Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Rudy Jamarillo: The Cubs' most important acquisition?

Submitted by CubbyBlue on

Rudy Jamarillo is different than others. He has the reputation as the "best hitting coach in baseball." You can even go online and buy his "5 Simple Steps Hitting Video". Not so for Gerald Perry or Von Joshua (although Von Joshua did have the "Fuzz Machine").

The Cubs weren't able to go sign away their hitting problems this year. They've got to depend on the guys they have to hit better next year. That's a whole lotta weight gonna be on Jamarillo's shoulders, so I think he deserves a bigger title than just the "hitting coach".

This being Chicago, that means something government-like. With an official seal.

How's about "Commissioner of the Office of Hitting Skills Renewal Management"?

Here's what Commissioner Jamarillo has to do:

First, he's got to deal with the media and be in charge of Hitting Skills Public Relations. Why was signing Marlon Byrd so great? Ask Rudy: "He's made alot of adjustments. Every year, he got better. I'm real excited about him coming over there. He brings lots of energy and leadership. He wants to win."

Marlon being a successful Rudy disciple is also good PR. And in fact Marlon can help Rudy "get my system out a little quicker and faster" because "Marlon is a good teacher."

Which is good, because the next thing Rudy has to do is get the Cubs to hit.

Geovany Soto hit .285 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs in 2008. Last year he was injured a little, wasted all that time with the WBC, and hit a sophomore slumping .218 with 11 dingers and 47 RBIs.

Alfonso Soriano was a terror with the bat early last season, then something went bad with the legs and that Fonzie thing where he carries the team on his shoulders by being a one man wrecking crew never really happened later on. In 8 more games than he played in '08, Alfonso hit 9 less homers, 20 less RBIs, and his average sunk to a .241 career low (not counting his 22 game Yankee season in 2000).

Worse, he looked like a joke swinging at the breaking balls in the dirt that were closer to first base than the plate.

Then there's Kosuke Fukudome and the headless tornado swing.

Ryan Theriot's gotta be one of the best students on the team, but that hasn't really worked out so well. He was doing fine with the Gerald Perry thing, then Aramis goes down, Von Joshua comes up. Shows Ryan the "Fuzz Machine" and then Lou asks him to maybe hit a couple more homers. It switched Ryan up. Numbers go like this: 2008 he hit .307 with 73 walks and 58 strikeouts, 2009 he hit .284 with 51 walks and 93 strikeouts. Now, he did go from 1 homer to 7, and 38 RBIs to 54, but I think we want to see Ryan be the guy crossing the plate when somebody else knocks him in.

Anyway, Rudy's got to settle him down.

Fontenot was a train wreck, and you could say didn't take advantage of perhaps his only chance to be a starter in the Bigs.

So that's alot of fixing to do, Commissioner Jamarillo, and it makes you the most important acquisition the Cubs got, at least so far, during this Hot Stove season.

May your System be correct, the Office of Hitting Skills Renewal Management be a success, and may the Baseball Gods be with you.

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 01:08 pm

Q: In your own words, describe your repertoire. Have you developed a swing-and-miss pitch? I know that was one of the things you were looking to develop last year (2008) in the Fall League.
A: I throw a four-seamer, a sinker, a slider, a changeup and a curveball. I was really trying to work on – my slider wasn’t as sharp as it probably should be and that’s what I was working on last year. This past year, it really showed that that was probably my swing-and-miss pitch along with my sinker. It’s coming along and keeps getting better every time I go out and try and use it.
Q: I understand you made some mechanical adjustments that have helped your cause a little. Can you go into that and talk about what you’ve cleaned up?
A: (A’s bullpen coach) Ron Romanick and (pitching coach) Curt Young kind of tweaked my mechanics to lower my arm slot to get a little more deception. Between the two years -- last year and the year before -- I saw a big change. I’d never really thought it that big of a difference but that really helped.
http://cubs.scout.com/2/935191.html grew up a Cardinals and Astros fan

[ ]

Submitted by Sweet Lou on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 01:56 pm

I honestly don't understand the Cardinals paying Holliday so much for so long. I'm not saying he's not good. He is a good ball player. But $17 million per year for 7 years good? I don't see that. Obviously, the Cardinals are better with Holliday than without him, but in the relatively near future, I can see his contract really hamstringing the team. As Neal pointed out, he really is the St. Louis version of Soriano. It will be really interesting to see how St. Louis handles Pujols when his contract runs out. If they re-sign him, will they be able to afford anyone else? They're going to have $37-$40 million per year tied up in just two players. Plus, if they exercise Carpenter's option, there's another $15 million. Ouch...

Submitted by Old and Blue on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 01:04 pm

... but damn is that dude good at his job. Seriously, fucking, good. It's really hard for me to not respect that.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 01:30 pm

I do think Holliday is a better investment than Soriano just by means of far better plate discpline...although they'll certainly be hating it in a few seasons. WARP-1 over last 5 years for Soriano: 1.6, 8.2, 6.4, 3.5. -0.0 Holliday - 2.1, 4.3, 7.1, 5.8, 5.8 WAR for Soriano: 2.0, 5.5, 5.6, 3.1, -0.7 Holliday: 3.3, 4.4, 8.0, 6.3, 5.7 fwiw, Boras said there were other offers for higher average salary but less years and Holliday liked St. Louis and preferred the long term committment.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 01:30 pm

listening to XM radio, Jim Bowden was on and said his friends/sources in the Marlins office think they'll have Chapman signed by the end of the weekend. no dollar amount was mentioned...

[ ]

Submitted by T-Dubs on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 01:27 am

I agree with Ryno. I really think Soriano is gonna bounce back. I have no idea why I think this. It's almost as if somebody has been deliberately repeating the phrase "bounce back" over and over so that it would be imprinted on my subconscious. I better go buy some Spring Training tickets and Cubs merch...

Submitted by John Beasley on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 01:07 pm

What a neat surprise. Congrats to the Hawk.

Submitted by JohnT on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 01:15 pm

Will he go in as a Cub or Expo? My guess would be Expo because of the time he spent in Montreal.

Submitted by Stevens on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 01:26 pm

Congrats to Dawson and to his HOF supporters. As I've said, I wouldn't have voted for him, but I'm not upset by his inclusion and I'm very happy for my fellow Cub fans.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

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