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

Zambrano Returning to Bullpen...Once He Returns to Cubs

From Paul Sullivan in the Tribune:

After Carlos Zambrano returns to the Cubs following his suspension—the Cubs are trying to find out from MLB how long they can be suspend him and whether they'll have to play with 24 men for the duration—he'll be returning to the bullpen. Tom Gorzelanny is returning to the starting rotation.

Also, Lou Piniella and Assistant General Manager Randy Bush were none too pleased that Zambrano had dinner with Ozzie Guillen last night instead of reflecting on what an ass he was yesterday afternoon. I'm thinking that if Carlos was self-aware enough to reflect on his behavior, he might not have acted that way in the first place. Just a thought.

Cubs lineup vs. Freddy Garcia (8-3, 4.85; 4-0, 1.25 all-time vs. Cubs)
Fukudome 9, Byrd 8, Lee DH, Nady 3, Ramirez 5, Soriano 7, Castro 6, Soto 2, Theriot 4

White Sox lineup vs. Carlos Silva (8-2, 3.01; 4-11, 5.33 all-time vs. Sox)
Pierre 7, Vizquel 5, Rios 8, Konerko 3, Quentin 9, Kotsay DH, Ramirez 6, Castro 2, Beckham 4

Comments

I went 0-3 with two strike outs yesterday. I am batting .165 on the season, and batting fifth in the lineup for the Chicago Cubs. Who am I? I have a .404 OBP following yesterday's game. I am batting eighth for the Chicago Cubs. Who am I? I am a major league manager, who's deteriorating mental abilities have reinforced addled senior stereotypes to the detriment of millions of Americans. Who am I?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Rickets: So, has Z had these anger management issues prior to yesterday's outburst? Hendry: Well.....yes. He once fought with his catcher in the dugout and then punched him in the clubhouse...........Oh....and he destroyed a Gatorade machine before. Rickets: And this was before or after you gave him a five-year, no trade, guaranteed $91.5M contract? Hendry: Uh..........before. Rickets: Jim, you're fired. (Now, back to reality) My understanding is that Hendry/Crane Kenney got contract extensions through 2012 as a condition of the sale. So Rickets would have to eat that money on top of most of the $45M left on Z's contract if he wanted do what most upper management type's would do in this situation. .........and the hits just keep on playing.

From June 18 Nils (Darien, CT): Is McNutt having sucess with smoke and mirrors or does his stuff match his results? What kind of ceiling does he have? J.J. Cooper: It's solid plus stuff, especially his fastball. A lot of people may think he's come out of nowhere, but if you have the Prospect Handbook you'll see he was No. 16 in the Cubs system coming into the year, which is a very high ranking for a 32nd-round pick with 28 pro innings—that right there tells you he's a serious prospect as he ranked ahead of every other Cubs' 2009 draftee except for their first and second-round picks. This isn't some soft-tosser tricking people, he can blow guys away with his stuff. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2010/…

<------Pushes self away from table. I'm done. Fuck you, thank you for wasting my time. See ya in March shitfuckers. If I were the Rickettseseses, I would stay in Africa, they've got some BIG decisions to make when they get back. Best case scenario, they hijacked a diamond mine, killed all of the children working there and come home with a plane full of diamonds to help offset the contracts of Z, Fukerdome, and Soriano.

Man, this crap is better than watching Cops with a cheeto-stained wife beater on. My respect for DLee has been firmly returned, which means he'll probably be traded within the week. I hate to say it, but will trading Z be the 'spark' that turns the 2010 Cubs into a baseball team??

This isn't even fun anymore. We repeatedly get our asses beat. We have in-house fighting. There is no passion. There is no will to succeed. We aren't even good enough to suck. Of the many seasons in which there was pain (to watch an absolute joke of a team perform), embarrassment, and ineptness - all of which are key components to the term 'Cubbery,' this has to go down as one of the worst 1st halves to start a Cubs season. I can't tell you the last time I was actually excited to sit down, relax and crack open a cold one to watch a game this season. My DVR has ceased to record any games. My "W' car flag has the same amount of dust as does the Cubs win column. I have even white-outed the W and now just let the white flag wave. This is fricken pathetic. We need a major overhaul. If we get to .500 this year it will be a miracle. As much as I love the vets who have been the faces of our beloved team for the past 5 years - decade, it's time to tear down the walls and start fresh. I mean, shit, what's another 5-10 years without a championship?

[ ]

In reply to by granolaCUB

"I can't tell you the last time I was actually excited to sit down, relax and crack open a cold one to watch a game this season." me, too. i'm not one for giving up early and i don't think the cubs are 100% done...but it's pretty boring baseball all around. i don't mind missing games as much when i don't have much hope for things "righting" themselves. there's not much on the horizon giving the 2010 a lot of hope unless aram regains his stroke and even then they're they have to get to .500 before we care how far they are from 1st place or the wild card.

i wonder if he'd waive his NTC? i keed. Cubs are being somewhat consistent with how they treated Bradley last year. That's nice. On a sidenote, it's admirable how they are still pretending that the next 89 games or so aren't just an exhibition.

Ron Santo mentioned during his guest appearance on the Fox broadcast--God, please don't let the Cubs hire Mark Grace for color duties!--that Derrek Lee has been having back problems since returning on the long flight from Seattle. Can't help but wonder if that is now the party line to explain why he didn't dive after Juan Pierre's ground ball on Friday. Regardless, if Lee's back is that bad, why was he in the lineup and why was Colvin sitting last night?

Off season priorities: 1. Bullpen... yet again. And no, Samardzija doesn't count. Go get a couple boring veteran arms that you can rely on to not screw up too many games. 2. Find a 3B. 3. Find a decent 2B, like Orlando Hudson or something. ?

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

My priority list #1 First Base. I don't see anybody in the system to take Derrick Lee's spot. Resigning Lee to a reasonable 1 year deal or finding his replacement is in my book off priority numero uno. Lee has been one of my favorite players for years but I prefer the latter of finding a replacement. #2 Starting pitching. Assuming Big Z and Lilly are gone, the rotation looks like Dempster, Wells, Silva, Groz and a rookie. I'm starting to get a Rich Hill feeling for Wells, I can't believe Silva. Also, by bringing in a quality #2-3 type pitcher, we aren't watering down the bullpen further. If used properly (aka never pitching Howry), a backend of Marshall, Cashner and Marmol could be very effective. Third base is Arams. No need to waste time, energy or keystrokes on it at this point. Just have a quality back up player so when Aram does get hurt, its not the end of the season.

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

I don't think filling specific holes will be quite so important this offseason. Moving the last of the "bloated" contracts needs to be priority 1. Anyone that isn't helping in 2012 should be on the block right now. Lee Lilly Grabow Theriot Baker Fontenot Silva Aramis Fukudome Soriano Marlon Byrd Dempster Zambrano Tear this thing completely down as far as possible this offseason. Instead of overpaying vets to fill this spot or that spot, just be terrible for a season. Then spend really heavy in the draft/latin America/Pacific Rim and so forth. Lyle Overbay or Adrian Beltre aren't the answers to 2011. Spending 20 million untapped talent will be the answer. No more chasing our tails.

I have to believe Brett Jackson and Aaron Shafer are due for promotion any day now. Jackson is now hitting .316/.420/.517 and is leading or in the top three of just about every offensive statistics in the FSL. Shafer's ERA is a miniscule 0.96 and he's sporting a WHIP of 0.84. When Jackson moves to Tennessee, I'm curious as to how the Cubs will deal with Campana. He's played well enough (.333/.395/.396) for promotion, but the Iowa outfield is already pretty packed.

Theriot, Colvin, Byrd, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Castro, Wells vs. Tabata, Crosby, McCutchen, Jones, Milledge, Alvarez, Doumit, Cedeno, Maholm.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s a fantastic deal for SF

  • 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?