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

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.

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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.

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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

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.