Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are 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 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Send Some Talent to Arizona Fall League

Submitted by Rob G. on

According to a Paul Sullivan tweet, the Cubs will send Andrew Cashner, Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt, Chris Carpenter, D.J. LeMahieu and Junior Lake to play for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Bruce Miles adds that P Jeffrey Beliveau will be added to the taxi squad meaing he's only eligible to play on Wednesdays and Saturdays. That seems to be one of the better crews of talent they've sent to Arizona over the years.

This is the second year in a row that Jackson and Carpenter were sent out to play. It's also Cashner's second go-round, although not in successive years, his first visit being after the 2009 season.

You can check historical Arizona Fall League rosters over at Wiklifieid.

While not set in stone, I assume this means Brett Jackson will not get a September call-up and I'll tell you why I'm okay with that after the jump.

First, calling Jackson up means putting him on the 40-man roster, which in and of itself is no big deal because there's plenty of dead weight there. On the other hand, there's some good reason not to do it if you don't have to quite yet and Jackson does not need to be protected this offseason from the Rule 5 draft. On the other hand, there are plenty that do and the new gonna-be-totally-awesome-GM-that-does-everything-I-want-them-to-do might appreciate the roster flexibility with the Rule 5 and possibly signing some free agents.

If that were the only reason, I'd certainly be saying fuck it, let's see what Jackson can do over a month against some major league pitchers. But, we all know Q-Ball is managing to save his job or at least set himself up for another job and that means there's no way he'd trot Jackson out there every day or close to every day. Maybe he'd do it at the expense of Colvin, but certainly not at the expense of the precious veterans that he owes his job too.

Finally, there's some considerations about starting his service time clock for arbitration and free agency. It's not as a big a concern for the Cubs deep pockets, compared to let's say the Rays, but something to consider. Jackson will be playing his age 23 season next year and normal aging patterns say his best years are gonna be 26-30 (different studies, different bell curves, but 26-32 is about a big a stretch as you want to go). So if you're under the predisposition that the Cubs will suck next season(I am not one of those people) and are probably 2-3 years away from being a serious contender, isn't it smart to ensure that one of the better prospects on the team is gonna be around for those years and at the most advantageous cost to the team? Which means Jackson's call-up really shouldn't be any sooner than May or June of next year, presuming he's still hitting the crap out of the ball next season. I don't think the Cubs will learn much about Jackson those first two months that they won't learn the last four.

Food for thought...

Also a good time to bring up my thoughts on Bryan LaHair. He'll most certainly get called up once the AAA season ends and he's named PCL MVP. There's seems to be a swell of support to let him play 1b and bench Pena (or preferably trade him when they had the chance). And if they had moved Pena, that certainly would be my preference. But they didn't, and now I have to think that letting Pena play and likely maintain Type B status on the free agent market may be more valuable. Last time MLBTR put out their reverse-engineered Elias rankings, Pena was near the bottom of Type B status and he'll need to finish out the season at his current levels in all iikelihood to stay there.  I don't know if the aforementioned gonna-be-totally-awesome-GM-that-does-everything-I-want-them-to-do will actually offer Pena arbitration, but I assume he or she wouldn't mind having the option. Sucks for LaHair and I'll eat a healthy plate of crow if he ever amounts to anything in the majors, but that probably is the best option for the Cubs organization going forward.

Tags
Brett Jackson
Bryan Lahair
Arizona Fall League

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 08:40 pm

award arguments starting, should be a fun last month... NL: Kemp, Fielder, Braun, Upton with Votto, Berkman, Tulo and Pujols on the fringe AL: Bautista, Granderson, Pedroia, Ellsbury with Teixeira, A. Gonzalez, Cabrera on the fringe AL Cy: Verlander NL Cy: Kershaw, Halladay, Lee, maybe Kennedy NL ROY: Freeman, Kimbrel, Worley AL ROY: Walden, Trumbo

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 08:06 pm

#Cubs lineup @ #SFGiants (8/30): Castro SS, Barney 2B, Ramirez 3B, Pena 1B, Soriano LF, Byrd CF, Colvin RF, Soto C, Garza P vs. Torres cf, Keppinger 2b, Beltran rf, Sandoval 3b, Huff 1b, Belt lf, Fontenot ss, Stewart c, Vogelsong p Boise is allegedly on Milb.tv today if anyone wants to see Baez play

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:40 pm

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 5:03pm. interesting roster...so who's the experiment player at 3rd in the mix? dozier? i haven't heard anything about j.lake being shifted or experimenting at 3rd. =================================== CRUNCH: The Orioles and Pirates still have one more position player to assign to the AFL (BAL C Brian Ward is on the Taxi Squad), so the primary Solar Sox 3B could be somebody like BAL AA 3B Brandon Waring or 2011 2nd round pick Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt), or Pirates AA 3B Jeremy Farrell. Otherwise I suspect both Junior Lake and D. J. LeMahieu will get some PT at 3B. Lake probably profiles best at 3B ratherv than SS (or even more-likely as an offense-first super-sub IF-OF), and LeMahieu would probably move there if he ever develops HR power, or he would need to be able to play there if he eventually ends up a Jeff Baker-type 3B-2B-1B.

Submitted by Old and Blue on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:19 am

I really don't care about Pena's type B status. I just want to be sure the Cubs don't have another Casey McGehee situation.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:19 pm

Looks like the clock struck 12 on Nick's rise through the minors. 5.37 ERA in AAA after getting knocked around last night, and no where close to a K/inning. Vitters and Ha combined for five hits at the top of the order for TN (no walks, 2 K's, surprising). Taipei Easterling had three singles and caught stealing for Peoria. DeVoss got two more hits playing center field, and Hoilman(16) and Golden(5) homered for Boise. Organizational hierarchy, you would have to figure DeVoss is ticketed to skip Peoria next year. It will be interesting to see what kind of snowball effect Brett Jackson's team has on the rest of the center fielders next year.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:21 pm

castro 6, johnson 9, ramy 5, baker 3, sori 7, byrd 8, soto 2, barney 4, lopez 1 vs. Bumgarner

Submitted by Paul Noce on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:28 pm

Is Phil Rogers suggesting Jim Hendry could be re-hired by the Cubs as an asst to Rick Hahn, if Hahn gets the job? That seems to be how it reads, because before that he suggests the White Sox could hire him. "...Hendry could turn into an asset for the White Sox, not as a GM replacement for Williams but as a special assistant...a job with the White Sox could be appealing to Hendry because it would allow him to maintain his two-time zone lifestyle, fathering his children in Chicago while spending parts of the year at a home in Arizona, and Hendry has strong relationships both with Williams and Rick Hahn, the assistant GM who could replace him (and possibly be in the market for another set of baseball eyes)." http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-your-morning… If he's saying Hendry could be hired by the Sox if Hahn leaves, it makes no sense to say he has a good relationship with Hahn, "Who could replace him (and possibly be in the market for another set of baseball eyes)." Ugh.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:43 pm

Rowand and Tejada DFA'd, Barry Zito must not be answering his phone. great line by craig calcaterra Brian Sabean is safely at his nephew's baptism as all of this bloodshed is goin' down, isn't he.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:03 pm

With Welington Castillo back on the Iowa Cubs DL with a recurrence of the hamstring injury that sidelined him a month ago, Steve Clevenger could get the September call-up as the Cubs #3 catcher. (Clevenger was already a likely post-2011 addition to the 40-man roster). Clevenger is the #1 catcher at Tennessee and the Smokies will be playing in the Southern League playoffs, but that has never stopped the Cubs from calling up a player before. The Cubs could just move Michael Brenly up to Tennessee from Daytona, and Micah Gibbs up to Daytona from Peoria (since Peoria will not be participating in the post-season, and since Gibbs should have the defensive chops to handle Advanced-A). The Cubs would not have to worry much about finding 40-man roster slots for Clevenger, Bryan LaHair, and Robert Coello (who is pitching lights-out at Iowa since getting moved back to the bullpen), even with Andrew Cashner likely to come off the 60-day DL after he finishes his minor league rehab this weekend, and even if the Cubs have to reinstate Carlos Zambrano from the Disqualified List. That's because Marcos Mateo can be transferred to the 60-day DL, and Kyle Smit is a likely outright candidate. (Justin Berg and Esmailin Caridad are likely outright candidates, too, but they can't be outrighted to the minors until after the MLB regular season if they finish the minor league season on the DL).

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:56 pm

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 12:21pm. AZ PHIL: Re Clevenger, is he right now, at least, the equal of Koyie Hill? How does he handle pitchers? I know you have mentioned in the past that he would perhaps be in-line for a coaching job with the organization, but with Castillo's injury history and Clev's bat, do you think he'd get the 2012 back-up shot? ====================================================== E-MAN: When I mentioned Clevenger in connection with coaching/managing, I only meant he was the type who would probably eventually end up being a manager or coach once his playing days are over. As for how Clevenger would compare to Koyie Hill, at the plate Clevenger has a short-stroke and can rifle line-drives all over the yard. He doesn't strike out much. He can play other positions, too (he was a SS in college and 2B his first season in the Cubs organization, and while he doesn't play 2B or SS anymore, he has played a bit of 1B and occasionally 3B in recent years). Defensively, his arm and receiving skills are just average, but he is very well-liked by pitchers (at least the ones I talked to) because he thinks like a hitter and knows how to call a game, how to work umpires, and how to cheat to get called strikes. He is sort of a baseball version of a basketball gym rat. He flunked out of the U. of Texas (that's how he ended-up at Chipola JC), but he has a high baseball IQ. I remember last year (2010) when he was assigned to Tennessee (again) at the end of Minor League Camp only because the Cubs wanted him to get regular playing time (he actually had earned a spot at Iowa with his play on the field, but the Cubs wanted both Welington Castillo and Clevenger to be #1 catchers), it didn't bother him, he was cool with it, and even thought it was kind of funny (he mentioned something about maybe going to Boise with mentor Jody Davis for the summer if things didn't work out at Tennessee).

Submitted by QuietMan on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:31 pm

From Baseball America's chat: Navin (Pasadena, CA): Would all four of Baez, Vogelbach, Dunston Jr and Maples slot into the Cubs top 10 prospects? Thank you! Jim Callis: I do our Cubs Top 10, and haven't really thought about it. Baez will be near the top, along with Jackson, Szczur and McNutt (who gets a mulligan for 2011). Maples will make it, Vogelbach has a good chance and Dunston won't. We weren't nearly as high on Dunston as the Cubs were. itto (PR): Starlin Castro or Javier Baez (if he reaches his potential)? Jim Callis: Castro, because he's a shortstop and Baez will be a third baseman. Baez would have more power, but Castro will be a better all-around player. I'm not saying Castro will be THIS good, but he could become the next Derek Jeter. http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1314803751

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Submitted by navigator on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:53 pm

Really? Marshall makes it a point every year to tell the media he'd like to be a starter. I guess Sullivan doesn't read the paper. This year it was Q-ball saying that Marshall was "too valuable" in the pen to make him a starter when he needed two quick replacements. He liked Russell and Samardzija better. The rest is history. Here's what Marshall said last year, "They know I like starting; I hope they know that," he said. "I try to tell them here and there, 'I'll be the guy for you."

Submitted by MikeC on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:21 pm

I guess I have to remind the LaHair band wagon people that he is pushing 29 years of age and is a man playing in a kids league at this point. He isn't a "good" prospect by any means. There is a very clear reason why he hasn't had a shot in the majors since 2008. I don't mind finding out if he can do something in the majors but that should have been done starting July 31st and then gone from there. But in typical Cub fashion if they let Pena walk and really want to see LaHair, then they are pinning their next season hopes and dreams, and passing on considerable FA talent, to take a look at a 29 year old journeyman 1b man.

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:17 pm

I wouldn't consider myself on a LaHair bandwagon I just think it's dumb not to see what he can do up on the big league level. I'm aware of his age, and I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who has come up that late and been an impact player of any kind, other than maybe Roy Hobbs. I've never seen the guy swing the bat -- maybe he's just awful, or he's got a Pat Bourque* type of hitch in his swing. But the kind of numbers he is putting up warrant a look. *Bourque was a first baseman minor league "prospect" for the Cubs back in the 70s who came up to the bigs and quickly demonstrated a horrific hitch in his swing that taught thousands of kids in the Chicago area how NOT to hit.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:54 pm

http://www.csnchicago.com/08/31/11/Kaplan-Ricketts-gathering-intel-on-G… GM talk The timetable for naming Hendry’s successor appears to be on track for mid-October but if one of the big name general managers appears to be in play the search process could drag into November when the World Series is concluded. One thing is for certain, money does not appear to be a stumbling block to landing the best GM as it appears Ricketts is prepared to pay handsomely to land his dream candidate. The big question is: Will the dream candidate want the job?

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:19 pm

Jay Jackson goes 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 11 K, 2 BB 37.2 IP, 2.86 ERA for August 29 K, 18 BB Szczur moved to 7th in lineup, hits HR and goes 2/3 in first game of DH, 1/1 so far in 2nd game A. Kirk shelled again in Peoria 3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 2 HR

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:47 pm

really really quiet waiver trade deadline. oakland is still holding onto a ton of 1-year rentals...so are a lot of teams. the "big" trade so far today is jack wilson to ATL for ptbn.

Submitted by jacos on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:54 pm

Local idiot Mike Quade with one last thought- from Trib "The Cubs are without two of their original starters with Carlos Zambrano on the disqualified list and Andrew Cashner rehabbing at Triple-A Iowa. The team They began the day ranked last in starting pitching in the National League with a 4.97 earned-run average. "We might not have a Cy Young winner, but we're pretty good one to five," manager Mike Quade said

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 08:07 pm

"We might not have a Cy Young winner, but we're pretty good one to five," manager Mike Quade said.
Quade didn't say that. Here is what he said. He was quoted by Carrie Muskat yesterday. It's still in cubs.com.
"We've played a little better," Cubs manager Mike Quade said, "but if you look at [Tuesday] night [against the Giants], and we hit a couple home runs and did some things that we need to do to win baseball games. We got good pitching, which I think coming out of Spring Training we thought we might not have a Cy Young winner, but we're pretty good one to five and we should compete."
If anybody involved with the Cubs is an idiot, it's the Trib writer who edited Quade's words to make him appear to be talking about today rather than opening day.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    The issue is the Cubs are 11-7 and have been on the road for 12 of those 18.  We should be at least 13-5, maybe 14-4. Jed isn't feeling any pressure to play anyone he doesn't see fit.
    But Canario on the bench, Morel not at 3B for Madrigal and Wisdom in RF wasn't what I thought would happen in this series.
    I was hoping for Morel at 3B, Canario in RF, Wisdom at DH and Madrigal as a pinch hitter or late replacement.
    Maybe Madrigal starts 1 game against the three LHSP for Miami.
    I'm thinking Canario goes back to Iowa on Sunday night for Mastrobuoni after the Miami LHers are gone.
    Canario needs ABs in Iowa and not bench time in MLB.
    With Seiya out for a while Wisdom is safe unless his SOs are just overwhelmingly bad.

    My real issue with the lineup isn't Madrigal. I'm not a fan, but I've given up on that one.
    It's Tauchman getting a large number of ABs as the de factor DH and everyday player.
    I didn't realize that was going to be the case.
    We need a better LH DH. PCA or ONKC need to force the issue in about a month.
    But, even if they do so, Jed doesn't have to change anything if the Cubs stay a few over .500!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s just kinda how it works though, for every team. No team plays their best guys all the time. No team is comprising of their best 26 even removing injuries.

    When baseball became a business, like REALLY a business, it became important to keep some of the vets happy, which in turn keeps agents happy and keeps the team with a good reputation among players and agents. No one wants to play for a team that has a bad reputation in the same way no one wants to work for a company that has a bad rep.

    Don’t get me wrong, I hate it too. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    On that topic, I find it silly the Cubs brought up Canario to sit as much as he has. He’s going to get Velazquez’d, and it’s a shame.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Of course, McKinstry runs circles around $25 million man Javier Baez on that Tigers team. Guess who gets more playing time?

    But I digress…

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.  

     

    At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.  

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

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