Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Rumor Round-Up: Granderson, Padilla & TCR Friday Notes

a lot of ground to cover here, let's get to it...

UPDATE: Muskat previews the Winter Meetings and says up to three teams are interested in Bradley. Talks have happened with the Tigers for Granderson but not looking good at the moment. Reed Johnson is welcome back and Mark DeRosa is out of the Cubs price range.

- Mlive.com has a pretty detailed report on the negotiations between the Cubs and Tigers so far for Curtis Granderson. The Tigers wanted Carlos Marmol or Starlin Castro as the headliner in a trade and they've been deemed untouchable (that always works out well for the Cubs). They did do some previous scouting on Jake Fox last season and he could of been of interest as part of the package, but they'll have to get him from the A's now.  Names like Josh Vitters, Jay Jackson, Andrew Cashner and Hak-Ju Lee are thrown around, but they don't quite bring the right mixture of major league readiness and prospectdom that the Tigers are craving.

- A very sketchy rumor of the Cubs having interest in Vicente Padilla.

- Chone Figgins to the Mariners for 4/36 according to Rosenthal. A bit pricey, but such is the cost of dabbling in free agency.

- My favorite article of the last 48 hours over at NESN.com proclaims, "Cubs May Be Primed to Throw Loads of Cash at Jason Bay".  You see that headline in your Google Reader and immediately start wondering how did everyone miss the scoop on that one? Then you click the link written by Evans Clinchy, who graduated from Tufts University with a degree in English and you start to wonder if Tufts University must be some online diploma factory.

Mr. Clinchy goes on about how the Cubs would be some good fit for Bay because they've thrown money at outfielders before, without offering any type of inside source or made-up source or even a guy that looked like Jim Hendry at the coffee shop saying the Cubs have any interest in Bay. He completely ignored or just didn't bother to research that the Cubs have very little payroll flexibility this offseason, want to move Fukudome to right and are having a hard time getting anyone to take Bradley without paying most of his contract.

- Here's Arizona Phil's take on Ronny Morla and Matt Spencer from the comments.

Ronny Morla and Matt Spencer will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time post-2010.


I have seen quite a bit of Morla out here over the past three years(he was at Extended Spring Training 2007-09), because the Cubs play mostly the A's, Giants, and Angels in Minor League Spring Training, EXST, and Instructs. He is somewhat comparable to Robert Hernandez, a bit raw but with some upside.

And I saw Spencer play quite a bit in his college days at Arizona State and then a little bit in Minor League Camp (ST), and I would compare him to Micah Hoffpauir (1B-LF-RF). While Hoffpauir is the better defender at 1B, Spencer has a stronger arm and is a better corner OF, although he can play 1B, too.


If Hoffpauir spends the entire 2010 season in the big leagues, he will almost certainly qualify for salary arbitration as a "Super Two" post-2010, so the Cubs may be thinking about Spencer as a possible replacement for Hoffpauir in 2011.

He also says Jeff Gray has one minor league option left. With the Cubs swapping Miles and Fox for Gray on the 40-man roster, they have 3 open spots at the moment.

I know there's a lot of hand-wringing going on over losing Fox or more appropriately having to move Fox to get the A's to take on $1.7M of Miles and his contract. I think the Cubs did okay on their prospect haul - of course I thought the same thing when they traded Michael Wuertz to the A's - and no matter what you believe in Jake Fox's talents, they for some reason were under-appreciated and not going to be utlized by our four million dollar manager.  Better to get something, than nothing for a guy who was out of options.

Speaking of, a good time to mention that I completed entering all the transactions between the Cubs and the rest of the league at Wiklifield.  You can find the link on the top menu bar under Wiklified and "Transactions by Teams" which takes you to the current 30 major league franchises. On each page is the Cubs record vs the team, broken out by decade as well and then the transactions and some other tidbits. The A's and Cubs have hooked up quite a bit over the last six years as you can see. Starting with Michael Barrett for Damien Miller in 2003 and so far 3 trades already in 2009 (Wuertz, Roquet and now the Fox/Miles trades)

- The folks at Cubscast are pushing a "Dawson4thehall hashtag blitz" for this Tuesday. I think that means it involves Twitter, and you can support the cause by following their instructions. And then explain to me what the hell hashtag means.

- I was slow on getting this link up, but our pal Tim at Cubby-Blues put together a get-well card for Ted Lilly, including get well wishes from some fans.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

In his blog, Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says that there is "not a shred of truth" to the Padilla rumor. He has also heard rumblings of some interest in Rick Ankiel, but labels them as "premature" at this point as the Cubs are "merely looking". I suspect Hendry tried valiantly to acquire OF Aaron Cunnningham from the A's, since the trades of Miles and Heilman have left us completely Aaron-less. Keep an eye out for deals for Cook, Harang, Hill, Laffey, Poreda or Rowand.

I was looking for something solid in that "pretty detailed report on the negotiations between the Cubs and Tigers so far for Curtis Granderson"--but all I could find was a link to Phil Rogers, the source of all Granderson-to-Cubs rumors. At some point we need a second source here, or it's a non-story.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

That powerhouse 61 game season? Yeah, Hollandsworth was really good for 50 games once upon a time. Bradley's not worth what he'll be paid for a really good 60-90 games. His rate stats look great. He doesn't stay healthy, socre a lot of runs, or drive in a lot of runs. Meh.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

So, there wasn't a large group of vocal fans who did what they could to make Bradley's playing days miserable? That's an interesting hypothesis, but I think it's pretty easily disproved. What happened in the winter of 2005 with Sosa? Didn't Hendry realize that after bashing him that he had destroyed his trade value, then realize he wasn't going to get good value for him so decided to keep him? Then of course, came the fan fair, where it became obviously that the slavering dogs known as Cubs fans were going to boo Sosa out of Chicago, so Hendry had to trade him no matter what. Both these moves were motivated by the 'fans', and both of them are going to bite Hendry and the Cubs in the ass.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

You don't have a damn clue what your talking about. Bradley in his final game took himself out of the game. No trainer came out to check on him, he just went to 1b and then turned around and jogged off the field. He didn't limp, he didn't walk, he jogged off the field and nimbly went down the steps and into the dugout. He moved pretty good for an injured guy coming out of the game. No team mate bothered to even care he was leaving and the trainer was shaking his head like "i am just tired of this shit." A day or a few days later he was asked to pinch hit and Bradley refused which caused Joshua to get in Bradleys face. If your gonna refuse to play, thats it your career is over with a franchise. You have just fucked yourself, but in Bradleys case does he care? Hell no he got his money either way. Its a win win scenerio for him. Bradley caused his own suspension by refusing to play and thinking he was the sole decider on whether he could continue to get away with the shame of his "day to day" injury excuse he has played with for years. Its always been a brilliant excuse for Bradley to use to not play whenever he wants. But jogging off the field and claiming injury kinda exposed that fraud to the entire organization. He has been a fraud since day one anyways.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

What baseball player ever plays at 100%? What football player ever does? One thing that goes to the heart of the matter is a trainer comes out and checks on the player and then decides if he should or should not come out because the player will want to stay in the game. Not Bradley he has no desire to stay in the game at all, he doesn't need a trainer to convince him to come out, because he has already made up his mind, he is done. Some fire, some passion, one hell of a faker. Bradleys entire body is injured each and every single year and its always day to day, and he never hits the DL. How the hell do you have that many injuries and still heal in a couple days to go back on the field? Well we know what he did in Texas he faked injuries to not play and used the "day to day" excuse. And you don't think he didn't do it in Chicago? Stop being naive and look at the facts. Injured guys pinch hit all the time. Soriano played on a shredded knee last year. Thats if Bradley was injured, which he wasn't. You can go ahead and believe the man, but he is already a documented liar. Your just buying into the fact that Bradley hides behind a shit load of excuses to explain away his attitude. The injury excuse is just a part of his victim mentality.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Actually $7.3 million, since the minimum is about $400K. If Miles had gotten 680 PA's he would have been worth -$22.8 million.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Holy smokes - I didn't realize they actually had a dollar value statistic which could be attributed to a player's performance! Thanks for providing. Is there a quick way to check how that stacks up against everyone else in the league with at least 150 PAs last season? It has to be near the bottom, for sure...

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

well it's 32 pts...and I don't think anyone think's that a big difference... as for his defense, well there's no one with the Cubs who thinks he can handle defense to play it regularly, Arizona Phil sure didn't think so either and from what I saw last year, he has really poor technique, especially at 3b. I wish him the best though, maybe he'll improve, but without any options left and Lou's unwillingness to play him, Hendry was wise to get something for him or use him to get out of most of Miles contract, however that allegedly went down. Micah Hoffpauir, sans the emergency C, can do as much with the bat imo. Should Lou have layed him more especially when Aram went down? Of course, because the Cubs didn't have a better option. But I also don't think we traded a regular away...he could have been a good bench option, but if he struggles like say Daryle Ward in 2008 or Hoff for part of 2009, the Cubs are either stuck with him the whole year or they likely lose him for nothing.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"Again, for having played a handfuul of games at 3B in the minors coming in to the season, he showed enough that he could be a decent back-up anyway." Never called him a regular. But with an aging team with nagging injuries to LF, 3B, 1B, he would have been a good option. I hope that Hoffpauir has a nice season.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

hendry's always been good at stuff like that...still...i just do not like the 2 prospects in that deal. he got a nice/cheap mlb reliever...with 1 pitch. there was a guzman comparison by a sportswriter, but really...the only link i can think of is they tried to get gray to throw 1000 different pitches developing a secondary. he still doesn't have a very good one out of the slider, change, curve, etc. he's tried out.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

it's more the complex-to-complex driving for games...both for the cubs and other teams. there's already 4 hour drives going east/west for some. the florida location they're looking at would be another hour south/west.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 12/05/2009 - 2:23pm.
Cubs don't even take their regulars to Tempe which is about the same as they'll have to take them to all the games in Florida...

that being said, if Florida's bid was better than Arizona's other than that one fact, I imagine the multi-millionaires can suck it up

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

ROB G: Spring Training travel distances in Florida are a lot longer than in Arizona, but the weather is also a factor (sunny days are more plentiful in Arizona than in Florida, and so there is less time lost during Spring Training to the weather). And then there is the matter of travel time for the minor leaguers. To cut costs and wasted travel time, the Cubs now play about 90% of their Minor League Spring Training, Extended Spring Training, and Instructional League games versus the A's, Angels, and Giants, because Fitch Park is only about 15 minutes from Phoenix Papago Park (A's), Tempe Diablo Park (Angels), and Scottsdale Indian School Park (Giants), as well as the new D'backs/Rockies combined facility currently under construction on the Salt River Pima Indian Reservation. Now if the Ricketts Family is overwhelmed by a substantially better offer from Naples, everything else might get disregarded, but the Gila River Indians (like the Salt River Pima Indians) are loaded with casino money and have large amounts of open land at Wild Horse Pass in close proximity to two freeways (I-10 and SR 202), a Sheraton Hotel, a casino, golf courses, the Rawhide Western Town & steakhouse, a Don Shula steakhouse, and the Firebird Lake NHRA International Raceway. BTW, wherever it ends up, the Ricketts Plan is supposedly to create a "Wrigley Field Experience" for $pring Training, with a $tadium that looks like a $caled-down ver$ion of Wrigley Field, $urrounding re$taurant$, and maybe an adjacent ba$eball-themed amu$ement park and a partner-hotel. The Cubs also want to have better security with restricted access to the premises so that bloggers can't snoop around like they do at Fitch, and hire their own ground crew (rather than be at the mercy of City of Mesa Parks Department personnel as is the case now at Fitch and HoHoKam). The Gila River Indians can probably do all that, but I doubt that the City of Mesa can. The only negative about locating a site on the Reservation is the pervasive gambling, but I don't know of too many people who gamble on Spring Training, Extended Spring Training, AZL, or Instructs games.

And if Starlin Castro is holding up a Granderson deal.........just a dummmmmmmmmmbbbb GM.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Injury aside, I would think that he's probably pretty likely to continue his slow descend, rather than plummet into worthlessness. Lou bitched about Hendry bringing in a switch hitter who drove in 9.7% of his RBI opportunities.. He's thinks the fix to that is to bring in a right handed hitter who drove in 10.6%. That will give us a nice 3,4,5,6,7,8 all right handed hitters if Baker and Soto are playing. The 4-7 guys should have a legitimate shot at 600K's between them. Maybe Hendry's biggest fault as a GM is that he lets other people be GM.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

And that those other people are never us. I SAID TRADE FOR SWISHER, DAMMIT! WTF ARE YOU DOING?! (Of course, I also wanted to keep Sosa, Patterson, Pie, Murton, etc., etc.)

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I like to think my understanding of baseball, especially budget constraints, has grown since the Sosa trade. I can semi-justify wanting to keep everyone else. The Sosa trade brought back more value than I initially thought it would. Also, I didn't feel bad about trading Murton for Harden--so I guess I should've said that I wanted to see Murton play more. We'll see on Pie, but yeah it looks like a poor series of trades right now. Pie's value is rising and, well, we just discarded Heilman. I still wish Hendry would've traded for Swisher last offseason though. Would've prevented some mistakes and put the team in a much better position to fill holes this year.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

YEah....it was an off year for a usually big run producer like Bradley. Oh...he's not?

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

It was an off-year for both of them when it comes to driving in runs. They were two of the worst RBI guys in all of baseball in 2009. If you think Bradley's going to drive in 10% or less of the runners on base in front of him in 2010, I'll take that bet.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Fri, 12/04/2009 - 5:24pm.
We traded Eric Hinkie for the rights to keep Chiasson.

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 12/04/2009 - 5:28pm.
intriguing, BR.com/Retrosheet says Hinske for Miguel Cairo, but the timing of it on March 28th indicates keeping Chiasson could have been part of it. They did make some other mistakes as well.

=========================

DR AARON B & ROB G: The Cubs selected Scott Chiasson in the December 2000 Rule 5 Draft, and then after they secured Outright Assignment Waivers on him at the end of Spring Training 2001, they worked out a deal with Oakland where the A's would decline their right under MLB Rule 6 to reclaim Chiasson, in exchange for the Cubs sending Eric Hinske to Oakland. (The Cubs also got Miguel Cairo as part of the deal). The Cubs then outrighted Chiasson to AAA Iowa (they had to secure Outright Waivers on him before they could make the trade with Oakland), and then the Cubs added him back to the 40-man roster (and brought him up to Chicago) later that season. And then Chiasson blew-out his elbow and had TJS, and was never able to rediscover his pre-TJS put-away slider. BTW, the Cubs tried to do a similar thing with RHP Tim Lahey a couple of years ago. Lahey was selected from the Twins by Tampa Bay in the 2007 Rule 5 Draft and then was traded by the Rays to the Cubs for cash considerations. Lahey was supposedly the PTBNL in the Craig Monroe deal (but only if the Cubs liked what they saw of him in Spring Training, which they did), but before Lahey could be named as the PTBNL in the Monroe deal, he had to pass through Outright Waivers. Unfortunately for the Cubs, Lahey was claimed off waivers by the Phillies at the end of Spring Training, and because he opened the 2008 season on an MLB 25-man roster, he could (by rule) no longer be a PTBNL in the Monroe deal. So the Cubs ended up getting OF-1B Doug Deeds as the PTBNL instead. (And Lahey lasted only about a week in Philadelphia before getting re-claimed by Minnesota).

who's just a little scared that at some point the Rays tell JH to go fuck himself on the whole Bradley/Zach Morris thing? It seems to be draaaaaaggggging on, and supposedly the only thing holding it up is how much the Cubs will pay for Bradley to play in Tampa.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

This pop you speak of Crunch...IS EFFING HILARIOUS!! Bradley's peripherals always look great..and he ends up playing 60-90 game seasons...getting hurt...getting into altercations with coaches...managers..fans.. Yeah..he's a guy who always scores a lot of runs, and drives them in..except he isn't. It's like playing a reverse russian roulette with Bradley..there's a 27% chance he'll have a solid almost full season. Yippee?? Again, they made a poor choice in signing him. Crying over spilled milk ain't going to help.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

yeah, believe it or not the guy can hit doubles and scatter some homers. sorry, i won't say "pop" from now on unless im talking about adam dunn and ryan howard. the only "crying" going on is because the cubs want to get rid of a guy they managed like crap because they adopted a big baby and didn't coddle him. what do the cubs FANS get in exchange? ...to send him away in an attempt to get a lesser hitter. yeah, awesome.

Starlin Castro or Carlos Marmol holding up a Granderson deal? Geez... Take em. Zeus is great when he throws strikes, but league hitters have determined that they simply don't have to swing the bat when Marmol takes the mound and Starlin Castro... whatever. Maybe he'll be wonderful in 6 years if everything goes right. Annoyed.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Talk about putting words in my mouth, sheesh. Am I the only one who noticed Marmol sucked last year? To me, the chances of him making it through the ASB as the closer are about 40%. We're going to have to answer the 'who closes' question regardless of whether Marmol is traded or not.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Ok...the Tigers have asked for this type of package. If Marmol pitches like he did last season, yes...closer will be a problem area. Let me phrase it this way. Marmol is overrated, Castro is overrated...so we trade them along with what's needed to get Granderson. With that done, who would you pick to close? That's all I'm asking.

Braves might be sweating this out...Cubs interested (Mike Gonzalaz too) doubtful but it says so. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4717127 --- When general manager Frank Wren offered salary arbitration to Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, the Braves assured themselves of four compensatory draft picks in the event the two relievers signed elsewhere. It's believed that Gonzalez, a Scott Boras client, will decline arbitration and explore free agency. It's been widely speculated that right-hander Rafael Soriano, who was offered salary arbitration by the Braves this week, will decline the offer and hit the open market as a free agent. But Soriano's agent said Saturday that the pitcher is giving serious consideration to accepting arbitration and returning to Atlanta for a one-year deal. "It's going to go down to the wire,'' said agent Peter Greenberg. "It's definitely going to be a last-minute decision for us.'' The Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Orioles, Tigers, Red Sox and Astros are among the teams believed to have some interest in Soriano and/or Gonzalez on the open market. But Jose Valverde and Fernando Rodney are among the other closers available, and Greenberg said Soriano will take his time weighing his options. "We know there's a lot of interest in Rafael, but we still don't have a sense yet whether [salary] arbitration or going on the free market is in his best interests,'' Greenberg said.

Rosenthal on Bradley, but not much is "hot" yet...Would rather have Millwood (over Castillo) but not sure either excites me. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10357594 --- The Rangers remain interested in re-acquiring Milton Bradley, but the Rays continue to be the front-runner for the Cubs outfielder, according to major-league sources. The Rangers' offer for Bradley could be right-hander Kevin Millwood, who will earn $12 million next season in the final year of his contract. But Bradley's second year would remain an issue, and several industry sources question why the Rangers would give up a starting pitcher for a player with Bradley's history of emotional meltdowns.

I have heard a couple mentions that Lou is lobbying for 37 year old Mike Cameron to sign with the Cubs. You would think that the Cubs would not sign Milton's replacement without dealing him. They would loose what little hand they may have. What is a fair market deal for a guy like Cameron.

[ ]

In reply to by Tony S.

Your exhibit A is a left fielder who hit .232 .326 .448 in the second half of last year. The market is probably going to play out a lot like last year, where the guys who sign early are going to have leverage and be able to get good contracts. Some will be left out and grab for one-year deals late in the off-season. At this point, I'd expect Cameron, the premier center-fielder now that Figgins seems wrapped up will be one of the luckier ones.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

It's like a new Wiscgrad. We're not talking about 2009, we're talking about 2010 and 2011, now. Discounting the 15 runs that you would give up in defense by having Soriano or Ibanez play right field - I'll still take Bradley's '10+'11 seasons over Ibanez's.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

It's like the same Real Neal; always so certain of his version of the future. When Bradley signed you were a dick to anyone who disliked it. You said we were all idiots, that "the Cubs staff knows how to keep guys like him on the field," that at $10 million even if he plays half his games, he's still a "bargain" and a "steal." When some suggested Abreu instead of Bradley you said "Hoffpauir would be better" than Abreu and that soon "Abreu is going to make Fukudome look like Barry Bonds circa 1999. The guy is in an irreversible downward trend." When DeRosa was traded you were happy because he would have been taking at-bats away from Fontenot who "would outhit him." You told us that "counting on 21 HR's in 2009 from DeRosa lies somewhere between unreasonable and delusional on the reality spectrum." Etc. Etc. Now we see more confident predictions for how well Bradley will do in future years compared to other outfielders, calls to bet on his production levels, along with new assertions about Marmol not being closer by the AS break, etc. Whatever. The thing is, I don't think you should be right on everything, none of us are. I just wish that you had some grasp of reality that you can't see the future, and would refrain from being such a dick to people on here when arguing about it.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Ahh, welcome back. "the Cubs staff knows how to keep guys like him on the field" You must have missed it, but this statement was correct. Sorry that I can't predict Lou's playing tendencies and BABIP for all players in baseball. But look at all these things you say I was foolish for saying. Didn't Abreu's OPS+ decline in 2009, despite increasing his BABIP by .012? Didn't he play the fewest games he's played in 10 years? Didn't have have 16 fewer XBH's? So Abreu is in decline, just like I said. So, I predicted that DeRosa wouldn't hit 20 HR's? I was wrong. While he was hitting his 20 HR's he also played 10 fewer games, dropped .045 from his OBP .048 from his SLG, stopped stealing bases effectively and his infield defense continued to decline, as he became less than an average offensive player. The guy lost 20% of his production, just because it wasn't in HR's, you think I was wrong? Now you know why I can confidently use words like 'delusional'. I didn't predict that he would sacrifice power for contact, though, so I'm obviously retarded. And of course, the funniest statement of your little diatribe "It's like the same Real Neal; always so certain of his version of the future." I said "I'd take a bet": and that in my mind Marmol is going to have trouble keeping the closer roll next year. I didn't say anyone was stupid for not thinking so, or that these predictions are guaranteed to happen. Marmol's ERA and FIP by year: 1.43 & 2.72 2.67 & 3.62 3.41 & 4.06 He gave 77 free passes in 74 innings last year and his K/9 rate decreased again - despite facing more batters. Why don't you make some predictions for how he's doing next year so I can call you names if they're not 100% right? You must really be burned up that you didn't get to live in Fascist Germany. How can it be that the people at TCR continue to allow people to express their opinions? *Edit. Where was I a dick to someone?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Hmm..Abreu still played 152 games. More than MB has ever played. His OBP went up, he drove in 103 runs, scored 96...and stole 30 bases in 38 tries. A very, very slight decline. You're ridiculous here TRN...for 1 year, $5 million he was an absolute steal for the Angels. DeRosa stopped stealing bases effectively. um...yeah...he went from 6 SB in 2008 to 3 in 2009, with 2 CS. He went 1 for 3 in 2007...that's a moot effing point...he was never a base stealer. was his .250/.319/.433 with 23 HR and 78 RBI better than Fontenot's .236/.301/.377 with 9 HR and 43 RBI?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

No way would I offer more than 2 years for Cameron. Granted we need a center fielder that can basically play center left to cover up for the knucklehead that who cannot run back on a baseball, but a guy who is on the verge of 37 to get locked into $16 million. That would make some of the DeRosa lovers out there to cry, considering he is 35 and assuming to field 2-3 year offers at roughly the same price. I am not by any means indicating that DeRosa should be considered, because it would really just be a waste of resources on a fan favorite considering the other issues the Cubs have to solidify. Does anyone else feel that another starter needs to be added to the rotation? With Lilly recovering, one minor setback by any of the current rotation, we could be calling Jeff Fassero out of retirement. I know that the schedule in the begining of the year allows for basically a 4 man rotation, so you possibly could get by until Lilly returns. Really, you are counting on Zambrano staying healthy, Dempster, Wells to repeat last year, and a guy who was in AAA most of last year. Who is the insurance? Jeff Samardzjia?

Jon Heyman at SI says the Cubs aren't getting anywhere near trading Milton Bradley because they only want to chip in for $5 million of his remaining contract. Rangers would take him off our hands but only will pay $3-4 million for his services leaving a $17-18 burn on the Cubs. And,
There's another issue regarding Bradley. Said one NL exec, "He just didn't produce (in 2009)."
Enuff already, just keep him Tom. It's not like you're serious about winning next year. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/06/milton.bradley…

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

...Will Carroll Tweets this (15 hours ago):
Cubs signing of Mike Cameron is waiting on deal of Milton Bradley, which has been "imminent" for about 72 hours.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Gordon Wittenmyer is reporting that Hendry and Piniella are expected to meet with Cameron's agent during the GM meetings next week. Ironic how they had to clear payroll to add Bradley and basically agreed to a deal with him contingent upon clearing payroll, now they are reportedly doing the same thing with Cameron. Jim Hendry is looking like an impulse shopper. The one thing is clear, he will be relieved of his services if this team does not improve from last year.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).