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

The Second Coming of Bill Madlock?

This topic doesn't really merit a full post, but the site won't allow me to reply directly to inquiries aimed my way about Marquez Smith so I took another route in.

I've assembled a hodgepodge of data about Mr. Smith and pasted it below. He's been on a tear of late and helped keep the team afloat at the top of the PCL standings while many of his teammates have been called up to sink their parents toward the bottom of the NL Central. There's a link to a recent feature in the Des Moines Register, a clip from a recent edition of I-Cub game notes summarizing his hot streak, an excerpt from those same notes that shows the team has a much better record with Matt Camp at 3rd than Smith [FWIW], a "scouting report" from his former coach at Clemson [wasn't he a teammate of Colvin's there?] who extols his defensive abilities and a stat line from his brief demotion to Tennessee in the spring where he really did nothing to merit a recall to Triple A. I can't remember the circumstances of his return to Des Moines, but he has certainly capitalized on the renewed opportunity. As for AZP's estimation of former third-sackers Smith might ultimately equate to, why not shoot for the moon and invoke the memory of Bill Madlock? He's built along the same lines as I remember Madlock, although Mad Dog's listed in stat archives at a mere 180 lbs., substantially fewer than Marquez is pulling around behind him. Smith is a low center of gravity guy which might lend itself to the dives so often called for at the corner. When I've seen him he has impressed at the plate and not really done anything one way or another to draw my scrutiny as a fielder.

Will Clemson have the Cub infield cornered in 2012?

ON THE MARQ: With two more hits last night, 3B Marquez Smith extended his season-high hitting streak to 10 games and has hit safley his last 12 starts. In those 12 games, Smith is batting .512 (22-for-43) with 15 runs scored, five doubles, nine home runs and 20 RBI. He has hit nine home runs in his last 14 games. For the month of August, Smith leads the league in batting (.429), home runs (9), slugging (1.00), and OPS (1.492). He is tied for the league lead with Mat Gamel of Nashville with 14 extra-base hits and tied with Jason Lane of Las Vegas with 56 total bases. He is second in the league with 21 RBI (Bret Pill of Fresno has 22) and in on-base percentage (.492).

Marquez Smith Tennessee 5/15-6/3 .182 16 44 8 8 2 0 3 5 5 13 0 0 1

Smith 58 (31-27), Camp 34 (23-11),

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20108230312

"Marquez is one of the better third-baseman, certainly in the ACC and maybe in the country. He played a lot last year as our third-baseman. His fielding percentage, consistency, and accuracy are all outstanding. He has great hands and is going to hit in the middle of the order. He's a great team player, and he's one of the keys to our success."

Comments

Smith is a low center of gravity guy which might lend itself to the dives so often called for at the corner. You're joking, right?

paul sulivan gets his once-per-month joke that's actually funny going on via twitter... "Occupational hazard for Cubs managers: Having to listen to George Will pontificate, as Quade is doing right now. Oh, the humanity!" also...quade on his latest shot. Quade: "it probably, absolutely is (an audition)... and I've got to be myself."

reminds me of Todd Walker with the facial hair and that error.

41 HR's in 119 games in his career against Cubs. Impressive.

Was the HBP on Byrd serious? It looked on gamecast that he stayed on the bases, so I am guessing this is precautionary, but any insight would be great.

On Sori's two run triple that Willie Harris missed and apparently hit the chalk line...noting Alf loping to first base before running hard after the ball landed... Brenly: "sure would be nice going hard out of the box one time" (must be Bob's porno moustache)

Reynolds believes Girardi will manage Cubs http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/125321/index.html?eref… Girardi's generic response
“My focus is here, I have a responsibility to the organization and the guys in the clubhouse,’’ Girardi said. "As a player, when I was a free agent, I never worried about where I would be. As a manager I am never worried about where I am going to be. The one thing I can control is getting the players to play the best they can every day. I am very happy here, a great working relationship with everybody.’’

Ex-Cub Rich Harden has a no-hitter through 5, though he now has 4 walks. There is about a 1 in billion chance he throws a complete game, even if he doesn't give up a hit.

Harden 6.2 IP, 111 pitches, no hits, no runs, 6BB, 5K... Harrison now in, got Thome to end the 7th. Twins still being no hit, down 3-0.

Dusty or Dibble?
"And for me, if you can throw the next day, then you probably could have continued out there on the baseball field. So are they a little bit overcautious at this point? Maybe. But he's a $15 million investment. I absolutely can't blame them for taking him out.
"But here's the thing. If this was happening to this kid in college and you knew that, then you also knew that he can pitch through this stuff. So a little bit is, ok, let's see this kid pitch through it.
"I also look at this from the player's standpoint, that this is your job. This is what you do. You're never going to be 100 percent healthy, feel perfect. So you have to take accountability that you're gonna throw sometimes, your arm's gonna hurt. You're gonna be out there on the mound sometimes, the mound is gonna be terrible and the dirt is gonna be a little loose and it might not be so great. You can't constantly be complaining over every little thing.
"So for me, a little bit has to be put back on Strasburg here. Ok, you throw a pitch, it bothers your arm, and you immediately call out the manager and the trainer? Suck it up, kid. This is your profession. You chose to be a baseball player. You can't have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow.
"I mean, excuse me. There's guys I played with that had screws holding their elbows together. -edit- So, this is your choice. You can either suck it up and be a man at 22 making $2 million a year [with] a $15 million contract, or every time you get an ache and pain you can go out of the game and say I'm gonna let down the other 24 guys right here and possibly end up forfeiting the game."

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

From Baseball Prospectus: '[A GM should] ask himself a question that should guide most of his decisions. Namely, "where in the success cycle does my team stand?" The cycle is a baseball continuum on which every team resides. To measure a team's place in the cycle, assess its talent in the majors and minors. Can the players in the organization, mixed with a few trade acquisitions and free agents the team could reasonably sign, yield a competitive team? More precisely, can the team expect to compete while its current core of major-league players remain productive and under contract?' The Cubs are clearly on the downward side of the success cycle and the signing of Dunn will not change that.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Dunn, who is demanding $15 million a year for 4 years, has had his number of walks cut in half this season. You're talking about signing him for the years he will be 31, 32, 33, 34. He runs like a one legged buffalo. He plays defense like a person having a seizure. I'm pretty sure he's borderline retarded, and let's let Hendry throw another horrible contract at him. Seriously, if Hendry tries to sign him then Hendry should be fired on the spot. Did we not learn anything from all the other horrible deals Hendry keeps signing? Even the guys on MLB Network a month ago said no National League team should sign him longer than 2 years because most front office people don't think Dunn will be able to play a position in 2 years. For how "great" so many people think he is, ever stop to wonder why his "greatness" never helps his teams win games? They're always in danger of finishing in last place, probably because he is a one dimensional suckfest. He's Dave Kingman, who also never helped anyone win anything, and Kingman was a better defensive first baseman than Dunn (which isn't a compliment to Kingman).

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Castro is a 20 year old who is challenging to lead the league in hitting -- that has star written all over it unless you are obsessed with power. Soto's hitting (both SLG and OBP) is rather strong when compared with others at his position. Soto has been all-star caliber for 2 of his first 3 full years in the league. And while you may be right about Colvin's final results, he is leading the national league rookies in home runs, which is something I would have never predicted. While we have been previously terrible, I would say the Cubs system is doing much better at the moment. And I would much rather roll the dice on Colvin and Marquez Smith (and some part of Vitters, Jackson, Guyers, Castillo, Clevenger, Snyder, Hoffpauir, etc., to name only AA and AAA players) than overpay for Adam Dunn so that we can have Soriano and Dunn both playing terrible defense, not running, striking out too much and hitting 30 HRs/year.

Was I the only one that noticed that the Cubs made Livan throw 121 pitches in fewer than five innings last night? They drew six walks (plus two HBPs), which seems to be more than they have drawn in a month. Even Ramirez drew two walks. Plus, Quade put DeWitt and his OBP at the top of the order. Also, he put a damper on the Colvin-to-first-base talk. I'm inclined to think that Quade understands that even if Colvin fielded like Keith Hernandez that he can't hit enough to carry the position, so it would be a waste of time. Has Quade been underestimated? Does Ryne Sandberg know what OBP is?

where did this Colvin doesn't hit enough for a 1b myth get started? Especially if he can be a plus defender? Not that I know he would be, but seems like a move he could easily make the move. He has a .350 wOBA which would put him 16th among qualified first basemen out of 28(ahead of Berkman, Lee, Pena, Ike Davis btw) and he'll be 25 next year with a reasonable BABIP. A little high on the HR/FB but we don't know his baseline yet. He's 15th in the league for HR/AB with at least 300 PA's and with 600 PA's would be on pace for 36 HR's on the year. Anyone would take 36 HR's out of their first basemen. and once again, he's gonna be 25 next year. If they can get a cheap first basemen AND move Fukudome or Soriano, fine, but good luck with that. But it seems easier to move him to 1b for a year, I don't see how its gonna hurt his development much. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&ty… not that I think the Cubs will be much of a player in free agency, but smarter to make a run at Cliff Lee or starting pitching than waste money on Dunn at 1b.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

-He will be 25 next month. -He couldn't break an .800 OPS in the minors -His OBP is creeping closer to sub 300 Aside from a hot April and May he hasn't hit enough to be a Center fielder. Much less a first baseman. Post All-Star 120 21 28 5 2 6 14 11 2 35 2 1 .233 .308 .458 .766

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

-He will be 25 next month. your baseball age is generally determined by what age you are by July 1st, pretty standard operating procedure. Next year will be his age 25 season. He couldn't break an .800 OPS in the minors he also hit a HR every 30 AB's in the minors. Do you need a list of guys that developed power as they got in their mid 20's? His OBP is creeping closer to sub 300 he will never be much of an OBP guy, that's for certain Aside from a hot April and May he hasn't hit enough to be a Center fielder. Much less a first baseman. An inconsistent 24 year old in his first major league season? Crazy. He had an .857 OPS in July btw. A .350 wOBA puts him with Vernon Wells, McCutchen and around 11th in the majors among CF's and ahead of Victorino, Kemp, A. Jackson, Upton, Rios and for the bare minimum salary.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

At some point you need to score runs to win Rob. sure. I have no problem with Dunn, just depends on what he ends up with and how many years. He's a terrible middle of the order hitter anyway, he either walks, K's or hits a home and does the first two much more than the last. He's always around 100 RBI's despite nearly 40 HR's every year, which I don't think is that special and he is a poor defender and on the down side of the age cycle. That being said, Cubs need as much help with the starting staff as they do the offense and rather see them spend their big FA dollars on guys on the right side of 30 and if they don't exist in this next FA market, wait until they do. The team is building a decent crop of young talent that they'd be better served to surround with vets that they can get cheap like Byrd or A. Huff last year (as you suggested), than tying up 4 years into Dunn. And with the way arbitration has gone lately, you can get guys like Kelly Johnson if you're patient.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

There is a HUGE difference between Dunn and the Kelly Johnson's and Marlon Byrd's of the world. It just boils down to the goal of 2011 and 2012? Are we pushing for contention or are we punting and resigning ourselves to 65-70 win territory for the foreseeable future? If we had a ML system full of studs then I could understand a foundation up rebuild. But if the plan is to have Colvin and Marquez Smith man the infield corners and anchor this lineup. Well then that plan absolutely Sucks.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

the Nats were coming off a 59-win season in 2008 and signed Dunn and won 58 games the next season. How much of a difference do you think he's going to make to a 66 win Cubs team? Or is there more to your Cubs rebuilding plan for 2011? and btw Dun was worth 1.2 wins in 2009 and 3.3 so far in 2010. Johnson worth 4.3 so far this year and Byrd 4.4. Dunn's been more consistent in his career, but not sure the Cubs should be tying themselves up to large deals with the team they have. But it all depends on what Dunn wants, the Cubs budget and hopeful plan they have. But they'll need a lot more than Dunn to fix their offense.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Then need another quality starting pitcher. Cliff Lee is probably a pipe dream. But I would be OK with a good #3 level starter. Javy Vazquez or a Jeremy Guthrie. Then maybe try and sign a Kevin Millwood and a couple of Non-Tender-ish Bullpen Righties to incentive laden spring training contracts. And someone to be insurance for Aramis Ramirez. Maybe Marquez Smith fits that bill? But the organization needs to be sure. Maybe you can get a Mike Lowell type of guy to back up 1st and 3rd?

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I buy into alot the Sabre theories. However I think win shares are very much over rated.
it's WAR, not Win Shares and whatever you want to use, guys like Byrd and Johnson didn't tie up your payroll and provided the same or better overall production.
To me it's about getting a Lefty masher to stick in the middle of a lineup.
exactly what the 2009 Nats thought, worked perfectly. The Cubs aren't that close, they got old quick. So either you go all in like after 2006 and spend a ton or you let your young players develop and fill in the gaps without tying yourself into multi-year deals.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

What would Johnson and Byrd's WAR be if they played first base?
less. A. Huff would be a good 1b value example if you want. What aren't you understanding? Cubs have a budget next year, I don't know what it is but doesn't seem wise to bust it when they will doubtfully contend. Now if they plan on adding Cliff Lee, Lilly along with Dunn and another bat probably at 2b, go for it. But with Adrian Gonzalez, Pujols and who knows who else that will eventually become available after 2011 when the Cubs might be good again, why should they be tying themselves up into a 4-year deal for a guy on the wrong side of 30 and hardly a difference maker.
And I'd say Dunn was the least of the Nationals problems. That rotation last year was weaker than any MLB team in recent memory.
he didn't help a team that was almost as shitty as the 2010 Cubs though and he'll be 2 years older.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

There is a gaping hole at first. Why would we need to shift anyone to find a spot? Dempster Guthrie Z Gorzy Silva/Wells/Cashner/Jay Jackson Looks like a decent MLB average rotation. Marmol is a good closer. Marshall has pitched well in a setup role. Grabow is probably league average most years. So we only need to find 4 relievers out of this years Chicago shuttle and the bargain bin this offseason. I don't think we are WS contenders. But I do think that adding Dunn and Guthrie to THIS roster can make us a .500ish team. Once we are there, then a few breaks puts us right into 85-88 win territory. Most seasons that equals NL Central contention.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I agree, I don't see the logic in signing Dunn to a bad contract (or even a more presentable one) when the team is not going to contend with him. An acceptable deal on Dunn would be 1-2 years at $10-12 million per year. Anything above those numbers is insane. And if it were me, I would stay away from players like Dunn who offer nothing but power. Even his walk numbers are falling, which is a bad sign. He's NOT a clutch hitter. (.251 career avg drops to .228 with RISP) Of course Hendry will go ape shit and do anything he can to sign Dunn, because he's Hendry's type of player - slow, poor defense, one dimensional power hitter who strikes out a million times. I just don't know how this team can continue to give out horrible bloated contracts to over 30 vets and keep being surprised when it doesn't work out. If Hendry hasn't learned from his mistakes it's time he gets another job. If we stopped looking at the Cubs as our favorite baseball team but instead we just thought of it strictly as a business, and the manager keeps making horrible decisions that tie up the companies' money and damage performance for years at a time, he would be fired.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

So installing Marquez Smith and Tyler Colvin makes us the Yankees? The Cubs are a big market team. We can flex our financial muscles. There is absolutely NO REASON for the Cubs. In baseballs current revenue system to EVER PUNT AND TANK A SEASON ON PURPOSE. Am I proposing giving Dunn a lifetime contract? No But he isn't blocking anybody on the horizon. We have zero impact bats in the system. What can be the harm? Ultimately I would love for this system to be productive enough for us to follow a Boston Red Sox model. It just isn't at that point. And no way do I want us to lose 100 games a year until we have a system like the Devil Rays. Nothing wrong with being competitive and seeing what happens, IMHO.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

No Marquez Smith and Tyler Colvin do not make us the Yankees that is kind of the point. We are a long way away from winning that one big signing is not going to fix that. While the Cubs are a large payroll team, the Yankees payroll is nearly twice what we spend so out spending them will not work. In stead we should sheppard our limited resources to be used to take on salary dump players at a cost of no talent (Ramirez and Lee are examples) or sign free agents when we have a core of solid young (cheap) players who need a piece or two to put them over the top (this was why Fukodome was signed). Over the past ten years this has been the plan, unfortunately it didn’t worked because of injuries (Prior and Wood), bad luck (Bartman) and a failure in the play-off after a 97 win season. I guess the difference is that I don't want to spend money on an older player just so we don't lose 100 games. The Cubs are going to be bad the next couple of season, deal with it. After 2011/2012 we should have a solid core of younger players (if the minor league predictions are to believed) and a lot of free money.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I just don't understand why you want to have Adam Dunn for $12+mm/year for 4 years, who at best would be projected to get us from 72 wins to 77 wins (and that is likely an exaggeration) rather than seeing if any of our minor leaguers in our system, who despite your statements are actually touted as potential impact players by orgs like Baseball America (read analysis of Jackson and Vitters, for example), and have the money to spend when we see if the kids are good and there are players available that can actually make a team significantly better. From your analysis, we should never play kids until we are certain they are better than everyone on our team and anyone we can sign to fill that position in the free agent market.

[ ]

In reply to by springs

I'd love to plug in kids if they were having stellar years,and paid their dues. I just don't think its wise to assume that these kids in the system are going to be stars. I don't see any analysis that predicts any kind of stardom for any ML bats. (Though Jackson will probably be useful in a Mike Cameron clone type of way). I just can't believe what I'm hearing. For years the Cubs pinched pennies and didn't put product on the field. Then they spent to be competitive. NOW WE WANT THEM TO BE CHEAP AGAIN? I'm at a loss????

curious loser roundup... 2003 first round heroin addict jeff allison... 25 years old, 5.10era in AA...102.1ip 119h 27bb 50k 2004 first round prick matt bush... 24 years old, 3.29 era in R and A+...13.2ip 9h 3bb 20k

Jeff Baker in RF? When did this start happening? and batting 5th. At least Soto moved up to 6th, offset by Baker hitting 5th though DeWitt 2B, Castro SS, Nady 1B, Ramirez 3B, Baker RF, Soto C, Soriano LF, Colvin CF, Zambrano P

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

More importantly, in my mind, is that their 15 games and counting under ties them for 15th worst - but not as bad as the 2002 Cubs (18 under). It would be really interesting if someone's got 10 minutes or so to see how the managers who authored those worst 30 or so seasons faired. We know how ours did.

file under "wtf, really? oh, nevermind...coleman is here, too." scott "where's the plate" maine called up from AAA...another useless lefty reliever...awesome. justin "is he still with the big league team" berg sent down.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

J.R. Mathes, 28-year-old Iowa lefty, never had a cup of coffee in the majors and probably never will: in seven seasons, his bb/9 is under 2. Jeremy Papelbon, 27-year-old lefty back in AA this year, is stingy with walks, 11 this year in 65 innings. Why didn't they get promoted over Maine? Why will they be passed over next year in favor of Gaub, Buchter and Beliveau, just to name lefty relievers?

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?