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

Cubs Sign Reed Johnson to Minor League Deal

ESPN's Bruce Levine reports that the Cubs have signed 34-year old free-agent OF Reed Johnson to a minor league contact with an invitation to Spring Training.

The right-handed hitting Johnson played college ball at Cal State - Fullerton, and was a 17th round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999. He made his big league debut in 2003, and is a career 281/340/408 hitter in MLB. He was released by Toronto at the end of Spring Training 2008 (the Jays wanted to avoid paying him the $3.2M salary he won in arbitration), and he was immediately signed by the Cubs. Johnson played for the Cubs in 2008 and 2009 and did a nice job, hitting 303/358/420 with six HR and 20 doubles in 109 games in 2008 while platooning with Jim Edmonds in CF. and 255/330/412 with four HR and ten doubles in just 65 games in 2009. 

Johnson signed with the Dodgers after leaving the Cubs, and hit 262/291366 with two HR and 11 RBI in 45 games last season.

Johnson has a chronic back problem that his landed him on the DL for extended periods over the past two seasons, but when healthy he is a decent 4th OF. Ryan Dempster had lobbied to bring the popular Johnson back to the Cubs when he was a free-agent post-2009, but the Cubs chose to let him look elsewhere.  

Johnson will battle Fernando Perez, Brad Snyder and James Adduci for a back-up OF job in Spring Training. and while he is signed to a minor league contract, Johnson probably has an opt-out clause in his contract allowing him to demand his release if he does not make the Cubs 2011 Opening Day 25-man roster.

The Cubs have also agreed to an $850K 2011 contract with 31-year old back-up catcher Koyie Hill, avoiding arbitration. The switch-hitting Hill has been with the Cubs since 2007, and has been the team's primary back-up catcher for the past two seasons.  

Hill is a career 215/276/302 hitter in the big leagues, and has hit 211/271/299 in 206 games (642 PA) as a Cub. He has thrown out 28% of opposing base-stealers in his career (but only 18% last season). The veteran backstop has good receiving skills and is a smart and savvy game-caller and handler of pitchers, and that has kept him in a Cub uniform despite a weak bat,

Hill played college ball at Wichita State, and was a member of Team USA in 1999. He played 3B at Wichita State and 2B with Team USA, and then was converted to catcher after getting drafted and signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2000. Once a Dodgers Top 10 Prospect, Hill suffered a broken ankle in a home plate collision after being acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a trade for Steve Finley in 2004, and then he sustained a near career-ending hand injury when he cut off his thumb and two of his fingers of his right hand (throwing hand) with a table saw after the 2007 season. Doctors were able to surgically reattach the thumb and fingers in a way that allowed him to continue his baseball career.  

The Cubs originally signed Hill as a Rule 55 minor league FA after the 2006 season.

Comments

We're putting the BAND back together, man! Can DeRo be far behind? BTW, that gulp you just heard was Brad Snyder thinking about how he'll never get to sniff the $400K ML minimum he was hoping to pull this year.

AzPhil I haven't combed through the other thread yet, so maybe someone has asked, but I'm curious on your take that James Russell is going to be stretched out with a chance to be in the rotation again (Bruce Miles speculated on this before, and I believe Quade made comments to that effect today, which Bruce notes in his latest blog post). I remember being quite fascinated about James as a starter (plenty of lefties have succeeded with weaker stuff), and his numbers weren't bad, but he just never seemed to take to it too well. The long ball plagued him a bit in AA. Add in his splits last year, and I'm not sure that he's a starter, and feel like he's probably best utilized as a middle relief LOOGY. Of course, stretching a guy out in spring is just fine, particularly since if James is in the pen, he'll likely be in a middle relief, possible long man role.

[ ]

In reply to by toonsterwu

Submitted by toonsterwu on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:41pm. AzPhil I haven't combed through the other thread yet, so maybe someone has asked, but I'm curious on your take that James Russell is going to be stretched out with a chance to be in the rotation again (Bruce Miles speculated on this before, and I believe Quade made comments to that effect today, which Bruce notes in his latest blog post). I remember being quite fascinated about James as a starter (plenty of lefties have succeeded with weaker stuff), and his numbers weren't bad, but he just never seemed to take to it too well. The long ball plagued him a bit in AA. Add in his splits last year, and I'm not sure that he's a starter, and feel like he's probably best utilized as a middle relief LOOGY. Of course, stretching a guy out in spring is just fine, particularly since if James is in the pen, he'll likely be in a middle relief, possible long man role. ============================================ TOONSTER: I think the idea of trying James Russell as a starter in Spring Training is further evidence that the Cubs plan to trade Tom Gorzelanny. While they may say that they don't care if the rotation is all right-handed, Quade would probably like to have at least one lefty starter in the rotation, as long as the lefty is effective. And if he doesn't make the Cubs Opening Day roster as a starter, he could be kept stretched-out at Iowa, or he could be moved back to the builpen if he is needed there. Russell is a fly ball pitcher, which tends to not to be good for a lefty reliever unless he has power stuff. Russell generally pitched well out of the Cubs bullpen last year, and when he was not successful, it was usually when he was tagged for a HR. Russell has a nice variety of stuff, and he has the ability to throw strikes and keep his pitch count low. What got him moved to the bullpen was a strong finish as a reliever at Iowa at the end of the 2009 season, and then he was the #1 lefty reliever in the AFL post-2009. That got him noticed. Then Russell had a very good Spring Training last March and made the Cubs Opening Day roster as a reliever, but the ineffectiveness of John Grabow probably kept Russell around Chicago longer than would have otherwise been the case. I actually like the idea of moving Russell to the starting rotation. The long ball isn't as much of a concern for a starting pitcher, and as I said, he has the command and variety of stuff you would want in a starter. He would also have more trade value as a starter. To me, Scott Maine looks more like a LOOGY than Russell, and the Cubs have a couple of younger guys coming up through the system (Jeffrey Beliveau and Jeff Lorick) who are pretty good lefty relief prospects.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

don't think it was reported that anyone was offering more for Soriano, the report was McDonough and Kenney tacked on another year w/o Hendry's knowing to get the deal done. Angels and other teams were definitely interested, but not at 8 years. Demp I don't recall, thought he signed before he could become a FA, but my memory is fuzzy on that. Anyway, he's been worth his contract easily. Fukudome was allegedly Padres and White Sox with better offers. there was a 2 year offer for Bradley supposedly. Howry, Eyre and Grab-Ass seem to get the top of the set-up market. Why do you bitch about Cubs not acting like a big market team and then bitch when they do? Cause the Yanks, Mets, Red Sox are nothing but pitch perfect with every contract they give out.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I wouldn't read too much into the speculation. By most accounts, Wood had an offer from the Yankees (and others), approached Hendry first, then had his discussion with Ricketts. Thing is, most players go for the money they can get now, and particularly if they've got a few more playing years left. At the end of the day, I think Wood came back for 2 reasons a) He wanted to be back. b) Perhaps he thought he could rebuild his value a bit better in the NL and go for a longer deal later. The side note that isn't really being discussed is that there is a decent chance that Wood may be our closer in the future. The Cubs have noticeably not signed Marmol down (and I think Bruce Miles said that was due to concerns over the mechanics, justifiably so). It wouldn't stun me if the Cubs parted ways after 2012.

sucks to be the yanks...seems petitte has decided he won't pitch to start the season no matter what (he doesn't have a contract from anyone). that said...when he is slated to take the stand in the clemens perjury trial? i thought that was a mid-season thing. who's the backup plan...duroshshshshsher...c.young?

Just curious on everyone's thoughts on this...why is it that in basketball, football, soccer and tennis, some of the best athletes in the world perform at their best and are expected to be their best at age 20-24. Baseball seems to always be the exception. Baseball seems to believe that a player, unless an extreme outlier, needs YEARS of development in order to be considered "ready" to play at the major league level. Why does someone like Reed Johnson get a contract to play ball at 34 years old when there have got to be 10 times the number of equally talented players who are in their teens or early 20s who could at least fail as well as Reed Johnson can fail at the major league level? Honestly, why does baseball reward the aging catcher who cant hit a lick or outrun a slow ground ball to first with million dollar contracts? Why bring back a 48 or 49 year old Jamie Moyer to a major league contract to throw the ball 65 mph when there are plenty of younger, more talented players out there? How many young guys never get the chance to prove themselves simply because there is a 30 something Cesar Izturis eating up a roster spot somewhere? Id rather watch a team full of highly talented young players than a veteran team that sucks. Why does baseball think age matters so much? Thanks. Just wanted to vent. Reed Johnson. Oy.

[ ]

In reply to by Michaelweaselo

And for example, Premier League soccer in England has most of their best players playing by the time they are 20-21. Some as early as 15 or 16. Granted, soccer is a game for young legs, but there is definitely an experience factor as well to play at any high level. Football takes 22-23 year olds and makes stars out of them. Tennis? Teenagers. Basketball? Teenagers and young men. Baseball? 35 year olds at AAA? Three or four levels of minor league ball? Give me a break. Three or four levels of minor leagues. It boggles the mind.

The answer to me seems rather simple. Baseball, like golf, requires a great deal of skill, and requires relatively little stamina. As the player ages, for quite a while, the improvement in his skill more than compensates for the deteriation in his stamina. The other sports mentioned require both skill and stamina, but as the player ages, the deterioration of his stamina hurts him much more than the improvment of his skill level helps him.

Recent comments

  • 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?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).