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

Cubs Post-Draft Signing Update

With the Boise Hawks slated to begin league play tonight and with the AZL Cubs ready to go on Monday night, here are some updates on signings by the Cubs since the conclusion of the 2011 MLB Rule 4 Draft last week.

So far the Cubs have signed 11 of their 50 draft picks.

The Cubs have also signed three college seniors as Non-Drafted Free-Agents (NDFA), and one more Cuban defector.

The 11 draft picks who have signed are:

RHP James Pugliese (Mercer CC - 18th round)
1B Paul Hoilman (East Tennessee State - 19th round)
OF Ben Klafczynski (Kent State - 20th round)
RHP Pete Levitt (Mt. Olive College - 32nd round)
LHP Sheldon McDonald (U. of British Columbia - 33rd round)
IF-OF Trevor Garcia (Martin Methodist College - 36th round)
RHP Casey Lucchese (College of Charleston - 38th round)
RHP P. J. Francescon (Trevecca Nazarene - 40th round)
SS Brad Zapenas (Boston College - 42nd round)
SS Kenny Socorro (Marshall - 44th round)
RHP Scott Weismann (Clemson - 46th round)

Most of the 11 Cubs 2011 draft picks who have signed could best be described as "low-hanging fruit" (lower-round draft picks and/or college seniors without leverage). The exceptions are Pugliese (a JC freshman) and Weismann and Zapenas (college juniors with one year of eligibility remaining), but the other eight were college seniors (and McDonald was a "5th year senior").

Hoilman, Klafczynski, and Zapenas have already been assigned to Boise, and several of the pitchers should end up there too once they get into game shape.

The three Non-Drafted Free-Agents (NDFA) signed by the Cubs post-Rule 4 Draft are:

1B Ryan Durrence (Bethune-Cookman)
RHP Nick Johnson (U. of Cincinnati)
C Pat Terry (U. of Santa Clara)

All three of the NDFA are college seniors (Terry is a "5th year senior").

Durrence will likely play 1B and bat clean-up for the AZL Cubs, Terry will be a back-up catcher at either Boise or Mesa (AZL Cubs), and Johnson will likely provide some college pitching depth at Mesa (AZL Cubs).

I wouldn't be too surprised if Hoilman leads the NWL in HR and Durrence leads the AZL in HR. They both have plus-power (Hoilman won the HR Derby at the 2010 College World Series and tied for 3rd in NCAA D-1 in HR in 2011, and Durrence hit 10 HR in league play plus two more at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional).

In addition, the Cubs have signed their fifth Cuban defector since December, adding LHP Frank del Valle to the organization. Del Valle pitched for the Cuban Junior National team about five years ago, and he joins catcher Yaniel Cabezas (Boise), OF Mayke Reyes (DSL Cubs #1), OF Rubi Silva (Daytona), and INF Rafael Valdes (Daytona) as the newest Cuban-Cubs. And the player considered to be the first Cuban defector (ex-DET OF Barbaro Garbey) is the hitting coach at Daytona. (Maybe it's time to bring back those 1990's Cubs road jerseys that Harry Caray thought displayed "Cuba" on the front).

Comments

Az Phil, thanks for the update. Do you have a scouting report on Del Valle? I trust your opinions above most of the Cubs scouts.

[ ]

In reply to by Hagsag

Submitted by Hagsag on Fri, 06/17/2011 - 9:53am. Az Phil, thanks for the update. Do you have a scouting report on Del Valle? I trust your opinions above most of the Cubs scouts ============================================= HAGSAG: I haven't seen Del Valle yet. I don't know if the Cubs will assign him to one of their DSL teams or to the AZL Cubs, but even if he goes to the DSL he'll probably be at AZ Instructs post-2011. I should get a chance to see Jeimer Candelario, Carlos Panalver, Francisco Sanchez, Jeffrey Baez, and Alberto Mineo at Instructs, too. (BTW, Mineo is technically on the AZL Cubs roster, but he is attending the MLB Eurpoean Academy in Italy).

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Baseball America has added him to the list of signed draftees. ROUND 16 (489): Rafael Lopez, C (Florida State) L/R, 5'9, 190, 23 years old COMMENT: College senior... Attended Boston College and Indian River JC before landing at Florida State... Has only been catching for three years but already is considered above-average defensively... Hit 325/437/520 with 7 HR & 36 RBI, 18 doubles, and 35/34 BB/K in 246 PA (57 games) for Seminoles in 2011...

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/328922/yankees-keeping-an-eye-on… ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine reports that the Yankees recently sent some top advisers to watch Carlos Zambrano pitch. With a 4.50 ERA this year, $28 million owed to him through the end of next season and a volatile reputation, Zambrano isn't a very attractive trade piece. But, the Yankees might be a team willing to pick up his contract in a salary dump deal. Some of the Yankees' top evaluators have more interest in Ryan Dempster, who has $7.7 million remaining on his contract this year, as well as a $14 million player option for 2012. But, a deal for him is considered less likely.

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

Buried at the bottom of Levine's article is a direct quote from Soriano... "I expect to stay here," said Soriano, who also has a full no-trade. "This is my fifth year, but if they say they want to trade me, then why wouldn't I want to go somewhere else. I wouldn't stay here."

Nobody should be off the table for this team.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Unfortunately, we have a few things going against us. First, no trade clauses (both contractually and in MLB players agreement) that prevents certain trades. On this note, certain of the players either like playing for the Cubs more than a shot at the playoffs (like Z) or have personal reasons for wanting to be in Chicago (like Dempster...I think he has a no trade protection). Then there is the fact that Hendry is our GM. His version of trading vets for young players is sometimes pretty good (DeRosa deal) or not so good (though DeWitt is our #3 hitter!) Finally, the Cubs have won 3 of 4 against Brewers and our up 3-0 right now against the Yanks. This may be the run where the team does not get anywhere near contention, but wins enough to convince Hendry that he can't break up the team.

RF Fukudome SS Castro 2B DeWitt 3B ARam 1B Pena LF Soriano CF Campana C Hill P Davis

Uggh, today's starters career ERA vs other teams: Doug Davis, ERA over 6 vs. Yankees Freddy Garcia, ERA 1.47 career vs Cubs

Anyone else having problems with MLB.TV today? This game is so choppy it is almost unwatchable for me. Every couple of weeks I get one of these, and it's not a problem on my end as far as I can tell.

Nice game. What on Earth happened to this team the last few days? (Well the Brewers defense did give us some gifts, but still, we're playing much better. Feels nice but odd.)

cute nothing-to-do-anything-cubs stat thingie... i was looking at chipper jones' career... when 3-0 count on chipper, situational... 55ab 21h (.382 average) 378bb 0k (.917 ob%) nice. he hit a homer yesterday on a 3-0 count...it's rare enough that he even swings on a 3-0.

"If you bought a ticket today and you weren’t happy with what you saw, you should probably do lacrosse or something." - quade

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In reply to by navigator

he's fuku-territory for me...nothing wrong with him, imo...he's just paid a bit too much for what he brings. there's nothing to be done about that, though. he's probably worth 10-12m, not 18m...but at least he's pitching like he's worth 10m+. it's also nice to see him hitting 93+mph on his fastball rather than the 89-91mph he was throwing for a chunk of last season.

Tyler Colvin hits for the cycle tonight for the Iowa Cubs at Albuquerque. Two more HR and six RBI for I-Cubs catcher Welington Castillo tonight. Perhaps the Cubs might be looking to trade Geovany Soto before too much longer. Giants might be interested. Heath Hembree and Tommy Joseph would be an OK return.

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In reply to by George Altman

lemahieu is d.barney with r.theriot power. his ob% is total smoke and mirrors since he's more of a contact hitter with good luck rather than a guy who's going to take a bunch of pitches waiting for something he can hit. to me, he's a 2nd/3rd bench version of d.barney's SS/2nd. flahety has some upside, thankfully. soto probably has as much trade value this offseason as he does now.

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In reply to by Paul Noce

yeah, i like geo...but honestly...if quade is just going to bat the guy 6th-8th the cubs might as well see what they can get for him. w.castillo is marginally better D, better arm, and probably just as much power...he just won't take as many walks waiting for the pitcher to hit him in. that said, i don't believe moving him would be a subject they'd look into until the offseason. welly might tear up AAA and change some minds, but right now soto's batting under-par even though he's looking good doing it.

oh thank you useless ass Fox for chosing this week the be the 1st east coast non-NYY/NYM/BOS game of the week. ATL vs. TEX...zzzzzz.

fwiw... "A baseball executive told Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York that the Yankees have "zero interest" in the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano."

I would have sac-bunted with Soto; gives the team two chances to hit a single to tie it, and Cubbery would predict a double play there. First pitch even, Cubbery at its finest.

Recent comments

  • 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!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.