Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

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

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

Last updated 4-12-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
* 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 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 3
Julian Merryweather, P
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

I-Cubs Bring Plenty of Cashner to Vegas

Submitted by Mike Wellman on

What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay there but it’s no secret what Andrew Cashner’s been up to so what the hell… Last night the ladder-climbing right-hander pitched the Iowa Cubs to a 6-1 victory in his first start at the Triple A level, working six innings of one-run ball while surrendering five hits [four singles and a double] and a walk to go with six strikeouts [four of them swinging]. Cashner threw 89 pitches and most impressively retired the last seven hitters he faced after giving up his only run to tie the game at one in the bottom of the fourth. He left runners at second and third in that frame and then breezed through his last two innings. The win was Iowa’s third straight and the second consecutive that included a three run homer by the awakening Micah Hoffpauir. Sam Fuld and Darwin Barney have gotten hot at the top of the order and boosted their BA’s over .300. Chad Tracy went hitless last night after getting six hits in his first two games with the I-Cubs, but still drew a pair of walks and scored twice.

So what happens with Cashner? Starting pitching hasn’t exactly been the problem in Chicago. Does he settle in for a summer in Des Moines or will they start shuttling him between there and Chicago and the rotation and the bullpen a la the deep threat, among so many others?

The organization appears to be in transition in more ways than who signs the checks. Will a deadline trade of Lilly, for instance, open a spot in the rotation for Cashner. Are head games being played with Not Quite So Big Z to get him to not only waive his no-trade, but in fact demand a trade?

Tags
Iowa Cubs update

Comments

Submitted by Charlie on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:45 am

I think the trade or injury of a starting pitcher or two is the only way Cashner gets to see the MLB rotation for very long this year. But it sounds like, unless the Cubs somehow slip into contention, he'll stay in the rotation for most of the year in preparation for his chance to crack the MLB rotation next year. I'm curious about Jay Jackson, though. He was dominating AAA wasn't he? And he's got good stamina? Yet, he's the one moved to the bullpen? What are your thoughts on that, Mike Wellman?

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Submitted by W Flag on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:47 pm

I agree with you assessment and I also feel like Jackson has a much better feel for pitching right now as opposed to Cashner. I read a really good article about this the other day at wrigleybound.com that weighs the pros and cons of the move and since he doesn't have quite the "upside" that Cashner does, it makes sense that Jackson be the one who gets moved around a bit. Plus, if they think that Jackson is better prepared to help the club, they can put him in the bullpen in low pressure situations, similar to what they did with Zambrano and similar to what the Twins did with Santana and Liriano. It allows them to get acclimated to the big leagues while also facing live hitters and still honing their stuff. In spring training, they can let him compete for a rotation spot. They feel like they can get Jackson some time in the bullpen and have him still compete, while they feel it might mess with Cashner's arm and they would have to re-stretch him out to get him back to rotation strength. My guess of course

Submitted by Rob Richardson on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:49 am

Phillies bullpen coach busted using binoculars “We were not trying to steal signs,” Manuel said. “Would we try to steal somebody’s signs? Yeah, if we can. But we don’t do that. We’re not going to let a guy stand up there in the bullpen with binoculars looking in. We’re smarter than that.” http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-phillies-binoculars

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:09 pm

bah, players and coaches steal signs all the time, albeit slightly less obvious in most cases. The biggest non-deal in the history of baseball since Braden bitched out Arod for crossing the mound.

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:42 pm

I grabbed Cashner in my fantasy league recently. Here's to injuries or trade. :) Jumping from the pen to the bullpen and vice-versa isn't really that big of an issue imo, other than the 3-4 starts it takes to build up your stamina again.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:11 pm

I know that's not what he said. But those other guys were fully developed minor league starters, Cashner is not. Santana is was a freaking Rule V pick. To say "because it worked for Santana, it will therefore be the best way to go with Cashner, a guy who's career path is about as different as you can get from Santana" doesn't make a heckuva a lot of sense. Should I throw out some names of guys it didn't work for? Joba Chamberlian, Mitch Williams, Lee Smith. There, I've proved my point that if you use him as a reliever now, he will need to be a reliever for the rest of his career.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:53 pm

Maybe you should understand what you type... "yeah, Cubs have had some real shit luck with how they handle pitchers...there's all those guys that have done so much better once they left because of the Cubs dicking them around." My tinfoil hat was off so I didn't pyschically know that "dicking them around" was only meant to include guys who they put in the bullpen when they first got called up to the majors over the last six years, or whatever nebulous criteria you're grasping at to prove your point.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:02 pm

Johann Santana successfully jumped from the Bullpen to Starting rotation 15 years ago. Therefore you can pull guys into any role you wish and there will be no ill effects? How could I have missed that?

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:07 pm

Wainwright, Z in 2002, Lowe, R. Dempster more recently, Randy Wells, E. Jackson, S. Marcum, D. Price to name a few others off the top of my head. It was one of Earl Weaver's ways of getting guys accustomed to the majors, although I can't say I studied how well it worked. It did for Jim Palmer at least although he started under a different manager.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:21 pm

How many of those guys had the same amount of minor league starting experience as Cashner (who was a college closer) again? Wainwright had 138 milb starts, 41 in AAA. Z had 63 minor league starts, 28 in AAA. Randy Wells started and relieved for two years in AAA. David Price had 19 minor league starts 4 in AAA, the year after being the best starting pitcher in NCAA, and frankly had a pretty mediocre first season as a starter. Cashner has been a starter for just over one year, and has 1 AAA start. Apples to oranges.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:19 pm

well I do agree with that, if they want Cashner to be a starter, keep him starting as he has had very little minor league or college starting experience and needs to build up his arm strength and more importantly learn to pitch 3-4 times through an order which he still has barely done. my bigger point is that in most cases shuffling between the pen and rotation isn't a big deal and if they decided they needed Cashner in the pen for awhile(or Jackson), I doubt either would suddenly flame out because of it or have some mental breakdown as aaronb was suggesting. Worst case is Cashner just stays a reliever like Papelbon. If they flame out, it's probably because neither were good enough in the first place.

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Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:46 pm

My point is that it tends to be harmful to jerk pitchers around. For every Wainwright or Santana that we remember handling it with no problem. There are 10 Jeff Samjays or Calvin Schiraldi's or Juan Cruz's that never develop as they were projected. Case in point. Jeff Samjay came up and pitched very well in 2008. His pitching arsenal consists of 1 plus MLB pitch and 1 average MLB pitch. Instead of being happy that we have a quality MLB reliever and let the kid stay in a comfortable role, what do the Cubs do? We paid this kid too much money to be a reliever. Lets stretch him out and teach him 2 more pitches and make him a starter. Now we have a probable failed prospect. See Joba Chamberlain as another example of this.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:53 pm

Joba's failed? more likely he just didn't have what it takes to be a starter or he just needed more time to figure it out. Seems to be doing just fine as a reliever. It doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying him as a starter since they're so incredibly more valuable. The "jerking around" probably had little to do with his troubles as a starter. Phil Hughes isn't have much issue returning to the rotation. and I imagine I could find 10 of anybody that didn't get jerked around that didn't developed like they were projected. the shuffling around isn't holding them back or messing them up. Samardzija had one good month in the majors, already started struggling the second month and still hasn't found the strike zone or breaking ball on a consistent basis.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Fri, 05/14/2010 - 05:32 am

I don't think you can conclusively say that being moved to the bullpen and back isn't holding anyone back or messing anyone up. Just because it worked for some guys doesn't mean that it doesn't affect everyone. Back to my original comment - all MLB teams do this. Unless you've got a Lincecum or Strasburg, or an injury to your rotation and you need a guy who comes in and claims a spot, like Wells last year - odds are you're going to break into the bigs as a reliever.

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 05:47 pm

time warner NC seems to have taken all the EI games (except the 1-2 they show in HD) and converted them from 720i to 480i. i pay $200 a season for what now? bullshi...

Recent comments

  • Bill (view)

    I had mixed emotions when I heard of the trade, as I have with most trades that involve high potential prospects.  But that is because I hate to trade a high potential prospect for a veteran with only a few years control, and with a much lower potential than the prospects give away.  I hated the trade of Cease and Jiminez for Quinta, because I viewed Quintana as a decent, but not top pitcher, being traded for two very high-potential prospects.  I disliked the trade for Chapman, because a high-potential prospect was traded for a rental, although in this case, the fact that the rental was a top player greatly softened the blow.  The trade of Ferris and Hope for Busch seemed even at the time, to be a good one, even though they gave up one of my favorite prospects.  The return was a high-potential prospect with 6 years of control, at a time when he could be a difference maker on the team.

    13 games hardly proves that it was a good trade, but at least it was a reasonable one, no matter how it turns out.  So far, so good.

  • crunch (view)

    i was strongly happy about the deal, but words can barely describe how quickly zyhir hope went from "interesting youngster" to "high end prospect" when he showed up in arizona post-draft.

    it may not have shown up in the team prospect numbered rankings, but the dodgers had their eyes on such a low level guy for a reason and the cubs knew what they gave up.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I have to disagree. They got not just A triple A stud but THE AAA stud of the entire PCL for a position player who hadn’t played above the AZL level and a pitcher who was rather mediocre in his first taste of pro ball at low A. I’m not saying the guys they traded haven’t shown great promise but they have a very long way to go and a whole lot to prove before they make the bigs. Especially since Busch nearly filled a defined need (whether it had been at third or first) I take this trade any day of the week and don’t bother looking back.

  • crunch (view)

    matt shaw (AA) has a .381/.552/.905 line through 7 games...3 homers and a triple.  6 games at 3rd, 1 game DH (5 PO, 7 A, 0 E).

    that's somewhat fun news.

  • crunch (view)

    i was blown away confused/pissed when it was announced the cubs were trading for y.almonte.

    i was thrilled when m.busch was announced as part of the trade.

    it's really weird to have the "you gotta take this payroll guy, too" (1.9m) part of the trade leak before the main piece.

    the cubs didn't get a deal given what they gave up, but i was very happy to have a guy like busch in the fold with so much club control.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Have to admit I was initially disappointed the Cubs traded away the upside of Jackson Ferris but Busch is making a believer out of me.  If I still lived in midwest guessing we would have invented some drink special named a Busch Bomb at the local drinking establishment to celebrate his homers.  

  • Cubster (view)

    per Tribune: Suzuki MRI results pending from yesterday so we should get a timetable for return later today.

  • crunch (view)

    suzuki says he injured his oblique running to 1st, not swinging.  okay.  it's gonna be that kind of 2024 cubs year, huh?

    i would say that's good news compared to screwing it up swinging, but i'm not familiar with the recovery time of people screwing up their oblique by running.

    right side is at least different from his left side oblique injury last year.

  • crunch (view)

    5 IN A ROW!

    hack wilson, ryne sandberg, sammy sosa, christopher morel, and michael busch.

  • Cubster (view)

    A bit more Jewish take on one of my favorite Cubs, Kenny Holtzman. His 9-0 season while serving in the National Guard and being available to pitch on weekends was one of my coolest teen recollections. 

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388554

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