Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is 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 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Marlon Byrd for John Lannan Opportunity Exists

So John Lannan lost his arbitration case to the Nationals and wil be paid $5M for next season (as opposed to $5.7M he was asking). Now that the money is settled, the Nats are trying to move Lannan for a position player, preferably a center fielder, so that they can sign Edwin Jackson instead. I'm not quite sure why they want to make that swap, but that seems to be the goal for them. If the Cubs cared to add another mediocre pitcher with 2 years of club control while moving Marlon Byrd and the one year left on his contract, while saving about $1.5M, it appears a match could be made.

I certainly don't see the Cubs doing it, not much difference between Paul Maholm and Lannan and it seems that the pitching depth problem has been more than solved. And if you're a fan of FIP, Lannan's numbers are worse than what he's actually put up. But on some level it could make some sense, especially if the Cubs are afraid they won't have a taker in 2 months for Byrd. And they do have Reed Johnson, Tony Campana, Brett Jackson, David DeJesus and possibly Yoenis Cespedes that can step up in center field if Byrd is moved.

Speaking of arbitration, Matt Garza's case is heard tomorrow. Once that's settled, I wouldn't be surprised for the rumor mongering to start up again, once teams are certain of his cost.

Comments

I'd do it in a second if I were the Cubs. Randy Wells can start the year in Iowa and we can save on a little bit of service time. Also makes it much easier to deal Dempster mid season. Especially since Lannon won't be on the market as a Dempster alternative.

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Thu, 02/02/2012 - 2:21pm — Dr. aaron b Both guys have minor league options left. So even worst case you are still going to save some service time on each guy. Randy Wells is a 3.016 right now. So if you keep him in Iowa for 17 days you get to keep him through 2016. Travis Wood is at 1.039 right now. So 40 days in Iowa will keep him under club control thru 2018. Byrd has no future with the club at this point either way. He's window dressing on a 100 loss team this year. ============================= DR AARON B: Right now Randy Wells is under club control only through the 2014 season. To be under club control through the 2015 season, he would have to lose those 16 days over three seasons (3+016) he has now, plus at least one more day. To get there in 2012, Wells would have to spend at least 28 days (not 17 days) on Optional Assignment to the minors. Here's why: If a player spends 19 or fewer days on Optional Assignment in a given season, he gets credit for a full year of MLB Service Time. (A "full season" of MLB Service Time is 172 days, but the MLB regular season actually is 183 days). So if Wells is optioned to the minors for a total of 19 days or less in 2012 he gets credit for a full season MLB Service Time. If he spends more than 19 days on Optional Assignmentf he cannot get credit for a full season, but the first 11 days on Optional Assignment don't count because of the difference betwen the MLB regular season (183 days) and what constitutes a full season of MLB Service Time (172 days). Only AFTER the first 11 days can you start to count the 17 days needed. So that's why it's 28 days. Likewise with Travis Wood. To get an extra year of club control, T. Wood would need to spend at least 51 days on Optional Assignment in 2012, because the first 11 days don't count, and then he still needs 40 more. BTW, if a player is optioned to the minors during Spring Training, time spent on Optional Assignment prior to MLB Opening Day does not count for anything, other than relieving the club of having to pay him at the MLB salary rate if he is injured prior to Opening Day (an injured player cannot be optioned to the minors). Also, the following players have accrued less than five years of MLB Service Time through the 2011 season (so they cannot refuse an Optional Assignment to the minors) and have options remaining (so they can be optioned), but each must clear Optional Assignment Waivers before they can be optioned to the minors in 2012: Blake DeWitt Matt Garza Andy Sonnanstine Ian Stewart Chris Volstad Randy Wells (Bryan LaHair, Marcos Mateo, Jeff Samardzija, and Geovany Soto have each accrued less than five years of MLB Service Time through the 2011 season, too, but they have no minor league options left, and Lendy Castillo cannot be optioned to the minors because he is a Rule 5 player). Optional Assignment Waivers are revocable (so the waiver request can be rescinded if the player is claimed) and are required to option any player who made his debut on an MLB 25-man roster (MLB Active List) at least three or more years previous, or two or more years previous if the player spent one full season on Optional Assignment prior to making his debut on a 25-man roster, or one year or more previous if the player spent at least two full seasons on Optional Assignment to the minors prior to making his debut on an MLB 25-man roster. Sometimes you will see a club DFA a player during the MLB regular season and then option him to the minors a few days later. That's because Optional Assignment Waivers must be secured before he can be optioned, and it takes two days to get a player through waivers. Optional Assignment Waivers can be requested anytime February 16th through August 31st, and once secured, the waivers are generally good for the entire waiver period (but only through August 31st for the waiver period that starts on August 1st), so the club does not have to keep securing waivers if they want to move the player back & forth to the minors more than one time during the course of that waiver period. Normally a player who is Designated for Assignment (DFA) must be either traded, released, or outrighted, but DURING THE MLB REGULAR SEASON a player can be Designated for Assignment (which temporarily takes him off both the 25-man and 40-man roster) and then can be optioned to the minors as long as the assignment is made within 10 days, and as long as the player was not replaced on the club's 40-man roster by another player while on the Designated List (DFA). Then once the waivers are secured, the player can be optioned to the minors, and the player is returned to the club's MLB 40-man roster at that time. (And players do accrue MLB Service Time while on the Designated List). Optional Assignment Waivers (like Trade Assignment Waivers) are revocable the first time they are requested in a given waiver period, but they become irrevocable if the player is placed on Optional Assignment Waivers again during that waiver period.

allegedly 1 year deal with Nats, I believe it will push down Cubs pick for Pena and their 2nd round pick down 1. So #6, #43, #55, #65 at the moment with D. Lee and Ibanez still out there. I believe both rank higher than Pena but lower than Ramirez, so if they do sign they'd lose up to 2 more spots on the Pena's supplemental pick and the 2nd round pick.

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In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Actually, I would put a different spin on that article. Only one Cub, Stewart, is mentioned. still 3, no matter what voodoo magic you care to put on it. First base: Orioles – Chris Davis, Wilson Betemit Dishonorable mention: Indians, Pirates, Athletics, Brewers, Cubs Two of these teams are going to upgrade to Derrek Lee and Casey Kotchman, taking them off the list. I imagine the Indians will be one of them, leaving LaPorta out of a job. Second base: Mets - Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, Ronny Cedeno Dishonorable mentions: Orioles, Tigers, Cardinals, Cubs Third base: Dodgers – Juan Uribe, Jerry Hairston Jr., Adam Kennedy Uribe kicked off a three-year, $21 million contract by hitting .204/.264/.293 in 270 at-bats for the Dodgers last season. He can’t be that bad again, but he still gets a worst offensive projection than Ian Stewart Dishonorable mention: Cubs, Pirates, Twins, Rockies, Mariners

Indians sign Kotchman for 1/3M Canzler will be a corner super-sub if he makes the team.

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In reply to by Rob G.

it was overseas with US involvement. a lot of that going down lately. they had servers in the US, but a lot of their work and a chunk of other servers were in Australlia/Asia. for all the ron paul "sky is falling types" all over the place the US still has a lot of pull and influence. a lot of those types of sites aren't legit...megaupload was not legit...it invested heavily in making itself look legit, but it wasn't run legit. inner-office culture took down the organization more-so than a grand conspiracy, imo. the people supposed to delete stuff when they found it shouldn't have been sending emails back/forth about what stuff was where and downloading it, themselves. a bunch of other similar sites shuttered afterwards before any government spooks could get involved. this administration is really trying to crack down on protecting US intellectual property. imo, they should be more concerned with corporate espionage, especially via China and India. whatever, though...the US entertainment industry is a world-wide money maker. people all over the world love our entertainment culture.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/7753/cubs-invite-fans-to… There are four pricing tiers for the section: $125 a ticket (silver), $150 (gold), $190 (platinum) and $250 (marquee). But as of now, fans can’t buy solo tickets. This is aimed solely at large groups, from bachelor parties to corporate outings. Tickets can be purchased in blocks of 50, 100 or 150 and include food and drinks -- alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Each block of 50 contains 32 seats and 18 standing-room tickets. This is also where the Cubs are debuting a new 70-foot LED board that looks to some like a harbinger to a JumboTron.

Recent comments

  • Charlie (view)

    I worry that Morel will lose starts at 3B as long as this roster lacks a compelling DH.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I think if you had ranked players by how much the team could ill afford to have them miss significant time, Steele would be right at the top of the list.

  • crunch (view)

    steele MRI on friday.  counsell expects an IL stint.

    no current plans for his rotation replacement.

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.