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

What I Would Ask Mr. Ricketts

On Friday, the Cubs' new owner will be confronted by more microphones, cameras, and sweaty members of the press than I imagine he has ever been confronted by before. I predict he will say something to the effect of, "I can't give you a definite answer at this point, but that is absolutely something we are going to be looking at," more times than we'll be easily able to count. Nevertheless, after the ridiculously protracted sale process and with so many critical issues facing the team—from the immediate future of the leadership team to the long-term viability of Wrigley Field—I will join many of you in hanging on every word Ricketts has to say. (I've also never heard his voice, so I'm curious.)

Apart from all of the obvious questions Ricketts will face, probably multiple times, here are some questions I would ask if I had press credentials or the ingenuity to sneak in.


– In your wildest dreams, did you ever imagine when you began this process that it would take this long to resolve?

– How hard was it to persuade your family to pursue this purchase? 

– Did you always consider yourselves favorites to win the team?

– On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being virtually no involvement with day-to-day decisions and 10 being complete immersion in every detail of the team's operation, how would you characterize your ideal level of involvement with the club?

– During the long period when you were clearly the eventual owner but not yet officially so, did you have any contact or decision-making authority with regard to the operation of the team? If not, were Crane Kenney or Jim Hendry at least able to "keep you in the loop"?

– Though the Ricketts family is prominent in Omaha, by the end of this press conference and the subsequent replays of it, you will not be able to go many places in Chicago without being identified. Did you or your family consider that level of visibility when deciding whether to pursue the team? How do you feel about the possibility of hostile encounters with fans if the team is not doing well?

– How often in recent years have you seen the Cubs play at Wrigley? Where did you sit?

– Dating back to when you first became a Cubs fan, who was/is your favorite player?

 That's my list. What would you ask a 44-year-old billionaire-turned-baseball team-owner? 

Comments

1) How much longer do we have to endure Jim Hendry as GM? 2) Do you read Bill James, Baseball Prospectus or any other statistically-slanted baseball publications?

CUBNUT: Send these over to Bruce Miles - he will be in the room! "Your business acumen is renown, as is making a profit. What areas are you targeting to produce more revevue, and do you envision PSL's in the future as a necessary stream"? "When will renovations start, or at least bathroom renovations?"

Here's a few baited questions I would ask: 1. Do you plan to keep Jim Hendry on as sort of a "lame duck" GM and if so how much autonomy will he have in making baseball decisions? 2. What is your vision for rebuilding this team? 3. Developing good talent in-house can be a nice cost-savings way of fielding a winning baseball team, what organizational, business office-level vision do you have for developing a talented farm system?

My list: 1. Are you looking for a 30 year old faux Dr to help you in any official baseball capacity? 2. Do you need said faux Dr. to work as a bodyguard, money holder-onto, or general entourage lackey? 3. If you answered yes to 1 or 2, where do you turn in resumes?

Do you plan to keep the Tribune-era organizational chart wherein baseball operations essentially report to the marketing department? We love Ron Santo, we hate the guest conductors, and even though they both need to go, fans don't feel like they ever will.

My question would be: "Wouldn't Aaron Miles make a nice lawn ornament for your mansion in Omaha? I have a lantern you can borrow."

"Wouldn't Aaron Miles make a nice lawn ornament for your mansion in Omaha? I have a lantern you can borrow." This is a LOW BLOW! But, wonderful. Very nice. Get used to Aaron Miles, pt. 2

For those of you that didn't catch it locally - here is the stream from Hendry's interview with Bruce LEvine and J. Hood from Talkin' Baseball last Saturday. http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=podcast&id=4590749 Proud of the fact we got in the Playoffs two of the last three years. Only disappointment was "we didn't get in". "Our job is not to make excuses..." Discloses no Bradley stuff. "He's still a Cub..." Takes the responsibility, but wants the blame shared around. Was not too specific. He is not giving any salary back.

an owner question? umm...how much payroll you gonna give the GM and do you plan on staying the hell out of the way like a good owner should? =p ...btw, zell looks to be one of our greatest owners even if he "maybe" was spending a little more to cash in a new trophy for his mantle.

Is there any chance that Milton Bradley will suit up as a Cub in 2010? How much of Milton Bradley's contract are you willing to eat in order to get rid of him?

When you go to sleep at night, do you trust Jim Hendry and the baseball people in this organization with your 845+ million investment? The answer is very important. If yes, fine (that won't last, but fine). If no, proceed to fire Jim and hire somebody you do trust. Look, if I paid 845 million for a baseball team, you damn well better believe for at least a year or so, it would be my version of MVP Baseball 2003 for playstation. However, a rich owner meddling in the baseball stuff is called the Balitmore Orioles, and look how well they're doing. Having said all that, maybe a rich fan with the strings in his hands is what we need. I don't know about you guys, but not many people would have paid MB over Ibanez and Abreu last offseason. And Tom Ricketts isn't paying me squat to come up with that logic.......

Whoa! The Mighty Cubnut is back in action. Awesome! We missed you and in case you weren't able to pay attention the 2nd half of the season really sucked rotten eggs.

Mr. Ricketts: 1. Do you feel, long-term, Wrigley Field (even with modifications) can produce the revenue streams necessary to effectively compete over the next 20-25 years? 2. Are there circumstances where you would consider participation in the construction of a new stadium not unlike Miller Park either in Chicago or a suburban location? 3. What involvement (1 to 10 with 10 being the highest) will you have in the hiring or retention of the President, General Manager, and Field Manager positions? 4. What are your 3 highest short-term and 3 highest long-term (3-5 years) priorities?

How do you feel about owning a team where one of your worst players makes the most money--and will for the next five years?

Can you lend me 100 bucks? What can you do about that smell in the bathroom? Can you bring back the ball girl? The Marla Collins model? Ricketts will be on Boers and Bernstein on Friday from 3:30 to 4:00.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.