Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Running a Yellow Light

Will Carroll, BP's staff writer focusing on team health had this very interesting recent quote, from his "Cubs Team Health Report":

Age is a poor predictor of injuries. Younger players get hurt more, but they heal more quickly. Older players get hurt less, a variant of the survivor effect, but heal more slowly.

The media that follows baseball does it's best to understand and decipher sports injuries. It's a tough job for them and much gets lost in translation of medical terminology. Injured athletes often don't understand what they are being told about an injury or they are just afraid to fess up that their ache might be a significant problem until it goes on for weeks or longer. Trainers and medical staff are often reluctant to discuss information on the grounds of patient-physician confidentiality and some teams are just less open to giving what information they have to the media. The information is important to us fans, since key players dealing with even minor injuries and not performing to their best ability can drastically affect how a team plays. In 2009, Alphonso Soriano apparently had a knee injury that he tried to work through until it was so obvious that he couldn't run, leading to his arthroscopic knee surgery in September. An injury that flies under the radar screen of the medical staff, as in Soriano's case was costly and not in a way you can put the usual "days lost" analysis to.

It's one thing for a player to communicate his symptoms and another for the teams medical staff to recommend diagnostic workup and treatment. No matter how you "slice" it (c'mon...it's an "Under the Knife" pun), it's still a stretch to predict the impact of injury, past and present, on the future performance of a team.

Baseball Prospectus' staff writer Will Carroll has taken on the mantle of analysis of baseball players health and attemps to put projections to the impact of a player's medical status.  His regular "Under the Knife" column discusses weekly injury updates and for the last 8 years he has written spring training evaluations and projections for each club, "Team Health Reports".

The team health reports are broken down into three categories, Red (high injury risk), Yellow (moderate) and Green (low injury risk).

He also figures the injury days lost, which is a variant on what companies use to analyze their employees regarding sick days taken.

For the Cubs 2009:

The Facts
Days Lost: 687
Dollars Lost: $19,627,956.52
Injury Cost: $15,614,027.78

Although Carroll's club by club team analysis will contnue through the spring, so far one other club that made the playoffs in 2009 had worse numbers. The Angels had 873 days lost and the injury cost reported was $21.9M.  On the low end for NL competitors against the Cubs, the Phillies (who's medical staff was given Carroll's "Best Medical Staff Award" last November) had 546 days lost at $8.9M cost and the Cardinals also did well, having 530 days lost at $12.2M. The Mets were clearly 2009's most injured team with 1451 days lost at a cost of $51.8M.

Carroll also presents his annual "Dick Martin" Award, given to the Best Medical staff. 2009's season award went to the Phillies. This recognition was started by Carroll in 2003 and is named after the long time Twins trainer that "helped set the standards that today's athletic trainers and doctors aspire to."

Carroll has provided a spreadsheet (downloadable link at bottom of his article), that gives in full color his red, yellow and green analysis of each team. He's only looking at the starting 8 position players (9 in the AL), 5 starters, 1 closer and 1 "key reliever".

For the Cubs the red lights are ARam, Soriano, Lilly, Guzman and Marmol. The first four are obvious inclusions on this list. Aramis' shoulder dislocaton, Soriano's knee surgery, Lilly's shoulder surgery and Guzman's perennial shoulder problems plus his Jaunary knee scope clearly warrant Red Light status. Marmol's Red is most likely based on mechanics as he doesn't have an injury history and if he sticks as closer he will probably have fewer two inning outings.

The yellow lights seem to be given because of DL time last season with the expectations that their injury problems have resolved. This group includes: Soto, Zambrano, DLee and Dempster. He mumbles something about pitchers who were converted catchers breaking down regarding Randy Wells, so this might be a part of his giving Marmol a red light too. Marlon Byrd gets a yellow for being old and not handling a starters load well in the past.

...by the way, Kerry Wood is now a Yellow light! Woo. Carlos Silva (not rated), if he was rated would get a red light. I read a comment on TCR that said if Silva ever needed surgery, he would bleed gravy.

The green lights go to Fontenot, Theriot, Fukudome and Gorzellany. Heaven help them.

Carroll's summary on the Cubs future health and a comment on why the Cubs medical staff has been hard to analyze:

The Cubs took on players with known problems or extended players that were already risky. That makes it nearly impossible to tell how good the medical staff might be. If nothing else, they've stabilized things since the problems of the last decade and kept things nearer average than I'd have expected over the last three years. The next three years will be a bigger challenge.

Looking at the NL, the "healthiest" projected teams are the Brewers (1 red- Rickie Weeks) and the Phillies (1 red-Jamie Moyer). Carroll still tags the Mets health as the most in question with 7 Red Lights (Hank White, Luis Castillo, Reyes, Beltran, Maine, Niese and K-Rod). Next in line are the Dodgers and Reds with 6 Red Light players.

On the Green side, the Angels lead the majors with 11 and the Phillies and Brewers lead the NL with 8. The team with the fewest Greens, the Astros with 3.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

You would come here in the late 80’s and people would be talking about Andy McGaffigan’s change-up and sh–. Some dude actually wondered aloud if ERA was a poor gauge of a pitcher’s value. Who gives a f*&@, dude. I’m trying to mack on some chick, and you’re talkin’ math? This isn’t school, bro. Shut up. That one produced an honest-to-God chuckle.

Vegas for work tomorrow, then to Az for spring training on Thursday. I'll hopefully have something to report next Sunday. See ya!

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Right, because Hoffpauir and Colvin are almost as good as Howard. Let's just say I respectfully disagree. Anyways, to answer JBeasley, if all it took was Vitters and some other minor league scrub to rake Howard, hell yea. He's not my first choice but I certainly wouldn't mind 35+ homers every year.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

They could re-sign Ramirez and move him to first to keep him healthy and let Vitters get a shot at 3rd.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Let me clarify then--I didn't mean to imply that any of them could approximate the on-field value of Howard: IF the Cubs have a particularly competitive pitching rotation going into 2011. IF the Cubs can still pass Soriano off as an outfielder. IF Aramis is still with the team and is still playing 3B IF Soto returns to form. Then, yes, I trade Vitters and some other prospects for Howard. He might be a difference maker in that situation. However, if those things are not true, I don't see him as a big enough positive impact to save a struggling club that already needs to jettison/suffer through some bad contracts (Soriano, Silva, Fukudome, Byrd). If the Cubs don't think that Howard would push them over the top for 2011, they should take on a bargain player and keep their prospects. You all may still disagree with that, but it's not the same as saying any of those guys are just as good. Playing Colvin at 1B would probably be a worst-case scenario if the Cubs look really awful in 2011. It would just be a way to save money and get a young guy playing time.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

Not for Ryan Howard, but I would make Vitters available for a potential trade. I disagree with Charlie that the Cubs should just give Hoffpauir a chance. High payroll, consistent playoff teams don't do that. They don't fill starting spots and give at-bats to mediocre players (my apologies if I missed the sarcasm). With a $140 million payroll, the Cubs should have several perennial all-stars in their line-up. How many do they have now? The Cubs need to change the way they build their roster if they want to be a true year-in and year-out contender.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

140 million dollar payrolls should always keep us right in the thick of it.
What makes you think the Rickett's are going to maintain those payroll levels??? They went on record in the last few days saying they're not going to spend money on free agents anymore. Face it, the Ricketts= the Wrigleys

[ ]

In reply to by Tito

It could also be pointed out that we've signed free agents since they took over. A productive farm system is the key to being competitivie without having a $250 million payroll, and they've said that they're going to invest into that.

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Vail

I'm not so sure, guys. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I still hold out hope that Ricketts can change the entire culture of the Cubs. So far, it doesn't look really good, but it's still very early. Once he replaces Hendry, then I think we can better judge what Ricketts has in mind.

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Vail

As tWittenmyer reported this weekend,
"Our commitment -- and what Tom Ricketts I think is extremely comfortable with -- is: 'Let's spend more money on scouting and player development and get out of the free-agent business for the most part," (asst. GM) Bush said.
Spend more money on scouting and player development....what a joke. It's like he hasn't heard that Wilken and Fleita have been working together with a fat wallet (see Samardzija) for four years already. Ricketts has only two years left of prime time from the core of this team as assembled. He should be spending the bank to fill in the remaining holes in an effort to win now. But that's just one long-suffering, humble, and probably pathetic Cubs fan's opinion.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

"Ricketts has only two years left of prime time from the core of this team as assembled." What core? Everybody in the starting lineup is easily replaceable except Lee and Ramirez. Lee can play first base, an easy position, four or five more years. Ramirez is thirty-one and a half. If his days at third are numbered, I'm sure he could play left as well as Carlos Lee, Ryan Braun and the current Cub LF. Ryan Dempster is 32 (nearing 33). Lilly is getting up into his mid-thirties. Like Lee and Soriano, he will be league-age 35 in 2011. Lee and Lilly--that's not much of a core. A bad contract is not the same problem as a core player getting old, so I assume you're not talking about Soriano and Fukudome.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I think what was meant, is that if you look at the Cubs team at the end of this season: 1B- DLee 35 yrs old 2B- Fontenot 30 yrs old SS- Theriot 31 yrs old(december, but still) 3B-ARam 32 yrs old LF-Soriano 34 years old CF-Byrd 33 yrs old RF-Fukudome 33 years old C- Soto 27 yrs old This is not a team with a bunch of players entering thir prime. Replacing a player or 2 is one thing, but Lee, Soriano, Fukudome, Byrd, ARam, are all entering the late stages of their careers. Dempster will be 33, Lilly is 34..it's not like these are guys hitting their stride. As for Lee playing 4 or 5 more years? Without HGH or steroids, really? How many 1B are playing well at age 36-39? Not too many..

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Not too many, Dusty, but here are a few that I came up with. Lee is league-age 34 this year, so four years takes him through league-age 38. Delgado had a big year at 37. Since then, two hip surgeries. Chipper Jones still going strong at 37 last year. Mark Grace had his last solid year at 37. McGriff had a big year for the Cubs at 38. Thome had decent numbers last year at 38. Galarraga had 28 HR, 100 RBI for Atlanta at 39.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

what was the quote about not spending on free agents exactly? they also said they wanted to model the Red Sox, so I'm sure they'll spend if necessary. if they run the company as a family rather than a corporation, they should be able to take any savings from one year and pump it into another season, which is fine by me. It's not hard to tell when you a good FA class is coming up or when a hole in the team or system is going to be approaching. The Trib saves anything on payroll one season and it had to go to their stockholders.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Nav, I have serious doubts that the Ricketts would come in here and undermine their investment by going "Cheap". The lack of movement this offseason were likely more of Sailor Hendry's past corner painting spending, and less an effort to pinch penny's. Even if payroll drops to 120ish, as long as we spend an extra 10 on Minor league development/draft/latin signings. Then I will consider them an upgrade from Tribco. Hell, Tribco was notoriously cheap until all the empty seats in August/September of 2006.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Hell, Tribco was notoriously cheap until all the empty seats in August/September of 2006. one of the beat writers recently claimed that Hendry was under a mandate to spend after 2006 fwiw. Can't remember the link or author though. I want to say Levine, but could be wrong.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I could get behind this too. I am perhaps being overly pessimistic about the hypothetical 2011 Cubs. A good season from Samardzija and more progress from Jay Jackson could easily have me being unreasonably optimistic again.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

That's very, very dumb. But I don't think he'll stick to that for more than a week if either of them struggles against opposite-handed pitching.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/theo-ellsbury-and-uzr/
Finally, this is a big point – Jacoby Ellsbury played 1,302 innings in center field last year, basically one full season’s worth. As has been noted many times, one season’s worth of any defensive metric is not a very large sample size. Due to the amount of marginal plays that a player is judged on over the course of a single season, a few bad breaks here or there can make a pretty significant impact on a player’s overall rating. We have always suggested that you want more than one year of data before you start making judgments about a player’s true worth defensively. No one should look at Ellsbury’s 2009 UZR and state definitively that he is a poor defensive center fielder.
and
There is a school of thought that these swings suggest an underlying flaw with UZR, but I’d suggest that it may be evidence that the perception of perfectly consistent defensive value is a myth. We know that hitters and pitchers often see wild swings in their performance, but no one thinks its proof that home runs are bunk when David Wright gets out-homered by Ichiro Suzuki. Wright obviously has more power, but over one season, he didn’t show it. It is certainly reasonable to believe that a player that Epstein believes to be “a good defensive center fielder” could simply have a bad year.
pretty good article w/ a lot more passages worth highlighting imo

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I think the level variation is what is in dispute, not the chance that players have good or bad seasons. If UZR is perfect, or as close to perfect as they like to imply, then why do teams hire people to make their own defensive stats?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

If UZR is perfect, or as close to perfect as they like to imply, then why do teams hire people to make their own defensive stats?
well I certainly don't think it's perfect or close to it, let's make that clear before we go any further. Cardinals did hire Lichtman for awhile and I think they did well defensively during those times (probably a coincidence) and defensive stats are new enough that I'm sure teams think they can do better or improve upon it. but put UZR, maybe +/-, and BP's stats together with a some scouting reports and I think you have a good idea of a player...and you should definitely look at least at 3 years worth though if trying to assess their talent. if somebody tries to tell me Bobby Abreu or Dye can play right field passably, I'll laugh at them, but a guy with one bad year of UZR scores (or whatever your preferred defensive metric), I'll hold off final judgement. No doubt that UZR has been accepted a little too freely for what it can actually do.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I'm pretty much in agreement with you there. UZR definetly gets a pass because the math and logic are so convoluted you'd think it 'must be right'. I like the +/- in that it can't really be "gamed" like UZR can, but as we've talked about before, it seems to have a lot of objectivity in it, for whatever reason. I've been thinking about trying to quantify how Lee's throw catching ability improves his teams overall defense, but when I look at FRAA rates, I didn't really see much correlation between, say 2005 and 2007 versus 2006. I think we can all see that Theriot makes a lot of throws that he shouldn't, because he knows Lee will catch them, but teasing that out of readily available fielding data is going to be a bit hard.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Hey Rob, now look. Lou did tell him to pull the ball once last year. And we all know that range doesn't matter at SS. And speed doesn't matter if you're hitting at the top of the order. Plus, his lady likes biceps and Marlon Byrd is moving into the neighborhood.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

That's an awful lot of weight to put on. For years and years the conventional wisdom was that putting on weight like that would ruin your hitting stroke, first Lance Parrish and later guys like Canseco, Bonds and Sosa put that theory to rest, but still it's hard to think you won't sacrifice a little athletic ability by throwing that much weight on. Colvin's frame is one that always looked like it could easily support an extra 15 to 20 lbs, I thought.

They're out and it's great news for Starlin Castro fans. His #1 comparable player: Cesar Izturis. There is some better news, though, with JJ. Hardy being his #2 comp (and trending upwards) along with Elvis Andrus checking in at #5. The news is less cheerful for other tops cubs hitting prospects. Brett Jackson: Tracey Ealy Tyler Colvin: Adam Johnson HJ Lee: Tito Navarro Andre Blanco: Casey Candaele and Sam Fuld: Raul Gonzalez Just for kicks, Jake Fox: Jeff Liefer with other guys like Bob Hamelin, Brant Brown, J.T. Snow and Andy Tracy in there.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).