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

The 2011 Cubs Season So Far...

This has been a pretty draining.
I only have the energy for this drawing and to ask the Cubs to please play the kids.
With all the injuries, it's like you have the perfect excuse.
And it would also be the right thing.
I'm glad Blake DeWitt got 3 hits yesterday, but I also could care less.
There are real outfielders from the future sitting on the bench.

Let 'em play. 

Comments

"I only have the energy for this drawing and to ask the Cubs to please play the kids." What about Jeff Baker, Dewitt and Koyie Hill? Don't they deserve something?

Montanez and Snyder are pretend prospects in the same way that Hill is a pretend backup catcher. I really don't care if DeWitt stands in LF until Brett Jackson is ready to come up, which I suspect is around the All Star break. Then DeWitt and his new found flexibility can be traded to whichever NL West or AL West team needs a utility guy. In September, the outfield should be primarily Jackson, Camapana and Colvin from left to right, with Soriano playing 2-3 days a week and Jackson moving to center or right on those days. Who does the organization have as a prospect (besides Colvin) with enough of an arm to play RF?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I of course...would like to see Jackson have a full season at AA. If he were to come up after the AS break? And the Cubs were still where they are now...going nowhere? Also for comparison: Patterson in AA (506PA's): .261/.338/.491, 22HR, 82 RBI, 45BB/115K's, 27 steals,14 caught Jackson in AA (411 PA's): .279/.381/.477, 10 HR, 45 RBI, 54BB/96 K's, 31 steals,6 caught

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

BABIP, learn it, live it, love it. And the Cubs were still where they are now...going nowhere? Let's see what he's doing then, but really the organization would be better served to let Jackson stay in the minors for at least this year, and probably most of next. I'd certainly rather watch him play than DeWitt and Fukudome, but he's going to struggle mightiliy in the majors, based on how often he's K'ing in AA.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Ok....so at what point do Jackson's positive numbers in the minors show that he's ready to get a shot in the majors? What sample size? Does he need to cut down on his K's? Sure.....most young players do. Does his .401 career OBP in the minors factor ar all? Minor league numbers are just that.....but it's what we have to go on. I have no idea if Jackson will ever be a successful MLB player....but I do know that it looks like, looking at his numbers, that he gets on base...k's more than I'd like...has some pop, and can steal some bases. I give up....bring up Bobby Scales...screw it...

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Call me crazy, but I'd like him to strike out less or hit home runs more often than a guy considered one of the bigger flops the Cubs have produced. We've already got Colvin and Campana ahead of him on the depth chart, what's the great rush to get him to the majors, other than to make you feel like there's some hope? Let him graduate to AAA, while not being mislead by a unsustainably high BABIP, have him continue to develop his power and plate discipline and bring him up when he's likely to make meaningful contributions. That way you get a good player for less money, and you can spend the money elsewhere, like on $3.5 million mop-up men and $14 million platoon outfielders.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Neal....I said before...."I of course would like him to have a full season at AA...." But is he is playing well at AA...and the Cubs are out of it in the second half? How long in his minor league career does a player have to play before it's not just "unsustainable BABIP?" 1000 PA'S? 1500? Plate discipline? A .403 OBP in 972 PA's. I agree to disagree here Neal..... Maybe Byrd will come back healthy, so this discussion will be moot, or Campana will play well enough to hold down the fort.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

"How long in his minor league career does a player have to play before it's not just "unsustainable BABIP?" 1000 PA'S? 1500?" To have a .365 BABIP and think they're going to carry that through to the majors? Show me a guy who hits left handed, has world class speed and sprays line drives (about 25% LD) around to all fields and I could believe it. Other than that, it's not possible. It hasn't been possible for 10,000 MLB hitters, so guess what? It's not possible for Brett Jackson, or Tony Campana or anyone else. Otherwise, knock .030 off their BA and OBP and .050 of their slugging and tell yourself if you're still excited about them getting called up. Not only are major league pitchers a lot better than the minor leaguers, but the fielders are better, and advance scouting puts them in better position. A chunk of those doubles and triples that Jackson is hitting now are just exciting outs when he gets to the bigs. Jackson hits the ball hard, and has hit a lot of line drives, and is fast, all things that would make you think a higher BABIP for him is in the works - just not that much higher, maybe he comes in at .320 or .330 in the bigs. It's not going to be .360+. Look at Ichrio's 2004 and 2005 seasons for a really good example of what BABIP "luck" can do.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

OK, you're right. Jackson will come up to the majors and hit .265. Sure, Castro made the same jump last year and lost .076 points in batting average and twice that in slugging but "Magic" Jackson will only drop .015 in batting average. He is the Cubs #1 positional player prospect, so no reason to think he may be overhyped or anything... nah, that would never happen.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Jackson is hitting .301 for his career in the minors. His OBP is .403. So naturally, it's all due to unsustainable BABIP, and he will hit .240/.320/.380 in the majors. Oh..and of course Castro=Jackson. Castro had an other worldly start at AA that year. Did anyone really think that he would come up and hit .375/.420/.560? Of course not.... In 243 PA's in AA, he hit .332/.384/.482. Jackson in 411 PA's in AA is hitting .279/.381/.477...but Jackson is a mirage, and Castro is the goods. Got it.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

From Baseball Prospectus on BABIP: "BABIP is mostly a function of a pitcher's defense and luck, rather than persistent skill. Thus, pitchers with abnormally high or low BABIPs are good bets to see their performances regress to the mean. A typical BABIP is about .300." ====== It doesn't matter what Jackson's career BABIP in the minors is, the MLB average for 120 years is right around .300. A player's BABIP can vary perhaps .020-.030 points in either direction, but normally more than that and they're having a lot of luck or bad luck and should come back to the norm during the season. TRN already pointed out many of the reasons that guys don't have .365 career BABIP in the majors. Pujols career BABIP: .312 ARod career BABIP: .318 Is Brett Jackson going to demolish ARod and Pujols' MLB production? No. Should he stay in the minors longer or come up soon? That's a different argument than projecting his future MLB success based on his minor league BABIP numbers.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

Jackson has only 800 career minor league AB's, and about 350 in AA. I'd like to see him get more minor league experience before coming up here, especially since Q isn't going to play him everyday if Soriano/Byrd/Fukudome are healthy and on the team. We've seen so many Cubs prospects flame out here through mishandling. I'd rather let Jackson's production show us when he's ready. Maybe around the all-star break he could move up to Iowa. If he tears up Iowa the 2nd half of the season, then he could get a shot up here, but only if he's going to get to play almost everyday. Sitting on the bench here for long periods like Colvin did earlier this season doesn't help. And who knows, Colvin might be another bust. But I can bet that next year's OF has Soriano in LF and Byrd in CF, unless Byrd is traded. Who plays RF is anyone's guess.

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

"We've seen so many Cubs prospects flame out here through mishandling." Misdrafting? Corey Patterson has had over 4000 PAs in the majors now, and has had plenty of handling by other organizations. What you see is what you get: .255/.294/.407/.700. His tools--especially his speed--have allowed him to hang on, which is the secret of tools anyway: they get you noticed and give you a better shot than the next guy. But he's just not a good hitter. Same with Pie. So what if he finally figures it out next year or whenever? You can't keep a guy that long, there are rules about that. Forget those guys, and I would say forget Colvin, too, unless the light bulb goes on inside his own head in the next year or so.

[ ]

In reply to by Confucius Jackson

"Who does the organization have as a prospect (besides Colvin) with enough of an arm to play RF?" AZ Phil has seen these guys throw, so give him the last word, but outfielders who have played mostly RF in their careers are Snyder, Spencer, Nelson Perez and Burgess. They all have a respectable number of assists from right. Burgess, we know has a gun. So does Ha, but he can also play center and has been mostly there this season.

ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%	RC	RC/27	wOBA	wOBA+	OPS+

.134	5.4%	10.9%	.399	50%	19%	26	4.78	.380	117	135

.278	11.9%	17.5%	.339	52%	10%	28	5.32	.411	126	161
so which one deserved the call-up (age 23 vs. age 25)?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

See Deck Chairs : Titanic. I don't disagree, but I can't muster any energy at this point to care. I've been saying for years that there needs to be a change in the organizational culture of the Cubs. I thought Sandberg at manager--whether he was better or worse tactically than other managers--might at least have a chance at doing that. I was disappointed when he wasn't hired. At this point, I'd love to see an All-Star break massive firing of Hendry, Quade, and others at the top, and replacing them with outsiders who can bring new ways of thinking to the franchise.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

A couple of weeks ago I said that LeMahieu and Flaherty were in each other's way at Tennessee and one of them would be promoted. LeMahieu was headed for Iowa but was rerouted to Chicago when Baker went on the DL. My pros and cons were that Flaherty was older and had better offensive numbers, but that he had hit his head a couple of times when trying to get to the next level. He had a tough time after his promotion to Tenn last year, but he also started the season slowly at Daytona. Then in the AFL he slugged .305 with 3 XBH's in 82 at bats. LeMahieu is a year behind Flaherty but has been very comfortable, almost Castro-like, on the fast track. LeMahieu skipped Boise and did his half-season at Peoria. Daytona was his first full pro season. Now he's leading the league in hits at Tennessee. (It's true, I must admit, that all but two of those hits came on "balls in play.") Also, LeMahieu was a righty hitter replacing Baker. Flaherty's near the front of the line, don't worry. Fukudome and Ramirez should both take their turns on the DL pretty soon.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

You want Mikie Mahtook over Bubba Starling? Mahtook is a lesser version of Brett Jackson, and BJax doesn't even project to be a superstar. Bubba Starling has the highest ceiling in the draft. Given that really our only needs in the farm system are middle of the order hitters and TOR pitchers, I wouldn't complain one bit if we took a chance on this enormous talent.

[ ]

In reply to by Hrubes20

let me rephrase, if the going rate is $6M, add a guaranteed major league contract and probably $2-$3M (in cash, perks, something) to have him forget about football. Either way, the Cubs are going to have to overpay for a non-polished prospect that is years away. A-Rod and Griffey Jr. he's not as in a consensus #1 pick. anyway, whatever people think the Cubs will do, they won't so I'm skeptical they'll draft him if he's available anyway. Also, if I'm Starling, I'd go play football and baseball at Nebraska and see what happens in two years unless some baseball team gives him exactly what he wants. Just don't think that in what is allegedly such a talent-rich draft, to be taking that big a risk at #9.

rf fuke, 2b barney, ss castro, 1b pena, 3b ramy, lf dewitt, cf campy, c soto, p zambrano 2 of the 3 best power hitters hitting 8th and 9th.

Hayden Simpon's beginning the first pitching for Peoria (against the Lansing Lugnuts!) Markus Brisker walks. With Carlos Perez batting, Markus Brisker steals (12) 2nd base. Carlos Perez homers (1) on a fly ball to center field. Markus Brisker scores. Kevin Nolan walks. With Lance Durham batting, Kevin Nolan steals (1) 2nd base. With Lance Durham batting, wild pitch by Hayden Simpson, Kevin Nolan to 3rd. Good thing we knew about Hayden and took him earlier than anyone else.

[ ]

In reply to by springs

Submitted by springs on Tue, 05/31/2011 - 5:43pm. Hayden Simpon's beginning the first pitching for Peoria (against the Lansing Lugnuts!) Markus Brisker walks. With Carlos Perez batting, Markus Brisker steals (12) 2nd base. Carlos Perez homers (1) on a fly ball to center field. Markus Brisker scores. Kevin Nolan walks. With Lance Durham batting, Kevin Nolan steals (1) 2nd base. With Lance Durham batting, wild pitch by Hayden Simpson, Kevin Nolan to 3rd. Good thing we knew about Hayden and took him earlier than anyone else ======================================== SPRINGS: I wouldn't be surprised if Hayden Simpson is moved down to Boise once the NWL season begins in a couple of weeks, and Matt Loosen (who has been the #1 starting pitcher at Extended Spring Training for two months) is moved up to Peoria and replaces Simpson in the Chiefs starting rotation. Matt Loosen's numbers at EXST so far: 28.0 IP - 20 H - 8 R (7 ER) - 7 BB - 40 K - 2 HR - 1 HBP - 1 WP 0.96 WHIP 2.25 ERA 192 Opp BA

and our zillion dollar SP breaks another bat over his upper leg after a strikeout...the one he drives off on off the mound. it only took 2 hard smacks to his leg to break the bat. awesome. eyes on the prize, guy...a no-walk, high K, power/contact hitting pitcher...the "pitcher" part is pretty important to me. behavior like that hopefully won't earn him too many more pinch hit appearances.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

guy has all of 30-50ft. running at full momentum to decide to slide or take out. he chose to take out. being a catcher sucks. it happens. it usually doesn't end like this. i don't understand the uproar, either. it could have been done differently, but taking out a catcher isn't something that's all risk to the catcher and not the runner. runners can get injured making that choice, too.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Astros announcers: In the eight "This almost feels like the bottom of the 9th, since they've got Marmol back there." "Astros ERA against Marmol as a reliever is 1.17 (about)." "Marmol is just hard to hit. He's BA against is .147 and he's given up three home runs in the last two+ years, over 173 innings." Maybe the best ever Whammy putting on by an opposign broadcast team in the history of baseball.

[ ]

In reply to by springs

Submitted by springs on Tue, 05/31/2011 - 10:11pm. Wasn't he a teammate of Tony Campana at Cincy (the better hitting teammate)? ===================================== SPRINGS: Until he was traded to the Pirates in the Grabow-Gorzelanny deal, Josh Harrison and Tony Campana were best buddies, always hangin' together. Whenever possible, the Cubs like to draft two guys from the same college in the same draft (sort of a "Buddy System"), partly to help make the transition to pro ball easier if a player knows somebody else on the team, and partly with the hope that one of the two will convince the other one to sign. BTW, Campana told me that he hit 1st and Harrison hit 3rd when they played for the U. of Cincinnati Bearcats.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

You know, I asked some people around the office the same question: If you wore a Spurs jersey to the Rockets season opener after the Spurs had won the championship, and the Spurs kick the Rockets' ass, would you be surprised if someone wanted to fight you? No one found it surprising at all. Haven't you all heard of the expression "Rubbing someone's face in it"? You think it's a good thing?

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

First, your office strawpoll is meaningless; but I wouldn't be surprised if those types of findings hold up in national polls. This is simply because humans consistently over-estimate the likelihood of bad things happening to them. This is especially true when something big, like this Dodgers-Giants event, occurs. Ask people how much they worry about dying in a plane crash and they will say a lot or very, etc. Ask them how much they worry about dying in a car accident and it will be little to none. Yet statistics of course show that you should be much more worried about the latter than the former. So it really doesn't matter if you, your office folk, or even all sports fans in the world would not be surprised if something like this would happen. The reality is that 99.9% of people who wear opponents jerseys to games do not get physically attacked. That's why we are still talking about it on this blog months later, because it was so surprising.

AZ Phil, Do you think we will see Matt Spencer on the horizon this year, or ever? 6 months younger than Colvin. Has similar power output. AND CAN ACTUALLY CONTROL THE STRIKE ZONE!!!! Will the fact that his plate discipline is better than Stevie Wonders sour the Cubs on him?

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Wed, 06/01/2011 - 9:37am. AZ Phil, Do you think we will see Matt Spencer on the horizon this year, or ever? 6 months younger than Colvin. Has similar power output. AND CAN ACTUALLY CONTROL THE STRIKE ZONE!!!! Will the fact that his plate discipline is better than Stevie Wonders sour the Cubs on him? ==================================== DR AARON B: I like Matt Spencer. I think he is an MLB prospect, probably as a 1B-LF-RF, although I have a hunch the Cubs don't value him that highly.

I am wondering if, college players from storied programs have greater success in general than those from DIII schools, or those such as Slippery Rock Teachers College. Bill James believes the "seasoning" of players manifests more in college players when compared to those drafted in high school - but was curious if anyone has seen any definitive stats on the above.

Tweet from PWSullivan "Ricketts on what's wrong w/ his team: 'Nothing. Just injuries.'"

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Sort of like the team that is in first place without their ace, their starting third basemen and a slow start from best player on the planet? Hard to believe this, but I may have actually prefered the faceless corporate owner... sure they fucked over the fans, but they didn't give the idiotic sound bites while doing it.

The lineup is posted at top of cubs.com site, but both Dewitt and Aram are listed as 3b. Who is playing CF? If I had to guess, of the people listed in the lineup, it would be Colvin, with Dewitt playing LF... I dunno...

Recent comments

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • 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!!!