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 Tao of Q-Ball

You've probably read or heard about yesterday's dugout fracas between Carlos Slim and Aramis Ramirez after the first inning. The Cubs continued their defensive indifference that has plagued their early Cactus League games with 3 errors in the first inning - 5 total on the game (Yahtzee!) -  and that led to a 6-run first inning. You try not to infer too much meaning in spring training results, but despite what Carlos said at the Cubs Convention about not having to compete for a spot in the rotation, the reality is that it's between him, Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner for two of the spots. And while his hefty contract may earn him the benefit of the doubt over Wells or Cashner, both of whom still have minor league options, you hope he will have to demonstrate some modicum of success in March. Thus he was somewhat justified in his anger if he felt his teammates let him down in the first. But like his namesake has hopefully learned by now, you can't act on it in the dugout in front of witnesses.

But I write today not to discuss the minor scuffle, but the reaction by the Cubs new field general. Q-Ball dismissed the incident as "boys will be boys". Fair enough and it being early March, the incident is probably going to be ignored or forgotten by the majority of Cubs fans, so wise to not make a big deal of it. Now my first thought was would this have happened under Ryne Sandberg? I do this only because I'm an unabashed Sandberg groupie and whether Q-Ball ends up being the right decision or not for the Cubs, damn straight I'd rather being rooting for old #23.

Of course there's no way of knowing, I don't think Sandberg has any magical powers to prevent Slim from shooting off his mouth and Aramis from reacting. But would have they hesitated for a second out of respect to an ex-major leaguer and Hall of Famer? Doubtful, but that doesn't stop me from wondering.

I also wonder how Sandberg would have handled the media afterwards. It's sort of the unappreciated skill of a manager. Dusty didn't know how to do it, the city hated him. Lou did and despite similar results to Dusty, certainly was more well-liked over his tenure. Joe Torre was a master at it and don't think that's not a big part of his New York city legend. Q-Ball by all accounts, seems to be doing it well, but I can't say I wasn't disappointed by the reaction yesterday. What I wanted to hear was, "Boys will be boys and I'll deal with it tomorrow. But instead of jawing at his teammates for making mistakes, Silva should worry about picking them up and not getting lit up like Charlie Sheen on a coke bender. He should also try switching to diet soda. I've been getting on Castro a bit for what I feel are mental lapses on the field, but don't think it doesn't apply to the veterans as well. I may be more public about it with the rookies because fans and media lap that shit up like a dog at a running water hose, but Ramirez needs to remember he doesn't have a contract for next year and took a 2-month siesta to start last season. Koyie should remember that $850K is a dime in a water fountain to a major league club."

Okay, I probably took that too far and sarcasm aside, that kind of honesty sure would be refreshing. I sure would have preferred something more along the lines of, "Silva should have worried more about the home runs he was giving up and this sloppy play from the veterans to kids is either going to improve or guys will find the bench, maybe not as immediately as fans want, but it will improve or I'll find guys that can do it"

But the recent talks with Castro and the brushing aside of veterans mess-ups was the same stunt that Q-Ball pulled last year. He got all over Castro in the media and did everything behind closed doors with the vets or not at all. In return, he got their support when it came time to find the full-time guy. It worked for him and the team and it's certainly nothing new out of the manager's handbooks. Hell, it's pretty much standard operating procedure. But if a breath of fresh air from Q-Ball is what you wanted, you should keep expecting a jet stream of the hot variety.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by sbwilliams

4th'd. But I guess if you're going to get the SOS from your manager, it's an improvment not to pay him $3.5 million, so in that regard the Cubs took a step in the right direction... too bad it wasn't added to the payroll. When I was reading the hypothetical Q-Ball rant, I kept wondering "did Rob G forget to close his quotation mark at some point?" Very funny and it would be refreshing.

i thought dempster deserved the opening day nod so glad he got it, but...did his cheerleading for mr. clean last fall give him an edge, sub-conscious or not, in the decision-making this spring? we'll never know...

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

has Cashner in there, but I would assume he goes to Iowa if he doesn't start in the majors. That would leave 3 spots open for (pseudo-ordered by favorites) Ninja, Maine, Caridad, Wellemeyer, J. Berg, J. Russell, J. Stevens, B. Looper, Coello, Diamond, Gaub, M. Mateo, A. Cabrera, Dolis, J. Jackson, Carpenter, S. Rice, McNutt Grabow, Wood, Marmol, Marshall are assumed to be locks.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I can't get to either of those projections at work, it looks like the Cardinals is pre-Wainwright (2-16) - and the Redlegs is coming up as a gambling site, is that also pre- TJ surgery for the division's best pitcher? Something seems off about the NL central having 4 x 86+ win teams - like that forecasting method doesn't total up to 2430.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

it is pre-Wainwright, but if I understand it correctly it just adds ZIPS projections up and projected playing times, converts it to runs and runs allowed and uses Pythagorean to spit out a win number. In other words, unless the NL East and West are for some reason exceptionally bad, it won't add up. It has 80 wins for Pittsburgh for example. The 2nd link is Baseball Prospectus. They have 85 at the moment for Brewers/Cards, 82 for Reds and 80 for Cubs (71 and 68 for Pirates and Astros).

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Thanks. My "2-16" was from BP, so the Cards probably figure to take a 3-4 win hit once the replacement for Wainwright is worked in. If you figure out the systemic issues taking 210 innings out of your rotation causes, I'd bet it's more like 7-8 wins.

Well, KHill craps himself with a RISP to end the game. He is hitting .000 for the season. I know, I know AZ PHIL. The pitchers love pitching to him. In two instances when he could have made a difference in the game outcomes recently (yes, it is ST), he failed miserably. When will Max Ramirez start getting a more serious look? If at all? I mean, this kind of thing will certainly continue in the regular season in all liklihood.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

i wonder what they'll do with m.ramirez, myself. he doesn't have the power or consistancy for 1st even though he's not a good catcher...and the regular mlb backup, if k.hill doesn't get cut, should be w.castillo (imo)...and where does that leave chris robinson? we got 3 guys for 2 slots in AAA...though it probably should be 1 backing up in the majors and the other 2 in AAA...but then there's k.hill mucking up that line of progression.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Answer-Man-Billy-… at least Billy Beane has a sense of humor, imagine Hendry trying to pull that interview off. DB: The past three years or so, suddenly it's OK for the A's to start stealing bases and bunting again. How could you betray Sabermetrics like that, Billy? Beane: We never had a problem with the stolen base; we always had a problem with the caught stealing. So I think as long as we avoid those, we're all fine with it. DB: And the bunting? Beane: Uh, yeah, we're going to have to talk about that. But, as a result of having more sacrifice bunts, we've also managed to bring up the rear in runs scored in the American League [chuckles]. DB: Don't you have to give your manager something to do? Beane: Listen, we've been offensively challenged, and we'll try and scrape out any possible run and base that we can at this point. So we're not overly choosey.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I think P. Hoffman is one of the better movie actors around, so I'm sure he can pull it off. As long as he doesn't get naked again and bang Marisa Tomei. Social Network was a huge hit, Moneyball sure can do well... The book is still #4 on Amazon's top 10 baseball sellers.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

$20M of that to Brad Pitt probably that's still a very modest budget in today's Hollywood to be honest... they'll spend $20M+ advertising it as well... Soderbergh wanted closer to $60M to do his version and they nixed that and went back to an earlier vision of the script. director has only done one other movie, "Capote" which explains the Hoffmann casting. -edit- guess Pitt took a bit of a discount, originally $15M but took less upfront after Soderbergh quit and more on the backend if the film makes anything. Aaron Sorkin apparently did the last rewrite, so that's good.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

it's not like i think they'll take a bath on it, but unless "Tree of Life" reminds people brad pitt still exists it could be a long haul through DVD releases before they see their money back...unless they have some way to sell this movie to non-baseball fans.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I actually forgot that Soderbergh had the gig early on. I only said that b/c he seems to like to take on lower-budget projects that could be "cool", or interesting (Bubble, The Good German, his last film), if not lucrative. So, maybe $40MM-$60MM is "not much" in Hollywood these days when compared to Inception or Avatar. Juno, with a budget of $7MM, has grossed $143.5MM Domestic, so far! How I would have loved to invested $100 bucks!

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

well I don't think Juno is going to make much more at this point. :) I think it's been about 10-11 years since Soderbergh made a good movie, seems more interested in experimenting or hanging out with the Ocean's 11 crew. I mean the first was watchable, but the next two...ugh. So probably good that he's not doing Moneyball, his version had an animated Bill James talking to Billy Beane and interviews with real baseball players interspersed through the narrative.

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).