be overmanaged so well.

and then Matthew Pouliot over at NBC Sports who went after Mike Scioscia for not dropping Chone Figgins down in the order...

Similarly, it would make no more sense to move Chone Figgins down this month than for Larry Dierker to have moved Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell down, amid all their October struggles. Or to have moved Willie Mays down, or Joe Morgan. All of these brilliant players struggled in October, and their managers did what you have to do with struggling superstars: leave them alone and hope for the best.

Well not sure about Chone Figgins being a superstar, but you get the point.

- After failing miserably on my NLDS choices, I did better when I re-picked at the LCS games (sorry, can't find the link but I had Phillies in 6 and Yankees in 7) and I did pick the Yankees from the beginning. I know, that's a helluva a limb a climbed out on. Of course, it was a sad evening in the G family household last night as the Angel Fan Wife was visibly distraught after the Angels case of the yips last night in the 8th inning. I'll stick with the Yankees of course for the World Series, I say 6 games.

- Be sure to check out the right sidebar for payroll, minor league free agent and Rule 5 info courtesy of the aforementioned Arizona Phil.

Comments

Recent comments

crunch 04/19/2024 - 04:22 pm (view)

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

he will be reevaluated tomorrow.
Childersb3 04/19/2024 - 04:11 pm (view)

I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB
Just a difference of opinion
TarzanJoeWallis 04/19/2024 - 04:39 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:54 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:46 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:25 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:19 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:06 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:43 pm (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 04/19/2024 - 04:51 am (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.