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)

    LHP Blake Weiman appears to have been the last cut from the AAA Iowa roster. He is with the Tennessee group at Minor League Camp.

     

  • crunch (view)

    bruce bochy is hobbling rather badly for a guy who's had 2 hip replacements.  his gait is extremely wonky taking the lineup card to the ump.

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • 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.