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

Cubs Rumor Round-Up: Bradley 3-Way, Chapman & More

All Milton, all the time...

- Foxsports's rumor mongering robot Robothal is hearing talks about a 3-way trade of Milton Bradley to the Blue Jays, Lyle Overbay to the Mets and Luis Castillo to the Cubs. 

The three-team possibility, according to one source, has "some legs, but not much." The Jays are opposed to the deal, one source says — perhaps because new GM Alex Anthopolous does not want a trade for Bradley to be his first major move.

Castillo is owed $6M each of the next two seasons, will be 34 next year has piss-poor UZR and Rate2 numbers the last few seasons and was the proud owner of a .337 wOBA(barely above average) last season thanks mostly to a .342 BABIP which isn't something he's shown he can repeat too often. So that's exciting...

But if the Cubs can indeed move the $21M owed Bradley for the $12M owed Castillo, well that becomes a no-brainer for the Cubs. Chances are they'll have to throw some cash which spins me right back to the not so exciting camp.

The same article says the Rays have been the heaviest pursuers of Bradley mentioning Pat Burrell again. Their salaries even out in 2010 according to Robothal, but Rays want Cubs to pay most of 2011 to relieve them of their headache.

- Bruce Levine chimed in earlier saying the Cubs have talked with Mets, Blue Jays, Rangers, Rays and Angels about Bradley. Levine reiterates that Rich Harden and Kevin Gregg are as good as gone, Cubs would like to resign John Grabow and Reed Johnson could be welcome back if he accepts a one year deal. He says the Cubs priorities are bullpen help, a leadoff hitter, center field and a veteran middle infielder...like Luis Castillo for example.

- Bruce Miles talked to Carlos Zambrano's agent and said he hasn't been approached about waving any no-trade clauses and thinks it's a "non-story".  Talk with Hendry included glowing praise of Starlin Castro and that a deal for Bradley isn't close.

- For what it's worth, which isn't much...Billy Williams would like to salvage the Milton Bradley situation in Chicago.

- Finally, the Cubs did inquire about the Cuban lefty fireballer Aroldis Chapman, but "seem to be going in other, cheaper directions"

Otherwise, be sure you don't miss Arizona Phil's Top 15 prospect list for something with some substance over this rumor mongering.

Comments

I think Ken Rosenthal reads MLB Traderumors just like the rest of the MLB fan nation. The guy is a Type A douche bag. The Bradley for Castillo move would at least uphold the theory of left-handed on-base and free up roughly $9 million over the next two years, as long as the Cubs do not have to eat money in return. Personally, if this deal has legs (and all indications are that it does not), this would probably be as good as it gets. I for one am not for a Pat Burrell for Milton Bradley swap. The Cubs do not need another high strikeout non-defensive left fielder on the roster. The Cubs would just be faced with a $9 million dollar bench player. It is reported too that the Rays would want the Cubs to pick up the majority of Bradley's contract for '11, which the Cubs would almost be better off just rolling with the punches and see if he works out next year or creates a market for himself at all.

What about Derrek Lowe for Bradley? The Braves seem to think they have a starter to deal, and are probably wanting to get out of that contract. The Cubs could then turn around and trade Wells and a prospect for a good young (pre-arb?) center fielder... Felix Pie? OK maybe someone with a little better track record like...Dexter Fowler?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

He's no sloth on the bases You don't think he's a bit overrated as a base stealer? 20-6 last year, 17-2 the year before (that percentage is actually very good), 19-6 in 2007, 25-11 in 2006, 10-7 (!) in 2005, etc. Most seasons he's been caught stealing quite a bit, sometimes even with his CS approaching is SB (2005, 2003). If they are dead set on selling low on Bradley, I'm not completely opposed to a Luis Castillo deal, mostly because I am a fan of OBP and he's at least decent in that department (or has been in the past). I'd feel a lot better about it if it was straight up with no cash exchange, though. I'd also feel better about it if it meant the end of Aaron Miles.

added to Blue Jays 40-man roster...

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 12:18am.
Dopirak added to Blue Jays 40-man roster

---------------------------------------

ROB G: 1B Brian Dopirak (by TOR), 3B Adam Heether (by MIL), RHP Juan Morillo (by MIN), and RHP Hayden Penn (by FLA), were added to 40-man rosters on Monday, just in front of the deadline for adding Rule 55 minor league free-agents to a 40-man roster by club selection. (Dopirak is currently leading the VWL in HR & RBI).

MLB will be releasing the list of Rule 55 minor league free-agents (Six-Year Minor League FAs) later this week.

/hallucinogenics and rants AZ Phil is awesome is my post preamble... Luis Castillo and Mike Cameron, these are just the type of bullshit moves Hendry always makes. That's why he'll never be a premium GM and why the Cubs will never get to the WS with this fat douchebag at the helm. How about mixing things up, Fat Boy? The Dodgers and Zambrano would make a perfect fit, make the big trade. Ask for Kemp or Ethier and a prospect. If they belch on taking on the size of that contract (unlikely, they have $$), take Furcal's contract off their hands, send them Theriot if need be. We only need a 1-2 year placeholder at SS anyway with all the young SS prospects the Cubs now have in the minors. One of them will work out....right?? Sure, I recognize a deal like this won't happen, but can't we have a big picture GM that at least PURSUES possibilities like this, for ONCE? And yes I know Z has a NTC, but you gotta figure LA would be his number 1 choice if ever traded. National League so he hits. High profile team that is a winner. Big hispanic presence. Love big personality figures in la-la land. He'd be perfect for them, and I bet he knows it. Count me in on the Bradley for Lowe talk, that would be great. Lowe had an off-year, you'd be buying low (he-he). He has a strong track record and has always pitched well at Wrigley FWIW. Has Tampa really soured on BJ Upton? Really? How can the Cubs get this guy? Billy Wagner, yes please. Lefty/righty 8/9 combo in Wagner and Marmol. Lefty/righty 6/7 combo in Grabow and Guzman. Lefty/righty middle relief in Marshall and Should Still Be Wuertz, But a Replacement Can Be Found, So Long as He's Not Named Aaron. What's wrong with that bullpen? I bet the Cubs could get Kerry Wood back pretty easy. He's not a kid anymore, so there's no reason to baby him, if he breaks, he breaks, and I bet he accepts that at this stage. So why not make him a starting pitcher again? Lilly, Dempster, Wells, Lowe and Wood, yeah, I'd take my chances with that bunch. /hallucinogenics

[ ]

In reply to by Jim Hickmans Bat

The Braves are pretty big on the character of the individual. Milton Bradley is like Kryptonite to that franchise, they wont touch him with a ten foot pole. You can bank on a Bradley for Lowe deal never ever happening. The Braves aren't going to trade a proven winner for a proven loser. And for the Zambrano mouth breathers, you might want to stop hyper-ventilating and worry when he has a season with an ERA close to 5.00, rather than 4.00 before you want to give up on a 28 year old pitcher. Years 28-34 typically have pitchers enjoying their best runs. And you are not going to get no Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier for Zambrano, they want offensive production not another pitcher. Otherwise they would have just kept Derek Lowe. BJ Upton is a possibility only because Tampa has the next big thing waiting in the minors for the OF and believe he can play now, so between Upton and Crawford one of them has to go. Only problem is Tampa is a notoriously tough negotiator. Be prepared to pay more than you want to get either one of them. They are a small market team so they want great prospects in return, something the Cubs can't offer, which puts us far off their radar in getting either one of them.

I so agree with Jim Hickman's Bat. If we're going to make some moves, we should go after championship level players...not players whose best days are behind them. For CF,Rowand,Granderson,Upton would all be significantly better options than Cameron. Re: 2B Castillo's best days are way, way behind him. The Marlins payroll next year is $36 million and they won't pay Uggla who would be an upgrade for us. I know his defense is suspect but has averaged 90 RBIs over the last 4 years in a very defensive ballpark. We have the trading chips in our minor league system to make some significant moves (thanks AZ Phil for the thumbnails). We also have lots of underperforming players (some with NT clauses) that Hendry should try to move anyway. It's time for Hendry to get bold and creative...unless he is satisfied with winning 83 games again next year.

[ ]

In reply to by Jim Hickmans Bat

The items you discuss would be great IF the team did not have the back-loaded contracts it is saddled with making them unmovable. Take Z off the staff, and you are left with a rotation barely in the middle of the NL pack, and it would put even more wear and tear on the pen. The payroll is not going up, and if you were another GM, knowing that as fact, how the hell is Hendry going to get out of the hole he created? What prospects from the Cubs farm team would you be interested in getting back for the names you suggest? As armchair GM, the Jim Hickman's Bat guy's rant is fine. In the real world, it just will not make sense under the current scenario.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Take Z off the staff, you could replace him with another #3 starter EASILY and you are left with a rotation equivalent to what it was last year. He averaged pretty much exactly six innings per start, which is it self putting plenty of strain on the bullpen. With his contract, this guy is VERY replaceable.

With many of our mainstay players such as Lee, Aram, Fukudome, Theriot, Soriano, Dempster and Lilly all on the wrong side of 30, this team has a narrow window of opportunity to win. With the exception of Cashner and Castro, we should be willing to part with any of our other prospects in order to obtain the kind of players who can get us to the playoffs and WS. Why not? I am not ready to settle for another 100 years of futility. Hendry is an idiot if he thinks that this team will win with just some minor tweaking. Our record against winning teams is awful. Compare our lineup to LA or Philly and I'm sure you'll agree that we just don't measure up. Under the current economic conditions many small market teams need to cut payroll and we should take advantage of that. I am tired of hearing about BS players like Cameron and Castillo whose best days are long gone. It's time to make some significant changes. Let's see if Hendry and Ricketts have the balls to do it.

It's lunchtime at the GM meetings. Jon Heyman (SI) tweets: milton bradley's "like oddball kid in class" with #cubs teammates. "no way he can go back," source says. some of these milton bradley rumors are wild. but he has to go somewhere. word is, many #cubs stars wont even talk to him. ============================================================ on THE SCORE, Heyman elaborates that Zambrano, Ramirez, and Soriano generally just don't talk to him. They avoid him.

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In reply to by Rob G.

How could a team, with a straight face say "Well, who is going to pay for it if we give Milton Bradley 600 PA's?". I obviously don't have the temperment to be a GM.

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In reply to by Rob G.

Hopefully his contract will paralyze the front office for the entire off-season.. or maybe we will decide to keep him, then have him speak at the Cubs Convention, only to be booed so severly that Hendry will decide he has to trade him again before the season starts. That would be smart.

Boers also said his insider told him that Bradley was an "actively evil influence in the clubhouse."

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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...