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

High Ho Silva

Battling for the 5th starter's job and perhaps his big league career, Carlos Silva threw six innings of three-hit ball, retiring 17 of the last 18 men he faced, and Reed Johnson--also battling for a spot on the 25-man roster--singled twice and scored two runs, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland A's in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa, AZ, this afternoon    

box score

I think most of us know that the Cubs were hoping to find a reason to not release Carlos Silva and pay him $8M ($6M in 2011 salary and a $2M buy-out in 2012) to not pitch for them, and perhaps today's outing did in fact secure the #5 starter job for the veteran Venezuelan.

Silva allowed a lead-off line drive single to Coco Crisp to open the game, and after Ryan Sweney fanned, Josh Willingham doubled into the left-center alley to score Crisp and give the A's a quick 1-0 lead. But Silva then retired 16 of the next 17 men he faced, and although many of the balls hit off him would best be described as "loud outs," he did get the job done, working quickly and (in the main) throwing strikes. And his defense made all the plays required to keep him from getting into jams.

For the day Silva allowed just the one first-inning run on three hits (two singles and a double), striking out three while issuing no walks, in 6.0 IP (78 pitches - 49 strikes, 6/5 GO/FO).

Casey Coleman threw a super-efficient 1-2-3 7th (8 pitches - 6 strikes, 0/3 GO/FO), Marcos Mateo pitched a shutout 8th (16 pitches - 9 strikes, 0/2 GO/FO), allowing just one harmless single while striking out Conor Jackson (although before striking out, Jackson just missed a moonshot game-tying home run down the LF line when the ball curved foul at the last minute), and Kerry Wood tossed an easy 1-2-3 11-pitch 9th (three ground balls) for the Save. 

Meanwhile, the Cubs mustered just enough offense to outscore the A's, scoring twice in the bottom of the 1st, and then adding an insurance run in the 8th.

Reed Johnson led off the bottom of the 1st against A's LHSP Gio Gonzalez with a line-drive single tio left, and advanced to second when Starlin Castro walked. Jeff Baker struck out and Aramis Ramirez flied out, but Geovany Soto and Alfonso Soriano came through with two-out RBI singles to score Johnson and Castro and give the Cubs an early 2-1 lead.  

The Cubs used "small ball" to score their final tally in the 8th against submariner RHRP Brad Ziegler. Reed Johnson laid down a perfect bunt single into the "Bermuda Triangle" between the pitcher, the first-baseman, and the second-baseman to lead-off the inning, Matt Camp executed a textbook sac bunt to advance Johnson to 2nd, and after PH Blake DeWitt bounced out to the shortstop (with Johnson advancing to 3rd), the A's opted to intentionally walk Scott Moore to get to right-handed hitting Welington Castillo. But the plan backfired, as W. Castillo took a walk on a very close 3-2 pitch to load the bases, before Alfonso Soriano was hit by a pitch on the left leg to force-in a run and give the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

If Silva does in fact get the #5 starter's job, that moves Andrew Cashner to the bullpen, leaving one open spot in the pen to be filled by either Casey Coleman, James Russell, Marcos Mateo, Jeff Stevens, or NRI RHP Braden Looper. Since Manager Mike Quade is probably going to want one guy who can throw long relief/multiple innings, Coleman, Russell, and Looper probably have the edge over Mateo and Stevens at this time.   

With two hits, two runs scored, and a couple of nice catches in RF, Reed Johnson did nothing today to keep him from being the heavy favorite to capture the 5th OF job, especially since Fernando Perez has had several defensive lapses in games and is hitting just .147. F. Perez does have one minor league option left, so it would be no big deal to send him to Iowa to start the season.

And while Darwin Barney has almost certainly won the middle-infielder job (and may still be in the mix for at least a part-time gig at 2B), there would appear to be a battle between Blake DeWitt, Bobby Scales, and Scott Moore for the other infielder spot, since Jeff Baker has played well enough this Spring (hitting RHP with no difficulty, something he could not do last year) to perhaps be the everyday 2B. Like F. Perez, DeWiit has one minor league option left, and sending DeWitt to the minors for at least 100 days would keep him from being arbitration-eligible post-2011, not that that would be the only reason to option him out, but it is a factor to consider when making the final decision.  

The Cubs play the White Sox tomorrow afternoon in Mesa.

Comments

Excellent write up as always kemosabe. From a Jim Callis chat: mike (orlando): why are you so high on Szczur when others (specifically, Law & Goldstein) are not? Jim Callis: Not sure what they don't like—you'd have to ask them. From my perspective, while he hasn't played much yet, he's a potential 6-7 bat, 4-5 power, 8 speed, 6-7 defender with tremendous makeup. Sign me up for more of those. Mateo (again) (Boston (again)): If Starlin Castro were eligible (lest we forget he is only 20), would he be the top SS prospect ahead of Manny Machado? Where would Castro rank overall? Jim Callis: Given the scarcity of stud shortstops, Castro would have to rank in the top five overall prospects. Assuming he hadn't hit .300 as a rookie last year and tore up Triple-A instead, I think he'd have to rank as the game's best shortstop prospect too. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/chat/2011/2611479.html

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

and this buried nugget...
Josh (Cal): Do you think that Darwin Barney can hit enough this season to be the starting second baseman for the Cubs? His glove is really opening some eyes in Arizona so far. Jim Callis: He won't put up big numbers, but I could see him hitting along the lines of .275/.320/.370. Not great, but coupled with his defense, that might make him the best option for the Cubs.

You forgot the best part (and my wish): "High Ho Silva...Away!"

A couple random things that I didn't know (but AZ Phil and some others surely did): The ST experience is one of the coolest things ever. Cheaper tickets, smaller venues, more access to the players (got Garza's autog today and had a brief exchange with Marmol) just by hanging in the right place. Sign me up, I'm gonna try and make it an annual thing, my only regret is it taking me this long to finally do. Lawn seats are the heat. Room for blankets, strollers, etc. Makes it way more family friendly. The media guide is actually worth the coin. I never wanted to fork over the $30 or whatever until I paged through one quick, hell, I think it's got the favorite food of everyone on the 40 man. Feel free to poke fun, but these are takeaways from a great few days in Phoenix. Unfortunately by myself with a newborn, I didn't get to see nearly enough actual baseball, but there's always..... The regular season

"But Silva then retired 16 of the next 17 men he faced, and although many of the balls hit off him would best be described as 'loud outs' ..." The Trib article is a bit more candid: "'Today I still left some pitches up, but they were hit right at people,' Silva said." So basically Silva gave up an early run and then continued to pitch rather poorly but benefited from good luck/fielding the rest of the way ... Does anybody in the Cubs front office truly believe that an occasionally lucky Silva is preferable to a developing Cashner? Please, Please, Please let them take advantage of Silva's high point of the season to kick in half his salary and trade him for a weak hitting 25 year old Hi-A leftfielder with 2 DUI arrests on his record. Please!

AZ PHIL: I have read the beat reporters remark that scouts of several teams were in attendance for the Silva Show. Did you notice them, and if so, did you have the chance to speak with them about the stud, obese pitcher?

From the Silva fluff piece on MLB.com today:
Silva, competing with Andrew Cashner and Braden Looper for the final spot, took to heart some advice from pitcher Ryan Dempster. "Today he said, 'I don't want you to give me 100 percent, I want you to give me 80 percent,'" Silva said of his conversation with the Cubs' Opening Day starter.
That's really good advice, imo. How many times have we seen it happen, the pitcher who is rolling just makes it look easy while the pitcher with a bunch of talent fights with himself an entire game? Maybe Z should heed the advice and give 80%. 80% of Zambrano is probably good enough to win most games.

via rotoworld Cubs optioned OF Fernando Perez to Triple-A Iowa; reassigned INFs Bobby Scales, Augie Ojeda, Scott Moore and OF Matt Camp to minor league camp. 5th outfielder seems settled...

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

The Cubs still have four catchers, including Max Ramirez, who has a sore left wrist, and Welington Castillo, who is hitting .667. Koyie Hill (.037) is likely to win a spot based on his experience and handling of the pitching staff. thrilling... hopefully we get a lineup with Barney, Hill, DeWitt and Baker all playing on the same day.

seemed like a no-brainer w/ dewitt still having an option; after all, ST may be ST, but not like he's ever proven himself or has laurels to rest on - no glove; no stick; has an option, yep, let's keep him!

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Wellman

on that note, Rotoworld blurb says DeWitt will get some time at 3b the rest of the spring training with Barney getting some more 2b time we'll see how much defense matters I guess...

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Wellman

DeWitt reminds me physically of Greg Jeffries... unfortunately he seems a lot more like Sean Burroughs 2.0. I am sure all the Iowinians are upset about not getting to see him light up the PCL... at least not until May.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Jeffries finished in the top 17 in MVP voting twice, and had several seasons hitting above .300 as an everday player. His best season was 1993 with STL when he hit .342/.408/.485 in 612 PA. And he stole 46 bases that year, was an all-star two years in a row. Burroughs/DeWitt will never touch that.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"While batting-average-on-balls-in-play (BABIP) is not indicative of good or bad luck... the second-worst BABIP, combined with what appears to be a ground ball-fly ball anomaly, suggests Pena’s 2010 season was more of a result of bad luck than a complete collapse of skill." That was a really bad article, and it took two people to write it. What really happened - he hit more groundballs and more defenses played the shift against him, so he hit into more outs.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I've heard it mentioned a couple of times that more and more teams used the shift against him the last couple of years. Not sure how to check it (outside of buying fielding data) but I guess Rays confirm it.

if anyone is looking for a fantasy baseball league, there are 3 openings in Transmission's annual "Rod Beck's America" league. It's Head to Head with fairly deep rosters and 12x12 stat categories (mix of ratio and the usual counting stats). The returning members are pretty much all current or former TCR readers/members. It's competitive, but it's a pretty casual league with only two 'rules'. 1) don't be a jerk 2) if you do sign up, you need to be at least semi-active (we'd prefer if you can check in at least once per week) but you DO need to check in at least once per month or we'll shoot you a polite email asking you to please check into your roster to make DL adjustments or whatnot. The live draft is this Sunday at 1 PM EST, it's free, and hosted on Yahoo. If you can't make the live draft you can pre-rank your selections. Just go to the Yahoo fantasy baseball homepage (you'll need to register if you don't have an acct), and click the "join custom league" tab and enter the following info League id is - 132209 Password is - samfuld if you have any further questions post them here and I'll try to answer them. Thanks

May be 3/44, but if you follow the Cubs on Facebook, you can watch the Cubs/Sox MLB.tv feed right now.

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).