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

Sheets "All But Signed" by....Cubs!!!

From the Toronto Globe and Mail:

The Blue Jays will have a scout at tomorrow's workout by free-agent pitcher Ben Sheets, but he's all but signed by the Chicago Cubs.

Transmission will give his left nut for this to be true (thanks to navigator for the tip).

Comments

I always liked that commercial. I have more mixed feelings about Sheets. I'd be open to it if the base salary is cheap enough, though. I guess that's kind of like, "I'm all for a public health care option, provided it doesn't result in higher taxes or less money for other budget items."

I would think that if the rumor's true, then it has to be for a low base salary and some incentives. The Cubs don't have a lot of money left and still have holes to fill, allegedly. FWIW, though, this rumor seems ... uh, less than credible.

Sheets will be added to Hendry's long list of reclamation projects, but his high side is way higher than Wade Miller or Chad Fox or even Dempster. Definitely worth a long look.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

I think Lou wants Dye or at least he has hinted at by saying they were going to sign a 'significant' backup outfielder. With Soriano and Byrd both getting older I would expect to see Dye alot if he can also stay healthy.

Oh, now we're just being unfair to the competition. First Jaramillo, then Maddux... now Ben Sheets? Will the Cardinals even show up to play this season?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

The fact that we're looking at guys like Dye and Nady to be 4th outfielders speaks volumes of our recent OF free agent signings. Fukudome, Byrd, and Soriano are so good that we need to sign somebody to get the 300-400 ABs that, frankly, we don't really want to give to them. I'm not opposed to picking up Dye or Nady, though. Getting insurance for a corner OF spot seems like a good idea to me. I hope we've got somebody in the minors who can be insurance for CF, too. At least Fuld and/or Colvin ought to be passable 4th outfielders should something happen to Byrd and Fukudome have to reclaim CF.

Nady/Dye...Sheets rumor...still on the lookout for a veteran relief pitcher... when did the cub suddenly get 10-15m more to spend? sure, sheets could take care of his own rumor + push a guy into the pen, but unless he's throwing in the 80s or he can't get the ball out of his hand quick enough when throwing to the plate i don't see how he'd be coming in under 5-7m and incentives should be involved.

Well, it could be the case that Sheets may really not be ready to pitch with real arm strength anyway until May or June? I'd have to agree, unless Hendry really makes it so sweet on the back-end (and Sheets having the confidence to know he is gonna deliver) that Sheets could sign a one-year for less than we are thinking.

uggla settles w/ marlins 1yr/7.8m ...there are a few tracking him in FLA on here...well, there were more before FLA was forced into spending more money.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"Remember way back in 2008, when then-Blue Jays GM J. P. Ricciardi put down Dunn’s abilities, leading to general mockery and vilification of Ricciardi all over the internet?" yeah...for being a lazy player who's reputation in CIN was so toxic and distracting it wasn't funny. want to join his fantasy football pool or talk football while laughing off coaches and pulling the rest of the locker room into someone else's personal circus? dave miley can give references to how awesome it is.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

not at all..retardi (for more reasons than this)is an idiot and you don't call out players like that because a radio call in fan riled you up. i'm just saying dunn has his reputation because he unashamedly earned it. he's not even a dick or known to be hated by his peers...he's just seen as a distraction to clubhouse authority with a lack of motivation he's vocal about. life of the party syndrome... i wouldn't go as far as to say he's wasting his talent, but if he was a pitcher a good talking to by a personality like nolan ryan or curt schilling might do him some good. ...i'm also saying his "abilities" weren't being called out as much as the person he is in the world of baseball

signs 2 yr deal...seems that makes him a little less likely to get traded. Heilman got 1/2.15M from Dbacks Cubs were suppose to announce 4 arb-guys agreeing to deals today, but nothing yet.

rumored 4th OF, Spillborghs 2/$3.25 avoiding arbitration for this yr and next (1.3M this, 1.95M next) ex-Cub Aaron Heilman, $2.15M also avoiding arbitration...so that's money from last yrs payroll that's been freed up for some extra squirrel poison.

From Bruce Levine's chat at espn Chicago: Breaking news: The Cubs have signed five of their arbitration-eligible players. According to sources, Mike Fontenot signed for $1 million; Jeff Baker signed for $975,000; Koyie Hill signed for $700,000; Tom Gorzellany signed for $800,000; and Jose Guzman signed for $825,000. The Cubs have filed on Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall and Ryan Theriot. The players' numbers and team's numbers will come out at 2 p.m. Chicago time.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

They can still release these guys in March and get out of paying them the bulk of these contracts...right? This is from AZ Phil's Corner: "Win or lose, the player is awarded a standard one-year MLB contract with no "minor league split" salary or incentive/performance bonuses, and the contract is not guaranteed, so if the player is released during Spring Training, the club would only owe the player 30 days or 45 days salary as termination pay, depending on when the player is released. (A player receives 100% of what remains of his salary if he is released during the regular season). The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is very sensitive about salary arbitration, so if a player who was awarded a contract through the salary arbitration process is released during Spring Training, the MLBPA will almost certainly file a grievance on behalf of the player, claiming the player was released for economic reasons only (which is not permitted), and asking that the released player receive 100% of his salary as termination pay. In that situation, a club would only have to show (by submitting official Spring Training game stats) that the released player was outperformed in Spring Training games by another player (or players) competing for that roster spot."

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

QUIET MAN: That only applies to players who are awarded a contract by the arbitration panel at a hearing. For players eligible for salary arbitration who sign prior to going to a hearing, the player might or might not end up with a guaranteed contract. It's negotiable. For instance, last year the Cubs settled with Chad Gaudin ($2M one-year guaranteed contract) without going to a hearing, but gave him a guaranteed contract in exchange for taking less money than he wanted. Then the Cubs were on the hook for the entire $2M after he got released (less the pro-rated MLB minimum Gaudin got when he signed with the Padres in April). Conversely, Reed Johnson signed a $3.25M non-guaranteed deal with Toronto pre-2008, so that when the Jays released him prior to Opening Day 2008 they only had to pay him $800K+ (45 days salary) as termination pay. Then the Cubs signed him for $1.3M, so that Johnson ended up with an aggregate $2.1M salary for 2008 ($800K termination pay from TOR plus $1.3M salary from the Cubs). However, if Johnson had signed a $3.25M 2008 guaranteed contract and then got released prior to Opening Day, the Jays would have been on the hook for the entire $3.25M, minus the MLB minimum salary the Cubs would have given Johnson, and RJ would have gotten all of his money. As I mentioned on the next thread above, Mike Fontenot probably got more money than the other four arbitration-eligible guys who signed today in exchange for accepting a minor league split salary (probably about $300K) in case he gets optioned to the minors in 2010 (which very well could happen).

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Yeah, I think it's mostly Fontenot's contract that's just silly. I know it's the first time he's arbitration-eligible but his numbers would suggest a decrease not a pay hike of more than double what he made in 2009 ($430,000 acc. to ESPN). To me, when guys like Fontenot can double their salaries after a shitty year -- not to mention getting chosen as a super-2 over Adam Jones and Micah Owings -- the system ain't working.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

#43 Re: *new Submitted by Andrew on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 12:35pm. So that's $4.3 million for those five. That's likely too much, considering that AZ Phil projected $10 million for the lot of them (at least according to the sidebar) Just Hendry overpaying again? .......................................................... Rumor had it that these guys wanted a total of 2.1 million between them.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.