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

Meet the Cubs Managerial Candidates: Dale Sveum

Word is that Mike Maddux took his name out of the running of the Boston job citing a desire to keep his family in Texas, probably a good bet that the same thing will happen to the Cubs, but haven't heard about it yet.

On to another Brewer coach...Dale Sveum.

Dale Sveum card  Dale Sveum was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the 1982 draft out of high school in Calfornia. He made it to the majors in 1986 by age 22 and had a promising sophomore season at shortstop (252/303/454) with 25 Home Runs in the juiced ball environment of 1987. It was all donwhill from there and he ended up going through 7 organizations, most notably the Brewers and Pirates before playing his last game in 1999.

From 2001 through 2003 he was managing the Pirates Double A affiliate at the same time Pete Mackanin was managing a the A and Hi-A levels...apparently the early 2000 Pirates organzitation was a hot bed of managerial candidates. Sveum made the playoffs in his final year and the team lost in the first round. Sveum was named top managerial candidate in the Eastern Leauge that season by Baseball America. That piqued the Red Sox interest and he got the job as their third base coach on the team that won the World Series. He also gained a repuation for aggressiveness that made Wavin' Wendall Kim blush.

He returned to the Brewers as their third base coach in 2006, then up to bench coach in 2007, then back to third base coach in 2008 and took over as interim manager in 2008 when the Brewers fired Ned Yost in the midst of a pennant race. He "led" them to the wild card (7-5 record) before they lost to the Phillies in the first round. He's been their hitting coach the last three seasons.

To the quotables...

I think it's[statistical analysis] just part of the game now. We're all the same in Milwaukee. You're just always open-minded to all the new stats that come into the game, whether it's the matchups, the stats you see. It's all very relevant now.... At the end of the day, you decipher it all and come up with a plan to use what you're capable of using to get through to the players.

Jorge Posada

“I can't believe Boston third-base coach Dale Sveum sent him, ... The ball was in Jeter's hand when he was rounding third base, so I was very surprised.”

From Bruce Miles

Sveum, also, is said to rely heavily statistical analysis in his game preparation, which should do nothing but work in his favor.

When he left the Red Sox

“We’re sorry to see Dale go,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “We understand and respect his decision to move on for family reasons, but his professionalism and work ethic will be missed."

 

“We are grateful for the contributions Dale made to the success of the Red Sox -- on the field and in our clubhouse -- over the last two seasons,” said GM Theo Epstein. “We wish him the best with the Brewers.”

 

“Dale’s leadership, baseball experience, and work ethic commanded tremendous respect from our players, coaching staff and front office for the last two years,” said President/CEO Larry Lucchino. “He will be missed by the Red Sox, but we wish him and his family success and happiness in Milwaukee.”

His interview with the Cubs was suppose to happen today with a press conference at 6:30pm CST.

Comments

from Cubster in the previous thread... This is from a mlb blog site/TR Sullivan (Rangers)...Maddux has not withdrawn from Cubs but will discuss with his family tonight
He has not done the same with the Cubs. He is still scheduled to interview with them but said he wants to talk it over with his family on Monday night.
http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/2011/11/07/maddux-withdraws-from-boston-c…

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2011/2612572.html just speculation... If the Red Sox have to choose from among second-tier prospects, they should target catcher Steve Clevenger and lefthanded reliever Jeff Beliveau. Clevenger is a lefthanded hitter with solid defensive skills and positional versatility, making him an ideal big league backup. Beliveau works at 88-91 mph with his fastball and doesn't have a true plus pitch, but the ball seems to come out of his sleeve and hitters just don't square him up.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"hitters just don't square him up" is a funny way to describe a pitcher who makes hitters miss to the tune of 11.8 K's per 9 innings over four seasons. I've never seen him but I thought his curve was a plus pitch.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

he went from "puffy" to cut as hell this offseason when he decided to get serious about training...too bad he didn't do it in college or he might have been drafted higher. he's also got a little ego on him...he's ready to be in the bigs, already...not afraid to tell anyone. at least he's comfortable being a reliever rather than a starter...some kids have a hard time being asked to convert to reliever when they're still in the minors. not only does he have more control lately, he's also improved his changeup...now he needs to keep the balls that do get hit from going 350+ ft.

Sveum calls Prince Fielder "one of my favorite people I've ever coached." #Cubs

Cardinals interview Francona today. TF won't need a Cub interview. others on the Stl interview schedule... last week: Chris Maloney, Joe McEwing, Mike Matheny this week: Francona, Sandberg, Oquendo.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/11/royals-interested-in-carlos-zambr… with Dayton Moore quotes...
"We would have to be interested. We would have to explore it because that's what you should do. You should explore every opportunity. Carlos Zambrano is a heckuva competitor. Carlos Zambrano has had a lot of success in the major leagues. Carlos Zambrano is actually a very pleasant, easy going, classy person off the field. Sometimes, as with all of us the competitiveness takes over and brings out qualities in us that we are not proud of. Obviously the Cubs grew tired of some of his outbursts but I believe in our coaching staff and we'll always take a chance and a risk on certain players. We'll see how that particular situation unfolds."

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

As a recent graduate of PSU and current graduate student in a department at another school that has seen two Teaching Assistants in the department arrested on sex crime charges in the last year or so, I feel the need to comment here. The most obvious statement for me to make is that this kind of crime can happen anywhere and does happen in far too many places. The real shame brought on Penn State by this scandal is the way in which responsibility to act as a witness of these alleged crimes seems to have been diffused by the bureaucracy of the football team and the university as a whole. Paterno and (President of the University) Graham Spanier, among many others, end up implicated in this and looking pretty damn bad. But in that bureaucracy, who was it that had the responsibility to report this incident to the police? Maybe the right answer is all of them. Maybe the right answer is the grad student who was the eye witness. But the grad student (after consulting his father for advice) reported it to his superior who reported it to his superior and so on--the result being that the reports never made it outside of the university. Whether the bureaucrats kept it inside the university to protect their own interests and reputations or did so more directly as a function of the bureaucracy itself remains to be determined (and two of those bureaucrats are facing criminal charges for exactly that). The police should have been immediately involved in any scandal involving alleged sexual abuse. However, if we come to look at the current PSU scandal as an example from which we ought to learn--the lesson it teaches is about the way in which each individual's responsibility was diffused through the bureaucracy. This is certainly a shame that PSU will have to bear--particularly the university administrators, the football team, and the individuals involved--but it is a cautionary tale about more than just Happy Valley. If you're interested in some thoughts on this scandal and fan identification with team/place (as those of us who feel some emotional attachment to sports teams like the Cubs might), this article isn't bad: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7205085/growing-penn-state

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Thank you for your interesting dialog on the matter. I personally just think that an individual's morals and having the courage to do the right thing should supercede the bureaucracy. It happened here just like in many instances like this where heinous crimes take place on our fellow children and adults and people just "look the other way". Whether it is Jaycee Dugard, held captive for 18 years - or Sandusky allegedly giving rim-jobs to young boys - someone has to stand up for others. It is really pathetic. And Joe Paterno will unfortunately be remembered for not taking a stand when he had the opportunity.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I agree completely about what should happen. I think many of the events since the beginning of the 20th century have demonstrated that what should happen doesn't happen, though. And I think an understanding of that helps us get a perspective on the event that goes beyond demonizing not only the alleged perpetrator but also those implicated in what ends up looking like a cover up (and may yet prove to be a cover up, with all its implications of intentionality and deception) to a comprehension of the entire situation, which still ought to result in holding the perpetrator and those implicated responsible.

I know the polite thing was for Maddux to tell Boston that he was bowing out of their managerial hunt because of family considerations, but I wonder if the fact that Boston threw Francona under the bus after two WS wins has anything to do with it. Compare that with Theo flying down to Florida and meeting with Quade for several hours before cutting him loose. It's quite a difference in approaches.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Here's the Francona quote, seems like a resignation to me: During Friday’s press conference, he delved into why he made the decision to resign: “We talked about a lot of different things,” he said, referring to Friday morning’s meeting with General Manager Theo Epstein, Owner John Henry, Team President Larry Lucchino, and Chairman Tom Werner. “I think they wanted to know how I felt about coming back. I think that’s probably a fair way to put it. I told them a lot of things that were on my mind, we talked obviously a lot about the organization, and then the team, and what went right, what didn’t go right, and then I told them I thought it was time for a new voice. And that’s not an easy thing to say. But I thought it was the right thing to do.”

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

I think Maddux wouldn't have agreed to interview with them at all if he was insulted or looked down on them for how they handled Francona's departure. I take Maddux at his word about the travel situation. I would be concerned that his family living in Texas while he works in Chicago would still weigh heavily on him. I'm also not that crazy about taking a coach who is very good at one thing and paying them lots of money to never do that again. This crap happens all the time in the NFL, and sometimes in MLB. "Hey, so and so is a great defensive co-ordinator. Let's hire him and pay him $5 million a year to never do that again and instead have him do something he's never done before." Makes total sense. Bud Black is basically the most recent example of a pitching coach making a good manager, but they also like to point to John Farrell in Toronto. The guy has been there one year, let's not proclaim him a great success at manager. Without knowing how well these guys interview, I'm interested more in Sveum than Maddux. Not very interested in Mackanin. I think if he was such a great prospect he would have been a major league manager a long time ago.

via rotowurld "According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals on Wednesday will interview third base coach Jose Oquendo and Phillies Triple-A manager Ryne Sandberg for their managerial vacancy."

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

the Mercedes(s) say more than 2 things in a row that's true...world record for them. then they get to... "Mercedes put the video together himself, “It's just me and the trainers;" yeah f'n right... either way, everyone triple checks everything that comes out of Born 2 Play these days...it's awesome when you have to hire detectives to deal with these people to get the "real" truth about players. that said, B2P as it operates wouldn't exist if MLB teams didn't treat the Dominican like a toilet up until recent decades...the Cubs, themselves, are guilty of this...they used to have shameful conditions at their operations. that said...cespedes is a more public/known quantity than some "allegedly 16 year old" player who's "allegedly healthy" with an "alleged name"...also, i'd be surprised if he gets the 5/30m people are talking...hell, i'd be shocked it it wasn't around 5/40m...he's going to have a lot of teams gunning for him and many believe he's MLB-ready for CF even if there's a little swing-and-miss to put up with.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111108&content_id=25932554&vk… If managing the Red Sox, Cardinals and Cubs were the cast of "Ocean's Eleven," the Red Sox and Cardinals would be George Clooney and Brat Pitt; the Cubs would be Matt Damon. Ah, ok. Managing said teams, ie, the job itself is better in Boston and St. Louis. I get it, but Matt Damon is a good actor. Sure in the movie it was a bit part, but it was an ensemble movie. I actually found Clooney and Pitt's banter in the movie to be painful obnoxious. Hee hee, they finish each other sentences. On the Miami Heat, the Red Sox and Cardinals are Dwyane Wade and LeBron James; the Cubs are Chris Bosh. Wait, you said 'managing' those teams were the equivalent. Is it the teams or the job? Dude, we know the Cubs suck. Everyone in the world knows they suck. You wrote an article about that? And if we're talking music, the Red Sox and Cardinals are more Jay-Z and Kanye West; the Cubs are more, what, Pitbull?...OK, you get the picture. Yes, indeed I do, I think. But seriously, Kanye West? Are you implying he's among the two best rappers? He then calls them Tito Jackson (to Janet and Michael). You said I got the PICTURE! Don't add more, after informing me that I've already received the picture. I have the picture in hand; I need no further illustrations. Anyway, because no one else is aware that the Cubs suck, he was kind enough to grace us with some great comparisons via Ocean's 11, The Miami Heat, Hip Hop and the Jacksons. Now I understand just how bad they are. See, they're Chris Bosh. Get it? Anyway, after saying that managing those teams are the best, he then says that the Cubs job is better. Thanks for the info, Alden, now go wax your fucking eyebrows.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.