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

TCR Friday Notes

Al at BCB scores an interview with Crane Kenney and Tom Ricketts.

BCB: Are you open to expanding the payroll a little if there’s an acquisition, let’s say, the middle of this season that might help get the Cubs over the top into the playoffs? Jim Hendry comes and says I’d like to get this guy it’ll cost $8 million, are you...

TR: I’m not sure .. probably not an $8 million mid -season addition, but what we’re always talking about and what Jim likes to do … we’re going to play out the first half of the season we’ll see what we need I think it’s good I think he has a philosophy to bring in a fresh guy or two at the trade deadline to help push the team forward the last couple months. We’ll be open minded to that stuff.

There's plenty of interesting information in there, along with a healthy dose of Trib bashing by Crane Kenney.

- Now that the Ricketts are in charge, hopefullly they'll spice up the Cubs advertising. Not that I'm particularly hopeful after the first ad which pretty much just sells the Wrigley experience and history. That is a WGN ad, so it's very possible the Cubs management had nothing to do with it either. The reason I bring up the advertising is the folks that run the Rockies, Twins and Mariners campaigns know what they're doing.

It would be nice to see a little Cubs personality in the ads, there's certainly enough ad agencies in Chicago willing to take up the task.

- There seems to be some strong sentiment that Ron Gardenhire isn't a good manager. I could probably count on one hand how many Twins games I've watched over the last few years, but nothing has struck me as too odd in terms of in-game management. What is odd is that the Twins have won 5 of 8 division titles and been above .500 7 of those 8 years with a middle of the road payroll for the most part. I'd be comfortable with Dusty Baker butchering arms and his crayon-drawn lineups for the Cubs if it saw them make the playoffs with that kind of consistency. I'll turn the mic over to Rob Neyer for the finish.

Let me tell you something, though: There aren't many Earl Weavers and Davey Johnsons out there. Some guys really know the numbers, and some guys really know how to handle 25 men at a time. And the numbers? Friends, there are only so many things a manager can do with the numbers. You've got your nine guys who play most days, and you've got your dozen pitchers with generally prescribed roles ... that doesn't leave much room for managerial maneuvering.

You take the manager who (just) knows the numbers, I'll take the manager who (just) knows how to keep his players playing for six months, and I'll beat you 55-60 percent of the time. Ron Gardenhire? He's won 55 percent of the games he's managed.

- Another big buzz around MLB was the idea of floating realignment.

The committee already has made good on Selig's promise by discussing a radical form of "floating" realignment in which teams would not be fixed to a division, but free to change divisions from year-to-year based on geography, payroll and their plans to contend or not.



The concept gained strong support among committee members, many of whom believe there are non-economic avenues that should be explored to improve competitive balance, similar to the NFL's former use of scheduling to help parity (in which weaker teams were awarded a weaker schedule the next season).

The devil is in the details though and to be fair, it was nothing more than throwing out an idea at the moment. Back when I started writing online back in 2004, I recall suggesting an idea to realign the divisions based more on payrolls and media markets, so I'm intrigued by the idea, as impractical as it sounds at the moment.

- I'm on vacation next week and hopefully have secured a few guest bloggers to keep things going. Treat them well. Arizona Phil will be around as well although the Cubs are away most of the week.

Comments

Northeast: Boston Toronto New York A New York N Philadephia Southeast: Washington Baltimore Atlanta Florida Tampa Bay Midwest: Chicago N Chicago A Milwaukee Minnesota St. Louis Ghettoss: Pittsburgh Cleveland Cincinnati Detroit Kansas City California: San Francisco Oakland Los Angeles A Los Angeles N San Diego Freaks: Houston Texas Colorado Arizona Seattle For the record, the alignment we currently have is way better than the proposed floating crap. Tampa Bay had the chance to join the NL and screwed themselves; Toronto is a big market team in mid market facepaint; and Baltimore - well, I'd feel bad for Baltimore if the owner wasn't such a dick.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

For the record, the alignment we currently have is way better than the proposed floating crap How do you know? couple of ideas were thrown into the pool, let's see if anything floats. I think it would be nearly impossible to enact, but I like the idea of the discussion. Desipio had the idea of getting rid of the divisions which I don't mind, but I think they need to contract 2 teams or add 2 teams. This 16/14 league disparity isn't particularly fair. Get rid of the unbalanced schedule and the top 4 teams make it in each league.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

The topic of competitive balance in baseball is one of my favorites, and one of the hardest to solve, both because of the economics and the politics surrounding the issue. Floating realignment sounds crazy and may turn out to be completely unworkable, but at least MLB is being open minded. In my opinion, something has to be done. There is probably one-third of the teams (without taking a head count) that enter the season with no realistic chance of contending. Not only is that demoralizing to the fans of these teams, but it's destructive to the general interest in the game. Why should a kid growing up in Pittsburgh care about baseball. The team hasn't had a winning season in 17 years. And if he doesn't have an interest in his hometown team, why care about the game at all? Better to follow football or some other sport. Baseball has to eventually deal with this issue. Opening up the discussion to all ideas is a step in the right direction.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

I have to disagree with this. The Marlins contend pretty regularly. The Rays beat the Red Sox and the Yankees two years ago. The system is not so flawed that teams don't have a chance. It is so flawed that poorly run teams don't have a chance, but you can say the same thing about the NFL and the NBA.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

If they were going to do it just on geography, it would be hard to have the divisions equal size based on travel distance. I personally would like something like this to maximize rivalries and fan travel, but of course this would never fly: Colonial Division: Boston New York New York Philadelphia Rustbelt Division: Toronto Detroit Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh Railroad and Beer Division: Chicago Chicago Minnesota St. Louis Milwaukee Kansas City Pacific Coast Division: Seattle San Francisco Oakland Los Angeles Los Angeles San Diego Southeast Division: Tampa Miami Atlanta Baltimore Washington DC Mountain and Desert Division: Houston Dallas Phoenix Denver

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Assholes Division: Boston New York New York Philadelphia Stick to Football Division: Baltimore Washington DC Cleveland Pittsburgh Flyover Divison: Chicago Chicago Minnesota Detroit Kansas City Go Surfing Division: Seattle San Francisco Oakland Los Angeles Los Angeles San Diego Hill Jack's Division: Atlanta St Louis Cincinnati Houston Texas Milwaukee Shouldn't Have Team Division: Phoenix Denver Tampa Miami Toronto ~yes I'm in a bad. why do you ask?~

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

How is Atlanta not in the asshole divisio... oh... nevermind I see.

If I were Crane I wouldn't be burning a bridges. You can only play make believe baseball man for so long.

I don't understand the Gardenhire bashing. What has he done that's so bad? I don't follow the Twins very closely, but where is the hate coming from? Considering he has led his team to five division titles in eight years, I would think Gardenhire is in line for praise rather than damnation. What other manager has been able to accomplish that feat? Now take out the clubs with payrolls in the top 50% of all teams. Who's left? I'm not exactly sure how to judge a baseball manager. Some guys talk a good game and some guys just win games (some guys don't do either). Gardenhire may not end up on Leno or Letterman, but his teams do win games. That's good enough for me.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

almost everyone hates their manager after enough time unless you're one of the rare ones...gard's just been on the job a long time and lately they keep losing the ALDS. it's beyond the just "making it" stage at this point...the fans seem to want a little closure. ...as if that's his fault. he's not exactly out there making bonehead decision after bonehead decision while his 55-65m teams work their way through a season. his players seem happy. most of the complaints i've read from players leaving there is the joy of not having to play on that turf or shag flies in the dome.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

high five

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

lol, I second the high five.

Fontenot, Diamond and Theriot with good games. Jeff Baker finally gets a hit. J. Jackson not ready for prime time, 3 runs in 0.2 IP.

NATIONAL LEAGUE: EAST: NYM PHI PIT WAS NORTH: CUBS COL MIL STL SOUTH: ATL CIN FLA HOU WEST: AZ LAD SD SF AMERICAN LEAGUE: EAST: BOS NYY TOR NORTH: CHW CLE DET MIN SOUTH: BAL KC TB TEX WEST: LAA OAK SEA Four division winners and two WC teams, with the two WC teams playing a best 2-out-of-3 "play-in" series at the two division winners with the worst records pre-LDS. If the MLBPA would agree to eliminate the DH and cut active rosters from 25 to 24 and reduce the MLB Reserve List limit from 40 to 36, two expansion teams could be added (probably Portland and Charlotte), with Portland going to the A. L. West and Charlotte to the A. L. South, and Baltimore to the A. L. East from A. L. South. If the economics could be worked out, MLB might consider expanding to either Mexico City or Monterrey instead of Portland or Charlotte. Also, Rule 5 should be changed to where clubs can select as many players as slots they have open on their MLB Reserve List, but any player selected must be kept on the drafting club's 40-man roster (hopefully to be reduced to a 36-man roster limit) for one year (until the next Rule 5 Draft), and the drafting club cannot trade or outrighht the player to the minors for one year. However, the drafting club would be allowed to option the player to the minors, just like any other player on the 40-man roster. Combining this change in Rule 5 with cutting the 40-man roster from 40 to 36 would redistribute talent at the prospect level, helping small market/low revenue clubs acquire talented players and improve from within, without the need for a salary cap or a payroll tax or any other form of revenue sharing.

Vitters the winning hit, LeMahieu and Burke 1 for 1, Flaherty and Jackson 0 for 1 in the Vegas game.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

That's a pretty flattering picture of her what with it being a little out of focus. Even under the ESPN make-up she looks a little rough to me. Kind like seeing a porn star in HD. You don't want to look to closely

Cubs vs Homer Bailey, 1-1 bottom 3 Adduci doobel, Barney rbi single after Castro advances runner other than the kids, it's Soriano, ARam and Tracy. Sean Marshall 3 IP, 2H, 1 HR.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • 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.