Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

In Which We Get to Mock My Other Fantasy Draft

I have no delusions that any of you care about my fantasy baseball teams, but the amount of time I put on this site allows me these occasional self-indulgent posts.

So TCR founder and all-around good guy Christian Ruzich invited me to join his auction league and I accepted because...what the hell? I played a few roto leagues before and always hated them, but the auction style was new to me, might as well try it. Here are the pertinent league rules:

* 24-man roster (C C 1B 2B 3B SS CR MI OF OF OF OF OF UT + 10 pitchers)
* 5x5: OBP, HR, RBI, R, SB-CS // W, ERA, K, SV, WHIP
* Auction with keepers - $270 auction budget
* Drafted players get a two-year contract, with option for a 3rd year at salary +10

This was the team I was inheriting and the keeper rule is between 5-10 players and at least $40 of salary, otherwise it comes out of your auction day draft.

Players are listed with name, team, contract, salary, and position eligibility.

Contract statuses:

2 = 2nd year, eligible for an option in 2012 at salary + $10
2N = 2nd year, not eligible for an option
O = option year

J Castro HOU 2 5 C
J LuCroy MIL 2N 1 C
B Allen ARI 2 1 1/O
R Weeks MIL 2 20 2
P Sandoval SFG 2 27 3
E Cabrera SDP 2 21 S
C Johnson HOU 2N 1 3
J Bruce CIN O 36 O
L Morrison FLA 2 6 O
C Young ARI 2 15 O
R Gload PHI 2N 1 1
M DeRosa SF 2 16 2/O
S Pearce PIT 2 1 1
J Bay NYM 2 28 O
T Gwynn LAD 2N 5 O
E Velez LAD 2 2 O

J Hanrahan WAS 2N 2 P
J Happ HOU O 17 P
J Johnson FLA O 27 P
J Karstens PIT 2N 0 P
R Lopez ATL 2N 5 P
E Mujica FLA 2N 0 P
S Olsen PIT 2N 1 P
B Zito SFG O 11 P
J Ely LAD 2N 8 P
B Lincoln PIT 2N 11 P

I used the Baseball Prospectus fantasy rankings and recommended dollar values as a guide through the process. Bruce and Sandoval were two I wanted to keep but they seemed too expensive. I was right about Bruce (went for $24), not so much on Sandoval(went for $26).

  • Rickie Weeks (2B) $20 - BP had him at $18
  • Chris Johnson(CI) $11 - could care less abot him, but BP had him at $14, so seemed like value. I'm already regretting it.
  • Logan Morrison (OF) $6 - seems to be somewhat of a forgotten prospect this year, well until he started lighting it up in April. $6 was too much of a bargain for an OF with a regular job.
  • Chris Young(OF) $15 - power and speed and a $23 suggested value
  • J. Johnson(P) $27 - one of my favorite pitchers
  • Hanrahan(P) $12 - seemed like what closers were worth

That's $91, leaving me $179 to fill 18 spots. I decided I'd like to go about $180 on hitters and $90 on pitchers. I'd like to say I had a strategy beyond that, but as you'll see, I did not.

To the draft in the order I got them:

  • Hanley Ramirez (SS) $42 - I made some runs at Votto, Halladay Cliff Lee , Soto and McCann before this and BP had him at $37. He ended up being the 2nd most expensive player to go in the draft behind Pujols at $43 (Votto was third at $41). I figure it's harder to find a shortstop.
  • Chipper Jones(3B) $22 - Meh, BP had him at $13 and by this point their one league value for players was generally being outbid by $8-$10. I was hoping to keep it under $18, but alas let the auction get the best of me. Ian Stewart just went for $16 and I wasn't sure any other good third basemen were left. I should have kept bidding up Stewart, but for some reason I thought Stewart's injury was more serious. Then of course Stewart seems to be fighting for playing time under Tracy, so maybe this will work out still.
  • Starlin Castro(MI) $22 - BP had him at $19, so I was willing to go up to $25 here. I get him for two years with a third year option at $10 more, so seemed like good value.
  • Alfonso Soriano(OF) $15 - If he can steal a few bases this year, he still has 20 home run pop. Marlon Byrd went for $17 the pick after, so I felt much better after that.
  • Stephen Strasburg(P) $7 - That means $7 next year and $17 the following year. I also made a run at Johan Santana but my budget was dwindling by that point and more worried about Santana's shoulder surgery then Strasburg's TJ surgery.
  • Javier Vazquez(P) $13 - Well I know he'll be pitching in a friendly park at least, so far he's been pretty terrible.
  • Matt Garza(P) $8 - That seemed like a steal to me with most #2/#3 starters going over $10. It was around this point that I had calculated how much I could afford on each pitcher and hitter and was looking to not spend too abundantly over that average.
  • Todd Helton(1B) $5 - one of the last first basemen left and they were all going for over $10. At the very least he'll help my OBP.
  • Kerry Wood(P) $3 - high K's and next in line for saves as most of the closers were gone by then.
  • Aaron Harang(P) $6 - like my other league, looking for the Petco bounce back.
  • Domonic Brown(OF) $7 - I'm not sure when he'll be back and if he'll play much this year with the Phillies, but seemed like a good shot beyond this season.
  • Jonathan LucRoy (C) $4 - broken finger shouldn't linger and in a good lineup with a little home run pwer
  • Bill Hall(2B, 3B, OF) $7 - Plays a bunch of spots and hopefully some home runs with the Crawford boxes.
  • Humberto Quintero (C) $3 - Having to carry 2 catcher spots is 'effin brutal.
  • Sergio Romo (P) $1 - siphon off some saves until Brian Wilson is back, which happened sooner than I hoped and he didn't get any.
  • Russell Branyan (UT) $5 - a few garbage home runs and I don't think Juan Miranda is all that secure with the first base job.
  • Andrew Cashner (P) $5 - not a lot of folks had money left and at the least the upside is high and hopefully the K's. A good keeper option for next year even if the injury lingers.
  • Mike Adams (P) $1 - could be next in line for saves if Bell gets hurt and tons of strikeouts.

There's a $100 free agent budget to work with during the season and a $330 in-season salary cap to try and make things interesting. My final roster with a * indicating disabled list and I'll have to find someone on the waiver wire.

LuCroy*, Quintero, Helton, Weeks, H. Ramirez, C. Jones, Castro (MI), C. Johnson (CI), Morrison, C. Young, Soriano, B. Hall, D. Brown*, R. Branyan (UT).

J. Johnson, J. Vazquez, M. Garza, A. Harang, A. Cashner, S. Strasburg*, J. Hanrahan, S. Romo, M. Adams, K. Wood

As you can see, my pitching staff is a hot mess. I don't really have enough closers for saves and not enough good starters for wins. My K's and WHIP should be alright. Remarkably I am in second place right now without Hanley doing anything.

Some players I had proposed or made strong runs at:

  • R. Halladay - went for $36
  • B. McCann - went for $23
  • Geovany Soto - went for $18
  • Cliff Lee - went for $33
  • Joey Votto (nominated by me) - went for $41
  • Chris Iannatta - went for $17
  • Pablo Sandoval (nominated by me) - went for $26
  • Zack Greinke - went for $29
  • Carlos Pena - went for $25
  • Tommy Hanson - went for $23
  • Lance Berkman (nominated by me) - $16
  • Yovani Gallardo (nominated by me) - $23
  • Jay Bruce - $24
  • Chris Carpenter (nominated by me) - $24
  • Ubaldo Jimenez - $21
  • Brad Hawpe (nominated by me) - went for $12
  • Ryan Franklin went for $13
  • Leo Nunez - went for $13
  • Francisco Cordero - went for $16
  • Adam LaRoche - went for $16
  • Kosuke Fukudome (nominated by me) -$7
  • Todd Helton ((nominated by me) - and got him for $5
  • Sean Burnett (nominated by me) - $4 (I should have kept bidding on him)
  • Quintero, Romo, Branyan and Adams were all also nominated by me and I won the bids.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Submitted by Paul Noce on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 11:47pm. He was in the Dominican, although every couple of years we hear of a teenager in the U.S. who dies from Meningitis. Worst part is that the symptoms are the same for a bunch of normal everyday illnesses. ======================================== PAUL N: A couple of years ago the Cubs had a player at their Dominican Acdemy (I can't remember who it was) who had appendicitis, and they flew him to Miami for surgery. Even with the increased emphasis on tourism and the new MLB baseball academies down there, the Dominican Republic is still a bit Third World when it comes to medical care.

DH today Game 1: Flahery 3/4 2 HR, 5 RBI Vitters 1/3 1 HR, 3 RBI Jackson 1/2 2 BB, 2 R

he's in there for his defense folks

3-run bomb, Sweet!!! Tulo's 3-0 popout to Pena looming large.

Pretty effective outing by Coleman. I watched for a while and he sure didn't look like a guy who was going to make it to the 6th with only 1 run in. Screw Grabow, what the hell is he doing in the game anyway?

From fangraphs chat http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/jack-moore-fangraphs-chat-4121… 12:30 Comment From Mark Are you a fan of Tyler Colvin? I want to like him, but he isn't giving me many reasons to! 12:31 Jack Moore: Depends. I don't think he has star potential - too many Ks, too few BBs - but the power is real and he's not a liability on defense. He should be a league average or slightly better player for a few years, which may be slightly disappointing, he's definitely an asset. 12:40 Comment From Hall of Fame Starlin Castro, over/under, 5,000 hits in career? 12:41 Jack Moore: 5,000 this season. 12:51 Comment From Matt NL Only keeper league, Ryan Braun or Jose Reyes and Ubaldo Jimenez? Reyes would be replaced with Starlin Castro 12:51 Jack Moore: So the question is more like Braun + Starlin or Reyes + Ubaldo. I take Braun and Starlin. 1:14 Comment From matt tyler colvin or luke scott, rest of year? 1:14 Jack Moore: Luke Scott 1:19 Comment From Carl What kind of numbers will Randy Wells put up for the rest of the season once he comes off the DL? 1:20 Jack Moore: Think 4.00 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and the rest that comes with that. 1:26 Comment From Joe Garza is racking up a ton of K's and little else. Will this change over the course fo the season? 1:28 Jack Moore: I think over the course of the season we'll see nearly the opposite. The amount of righties in NL Central lineups should help Garza raise his K-rate over his career mark of 7-ish, maybe even approaching 8 per nine innings. His walk rate isn't far off from his career mark either. However, Garza hasn't allowed a homer yet despite a 40% GB rate which isn't likely to change much. Especially in windy Wrigley Field, the homer could be what limits Garza from bettering his numbers with the Rays. I expect something like a 3.80-4.10 ERA/FIP out of Garza this season. Not great praise for Garza given the earlier question on Wells - nothing folks here haven't already debated

[ ]

In reply to by chuck

Doubt he'll advance as quickly as an outfielder unless he develops one of the following along with the ability to make contact: power, patience, base stealing ability. But, like Castro, he seems to be a high-average, low BB, not much power yet, not terribly speedy hitter. And, obviously, they are both very young and could develop plenty of other values to go along with the ability to put the bat on the ball. I actually think Castro is more patient than Ha is right now. I also suspect you are looking for AZ Phil's response, which I'd also be very interested in.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    steele MRI on friday.  counsell expects an IL stint.

    no current plans for his rotation replacement.

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Use pitchers when you believe they're good. Don't plan their clock.

    I'm sorry. I'm simply anti-clock/contract management. Play guys when they show real MLB potential talent.

    If Brown hadn't been hurt with the Lat Strain he would've gotten the call, and not Wick.

    Give him a chance. 

    But Wesneski probably gets it

  • crunch (view)

    alzolay...bro...