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

Dear John

We had some laughs, some good times last year, you milked $7.5 million out of Hendry despite a rather pedestrian major league career because you throw from the left side. Let's just part ways now before anyone gets hurt any further.

20/20 Hindsight: Heading into the bottom of the 7th, the Braves had *Heyward, *McLouth, Pinch-Hitter for Medlen, #Cabrera, Prado, #C. Jones, *McCann coming up. Lou went with Sean Marshall in the 7th, probably with the hope to go with Grabow in the 8th and Marmol in the 9th. Marshall gets Heyward and McLouth swinging and pinch-hitter Matt Diaz to pop up. It took him 13 pitches to get through the inning. He's now thrown 3.2 IP of perfect baseball in 2010, facing 11 hitters and striking out 7 of them. He's clearly pitching well to start the season, dare I say brillianty. I mention in Parachat that Lou should just stick with Marshall (his spot wasn't due until 9th in the top of the 8th) but he would never do it and would probably go to Grabow or possibly Caridad and Grabow. This is the "safe" thing to do as far as managers are concerned. Use your relievers in defined roles and one inning at a time regardless of the situation because that is what is expected and you have to answer less questions in the post-game press conference if things go wrong because you followed the "book".

Lou goes to Grabow to turn Melky around.  Melky is about 50 pts worse OPS-wise from the right side in his career, so good move to have a lefty, although he would have had the same advantage with Marshall. Cabrera grounds out to Theriot. Next up is Prado who has a 28 pt OPS advantage when facing lefties, although his iso slugging is even better - 186 to 115. Lou could have also left Marshall in to face Melky, then go to Caridad to face Prado and then bring in Grabow to face Jones. Prado doubles and next up is Chipper.  Chipper is worse by about 60 pts OPS-wise from the right side although still north of .900 for his career.  Grabow falls behind 3-1 and then leaves a change-up up in his eyes with first base open and the lefty Brian McCann up next (759 OPS vs. lefties compared to 896 vs righties). Game over.

The Good: Ryan Dempster goes 1-2 with the bat including making contact with the bases loaded that led to a Troy Glaus error to score the first run of the game.He strikes out 9 from the mound in 6 innings, including retiring the last 11. Soriano goes 2/4 including a double off a Jurrjens slider in his first at-bat. According to MLB Gameday, Soriano sees 12 fastballs, 5 change-ups, 4 sliders and 1 curveball.

Ex-Cub Watch: Rich Harden's line: 3.2 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 5 BB, 8 K

Milton Bradley: 1/3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 HR

Ronny Cedeno: 2/5 with the walk-off RBI single

Next up: Tommy Hanson vs. Randy Wells tomorrow night as Cubs try to avoid the sweep. I expect to see Jeff Baker and possibly Tyler Colvin in the lineup.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Catching it would have been a nice play. It hit the scoreboard over his glove. Not Soriano-bad, but not Milt's finest hour defensively.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

As I type, Uncle Milty is 1/11 on the year. His only hit is a home run. If you recall, last year he started 1/12 and his only hit was a home run as well. Of course he then went another dozen at bats without a hit and bottomed out with a BA of .042.

I was at the Cubs games last night. Dempster was a little shakey initially, but settled in nicely. I must have heard a thousand Braves fans ask, "What's the deal with flipping his mitt back and forth?" Soriano did not look good. His double was on a check swing that went over Glaus' head and down the first base line. Most of the people around me were confused as to why they played the theme to Happy Days every time Soriano came to the plate. Finally, one guy said it was because the restaurant in Happy Days was "Al's." Everyone was satisfied. I just buried my head in my hands. Speaking of music, they played "Mr. Roboto" by Styx (Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto) every time Fukudome came to the plate. I don't mean to be overly sensitive, but that seems slightly racist to me. Ramirez did not look particularly good at the plate. I know it's early in the season and I only saw one game, but I was hoping for more (like a homerun everytime he came to the plate). To say that Mike Fontenot is short is doing a disservice to short people everywhere. He honestly looks like someone's little brother when he's out on the field. Standing next to Troy Glaus (who is a really big guy), he looks like a ventriloquist dummy (No offense, Mike). When he scored a run, he went to give Derrek Lee a high five and I swear he had to leave his feet to do it. Xavier Nady was hitting some bombs during batting practice. Not so much during the game. Marshall and Caridad looked good (I think the Atlanta announcer mispronouced Esmailan). Grabow looked like a guy who would rather be somewhere else. Turner Field is a pretty nice ballpark. I think I'll try Cincinnati next.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

Since they're obviously into the deep nuances of "Happy Days," I thought they'd play it for Samardzija. Jumping the Shark, don't you know. LOL re people not getting it for Soriano though. I don't think that's too sensitive re Fukudome. It's not like "Mr. Roboto" is his nickname or something (not that that would be a great thing either); it's clearly a reference to his race, and a cheesy, childish, ignorant one at that. The man is one of many Japanese ballplayers, not a circus freakshow. Not that I expect much from the Braves on this kind of thing.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

so you're saying a team named the Braves that does the Tomahawk chop might not be the most racially sensitive? hmmm, this needs further investigation.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Speaking of the whole Braves thing, there was a guy walking around the ballpark in full war paint and head dress. He walked around the stadium giving a psuedo-war cry and taking pictures with a bunch of people. I assumed he worked for the Braves. As it turns out, he's just a fan that comes to most of the games. He apparently doesn't watch much baseball. He's too busy walking around the concourse getting his picture taken,

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Wait...what Claude Raines line are you quoting? Not N x NW?

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

We will be in Cincy Friday for the tremendous Silva inaugural outing. Homer Bailey has shown improvement, so this could make for some tiresome "1908" chants, Ron Santo has no legs observations, and goat jokes. Nevertheless, we will withstand that and the temps in the mid-forties to see our beloved team. The girlfriend will be sporting a 1969 Ernie Banks jersey. I iwll be wearing football weather clothes. If this is your first trip to Cincy, the ballpark is nice. There are good views everywhere. Try the Skyline chili if you want to sample the local fare. Just remember, Cincinnati-style chili is sweet, not "hot." The beer is a little overpriced ($8) for the market. You can get the cheapie beer I think for $4.50-5.

May I add another former Cub's line from Tuesday? Felix Pie, 1-4 .250 Also, Mcgehee could certainly haunt us this year if the trend continues. We will see him in Wrigley next week.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

If McGehee keeps this up, there will be many of us wondering what we missed when evaluating him as a prospect. For example, everyone but the Brewers.

The next order of Business for the Ricketts is to remove Jim Hendry's ability to hand out contracts. Especially those longer than 1 year.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

he's right. okay, disgrace is a little strong, but wtf are they doing those games?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Oh, I agree with his conclusion. It is just that if a player or manager calls an umpire a disgrace after a clearly blown call they are fined and maybe even suspended.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

The Braves and Yankees hitters take a lot of pitches, probably more than any other team, so guess what happens... the games go longer. West isn't half as bad as the local sports guy here who was calling for the games to be shorter, but not the Sox-Yankees games - since those are premium games they should go longer. He just wanted the Royals vs Nationals games to be done in 2 hours.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Fat Joe is THE WORST ump working now. should have retired years ago and the union protects him.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

But what a singer "Country Joe" is.

better get millar into the clubhouse for some stand-up before the chemistry set explodes [see my tongue in my cheek?]...what is the track record w/ 3 year pacts for middle relievers? and do other teams give multi-year deals to their coaches, a la rudy & i believe larry? santo's in mid-season form already...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Does it go into effect this season or next? If it begins next year it will buy out arbitration and 2 years of Free Agency. If that is the case then the Brewers did really well here.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Gallardo will receive a $1.25 million signing bonus as part of the new deal. He'll make $500,000 this season -- as opposed to his previously-renewed contract of $450,000 -- $3.25 million in 2011, $5.5 million in 2012, $7.75 million in 2013 and $11.25 million in 2014. The option for 2015 includes a $600,000 buyout. buys out arbitration and 1-yr of free agency with a club option for the 2nd-yr of free agency. not sure I'd risk buying out too many pitchers under 25 myself...

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

meh Not so awesome for the Brewers then. 11.25 for year one of Free agency and an unknown figure for year 2 of potential free agency. Not Jim Hendry terrible, but not Evan Longoria level bargain either. 5/30 from 2011-2015 would have been much club friendlier.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

That backloading that $30 million doesn't make sense to me. The overall figure seems fair, but unless the brewers think they have a shot at it for the first 3 years of that contract and not the last 2 years, I don't see much point in the actual distribution of dollars.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

it's just an anticipation of what both parties expect to be made in arbitration and free agency. Gallardo takes a little less overall for guaranteed money over the next 5+ years. The Brewers get cost certainty and possibly save a few million as long as Gallardo doesn't blow out his arm.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

a team getting to keep millions and draw it's interest (or have to account for it's existence) vs. paying it out now makes sense in the long run. it sucks when they pile up all together at one time, but it generally only sucks if the gambles are bad ones. putting off paying out 10-15 million bucks over the next 3 seasons is a nice chunk of change for the club.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Agreed, Still think the Brewers should have gotten an extra year out of Gallardo in the deal. They are the ones taking on most of the risk.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

the front loaded contract screws with people because they see it in the NFL and NHL (usually with older players), but the only team motivation behind it is the salary cap. you're just not gonna see a lot in baseball front-loaded. there's not much incentive unless the GM has money for the year he has to spend that year...which is kinda rare.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

The motivation should be the ability to have money in following years. If not for all the backloading on this roster, we could have seen much more activity this offseason. However most GM's are more worried about keeping their jobs today, than they are about worrying about tomorrow.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

That makes sense. I was thinking that the Brewers should just pay him 2-3million more in his first two years so that in that last year he wouldn't have an untradeable contract if he didn't become an ace. But if they want to trade him in that last year and he's only worth $9 million according to the team they want to trade him to, they can just send that cash along then. So the banking direction makes sense. Thanks!

Sweet jeebus... guess picking up Dontrell Willis for this start against KC was a bad idea... 1 IP, 21 pitchs... 8 strikes. 2 of those strikes were hits. My fantasy team is having about as good of a start as the Cubs are having.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

rimshot Suffice to say I was playing the weakness of KC more than I was the strength of Willis. So much for that plan.

Johnny Gomes walk-off HR to beat the Cards, Pirates gonna lose as well. Cubs are back in this thing.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If we can win today we'll be just a game back with 159 to go. We should be able to make that up - how many head-to-head games with the Cards and Pirates are remaining?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

i'm registering firerudyjaramillo.com and firelarryrothschild.com if they lose my sharp wit will let management and cubs-nation know what's up.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

i swear, the guy is worse than hitler and my imaginary 3 year old could do a better job helping my imaginary 90 year old grandmother hit a baseball. rage rage rage rage...

theriot, fukudome, lee, ramirez, byrd, Colvin, Baker, Hill, Wells if lou is smart about this Colvin thing, he'll rest Fuku and Byrd the next 2 games and give Colvin 3 starts in a row (Bailey, Harang, Leake scheduled this weekend) rain right now in Atlanta, weather.com shows it should subside by game time though. http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/graph/USGA0028#

Hardy vs. Pineiro (3/14 for his career but b2b games with HR's) or Sean Rodriguez vs the lefty Brian Matusz. Should have gone with Hardy last night, but Snider did have a decent game so no big deal. I'm leaning towards Rodriguez at the moment. -edit- M. Byrd vs. T. Hanson is also an option, but wasn't giving Byrd much consideration for tonight.

goes deep for third straight game...

I will applying my Scott's Wrigley Field blend grass seed to my lawn this week end. ~yes, I am a lemming~

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

enjoy your name-brand kentucky bluegrass seed ;p for those with very hot or very long summers (southwest), this is one you might want to avoid. it's a cool season turf that likes a lot of water.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

turf is area-specific unless you want to work really hard and waste a lot of water. it's probably a mix of kentucky bluegrass and perenial ryegrass. if you're a cubs fan living in SoCal or similar you don't want to be planting that, though. they're also selling fertilizer branded with the MLB teams, too. imo, they should have done a better job making sure people know these turfs are area-specific before it causes headaches for people. they do state this, but it's one caveat you have to look for a bit as far as i can tell.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

It's a good point, crunch, and I support consumer rights activism (especially when based on spreading info). If anything, the sociological study should be done on baseball in general, and the sale of turf grass should be part of it.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

That's awesome, jacos. I'd do it but with 6 acres it would get a bit pricey. Plus, Obama says the era of excess is over.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=8203 Chicago Cubs Signed: 1B Micah Hoffpauir* Released: RHP Todd Blackford, RHP Dan McDaniel, RHP Arismendy Mota, RHP Julio Pena, RHP Jake Schmidt, 1B Kevin Millar, 3B Derek Helenihi Added to 40-man roster: LHP James Russell, 1B Chad Tracy Optioned to Triple-A: 1B Micah Hoffpauir, OF Sam Fuld Option transferred: RHP Rafael Dolis and RHP David Patton (Double-A to high Class A); RHP Marcos Mateo (Triple-A to Double-A) damn, nothing to show for Todd Hollandsworth.

pushed back to Sunday with a stiff back. Z will pitch Saturday. http://twitter.com/PWSullivan/status/11844162519 looks like Nady will get a start tomorrow in the OF, I presume for Fukudome, although I thought he was going to play LF unless Soriano is getting b2b days off.

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.