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

Sloth Traded To Nats for 3 Baby Ruth Candy Bars

 

 

The Cubs traded Tom Gorzelanny to the Nationals yesterday for 3 minor leaguers. This will make the road to the rotation a little easier for Carlos Silva. Phew. 

The three prospects the Cubs received were 24-right hander A.J. Morris, right fielder Michael Burgess and lefty Graham Hicks. Baseball America has a write-up on each of them.

To the excerpts...

 

 

Morris

Morris pitched effectively enough as a starter for Potomac, going 3-2, 3.16 with 49 strikeouts in 57 innings, but he came down with a sore arm in June and missed nearly a month. The Nationals shifted him to the bullpen upon his return to Carolina League action in mid-July and Morris showed improved velocity, hitting 95 mph, if lesser results—he notched a 12-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 15 innings to go with a 6.60 ERA.

Burgess

Burgess ranked among Washington's top 10 prospects every year from 2008-10, but he had dropped into the 11-20 tier heading into 2011 after a second straight season in high Class A. He's taken 937 at-bats for Potomac in the past three years, batting just .245 but with above-average power output in the form of 37 homers and an isolated power figure of .182. Stocky and strong, Burgess concentrated on making more contact last season, which he did at the expense of a bit of power.

Hicks

Hicks compiled steady strikeout and walk rates for Hagerstown but proved far too hittable because of poor command. A tall, lean lefty, he sits in the high 80s with his fastball, touching 91 mph, and shows the makings of an average curveball and changeup. If it all comes together for Hicks, he could have a future as No. 5 type starter.

Gorzelanny was out of options and the Cubs clearly felt he could net them the best return while still having plenty left to withstand the demands of a 162 game schedule. No big loss or impact in my opinion. The rotation now stands at Dempster, Zambrano, Garza, Wells and Silva with Cashner and Russell trying to force their ways in with a good spring.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

rumor was Reds were going to offer around $7M and Votto submitting in the 8.5M to 9.5M range. Considering Howard made $10M his first year, Reds thought they could lose it and that's all that matters. I don't think Jocketty went let's give Votto $38M for the helluva of it. At the low end they probably think he makes $34-35M over the next 3 years or less if he's injured, at the high end, $44 or more and didn't want to risk going that road while keeping their star happy. Gonna guess they put a lot more thought into it then the 5 minutes everyone on here has.

So.......is it a given that Prince will be the Cubs #1 free agent target for 2012? I guess all bets are off if Pujols doesn't re-up with the Birds, but it sure seems like the Cubs, Jays and Nats would be the likely top 3 bidders for Fielder. Even at $20MM/year.

Likely 2011 Opening Day starting lineup at Tennessee (as things stand right now): 1. Brett Jackson, CF 2. D. J. Lemahieu, 2B 3. Michael Burgess, RF 4. Josh Vitters, 3B 5. Ryan Flaherty, LF 6. Rebel Ridling, 1B 7. Michael Brenly, C 8. Junior Lake, SS 9. Trey McNutt, P I think it's pretty clear that the Tennessee Smokies will be the crown jewel of the Cubs farm system going into the 2011 season. Most of the Cubs best prospects will be rhere. BTW, Burgess is the only one of the players acquired from WAS who will be eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft post-2011. So I would say Vitters, J. Jackson, Carpenter, Beliveau, Flaherty, Burgess, Lake, M. Gonzalez, M. Smith, and Campana are (at this time) the ten post-2011 Rule 5 eligibles who are most-likely to be added to the 40 by 11-20-2011 (if not sooner in some cases), with Vitters, J. Jackson, and Carpenter virtual locks to get added, Beliveau and Flaherty likely but not locks, and Burgess, Lake, M. Gonzalez, M. Smith, and/or Campana only if the player has a good year.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

Submitted by Stevens on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 2:35pm. AZP, what's the story on Rebel Ridling & Junior Lake. I'm not familiar. Love the names, but I imagine there's nothing special about a 1B who hits 6th in AA. And I haven't heard Lake's name pop up in the many middle-infielder conversations in the last couple years. Thanks. ========================================== STEVENS: Rebel Ridling played college ball at Oklahome State and was drafted by the Cubs in June 2008 (25th round). He had a very strong second-half at Peoria in 2009 (finishing at 310/347/466) and an impressive AZ Instructs post-2009, but then he had an appendectomy with complications (he almost died) last March, and he missed the first month of season while rehabbing at Fitch Park. When he returned (to Daytona), he was not quite the same player he had been at Peoria in 2009, and struggled a bit at the plate (hitting 267/312/426). Junior Lake and Starlin Castro were born three days apart, both signed with the Cubs as 16-year olds out of the Dominican Republic, and both played for the DSL Cubs in 2007 and for the AZL Cubs in 2008. When I first saw them at Fitch Park in 2008, I thought Lake had the most upside. While Castro was definitely the better hitter of the two (311/364/464 for Castro and 286/335/417 for Lake in AZL in 2008), Lake had the stronger arm, a bit more range at SS, more power, and was a faster runner. Both Lake and Castro attended AZ Instructs at Fitch Park post-2008, and Castro really took advantage of the instruction from the organization's coaches (fielding, baserunning, and hitting), while Lake did not. For instance, on the advice of organizatinal hitting coordinator Dave Keller, Castro kept a "hitting diary" and studied pitchers for weaknesses. Lake did not. The thing about Junior Lake is that he is kind of a "street kid," sort of a Dominican Oliver Twist. I'm not even sure he attended school. So it might be harder for him to understand coaching, because he doesn't know how to accept instruction. So while Castro rocketed through the Cubs system (surprisingly starting the 2009 season at Daytona before getting a mid-season promotion to Tennessee and a slot in the AFL, and then receiving an NRI to Spring Training in 2010 and an April call-up to the big leagues), Lake has moved more steadilily through the system, playing at Peoria in 2009 and at Daytona in 2010. His big negatives over the past couple of years were a scatter-gun arm, brain farts on the bases, and a hyper-aggressive approach at the plate. But if it wasn't for Starlin Castro, you would probably have heard a lot more about Junior Lake. Lake looked like he might finally have made some improvements to his game at mid-season 2010 at Daytona, hitting home runs, starting to show more patience at the plate, and cutting down on his throwing errors and baserunning gaffes. The Cubs trading Hak-Ju Lee makes Junior Lake the Cubs new #1 shortstop prospect (at least going into 2011), but I would not be surprised if he eventually morphs into a Bill Hall-type IF-OF multi-postional super-sub, with plus power, above-average speed, and the athleticism needed to play both infield and outfield positions. I don't know if Lake will ever be a good hitter, but even if he doesn't hit a whole lot for average, his other tools (power, arm, range, and athleticism) should make him a decent MLB supersub.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Submitted by The E-Man on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 3:48pm. PHIL: You have always liked Flaherty. Do you still feel the same way about his prospects? =================================== E-MAN: I had Ryan "Flash" Flaherty at #10 in my post-2010 Cubs Top 15 Prospects list. I have always projected Flaherty as a LH corner IF-OF who can also play 2B, and SS in a pinch (he played SS at Vanderbilt and with Team USA), and nothing has changed my mind about him eventually doing that. A left-handed hitting version of Mark DeRosa is a reasonable projection. Flaherty is a big guy and a growing boy (6'5 230), and he has the potential to be a big-time HR hitter (he hit 20 at Peoria in 2009). He is a fairly patient hitter and he runs OK for a big guy. One thing about him is that throughout his career he has struggled against LHP while murdering RHP, so I see him as a platoon guy playing 1B-2B-3B-LF-RF at the MLB level. Flaherty is the son of a college baseball coach (Southern Maine) and he has a lot of baseball smarts and is a student of the game. He knows how to play each of the positions in his kit the right way, he knows how to run the bases, and he can work a pitcher. He was the first-base coach for Mesa Solar Sox (AFL) when he wasn't playing in a game.

Michael Burgess played high school ball at Hillsborough HS in Tampa, FL, the same school that produced Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Carl Eveett and Elijah Dukes. The Nationals selected Burgess in the Supplemental 1st round (overall pick #49) in the 2007 Rule 4 Draft, one slot below the Cubs, who selected Auburn C Josh Donaldson (compensation pick for the Cubs losing Juan Pierre to LAD) at #48. Burgess had signed an NLI with Central Florida, but gave up a chance to play college ball at UCF when he signed with the Nats ($630K signing bonus). Like Josh Vitters (who had signed an NLI with Arizona State), Burgess would have just finished his junior year in college last Spring (and would have been eligible for selection in the 2010 June draft) if he had not opted to turn pro out of HS. Burgess has one of the top OF arms in the minor leagues, so if he flames out at the plate, the Cubs could always make him a pitcher.

[ ]

In reply to by Jim Hickmans Bat

There was another one that came from the same group. In 1981 the Cubs drafted a left handed pitcher out of the same HS that was said to be a close friend (and perhaps relative) of Scheffield. His name was Vance Lovelace, and had just about the best stuff I ever saw in a prospect. Fantastic fastball (no gun used in those days) and a slider to equal Marmols. Unfortunately, his control on his best day was worse than that of Marmol on his worst day. He was traded to the Dodgers for Ron Cey, but floundered in their system also. I believe he finally made it to the majors for a cup of coffee. There were all sorts of rumors about his being a drug abuser, but I sort of wrote them off when he was appointed a very high level scout with the Dodgers about 10 years ago. His fastball was better than that of Carl Hamilton, another lefty in the Cubs system that looked outstanding until injury knocked him out of baseball.

The Cubs have signed 29-year old former 1st round draft pick (2000 #3 overall) OF Luis "Lou" Montanez to a minor league contract with an NRI to Spring Training. Montanez was one of biggest busts among Cubs 1st round draft picks over the years, especially if you consider the fact that he was the 3rd overall pick the year he was drafted. 1st overall pick Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Utley, and Adam Wainwright turned out to be the best players picked in the 1st round of the 2000 draft, but in the Cubs defense, Gonzalez was gone when the Cubs picked 3rd, and a number of teams passed on Utley and Wainwright. Montanez spent seven seasons (2000-06) in the Cubs minor league system before becoming a Rule 55 minor league FA post-2006 and signing a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles. He spent the past four seasons bouncing back & forth between AA Bowie, AAA Norfolk and Baltimore, hitting 223/251/323 with four HR and 11 doubles in 93 MLB games (266 PA). A right-handed hitter, Montanez can play all three OF positions. Montanez was signed by the Cubs as a SS out of a Miami HS in 2000, but was moved to the outfield in 2004. He has not played one inning in the infield since the move. He hit a career-high 26 HR for Bowie in 2008, but has only hit six dingers in the past two seasons.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Sounds to me like Montanez has Jose Macias' skill-set covered just fine. Guaranteed Chicago roster spot! /snark In reality, unless I'm missing something with Phil's earlier depth chart, it seems there is no one at Iowa to play in LF with Guyer traded away. So Montanez is organizational filler to cover LF there, that is unless Bobby Scales plans on playing some LF for the I-Cubs this year (and I thought Phil said he was going to start coaching? Or maybe that was Doobie). I'm not sure who plays SS for Iowa, either. Also, some good news: just saw a Twitter that Matt Szczur has picked the Cubs over the NFL. Woot! I'm guessing he'd be targeted for Peoria's OF, right Phil? Too much college experience to go to Boise.

I'll miss Gorz. By WAR, he's already the Nats third best pitcher. He'll never be more than a decent fourth starter on a good team, but he has nice stuff and competes. Hard to project any of those suspects is ever gonna be able to contribute nearly as much as Gorz has. Meh.

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.