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

Paul McCartney's Wrigley Field Playlist

Ahhh, just going for a laugh where I can find it.
Please click on the white thumbnail - there's a gif there I promise.  

Comments

I'm going to guess Nick Weglarz is the outfielder coming back to Chicago. Along with a borderline pitching prospect (Sickles grade C, but not in the top 20) from Low A ball.

If the Cubs manage to deal a bunch of veterans between now and mid-August, let's say Fukudome, Johnson, Pena, and Grabow, and they let Ramirez walk at the end of the season, and they release DeWitt or at least leave him as a bench player, who plays for the Cubs for the rest of the year and next year? Are we looking at a team like this in 2012: 1B LaHare/Baker (Fielder?) 2B Barney SS Castro 3B Baker/LeMahieu/Flaherty/Smith LF Soriano CF Byrd RF Colvin C Soto/Castillo/Clevenger Bench DeWitt Marwin Gonzalez? The Cubs have almost no one in the minors to replace starters or bench players. Flaherty stopped hitting upon his promotion to AAA, LeMahieu has been doing nothing but providing an empty batting average, Marquez Smith is 26 and only putting up an .802 OPS in the hitter-friendly PCL (a league where Welington Castillo puts up a .950+ OPS and LaHare is over 1.000). I count myself one of the resident prospect-philes here, but in the second half of this season, there has been little in the minors to get very excited about for 2012. The most promising pitchers are hurt, struggling, or both, and the best position player prospects are a year or more away probably; Flaherty seems to take a long time to adjust to each next level, Szczur probably won't arrive until 2014-ish, LeMahieu needs to add power/patience to his game, and Jackson's season following the hand injury has been disappointing. Castillo is the only bright spot as he shows tons of power, but even so that's in the PCL and he has significant defensive lapses--and we don't need a starting catcher right now. It sure would've been nice if the Cubs had a vet or two having a career year and not weighed down by excessive salary--because they need to stock up on near-ready prospects or dependable, low-salary players for 2012.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

The other choice seems to be to retain Fukudome, Johnson, Pena and Grabow and have another season like this one. Personally, I would prefer to lose with Lemahieu/Flaherty/Smith getting time at the majors and Brett Jackson not far behind. Let Jay Jackson and a healed Cashner pitch at the majors and see how they do. I think the prospects we received for Fukudome were fair compensation and neither will probably be extremely productive major leaguers. But I will take the promise of Abreu and the hope of some serviceable relief from Smith while figuring out if Colvin (or someone else) can be useful at the major league level than retaining another season of underperformance with veterans.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Submitted by Cubster on Thu, 07/28/2011 - 10:06am. per Jim Bowden... http://twitter.com/#!/JimBowdenESPNxm/statuses/96611158282342400 Chicago Cubs source has confirmed that the Cubs have acquired OF Abner Abreu, P Carlton Smith from the Cleveland Indians for Fukodome & cash ========================================= CUBSTER: RHRP Carlton Smith will be a Rule 55 minor league FA (6YFA) post-2011 if he is not added to the Cubs 40-man roster by the 4th day following the World Series. He was drafted out of HS in 2004 by the Indians, but did not sign right away. He instead attended Okaloosa-Walton CC in Florida, and then was signed as a "Draft & Follow" in April 2005. He was converted to a reliever in 2009. Smith will probably be tried as the closer at Iowa and then will get called up in September and pitch in middle-relief for the Cubs. OF Abner Abreu was signed as a 16-year old in October 2006, and will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time post-2011. He is hitting 352/405/831 with 8 HR in 21 games in July at Hi-A Kinston (Carolina League) and has 19 SB (3 CS) in 91 games, so he appears to be the type of toolsy guy with too many K and not enough BB favored by the Cubs. He has played both CF and RF after being moved to the outfield from INF in 2009, and has spent the last two seasons at Hi-A, so I would think he will probably go to Daytona and replace Matt Szczur in CF, with Szczur going on the DL (dislocated finger). Or he could be moved up to AA Tennessee, with Matt Spencer or Ty Wright moving up to Iowa, as Tyler Colvin gets recalled from Iowa to replace Fukudome. Evan Crawford, Michael Burgess, and Nelson Perez are also possibilities to get moved up to AA from Daytona.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2011/07/abreu-named-player-of-wee… High-A Kinston outfielder Abner Abreu did it again as he was once again named the Carolina Player of the Week for the period from July 18th to July 24th. It is his second Player of the Week honor for the month of July, his second in three weeks. For the week he hit .522/.560/1.087 (12-for-23) in six games and had 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 2 BB, and 7 K. He had at least one extra base hit in five of his six games, and was propelled by a big weekend on Friday and Saturday where he went 7-for-8 with 2 HR, 1 3B, and 7 RBI. Abreu, 21, was also named the Cleveland Indians Minor League Player of the Week for the same period last week. ------------------ Around the Farm: July 23 (Abner Abreu...Again) 9:59 AM JIM NO COMMENTS Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday's performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's game. Could the Indians' organization be witnessing the blossoming of one of their biggest talents, right before their eyes? Might the Indians have a power-hitting, five-tool, right-handed hitter residing at High A Kinston? Abreu has tantalized the Tribe brass and faithful before, and was rated the #5 prospect right here at IPI in 2010. Is this the real deal, or just a blip on the radar? Abner Abreu: RF, Kinston: 3-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K: That's right, Mr. Abreu remains in the spotlight for his second straight game, after a big 4-4 night on Friday. He followed up with another near perfect game, and has been absolutely raking over the past month. He's 7-8, with four runs, two homers and seven RBI in the last two games, and has a ten game line of .424/.487/.909. I know the old adage, 'fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," but this is the kind of talent that keeps showing up with Abreu. If he was consistent, he has the tools to be the top prospect in the organization. He still remains a project, however, but his selection seems to be getting better. At 21, he still has plenty of time to become a special baseball player.

from jim callis Abreu has bat speed/pop, Smith has arm strength. Org types more than prospects. @l2uff: who are abner abreu and carlton smith #cubs #indians aren't we all excited now about the Cubs making deadline deals? anyway, what's a better deal for Cubs, getting a decent prospect for Pena or saving the $5M next year?

Any truth to the story that Carlos Pena's contract isn't $5 now +$5 jan 1st but actually looks like this: $3 Million signing bonus $4 Million paid during 2011 season $3 Million to be paid 1-1-2012

from an earlier post on fuku... only plays vs. righties...doesn't have much power left...plays RF/LF...not very fast even if he makes 500K a year what would you expect to get for that? cleveland is buying 2 months of a corner OF with doubles-power that rarely plays against lefties...he gets on base, but his speed is average.

If the Cubs trade Carlos Pena to the Pirates at the deadline as rumored, can he fly with the Cubs to Pittsburgh Sunday night or does he have to fly by himself? Weird either way.

Fuku was a very good defensive right fielder and a patient batter with no power that couldn't hit lefties - his skills were worthless to marginal at best. If the Cubs received a broken bat and a bucket of balls for Fuku it doesn't matter. What matters is that Colvin or Campana should be playing everyday to determine if he has a future with the Cubs.

Ironically, only two of the songs you mentioned (The Long and Winding Road and The Fool on the Hill) were songs Paul sang. On the other three songs, John sang lead vocals. So Crane would probably be luck for at least those three. Sorry to get all Beatles geeky on you there.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.