Cubs MLB Roster

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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

Cubs News Round-Up: Ben Sheets, Spring Training, Top 10 Prospect List, Zambrano Interview

Submitted by Rob G. on

- The Hardball Times has put up their top 10 Cubs' Prospects:

  1. Starlin Castro
  2. Josh Vitters
  3. Brett Jackson
  4. Jay Jackson
  5. Hak-Ju Lee
  6. Kyler Burke
  7. Andrew Cashner
  8. Chris Archer
  9. Chris Carpenter
  10. Ryan Flaherty

Archer's not a name you see on a lot of Top 10 or even Top 20 lists so far.

- Ben Sheets will throw for teams tomorrow down in Louisiana, the Cubs and about nine other clubs will be there. While the odds of Sheets making it through a full season are about on par with the odds that you're going to go home with Megan Fox tonight, it sure would make for some exciting buzz heading into the season if the Cubs could land him. There's been a few comparisons to Rich Harden and why would they let Harden go and then pursue Sheets. And yes the injury concerns are similar, but the one thing Sheets has going for him over Harden is his ability to go deep into games when he is pitching. He has 18 complete games in his career including 5 in 2008. Maybe he shouldn't have completed those games, but his season high was 123 pitches in 2008 and for the most part he was in the 100-110 range. You have to admit - Zambrano, Sheets, Dempster, Lilly and Wells would be a real nice looking 5-man rotation and suddenly make 2010 a lot more interesting.

- One of our readers "jacos" heard an interview with Carlos Zambrano on ESPN 1000 earlier. The highlights...

-Said he's in "best shape ever"
- Wants to help team win
-Said he had "6 pack abs" lifted up his shirt, Waddle said atleast a "4 pack" and could not believe Z was 265, but he looked so fit
-Talked about Lou visits to mound and what he says, (Z doing Lou's voice)-"Ya gotta throw strikes. Cmon. A lot of people are watching"
-Most feared hitter Pujlos then Carlos Lee
-Goals for next year "stay in shape" and help the team win
-Did not play softball last year
-Didn't want to address Sosa and McGwire but said he had baseball friend who took "asteroids"(no joke)
The friend did not make MLB but had warning track power and when he took "asteroids"(second time) he could "smash the ball"

*Before we get chastized for making fun of Z's accent or whatever, it's come to my attention that it's "esteroide" in Spanish which is what he was probably saying, but asteroid is way funnier.

-  Naples, Florida took a big step in trying to woo the Cubs yesterday and we may have uncovered the smoking gun that would indicate Phil Rogers might have been right for once when he said the Ricketts have already made up their mind that they want their spring training operations out of Florida.

“Kenney said if he got the consensus of the lodging organiztion within the county that it would suppoprt the project by virtue of bed tax funds it would be the last piece he was looking for to approach the owners that they submit their notice of termination with Mesa and start negotiations with Collier,” Medweddeff said.

You never want to read too much into a newspaper quote and maybe this Medweddeff person is just trying to make everyone feel good about why they're pursuing this whole thing, but that sure does sound like the Cubs are really just looking for reasons to move to Florida.

UPDATE: Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that Cubs will move to Florida barring Arizona coming up with "unforeseen money".

- One little note I wanted to pass along from a Rick Sutcliffe interview on XM radio this morning. He was talking about how he's glad Nolan Ryan is trying to get pitchers to go deeper into games with Texas and then said he's hearing that the Cubs plan to make a similar push with the addition of Greg Maddux. It wasn't a big point he was making, but that is what he said.

Tags
Cubs rumors
Cubs Prospects
Cubs Spring Training
Prospect Lists

Comments

Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:03 pm

This list seems more like "10 cubs minor leaguers I've heard of" rather than a top 10.

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Submitted by crunch on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:26 pm

"I would love to hear, 'You know what I took steroids because I wanted to hit the ball farther, I wanted to throw the ball harder or I wanted to run faster,'" he said. "Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, why did they take steroids? To run faster, not to heal from injuries. They did it to run faster, OK? And I would love to start hearing, 'You know what, I did steroids because I wanted to improve my performance on the baseball field. I wanted to be bigger so I could hit the ball farther, I wanted to be able to run faster or I wanted to be able to throw the ball harder.' Then I'll start respecting some of these guys who come out and give the reasons for their steroid use. But, you know, "I had an injuruy...' Every ballplayer, every football player, every basketball player has some kind of a little nagging injury during the season. That's a baloney cop-out." awesome.

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:13 pm

forgot to mention something I heard on Xm radio this morning...

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Submitted by navigator on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:59 pm

And the Mets agreed to pay for it.
Carlos Beltran's agent Scott Boras told Andrew Marchand of ESPN Radio in New York that the Mets provided workman's compensation paperwork to pay for the procedure on his client's right knee. "The Mets gave consent to pay for the surgery," Boras said, noting that the office for Dr. Richard Steadman, the surgeon who performed Carlos Beltran's knee surgery, received the paperwork from team trainer Ray Ramirez. Boras also said he spoke with both Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya about the surgery on Tuesday while Beltran also spoke with Minaya. The Mets are expected to address the matter with the media at 2 p.m. ET. Jan. 14 - 1:54 pm et Source: ESPN1050.com
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?spo…

Submitted by The E-Man on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:55 pm

Without doing much research, here is a list of pitching reclamation projects by Hendry: Wade Miller Ryan Dempster Chad Fox Kerry Wood Shawn Estes Angel Guzman Glendon Rusch Jerome Williams Scott Williamson Neal Cotts Not included: The "Human Towel Drill", and Joe Borowski. There are 10 I can think of. Five were/are useful. How does this compare to the other GM's around baseball?

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:51 pm

considering no one seems to like Dempster I don't get the over-hyped otherwise, he's 28-15, 3.30 ERA and 406 IP's over the last two seasons...ERA is 7th best in the NL over 2 seasons.

[ ]

Submitted by carlosrubi on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:05 am

Then McPhail offered him a contract and Grace left to take a bigger payday from Arizona.
A ring on his finger begs to differ.

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:44 pm

Interesting comments on each person in the Hardball Times list, especially Vitters. They describe Vitters as "a good defender." Really? I am not sure that there is anyone other than Vitters mom that would agree that Vitters is "a good defender."

Submitted by navigator on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:59 pm

KICK-OFF. Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano announces the launch of the BIG Z FOUNDATION, which helps underserved children and families. Mr. Zambrano and other Cubs are expected to attend the event at Fogo de Chão, where the evening includes a three-course meal. Jan. 17, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Tickets are $125, proceeds benefit this Big Z Foundation. 661 N. LaSalle St., (312) 932-9330, www.carloszambrano38.com.

Submitted by Paul Noce on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:37 pm

I'll never forget the propaganda trip Grace was on when his final Cubs contract expired, and he called out McPhail in the press and claimed he didn't care about the money, he just wanted to be a Cub. Then McPhail offered him a contract and Grace left to take a bigger payday from Arizona. Class-less prick. I never did like the guy. As a ballplayer he was good, not great. He had the misfortune of being surrounded mostly by pure crap talent his entire time with the Cubs, but as a person, Grace is just another stuck-up, hypocritical, lying scumbag who loves to hear himself talk. Grace, Sutcliffe, and Joe Morgan should be locked in a booth together in some alternate reality.

Submitted by Charlie on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:29 pm

Rumors now that the D-Backs may release Eric Byrnes. If he's healthy enough to play (and this is all speculation on my part now), he, Reed Johnson, and Dye might be three righthanded, lefty-mashing outfielders the Cubs could consider to platoon in RF and spell Soriano (or Byrd in Johnson or maybe even Byrnes's case).

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:20 pm

i was looking for info on Grace and came across this partial article, dated Nov 1st, 1992. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4137881.html
Insider has learned Dawson is ready to sign a five-year contract that would allow him to play for another two seasons, then join the coaching staff, front office or broadcasting team. The total package could be worth between $10 million and $12 million. "That's part of the structure, but I don't want to get into specifics," general manager Larry Himes said of the long-term deal. It is believed the deal has been agreed to in principle and could be signed as soon as Nov. 10. That's the day after expansion rosters are due in to league offices and the first date non-protected players can
of course, he ended up with the Red Sox in '93 so that's interesting...

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 01:44 pm

damn you teflon himes... oh...wait...

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:36 am

Seamhead already mentioned one way to donate to relief efforts in Haiti in the last post, but I thought I would reiterate the need for help and offer another way. If you want to make a difference quickly and easily, you can simply text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross for Haiti. It gets added right to your phone bill and 100% of the funds go to the relief effort. Just hold yourself to one less beer and hot dog at Wrigley next summer and you can give food, water, and medical supplies to earthquake victims! Impressively, US citizens have already raised over $5 million through this method.

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:53 pm

jack clark has opinions about stuff... "All those guys are cheaters," Clark said. "A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez): Fake, phony. Rafael Palmeiro: Fake, a phony. (Roger) Clemens, (Barry) Bonds. (Sammy) Sosa. Fakes. Phonies. They don't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. They should all be in the Hall of Shame. They can afford to build it. They've all got so much money. And they could all go there and talk about the next way to rub something on your skin. The whole thing is creepy. "I don't know how they sleep at night, looking at all their fame, let alone the money they took by faking everybody out and lying to everybody."

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:13 pm

not too bad over his career versus lefties...probably prefer Reed though if it came down to those 2.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:39 pm

Submitted by Sweet Lou on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 3:54pm. If he's released, Byrnes would be cheaper than signing Johnson for $2-3 million, wouldn't he? ==================================== LOU: A lot cheaper. If Eric Byrnes gets released, the Cubs (or any club) can sign him for the MLB minimum ($400K), and his former club (the D'backs) is on the hook for the balance, just as happened when the Padres released Jim Edmonds a couple of years ago and the Cubs signed him for the MLB minimum, or when the Padres signed Chad Gaudin for the MLB minimum after the Cubs released him last March. The only way it costs more than the MLB minimum to sign a released player is if the player can command more as a free-agent than what he got as termination pay. This happened with Reed Johnson when he was released by the Blue Jays at the end of Spring Training 2008. Toronto only had to pay him 25% of his $3.275M 2008 salary as termination pay because the contract wasn't guaranteed and he was released prior to Opening Day. Then the Cubs signed him for $1.3M, so that Johnson made $2.1M (total) instead of $3.275M for that season, getting $800K (termination pay) from TOR and $1.3M (2008 salary) from the Cubs. The Cubs should offer the D'backs Carlos Silva in exchange for Eric Byrnes, and then the clubs could split the portion of Silva's 2011 & 2012 salary obligation that is not being paid by Seattle ($8M in 2011 and the $2M buy-out in 2012) 50/50. The Cubs would end up spending the same total money to get Byrnes for 2010 as they were going to have to pay Silva 2010-12 ($11M for Byrnes in 2010, $4M of Silva's salary in 2011, and $1M of Silva's buy-out in 2012), and the D'backs would be able to spread the $11M hit over three seasons ($6M in 2010, $4M in 2011, and $1M in 2012), instead of having to eat Byrnes $11M 2010 salary all at once, which they would have to do if he is released.

[ ]

Submitted by mjmiller73 on Sat, 01/16/2010 - 01:54 am

Wow, this Silva-Brynes talk does sound good. Just getting Silva off the 2011-12 roster would be part of the benefit. That said, if the Diamondbacks are looking at cutting Brynes despite being on the hook for his salary, they must also value roster spots like there's only 25 of them. Even if we need to pay more than 1/2 of the split Phil mentions, it might be worth it. If it can't be worked out, maybe we can arrange for Silva to do some gardening for the Urbinas.

Submitted by jacos on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:35 pm

He was on WSCR today said he has "dropped 35-40 lbs". Diet ganch?

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:21 pm

all 8 Cubs filed today, although certainly some if not all will agree to deals before their hearing.

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 01/15/2010 - 01:24 pm

all Cubs convention talk, but anything on how Sheets looked?

Submitted by Andrew on Sat, 01/16/2010 - 01:40 am

Randy Wells has some good quotes from the Convention. I like this kid: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100114&content_id=79… "I used to say when I got to the Blue Jays that if my career ended now, I made it," Wells said. "Now, that's not good enough for me. Why not make an All-Star team? Why not MVP? Why not win the Cy Young? That's the kind of stuff that keeps you moving forward. "I know if I have a bad spring, I could be out of a rotation spot," he said. "You've go to keep it real. People who lose focus of that are the ones who struggle. I'm not taking anything for granted." He did take some time off this winter to travel, see friends. Wells joked that he took the "Rocky" approach this offseason and just threw the ball as hard as he could into a net to get ready for 2010. "Everybody talks about the sophomore slump that people go through," Wells said. "I don't believe in it. I was a guy who spent seven, eight years in the Minor Leagues and I got the opportunity and I caught a shooting star and I grabbed hold of it and I'm not letting go. "I'm [ticked] I didn't win 15, 16, 17 games last year," he said. "Instead of 12, I'm going to try to win 15, 16, 17, 18 games this year. It's just the way I am. I don't ever get complacent. I want to be better. I want to pitch 10 years. I'm not going to go in there and say, 'Hey, I had a heckuva rookie year and I'm going to sit here and look pretty on the bench.'"

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Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 01/16/2010 - 01:58 am

Sounds like a Greg Maddux quote to me. --- "I'm [ticked] I didn't win 15, 16, 17 games last year," he said. "Instead of 12, I'm going to try to win 15, 16, 17, 18 games this year. It's just the way I am. I don't ever get complacent. I want to be better. I want to pitch 10 years. I'm not going to go in there and say, 'Hey, I had a heckuva rookie year and I'm going to sit here and look pretty on the bench.'"

Recent comments

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • 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. 

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