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

Red Sox and Yankees Latest to C***block Cubs

The Cubs went from hording minor league pitchers to hording minor league shortstops when they hired Tim Wilken as scouting director. One target was Cuban defector Jose Iglesias, who defected back in July of 2008 when the team was in Edmonton and then signed with the Boston Red Sox in September of 2009 for 4/8.25M. He played some in the Arizona Fall League and his defense is considered "special", but at just 20 years old he still has some time to grow into his bat.

Rumor has it though that the Cubs were actually the top bidders, but Iglesias chose the Red Sox because they were his favorite team growing up. Curse you childhood allegiances!!!

For what it's worth, BP has him as 3-star prospect and #6 in the Red Sox stocked system.

Then there's the tale of Chan Ho Park, who has been rumored as a target for the Cubs for most of the offseason. The reports from Bruce Levine were that he wanted $3-4M and it was too high for the Cubs. The reality is that the Yankees came knocking and they got the rings(translated from The Korea Times).

"I was deliberating on the Chicago Cubs and the Yankees, but their history and championship contention resulted in me picking the Yankees,'' Park said. "Until last night, I was leaning toward the Cubs."
Park, who said he agreed to a one-year, $1.2 million deal, said the Cubs offered him a chance to compete for a berth in the starting rotation. With the Yankees, he will come out of the bullpen, as he did last season with the Phillies.
"I wanted to play for a champion-caliber team this year again," Park said. "I am not certain how much longer I will play baseball, but it will be huge experience and memory to play with the Yankees.''

C'est la vie.

If the Cubs are looking for another guy that could start or move to the pen(a swingman as they call it), there's Glendon Rusch (chuckle), John Smoltz (don't see it), and that's about it. It might mean they try to talk to Kiko Calero again as well and just go for a reliever.

*Thanks to "Sweet Lou" for the link on Iglesias spurning the Cubs.

Comments

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In reply to by The Joe

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read the Cubs intro at the bookstore...excellent stuff if you come by it.

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In reply to by Rob G.

Given that Derrek Lee will be a free agent after the 2010 season, if Soriano’s knee problems persist, should Soriano move to first base in 2011?

I'd rather see us hoarding catchers. If they hit you've got a gem. If they have an accurate powerful arm you can add third base or OF to their resume. And if they are good receivers first base is usually a given. Best of all, if they fail to hit you can convert them to pitchers.

"Primarily, which I've never said in the past, is I want to have fun," Bradley said. "In the past I've always just wanted to win. I didn't care whether I liked it or not as long as I was winning, because that's all it's about for me. But at this point in my career I want to enjoy it. I want to have fun. I've been fortunate enough to play on a lot of teams and met a lot of guys, so I've built some lasting relationships. That's stuff that I take to heart."
He wants to have fun this year. The Cubs want to have fun this year. Looks like a perfect fit to me.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

"I'm just here to play baseball,'' he said. "When everything lines up, I can play pretty good. Hopefully, there are no distractions." "If people allow you to be yourself, and not steer any thoughts in any direction, everything will be fine.''
The problem with Bradley hoping there are no distractions is that he brings his distractions with him. I sure hope no one steers "any thoughts in any direction," whatever that means. Crunch, your undying love for Bradley is admirable, but I have to believe that the Cubs are better off without him, regardless of his impressive OBP.

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In reply to by Tito

That's really amazing that Bradley didn't hit any doubles or HR's while walking.... he's probably the first player in ML history to not get a HBP and a HR in the same PA. It's called ISO, it's been widely used for 15 years. If there's ever been a thing more needlessly repeated than "Milton Bradley didn't hit well in 2009" on this board, I'd be surprised. Everyone agrees he didn't hit well, why are people so desperate to keep saying it like it's a new point? Aram was the cleanup hitter and only had 65 RBI's - let's repeat that 1000 times before the season starts.

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In reply to by The Real Neal

Ok...let's repeat that TRN: Ramirez 2009: 82 games, 65 RBI Bradley 2009: 124 games, 40 RBI Ramirez RISP: 103 PA, .425/.515/.563, 2HR, 46 RBI Bradley RISP 115 PA, .205/.383/.318, 2HR, 24 RBI Please make a sillier comment if possible. Ramirez dislocated his shoulder and missed basically May and June, and still produced more than a certain RF who will not be named as to not offend his fan club.

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In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Is there a retarded Cub Fan of the year award you're up for or something? Me : If there's ever been a thing more needlessly repeated than "Milton Bradley didn't hit well in 2009" on this board? 2010RCFotY: Bradley RISP 115 PA, .205/.383/.318, 2HR, 24 RBI

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I think you're missing the point that some of Bradley's walks could have been doubles and home runs if he had not been so intent on getting to ball four. Von Joshua's rule #1 was don't take fastballs in the strike zone. That certainly wasn't Bradley's rule 1. No wonder those guys hated each other. It was an unfair fight. Bradley landed on his feet with Seattle, accompanied by his millions, and Joshua was busted back to the minors.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

yes, there's some truth to that, but not everyone is a good fastball hitter and something that hugs the corners is not a pitch you need to be swinging at. Some guys are guess hitters, some guys wait for mistakes and some guys look for their pitch in their location early in the count. If he's irked by guys taking outside fastballs, especially early in the count, he belongs in the minors and preferably someone else's organization. A blanket methodology like that is not the way to work with major league hitters.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

That quote makes me want him fired. It's pretty much the definition of "those who can't do, teach". Maybe Joshua forgot it since he put up that 91 career OPS+ but you don't get a heckuva a lot of time to decide where a pitch is and whether to swing at it. Guys have trouble with pitch recognition, and he wants hitters to not lock in on a section of the strike zone, but just swing at what they think is going to be a fastball strike, regardless of location.

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/3493
Had a chance to talk baseball with reliever Jeff Stevens this morning, too. He had Greg Maddux standing behind him yesterday in the cage as he threw. He said in the past, he might throw 10 fastballs in a row or 10 sliders in a row. He said Maddux told him, "You don't pitch that way in a game," and to mix it up while he was throwing. Maddux has been hard at work here, helping pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Also this morning, Maddux was sitting in the clubhouse with catching prospect Steve Clevenger, pointing out how to best pick up pitchers' arm slots. Good stuff. The kids ought to listen.

Can you blame Park for choosing the Yankees? He cost a nice portion of the money Hendry saved by not giving into Theriot. Caught a tail end of an interview with Rich Hill on St. Louis radio station. He was talking about how excited he was to be back in the NL where he can hit. I do not recall Rich having an exceptional swing at the plate. It will be interesting to see if this guy can redevelop himself. The Cardinals rotation is uncertain once you get past the first two (guess the Cubs are in the same boat too) Lohse, Penny, and (Garcia, Hawksworth, McCellan, or Hill) is what it looks like.

Count me in the lucky we missed out on Chan camp. Was Ismael Valdez not available? Park has consistently been one of the worst pitchers in MLB for a decade now. It reeked of doing something "Just cause" and filling out Hendry's allocated budget. I'd be absolutely SHOCKED if he has an Era under 5 in New York.

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Agreed Dr. aaron...t looks like Park had moments of serviceability the last 2 seasons...but he's 36 years old, and for god's sake...can we stop looking to spend money on a "veteran" arm in the bullpen when we have a gazillion arms ready to go from the minors?

SO let's see, if Milton does a 360 on his attitude, and improves his batting, including DH, does that qualify him for comeback player of the year? And let's see, if he does do that, do Cubs fans replace the sign "It's Gonna Happen" with "OMG WE'RE DOOMED!" And let's see, will there be some apologies here on TCR? And let's see, if Carlos Silva reports to camp overweight and out of shape, will someone put up a billboard midseason with MB's picture that says, "Miss Me Yet?"

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Excellent point crunch! They should never have got involved.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Agreed. The telling part is he said he enjoyed being in TX, SD and Oak. All small media, baseball wise, markets that would not probe him that much. That being said expectations are high in Seattle this year, but I doubt he will get half the scrutiny he received here and in LA.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.