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

Will Cubs Add Reinforcements?

With the AAA Iowa Cubs having been eliminated from the PCL playoffs yesterday and with veteran RHP Jon Lieber having suffered a possible career-ending arm injury, I would think that there will be some additional players added to the Cubs active roster today or tomorrow. 

The most-likely candidate for recall would be OF Felix Pie, but 1B-OF-RHPH Jason Dubois might be a possibility if Lou wants a power RH bat off the bench. And veteran 4-A OF Andres Torres had a smokin' PCL playoff run, and he could be used as a SWPH, late-inning OF defensive replacement, and PR, especially since Pie has never really learned how to steal bases. Torres is comparable to ex-Cub OF Angel Pagan.

As for pitchers who might get summoned, fireballer RHP Rocky Roquet has been the hottest Cubs AA/AAA reliever going back to July 21st. Over that period of time (at AA Tennessee through August and then promoted to Iowa for the PCL playoffs), the 25-year old Roquet has thrown 22.1 IP, allowing just 11 H, 3 R (2 ER), 7 BB, 32 K, and only 1 HR, with a 0.80 WHIP, 1.21 ERA, and a .142 OBA. While Roquet doesn't have to be added to the 40-man roster until after next season, Lou loves power arms in his bullpen, and Roquet throws a 96 MPH heater with a mid-80's slider.

And if Hendry/Piniella want a rubber-armed swingman (spot starter/long reliever) to replace Lieber, 26-year old RHP Randy Wells fits that bill. The Cubs will very likely add Wells to the 40-man roster post-2008 anyway (otherwise he can be a six-year minor league FA), so bringing him up to the big leagues now wouldn't be a stretch. Wells was selected by the Blue Jays in the Rule 5 Draft last December, but was reclaimed by the Cubs in April.   

And there's always the possibility that the Cubs might add a veteran reliever like 39-year old RHP Hector Carrasco, who spent the 2008 season at Iowa. Carrasco had success as a righty set-up man in the big leagues as recently as a couple of years ago (at Washington in 2005 and with the Angels in 2006), but it's unknown how he would fare now.

RHP Mitch Atkins was the best I-Cubs starter down the stretch, but he's only 22, and while he has developed an effective cutter that has turned him into a legitimate MLB rotation starter prospect, I doubt that he will be brought up now, since he has no experience working out of the bullpen. He is a lock to be added to the 40-man roster post-2008, however. 

If the Cubs need additional slots on the 40-man roster prior to the end of the season, they can always transfer Rich Hill from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL, or place Lieber on the 60-day DL, or outright LHP Carmen Pignatiello and/or RHPs Adam Harben and/or Billy Petrick to the minors (although if they are outrighted prior to signing 2009 MLB contracts, Pignatiello, Harben, and Petrick would be eligible to be minor league free-agents).

Since Lieber was on the Cubs 15-day DL on August 31st. he would provide the Cubs a third post-season roster exemption (allowing the Cubs to add a third player to their post-season roster who was not on the 25-man roster or 15-day or 60-day DL on 8/31) if he is placed back on the DL prior to the start of the NLDS. RHP Chad Fox (on the 60-day DL), and LHP Rich Hill (who was recalled from Daytona and placed on th 15-day DL on 8/31) give the Cubs their other two available post-season roster exemptions.

 

Comments

AZ-Phil, great article as always. Question: Will you be writing a Top 10 Cub prospect list (or Top 30), and summarizing the Minor League season? Early on this year, there didn't seem to be a whole lot to get excited about in the Minor Leagues. The emergence of Samardzija at the ML level, plus power arms like Ceda and Roquet, give hope that more reinforcements are coming next year, particularly given that some pitchers will be leaving us either because we don't meet their demands (Demp and Woody), or because we don't want them (Howry, Wuertz, Lieber). Still thin at position player, though Wellington Castillo looks good, and good to see Tyler Colvin turn it around. RE: Castillo, we don't really need a catcher, but you always need trade bait.

Submitted by Q-Ball on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 10:46am.

AZ-Phil, great article as always. Question: Will you be writing a Top 10 Cub prospect list (or Top 30), and summarizing the Minor League season? Early on this year, there didn't seem to be a whole lot to get excited about in the Minor Leagues.

 The emergence of Samardzija at the ML level, plus power arms like Ceda and Roquet, give hope that more reinforcements are coming next year, particularly given that some pitchers will be leaving us either because we don't meet their demands (Demp and Woody), or because we don't want them (Howry, Wuertz, Lieber).

Still thin at position player, though Wellington Castillo looks good, and good to see Tyler Colvin turn it around. RE: Castillo, we don't really need a catcher, but you always need trade bait.

===========================

Q-BALL: I'll do a Top 15 list sometime after the end of the season. I want to look at the Cubs AZ Instructional League team and the AFL Mesa Solar Sox before I make a final list.

Welington Castillo has moved rapidly up through the Cubs system, no question about that. His bat is ahead of his defense right now (he had a ton of passed balls and errors in 2008), but he has the potential to be an outstanding MLB catcher.

While Welington Castillo might indeed become trade bait (and that could happen as early as this off-season), the player I expect the Cubs to actively shop post-2008 is Felix Pie, possibly as part of a package of young players used to acquire a proven MLB CF.

I suspect Nate McLouth might be the target (left-handed hitter with pop), since he is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this coming off-season. So the Pirates might be inclined to exchange McLouth for three younger auto-renewal guys (they would probably want some combination of Pie, W. Castillo, Atkins and Ceda).

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

I hope the Pirates are dumb enough to trade McClouth. But Dave Littlefield or Cam Bonifay aren't the GMs anymore, so I'm not hopeful. But I would gladly part with Pie,Castillo,and Atkins for McClouth. He's GOOD. RE: CF, regardless of what we do there, I think Reed Johnson is arb eligible. To me that is a no-brainer to pick him up another year, whether as starter or 4th OF (preferably as 4th OF).

What HAS he ever learned how to do --- except party all night in Chicago? Frankly, It wouldn't bother me if we don't see Pie again this year. He's done little to merit a September callup. .284 .330 .432 in August .245 .287 .367 against LHP over all .240 .290 .399 vs AAA starting pitching And with Fukudome's problems with the bat (how do Cubs' coaches help a guy with a swing like Kosuke's?) causing a coaching overload there will be little Lou-tolerance for Felix "The Fan" Pie's approach at the plate.

I don't understand why Pie is not on the Cubs now, to serve as a late-inning defensive replacement in center. Have to think he would have caught that ball in the ninth yesterday.

I hereby nominate a resolution - that there will be no more mentions of the great, awesome and all - powerful Nolasco. That horse has been ridden and put away wet, son.

[ ]

In reply to by Dmac

you'd have to take that up with 1 person...1 person who doesn't like constructive feedback. good luck with that. team 1 gives up a series of pitchers who have taken a couple years to find consistancy/health...its given them a shakey pen arm in pinto and a future/current 2-3 type starter in nolasco. good for them. team 2 gets exactly what they were in the market for and expected at a below-market value. good for them...too bad they gave up a future high-end starter that came into his own 2 years later. that happens, though. its not like v.zambrano was traded for s.kazmir...a universal "wtf?" no matter whether we wanted a guy like pierre or not, that's what the team wanted and they pretty much got exactly what they wanted.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

It was all part of a fiendishly clever plan. We all know that a one year rental of Juan Pierre wasn't worth what we paid for him. We also all know that there was no reason not to call up Pie in September 2006 (although the way things are looking nowadays it might not have done any good, either). Instead the Cubs continued to trot out Juan Pierre day after day allowing him to reach 200 hits and pad his SB totals while he auditioned his services as a free agent for the 2007 season. BUT ... Hendry had a secret plan. Pierre's 750 PAs weren't a total waste because he qualified as a Type B Free Agent. So ... when the Dodgers signed Pierre, the Cubs got a supplenmentary pick which they turned into Josh Donaldson. Then a year later they included Donaldson in the package they sent to Oakland for Rich Harden. So ... when Hendry traded Nolasco et al to Florida he was really working on a long range plan to get Harden. I believe it. Of course I also believe that the Cubs are going to win the World Series this year.

Oh the joy of reliving past failed trades over and over and over again. Happens every time a newbie or a navie shows up.

Looking at Hendry's body of work, he has won more than he has lost. The only way to complete avoid bad trades is to never make them. And nobody can predict the future.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • 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.