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

Coming Soon to a Ballpark Near You

bird flippersWhen I see Robert DeNiro in a movie these days I can hardly believe it's the same guy I saw in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. That's sort of how it was watching Alfonso Soriano go through the motions of his injury rehab assignment in Des Moines today. As if there's any rehabbing this guy.

Granted, it wasn't much of a day for long-legged ballplayers testing tender quadriceps; chilly and overcast. But I hustled more getting the dogs walked and the lawn mowed this morning and I've got twenty years on him!

When at last he emerged from the team's clubhouse beneath the left-field suites carrying two of his magnificent clubs the pod of seekers had been long in place. He flashed them that $18 million grin and a wave before making them wait a little longer while he put himself through his pregame paces. Those consisted of a couple of lackadaisical trots in the outfield and a quick game of catch. In between he enjoyed an intermission with someone from the Round Rock retinue he seemed genuinely happy to see. Then he detoured to the wall near the I-Cub bullpen for a brief PR session with local fans.

Give him credit for manning a post in LF as well as filling the #3 hole in the lineup. He wasn't tested defensively, called upon only to retrieve a couple of singles and return them to the infield, one of which you want to - but don't - believe he would have tried to shoestring grab had the game situation been more meaningful, and beat a retreat to the wall behind him and watch a couple of homers sail over and out.

He made three trips to the plate and they resolved as follows: with two outs and nobody aboard in the bottom of the first he took a fastball for a strike before grounding out, 4-3. The crowd groaned when the ball was momentarily bobbled and Soriano, cantering at a pitcher's pace, was still out by three steps. In the bottom of the third, again with two out and the bases empty, he popped a foul out of play behind the first base dugout and then popped the next pitch to the first baseman. In the bottom of the fifth with the I-Cubs trailing 3-1 he came up with two outs and two on. He took a fastball away and then caught an 89 mph fastball from the southpaw with the 6.29 ERA on the end of the bat and flew out routinely to left. The crowd groaned again to see the fly ball struck by the big league meganame fall so pitifully short of those off the bats of anonymous minor leaguers.

And with that, having apparently gotten his groove back, he took his bats and went home. Well, he probably wishes. Today he only got as far as the home team's clubhouse. I was glad to see him call it a day inasmuch as I was underdressed in shorts and a t-shirt. By the time he was out of the shower I was sitting down to this.

Driving home I pondered what I'd ask if I could put a question to him. I decided on this: "Would you consider foregoing the remainder of your contract for the greater good of the organization?"

I bet that would get one of those grins out of him; maybe a $54 million one!

Comments

i've had it...lost the whole thing once, then tried to add the photo of soriano flipping the bird several times, to no avail, then inserted the page break a couple of times & none of it works so %^&$@ it! i'm going to eat some lasagna!

What's the deal on Beliveau? He's putting up some absurd numbers this year. Is he a prospect or is he doing it with mirrors? Also, Vitters apoears to be figuring out AA. Isn't it time to jerk him around and screw up his development by advancing him a league like the Cubs have done before?

i let the bullpen counter go through wed/thurs without updating it...then forgot about it until today (sunday). still it sits on tuesday. i'll get to it later if no one else does. the lack of interest in the 2011 cubs isn't helping anything get done on a timely manner, it seems.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Every GM will have examples of good and bad acquisitions and this will serve as ample evidence to feed one's confirmation bias, no matter which side of the fence you fall on. When examined on the whole, however, Jim Hendry has a very weak case: Lots of money, poor results. For all we know, all of the poor decisions made by Hendry were forced on him. It still doesn't change the facts and Hendry will still take the fall. Personally, I think these claims that Hendry's hands were tied sounds desperate. It sounds like something said by someone who's trying to defend poor results.

[ ]

In reply to by Hrubes20

Let me review this one more time. Hendry and his lackies had a meeting and decided the one player they really wanted was Soriano (and wanted him to play center field) but they were pretty sure they couldn't get him. Hendry was interviewing Lou Piniella for the manger job. Lou said he thought he could convince Soriano to sign. Hendry hired Piniella. Soriano was back on the burner thanks to Lou. Hendry signed him. Soriano DID play center field and injured himself doing it. Has never been the same since. Hendry now claims he didn't sign Soriano.

forgot to mention the running catch f. perez made in left-center yesterday; it was fairly routine but if he had slipped it would have been an inside-the-parker standing up cuz guess who never moved?

Smokies and D-Cubs can clinch playoff berths this week by winning first-half titles. Smokies (40-24) lead Jackson Generals (Mariners) by 3 games with 6 to play. D-Cubs (44-19) lead Clearwater Threshers (Phillies) by 6 with 7 remaining.

Tyler Colvin is 3 for 33 (0.91) since returning from Iowa, and two of those hits were infield choppers. His BA was 1.13 when he was sent down, but now, as he nears 100 at bats, he is beginning to explore territory that is relatively uncharted in the major leagues. Koyie Hill's .239 is more than two-and-a-quarter times Colvin's current .105. Is anybody else curious what someone else might have done with Colvin's recent 33 at bats? I'm thinking in particular of Colvin's 0-4 yesterday and his 0-9 in the two extra-inning losses in St. Louis. Colvin was hitting .260 in 12 games at Iowa when the Cubs handed him his old job back. For comparison, Bryan LaHair--a lefty hitter who can play corner outfield--is hitting .356/.437/.688/1.125 for the season at Iowa, with 16 home runs.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

No, I'm not curious what someone else might have done with Colvin's recent at bats. Who else do we have ready to play CF? Campana? Fernando Perez? Brad Snyder? It's not like Brett Jackson is lighting it up after the injury. The Cubs are going nowhere this year and Colvin is probably a starter for the next few years. They need to just play him regularly and suffer through the slump--and emphasize staying back on the ball and using all fields in BP.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"ahh, Bryan LaHair is the new Brad Snyder who was the new Josh Kroeger." I never said any of those guys was the new anything, but they could all hit .105 in 100 at bats in the majors. On the long road trip, we could have used some decent at bats from someone who didn't look like a sick puppy. Like Lou said, "It's not that hard!" My idea of cubbery is to expect a young player to do something in the majors that he didn't learn in the minors. In Colvin's case, it's hitting with two strikes. Obviously, he can't hit at all this year, but even last year, his numbers with two strikes are interesting. Look at his ball/strike-count splits for 2010: After 0-1: .205 After 0-2: .096 After 1-2: .140 After 2-2: .169 With a 2-2 count, you're a .169 hitter? All you have to do is take one more ball and it's a hitter's count again. (This sort of thing doesn't give me a good feeling about Rudy, either.) I feel sorry for Colvin. He could have been spared the humiliation of these most recent 33 at bats. When the Cubs were on a network broadcast a few days ago and Colvin came up, they put up a graphic about how he has the lowest BA in the majors. So that's who he is now. A couple of weeks ago, when everyone here was saying, he just needs at-bats, I said, no, he needs more than that.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 06/13/2011 - 1:13pm. ahh, Bryan LaHair is the new Brad Snyder who was the new Josh Kroeger. anyway, LaHair has about 150 games in the outfield(just 5 this year) to 600+ at first base. Cubs probably think he can handle the outfield as well as Micah Hoffpauir did. ======================================= ROB G: If and when the Cubs become sellers and trade Carlos Pena somewhere, I wouldn't have a problem with the Cubs bringing Bryan Lahair up from AAA and giving him a couple of months to show what he can do. There are numerous examples of Rule 55 minor league FA (6YFA) "4-A" players (especially 1B/OF) who have taken advantage of an opportunity and grabbed a job for a while. Ryan Ludwick and Garrett Jones are a couple of recent ones that immediately come to mind, but there have been a lot of others over the years in MLB. What you don't want to do is COUNT ON a 4-A guy to solve a problem. When it happens, it's just serendipity.

Some draft signings from Baseball America: 18th rounder James Pugilese, RHP, Mercer County CC 19th rounder Paul Hoilman, 1B, East Tennessee St 20th rounder Ben Klafczynski, OF, Kent St 32nd rounder Peter Levitt, RHP, Mt. Olive (NC) 33rd rounder Sheldon McDonald, LHP, British Columbia 36th rounder Travis Garcia, U, Martin Methodist (TN) 38th rounder Casey Lucchese, RHP, College of Charleston 40th rounder Patrick Francescom, RHP, Trevecca Nazarene (TN) 42nd rounder Brad Zapenas, SS, Boston College 44th rounder Kenny Socorro, SS, Marshall

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Some draft signings from Baseball America: 18th rounder James Pugilese, RHP, Mercer County CC 19th rounder Paul Hoilman, 1B, East Tennessee St 20th rounder Ben Klafczynski, OF, Kent St 32nd rounder Peter Levitt, RHP, Mt. Olive (NC) 33rd rounder Sheldon McDonald, LHP, British Columbia 36th rounder Travis Garcia, U, Martin Methodist (TN) 38th rounder Casey Lucchese, RHP, College of Charleston 40th rounder Patrick Francescom, RHP, Trevecca Nazarene (TN) 42nd rounder Brad Zapenas, SS, Boston College 44th rounder Kenny Socorro, SS, Marshall ========================================= Q-MAN: Paul Hoilman hit a 450-ft+ HR over the CF Green Monster off Jin-Young Kim in a "live" BP session this morning at Fitch Park Field #2. As some of you probably know, Hoilman won the HR Derby at the College World Series in 2010, and was tied for third in NCAA D-1 in HR in 2011. Hoilman and Brad Zapenas will be on the Boise Hawks Opening Day roster, Dustin Geiger and Blair Springfield have been assigned to the AZL Cubs, and Jesus Morelli is on the Boise DL with a broken hand suffered when he was hit by a pitch in the final EXST game a week ago Saturday. Jin-Young Kim, Yao-Lin Wang, Kyler Burke, Colin Richardson, Jean Sandoval, and Santo Rodriguez threw "live" BP today.

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In reply to by Arizona Phil

Also as a point of info, eight of the ten draft picks who have signed with the Cubs are college seniors (that's everybody except Pugliese and Zapenas), leaving only two college seniors unsigned (Florida State C Rafael Lopez and TCU RHP Steven Maxwell, with Lopez playing with Florida State in a Super Regional). The easiest draft picks to sign are college seniors, because they essentially have no leverage. So expect Maxwell to sign soon and Lopez to sign as soon as Florida State's season is over. Then it gets a lot tougher.

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In reply to by Arizona Phil

"It would make more sense to play Baker at 1B, Montanez in RF, and LeMahieu in LF, if you want those three guys in the lineup at the same time." First base is more like second, third and short than it is like the outfield. Left field would be a completely new environment for LeMahieu. He looks like a first baseman, anyway. His problem there is he needs more pop. His problem at second has only arisen recently. It's Barney.

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In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Tue, 06/14/2011 - 8:10am. "It would make more sense to play Baker at 1B, Montanez in RF, and LeMahieu in LF, if you want those three guys in the lineup at the same time." First base is more like second, third and short than it is like the outfield. Left field would be a completely new environment for LeMahieu. He looks like a first baseman, anyway. His problem there is he needs more pop. His problem at second has only arisen recently. It's Barney. ========================================= VA PHIL: Prior to last night, D. J. LeMahieu had never played 1B before in his career. He also has never played LF. But if you are going to play a guy at a position he's never played before, LF is a better place to play him than 1B. That said, it would make sense for the Cubs to give LaMahieu reps at 1B-2B-3B-SS-LF-CF-RF once he is sent back to AA (or AAA) so that next time he comes up to Chicago he at least has some familiarity with the position he is being asked to play, just as Ryan Flaherty has been moved around a lot over the past couple of years to give him experience at a lot of positions. I agree that LeMahieu looks like a 1st baseman and I would say that it probably wouldn't take him very long to learn what he needs to know to play 1st base, but it is different than playing 2B, 3B, and SS. He shouldn't have to do OJT in a big league game, but if he does, LF would be a better place to do it than 1B, especially when Jeff Baker was available to play 1B and Lou Montanez could have played RF.

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In reply to by Arizona Phil

I disagree that LeMahieu was out of position last night. Of the two defensive positions that slugging stiffs are relegated to, first base is the more challenging, but any shortstop could learn the position quickly. LeMahieu's natural defensive skills do you more good at first than they would in left. He needs power to play at either position, but for an added righty bat against Wolf--and to have him do something besides spectate in what will be a brief call-up--I think Quade made the right call.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Tue, 06/14/2011 - 8:58am. I disagree that LeMahieu was out of position last night. Of the two defensive positions that slugging stiffs are relegated to, first base is the more challenging, but any shortstop could learn the position quickly. LeMahieu's natural defensive skills do you more good at first than they would in left. He needs power to play at either position, but for an added righty bat against Wolf--and to have him do something besides spectate in what will be a brief call-up--I think Quade made the right call. ============================== VA PHIL: If you are going to play a guy at a position he's never played before and you choose to do it in a regular season MLB game against the 1st place team in your division, LF would be better than 1B. Neither are good options, but LF would be the better choice, especially when Jeff Baker was available to play 1B and Lou Montanez could have played RF.

are the Cubs better than they were when when Hendry took over as GM? Given the Cubs revenue and payroll over those years, Can JH defend his overall record?

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In reply to by Rob G.

It was really only a double because Barney was in front of Pena and Braun misplayed it. Braun went back like he was going to catch it, then went into the LF well and missed it by a foot or more. Barney had to wait and see if it was caught. I was mildly surprised he went to third on it because they did have a swipe at him but he was in there easily. He had no chance to score. If nobody was on base and Soriano or ARam were the hitter it would have probably been a single with their lazy butts.

Jeter pulls a calf muscle running to first tonight and got taken out of the game, Roto says he's getting an MRI. 6 hits away from 3000. Guess he could still get it in Chicago unless he's heading to the DL. Nice win for the Cubs tonight. I'm enjoying the one win a week program that project .500 has morphed into.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

**The only decent players younger than 28 are pitcher Matt Garza and the middle-infield combo of Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney.** Making the cutoff at 28 is a good way to ignore people like Soto (28), Marshall(28) , and Marmol (28). MORE: Ok... just read the whole article. Its pretty lousy. If Neifi Perez is one of your biggest mistakes, you are probably doing okay. And again, any GM in baseball would have given Z that contract. And the Pena signing was hardly a major mistake. BTW-Pena bottomed out on May 2nd. Since then his OPS is .907.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • 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.