Cubs MLB Roster

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40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cari-DOH!

Submitted by Rob G. on

Nearly 7 innings of great baseball from the pitching and defense, ruined in 4 batters. That was a debacle deep-fried in a disaster served with a chaser of Cubbery. 

20/20 Hindsight: After 6 innings of one run ball, 71 pitches and retiring 14 of 16 since the 2nd inning, Lou lifts Carlos Silva. Silva apparently did have some right shoulder tightness. Fair enough.  Lou replaces him with another sinker baller in Justin Berg, who takes 7 pitches to get through the 7th. I think it's safe to say the Reds weren't handling the sinker too good by this point. Lou even double switched Marlon Byrd so the pitcher's spot in the lineup wouldn't come up in the top of the 8th. Naturally, you still must replace Berg because he worked an entire inning. He cannot possbly handle the rigors of sitting on the bench for 10 minutes to face the bottom of the lineup after retiring the Reds 4-5-6 hitters. Not when such bullpen lynchpins like Esmailin Caridad and John Grabow can be called upon. Lou goes with Caridad, working for the third straight day and Caridad takes Gomes 0-2 and then loses him on a walk. He does the same with Ramon Hernandez(hint to Lou that he might not have it tonight) and then him and Ramirez get confused on how to take an out when the other team gives it to you, followed by throwing a pitch up and over the plate when Koyie sets-up low and inside on Drew Stubbs. Game over.

This idea of defined roles in the bullpen is neat and all, when you actually have players worth defining. The Cubs have Marmol to close and 6 other guys. Play the match-ups and ride the hot hand. Nobody in that pen besides Marmol is deserving of the benefit of the doubt or entitled to any set role at the moment.

The Good: Carlos Silva was...um...brilliant! Who expected that? The defense did make some fine plays behind him. Ryan Theriot is off the schnide. Mike Fontenot goes 4/5.

Minor League Watch: Jay Jackson got the start for Iowa and goes 5 innings, but gives up 3 runs on 2 home runs. He does strike out 4. Hoffpauir and Dubois go deep in the 5-2 loss. John Gaub gives up 2 runs in an inning of work. At AA, Tony Campana goes 3/4 with a BB and 2 stolen bases out of the leadoff spot and Brandon Guyer goes 2/4 with 2 SB's. Castro goes 1/5. On the pitching side, Ryan Buchter strikes out the side in his inning of work and Jake Muyco picks up the save as Tennessee wins 5-4. Vitters, LeMahieu and Burke each go 1/4 for Daytona with Vitters making an error and getting picked off. Chris Rusin gets tagged for 6 runs in 4 innings in a 7-0 loss. I don't believe Daytona has an extra base hit yet. Jose Valdez goes 3/4 with 2 SB's, plus getting caught once and getting picked off after going 2/4 on Opening night. Peoria loses 5-4 though, although Jeff Antigua strikes out 5 in 5 innings, giving up 2 runs.

Next Up: Z tries to redeem himself against Aaron Harang.

Tags
Cubs Game Recaps
Esmailin Caridad

Comments

Submitted by Jumbo on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:03 am

On the bright side, this will keep Marmol from being overused.

Submitted by Cubnut on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:33 am

I'm already in assume-the-worst mode. Silva looked extremely uncomfortable after throwing one of those pitches to Votto. Expecting to learn today or tomorrow that there is problem beyond tightness in the shoulder. Hell of an effort by him last night, however. Also wondering if Ricketts's recent declaration that Lou's fate is squarely in Hendry's hands would make Hendry more or less likely to replace him if the Cubs get off to a dismal start.

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Submitted by WISCGRAD on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:42 am

I thought it looked on TV like he was a little ticked when Larry came and told him he was coming out. And he told the paper he was fine: "His shoulder stiffened," Piniella said and then repeated twice. When asked how his shoulder was, Silva replied: "Good. I was ready to go out. They took me out. I was ready to go out." He added that the only time he felt stiffness was when he tried to field a groundball earlier in the game and fell to the ground.

Submitted by jacos on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:38 am

That homerun must have been so bittersweet for dusty. He got the hr, but the damn bases were clogged.

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:39 am

Not only was it clear Caridad didn't have it, but he was throwing a tantrum out there on the mound. And from what I saw, the pitches he was complaining about WERE balls. Gameday shows the same thing, all of his strikes were called strikes (or hit) and all of his balls called balls: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2010_04_09_chnmlb_cinmlb_1… Then today the newspaper has this: Caridad seemed to blame home-plate umpire Doug Eddings. "He didn't call strikes," Caridad said. "I throw a strike, and he doesn't call it a strike. I don't know why." Yep, all Eddings fault. Keep telling yourself that...

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Submitted by Mike Vail on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:26 am

It's always a good idea to piss off or alienate the umpires when you're just starting off in the bigs. This where Maddux could be useful in tutoring the youngsters on the fine art of patronizing the umps. The Reds did everything they could to try and give us this game. This bullpen will be the epitaph of the 2010 team unless changes are made early enough. Disappointing...but predictable. Let's get a win today.

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:21 am

Not sure Caridad will be the first to leave. He is an 8th-inning reliever, after all. Berg pitched the 7th. When does Samardzija come in, when the starter gets knocked out in the 3rd? It's less demoralizing to have a young guy blow a save than an older guy like Gregg, who isn't going to get better.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:22 am

If taking out Berg was necessary, Samardzija would've been a reasonable choice, given how poorly the Reds had done against Silva and Berg. Samardzija would've been basically more of the same, and he hasn't pitched since Monday. He does seem to be our long reliever at the moment (since Marshall has been so dominant and pitched himself into a high stakes role).

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:22 am

why was taking out Berg necessary? he threw 7 pitches, that's not even an warm-up.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:31 am

I don't think it was. I think Lou forgot that he'd used Caridad two days in a row, and he forgot that pitchers can go more than one inning when they are pitching well. Have I mentioned that I think Lou is dumb or at least doesn't put that much energy into managing?

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:19 am

I know feel better after that loss than when Grabow blew it. Nope, not all.

Submitted by Ryno on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:52 am

Everything is all screwy, Theriot is not hitting much, but playing brilliant D. Fontenot is hitting. All very silly. I'm thinking "Caribad" for a nickname, but it's almost too obvious. I'm not real pleased with it. Any other good nicknames we could use for him?

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Submitted by Jumbo on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:48 pm

S-"mail in"...Is Mile Long...Hairy Nads? That's all I got

Submitted by Old and Blue on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:23 am

I'm not very optimistic about this team and wasn't even though they had a decent spring training record. They're pretty weak up the middle (although Theriot seems to have discovered his inner Castro), which is never good, they don't have the explosive offense that can quickly turn a game around, and they really pretty much appear to have almost no viable relief pitching other than Marshall and Marmol. And even Marmol reminds me too much of The Wild Thing sometimes, although he's got better stuff and could be a really dominant reliever if he could harness it completely. That said, if they can manage a nice little 2 game winning streak they go home with a .500 road trip.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:55 am

The lineup is less than awe-inspiring to begin with, but they've also underperformed this week. You're not likely to score many runs when your leadoff hitter has a .118 OBP and your number 3 hitter isn't doing much with the bad (Lee really didn't get on the board until last night). Meanwhile, our #5 hitter does have 2 homeruns, but they are his only two hits, and the guy behind him is Soriano. Most of these guys are going to put up better overall numbers than they have right now (except Lee, whose OPS looks good after last night's game). We've got a lot more guys underperforming this week than overperforming (Fontenot? Nady?), so the losses shouldn't be surprising. The bullpen is worrisome, but I expect to see guys like Cashner, Grey, Stephens, Schlitter, and Patton mixed and matched in there until they find the most effective bunch (I'd still prefer that to trading for any overpriced relievers). I also wonder whether Silva or Gorzo could be dependable out of the pen, since Lilly should be back soon. And did anyone else think what Len and Bob had to say about Soto sitting on the bench last night was ridiculous? Soto has to hit or he'll be replaced by Hill because he can't perform as poorly as last year and stay in the lineup? Did anyone mention his .240-ish BABIP to Lou last year? Does everybody else have the same deal? Riot's not hitting either, right now--will he be replaced by Castro on Monday if he doesn't get his average up to .300 this weekend?

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:12 am

I didn't hear what Len and Bob said but today Lou was quoted, "Look, let's just leave it that we need Soto to swing the bat, and we'll leave it at that," he said. Lou overall seems impatient this year -- he already seems ready to give up on Grabow as a set up man, probably not a bad thing, just sayin'.

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:34 pm

Lou is impatient for a good reason. He's fighting for his job, he's going to make other people, including rich pampered free agents, fight for theirs. I like this competition stuff. Theriot/Castro, Piniella/Sandberg, Soto/Hill, Mesa/Naples, Fukudome/Nady, Soriano/Colvin. Only good can come of this.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:07 pm

Lou is impatient for a good reason... I like this competition stuff... Only good can come of this. Impatience rarely leads to good decisions. So some bad can come of this "competition" if Lou is impatient.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:03 am

SS Theriot, RF Fukudome, 1B Lee, 3B Ramirez, CF Byrd, LF Soriano, 2B Fontenot, C Soto, P Zambrano

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:19 am

With Nady apparently ready to play the OF (sort of--he didn't look all that good in RF last night), Colvin isn't going to get all that much playing time. Lou isn't going to rotate two outfielders in there that much. Nady gets the start last night, so Lou won't play Colvin today--doesn't want to sit Fukudome two games in a row. Might be time soon to send Colvin back to AAA so he can get his ABs and Adduci or Fuld can begin their 5th outfielder careers.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:37 pm

Soriano still can't play left field

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:17 pm

Time for Grabow to kick us in the nads.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:45 pm

Marmol had a wicked slider today. Nice to get in the win column for Z. Also interesting that Lou went all defense in the bottom 9th, including Hill for Soto and Colvin for Soriano. I wonder if he'll do the Hill switch with any regularity?

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Submitted by crunch on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:47 pm

11 sliders, 2 fastballs...he's relying very heavy on it early this year. at least 1 of the 2 fastballs he threw he had control over.

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:48 pm

Hill caught Marmol eleven out thirteen appearances last September. In three of those, Hill came off the bench to "relieve" Soto. It's why I thought the Cubs needed a third catcher--there's nobody behind Hill when he comes in to "close." Last year they had Fox. In any case, it's a tough situation for Soto, being first-string but playing second fiddle. What other first-string catcher comes out when the closer comes in? I hope Soto bounces back, and he probably will, but I don't think his future with this team is long term.

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Submitted by Ryno on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:57 pm

Is Jeff Baker the emergency catcher? Fontenot? Marmol?

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:51 pm

Today's fun fact: Cubs Left on Base: 0

Submitted by jacos on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:53 pm

Frank Thomas blame the Sox loss on the early start today and extra inning game the night before. Which the Twins, who won today, were in last night also. Keep up the good work, big skirt.

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Submitted by Wes on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:58 pm

I'll blame it on countering the Twins ace with Freddy Garcia. I don't care how many innings they played last night, that dog just ain't gonna hunt.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:46 pm

Twins started Mauer at catcher this morning after last night's game as well...guess they're not messing around early.

Submitted by navigator on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:14 pm

nice! 2-3 But more importantly, at the moment Milton Bradley is 1/19 with one home run his only hit, same as last year but worse, he's struck out 8 times. And, oh, the irony, he's been dropped to fifth in the order. And...was accused by Ranger fans of giving them the finger yesterday.

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Submitted by Ryno on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:58 pm

Milton Bradley can go on to win the MVP, triple crown, and cy young for all I care.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:46 pm

yeah, more important than a win is how Milton Bradley is doing in the AL. of all the stupid things that have been said in the comments.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:52 pm

a you-know-what through 7 against the Rays

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:57 pm

7.2 ip, first batter hit one off Sabathia's hand but Cano got him.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:58 pm

and a single by Shoppach to left....

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:06 pm

no-no no-mo, shoppach single Twins started Mauer at catcher this morning after last night's game as well. ---- Mauer didn't start last night, he came into the game as a ph for Butera in the 11th and walked and scored the winning run (now that's how legends are made)

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:43 pm

from Paul Sullivan on sunday...Cari-bad just might be the umpire's nickname for him:
As for Caridad, Piniella had to explain to the rookie that it's not in his best interest to accuse the umpire of squeezing him on the two walks that led to the Drew Stubbs' game-winning grand slam. Umpires don't take kindly to rookies questioning their strike zones in the media.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0411-brite-cu…

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Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 04:47 pm

more Sullivan...Marmol's now the wise veteran.
Marmol has only three-plus years of big league experience, but he spent Saturday morning counseling Esmailin Caridad after the rookie blew Friday night's game. It was his first big failure as a big leaguer, and Marmol played the role of a wise veteran.
"He learned from that," Marmol said. "We learn from our mistakes. We have tomorrow. He needs to forget stuff."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0411-cubs-red…

Recent comments

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

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