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

Holiday Hangover

Judging by the number of hits and comments, you guys are either ridiculously bored or still passionate about the Cubs...or just like to argue. I find myself rather indifferent after the holiday break, the Cubs instilling no confidence in me that they know what they're doing and seemingly content to blame the entire failure of 2009 on Milton Bradley and injuries.

I did score my usual swag of Cubs gifts for Christmas. The Angel Fan Wife got me this 1984 Cubs cap, plus I got a new Cubs jersey to add to my collection and various other Cubs-themed knick knacks that always seem to find my stocking including a Cubs-themed Connect Four. I tried to teach the G Twins how to play, but they seemed more interested in making pretty patterns with the red and blue pieces and then releasing the support bar from the bottom so all the tiles came crashing down.

Fun little sidenote about the G twins and living in a split household. Back during the playoffs while the Angels were making a little run, they were of course on the TV a lot. A few days after getting eliminated by the Yankees, I was watching another game and one of my daughters asked where the Angels were. I explained that they lost in the playoffs and that there season was over. Her little lip started to quiver, she whimpered "It's ooover...why?" and the sobbing began. Sadly, that probably won't be the last time she cries about baseball.

Here's the update to the Free Agent Frenzy contest. One person got Rich Harden right (for 10 pts), another Jason Bay(for 8 pts) and a third person got DeRosa to the Giants (for 5 pts).

Here's a link to an All-Decade Team at The Blue Workhorse. Corey Patterson is on it and I don't think it's meant to be sarcastic.

Stop by and wish Aisle 424 a happy birthday, one of the finer new Cubs blogs to emerge in my opinion.

A detailed look into how the Ricketts are financing their loans.

Ken Rosenthal predicts the Cubs will sign Ben Sheets.

May the New Year bring love, joy, peace and a pennant for the Cubs.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

At the beginning of the off season I thought I read Ben Sheets wanted some ridiculous money considering his injury history and being out of commission in '09. If he signs with the Cubs (and I'm not totally opposed to it), I hope it's a smallish, one-year redemption contract. He can rake next year, not this year.

Judging by the our web hits and comments, you guys are either ridiculously bored or still passionate about the Cubs...or just like to argue.
I would guess it's a little bit of all three... at least for me.

In the article about Ricketts' financing of the Cubs:
"This is A-grade paper"...
Somewhere, an executive at Standards & Poors shudders and remembers saying the same thing about mortgage-backed securities.

Hey, thanks for the link and birthday wishes, Rob! I blame the failure of 2009 on Aaron Miles. Of course - you can't eliminate the injury problems completely, so Miles and injuries. Oh, and also the bullpen. But that is all: Aaron Miles, injuries, and the bullpen. And Soto being all fat and useless. That really wasn't an injury so you have to count it separately. And the middle infield consisting of the Lollipop Guild, so I blame: Aaron Miles, injuries, the bullpen, fat useless Soto, and the Lollipop Guild, but that is all. Plus the excruciating sale process. And racists in the bleachers. And Lou losing his edge. But that is all I blame: Aaron Miles, injuries, the bullpen, fat useless Soto, the Lollipop guild, the sale process, racists in the bleachers, and Lou losing his edge. And Milton Bradley.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

I could have sat right behind the plate in 422 when I bought my package in 1998, but I would have been in the last row and under the press box. So I chose slightly closer to the field, and out from beneath the press box with the sightline almost straight down the third base line. Luckily, I made that choice because they tore up the last couple rows of 422 and made them handicap accessible seating a few years later and I would have been relocated way down the lines.

Milton ruined 2008 also? Damn. Pretty amazing feat since he wasn't on the team. :)

I am starting to think that 2005 is the true Hendry level of team construction and anything that happens to seem to make the team better or worse will eventually just regress to a 78 win mean.

"Judging by the number of hits and comments, you guys are either ridiculously bored or still passionate about the Cubs...or just like to argue." If I remember right, I tried to pick a fight with Real Neal, which is like trying to argue with an Ayatollah. I say that with affection, TRN.

What, no blame to the stainless steel urinals? Smokey Links aisle cart? Bud Lite roof? Torco sign? etc., etc...

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

At any more than $5 million, why would the Cubs not offer arbitration to Harden? What's the "risk" that Hendry was talking about? The risk of looking dumb after botching another first-round pick?

Beltre to Red Sox for 1/$9M with a $5M player option for next season or $1M buyout. guess they're counting on winning a lot of 3-2 games next year...

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/3177
If Sheets' agent is looking of mega-millions, he won't find it with the Cubs, who are scraping together the dough to afford a veteran right-handed reliever and maybe a veteran backup outfielder.
If Sheets hasn't signed with somebody, say, by Valentine's Day, I can see the Cubs offering some sort of a deal with a low base plus incentives. But nothing's imminent, based on the talk I've had with people today and throughout the winter.

May the New Year bring love, joy, peace and a pennant for the Cubs. I guess 3 out of 4 ain't bad, because this team sure as fuck isn't winning the pennant.

I'd bet that the training staff has Sheets as the top-rated remaining FA.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Ben Sheets: Keeping doctors and trainers employed since 1978. I joke, but that would be a high reward/medium risk transaction. He is He was such a great pitcher, if he can regain that fastball/power curve form he'd be a big deal. Unfortunately, I think Rosenthal was just making predictions on all the free agents. This rumor isn't rooted in any fact.

After reading that article on Ricketts, I'm getting seriously concerned that this guy simply doesn't have the money to keep this team competitive. You never want an owner leveraged to the hilt just to buy the team. Owning a sports franchise needs to be a hobby for someone insanely rich (i.e. billionaires), not a financial burden for someone who needs all kinds of loans and investors to afford it. Ricketts simply doesn't have that kind of cash, and thus I'm worried he will be far too concerned with payroll and finding new revenue streams. Damn, I wish Cuban was more polite.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

Actually, I'd be surprised if there were any pro sports teams that were bought with cash, with no financing. And the amount financed was $425 million, of the $824 million purchase price. That's not really leveraged to the hilt. I'm more concerned with having a GM who can't build a winner with the 3rd or 4th highest payroll in baseball.

[ ]

In reply to by garsky

You're leaving out the subordinated loans. The article says $674 million of the $845 million purchase price is debt. As far as I can tell, the Ricketts family sold stock worth $403 million to do this deal. Of that, apparently $170 million in cash went to purchase and another $175 million went into the deal as a subordinate loan---a loan basically to themselves. The structure of this purchase makes me wonder just what the Ricketts mean when they say they plan to plough all the profits the Cubs make back into the organization. Maybe they'll just use profits to retire these loans rather than refinance them. That will always remain an option but it's not exactly what Cubs fans are expecting. I don't know what the average interest is on this financing package but if it's between 4 and 5% then the carrying cost is around $30 million/year. That could be paid for by reducing team salary to $110 million (I'm guessing that's the base they're working from now) in the next couple years or by increasing revenue.So far it looks like they're going the revenue increasing route...significant ticket price jumps, more advertising in the park, new income streams in the future from spring training facilities..etc.while freezing the team budget.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Just to summarize what's new this year in Cubsenomics, Cubs go from a debt free operation, to one that owes $675 million dollars. Debt service is approximately ($30 million) Net Income last year approximately $30 million 10% Ticket price increase this year raises $15 million New income probably is eaten up by 9 arb eligible Cubs.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I left out the subordinate loans because, as loans to themselves, they're not really loans per se; there's no payback schedule and they're not subject to being called. MLB agrees, since the deal couldn't have been made if they were considered real debt. And they can't be paid back until the other, real loans are. The Ricketts family may well ignore it until such time as they sell, or they may convert it to real debt once the outside lenders are paid.

[ ]

In reply to by garsky

I have no idea WHAT you're talking about. Subordinate loans are loans like any other, they're just riskier because they're unsecured for all intents and purposes. And where did you learn that they earn no interest? Riskier loans should earn more than the bank loans do.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

don't think he was implying there was no interest...just that, as you noted above, they basically are loaning the money to themselves and probably aren't going to make a call for that loan if they run into problems down the line.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

don't forget, the deal was leveraged per request of Sam Zell for tax purposes even if the Ricketts wanted to pay cash. plus any business is going to be run to be self-sufficient and not require infusion from their personal bank accounts. The McCourts pretty much borrowed all the money to run the Dodgers and it hasn't really been a big issue on their payroll

No Gila Monster... CarrieMuskat: Report out of AZ says #cubs have dropped Gila River from list of possible spring sites. Mesa is still alive, with location off Loop 202

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.