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

A Chart of the Soler System

(This of course inspired by Rob's headline yesterday) So, I don't know jack, do you? The other day somebody said that Jorge Soler was gonna sign a contract with the Cubs, he just couldn't find his pen. Now it's all kindsa teams trying to get close to Soler, apparently. The Cubs, represented in the chart as the USS Enterprise, still seem to be the closest. But the Yankee Evil Empire suddenly came on the screens, and not alot Captain James T. Epstein can do with his phasers against those guys. And the Black Hole of Miami now opened it's hungry mouth. They've been sucking up everything, even Dark Star Z. Billy Bean is riding some crazy comet, and swooped down to get Yoenis Cespedis. Today I read that Ces didn't get a no-trade so Billy's probably got something up his sleeve for some kind of future time warp. Every time I read anything about the Philadelpia Red Planet, it's that their population is getting ancient, so getting Soler might make sense. But given everything I've tried to guess so far, probably Soler is going someplace not on the map. Houston or Minnesota. Maybe to the White Sox to back up Kosuke Fukudome. Ahhhh just kiddin'. Like I said, I don't know jack.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Says... "If Wright struggles to an extent in 2012 where the Mets determine he is not worth a $15MM net option price for 2013, would they be willing to risk $12.5MM for two potential draft picks?"... Under the new CBA, compensation for losing a player who is offered a guaranteed contract with a salary equal to the average salary of the 125 highest-paid MLB players the previous season is one draft pick (not two). BTW, the compensation draft pick is between the first and second round (like it would have been for a Type "B" player under the old system), but the signing team loses its 1st round draft pick (as if it had signed a Type "A" player under the old system), unless it's a Top 10 pick in the 1st round, in which case the signing team loses its 2nd round pick.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

guess I misunderstood this... C. A Club that signs a player subject to compensation will forfeit its first round selection, unless it selects in the top 10, in which case it will forfeit its second- highest selection in the draft. D. The Player’s former Club will receive a selection at the end of the first round beginning after the last regularly scheduled selection in the round. The former Clubs will select based on reverse order of winning percentage from the prior championship season. so the pick the signing team loses just disappears? there's the competitive balance lottery , but those are between the 1st and 2nd rounds and 2nd and 3rd rounds.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 1:41pm — Rob G. so the pick the signing team loses just disappears? there's the competitive balance lottery , but those are between the 1st and 2nd rounds and 2nd and 3rd rounds. ======================= ROB G: That's correct. The signing team loses its pick, but nobody gets it. There is just one fewer pick in the 1st (or 2nd) round. Of course that would be offset by additional draft picks inserted into the 1st (or 2nd) round when a club gets a compensation pick for failing to sign its own 1st or 2nd round draft pick from the previous year's draft. BTW, a compensation pick is inserted one slot lower than where the team selected the unsigned pick the previous year (if a club fails to sign overall pick #11 from the 2012 draft, it gets overall pick #12 in the 2013 draft). NOTE: Compensation for failing to sign a 3rd round pick is a selection between the 3rd and 4th round in the next year's draft, and there is no compensation for failing to sign a player selected in the 4th (or lower) round. But if the club fails to sign a compensation pick (a selection awarded for failing to sign a 1st, 2nd or 3rd round pick from the previous year's draft), it does not get another pick the next year for failing to sign the compensation pick. So "signability" considerations are very important when deciding who to select with this pick. Not much has been discussed (yet) about the new competitive balance lottery draft picks. These picks can be traded, but the pick cannot be traded during the off-season, and the pick cannot be traded for cash unless the cash acquired is a financial adjustment made to offset the salary of one or more of the players involved in the trade. It also has not been made clear how and when International signing bonus cap money can be traded (and how much of it can be traded to any one team at any one time).

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

not sure what you're going for there... Matt Eddy @eddymk Cubs release 20-year-old RHP Robinson Lopez, whom they acquired with 2 other players from Braves for Derrek Lee in Aug ’10 10:31 AM - 15 Feb 12 via web · Details Kevin Goldstein @Kevin_Goldstein The Cubs have released RHP Robinson Lopez, who was seen as a nice prospect when he came from Atlanta in the Derrek Lee deal. 9:53 AM - 15 Feb 12 via TweetDeck · Details

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 1:23pm — George Altman Re: A Chart of the Soler System Phil, when do they have to add Concepcion to the 40-man? Or is this not 'official'? Also curious if you have any thoughts on the Jorge Soler 'signing'? ========================= GEORGE A: The Cubs don't need to add Gerardo Concepcion to their 40-man roster until the contract is signed. Apparently they are still waiting for him to take a physical. So it's not official yet. Because he has no previous MLB or minor league experience, the Cubs cannot wait 20 days to add him to their 40-man roster if he signs a major league contract (as would be the case if they were signing an MLB or minor league FA). While the Cubs have up to 20 days to file the contract with the MLB office, the player must be added to the MLB 40-man roster as soon as he signs the contract (again, presuming he signs a major league contract). BTW, if Concepcion were to sign a minor league contract instead of a major league contract, the entire $7M must be paid upfront as a signing bonus and cannot be spread over multiple years. (Well, it could be spread over five years if he is a "two-sport" player, but there is no indication of that). But if Concepcion signs a major league contract, the $7M can be spread over the length of the contract (as was the case with Jeff Samardzija). As for Jorge Soler, the Cubs have to be careful to follow the rules. If they don't, the contract could be rejected by the MLB Commissioner and/or the Cubs might have to pay a hefty fine.

Okay so WTF?? Anyone care to guess what the fuck happened on Monday? Was it Soler's agent blasting the shopping spree into the stratosphere by leaking a false signing? Or was it some crap the The tribune screwed up - or a 'true' scoop that was ill-advisedly leaked for reals? This particular turn of events has an old school cub-moment smell to it??

Has compensation taken this long ever in beisbol history? Can Bud hurt the Cubs to help the Brewers? What's going on??

fan graphs comes up with another good one...homegrown talent WAR production (total and average WAR) from 2002 by team. I assume higher average war equates with more star power development. shows the Cubs at #27 (near the bottom, total WAR 19.3, ave WAR 0.92) with the most productive player in Sean Marshall. This would be fun to look at in 5 and 10 yr blocks of time correlated with management/scouting director changes to see who deserves credit for major upswings/downswings. Best: Boston Red Sox 100.3; 4.36 Worst: Chicago White Sox 11.9; 0.54 ...........Seattle Mariners.....8.9;..0.45 http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/building-through-the-draft-wor…
If the Astros have only developed one stud player since the 2002 Draft (Hunter Pence), the Chicago Cubs have developed no one significant. They have been relatively successful at drafting and developing minor role players — Tony Campana, Rich Hill, Darwin Barney, Tyler Colvin, etc — but the homegrown talent is lacking star power. The best the Cubs have done is Sean Marshall, who found success as a dominant set-up man — which, while nice, has little overall value for creating a homegrown core to build around. Perhaps the 2005 Draft personifies the Cubs’ developmental success over the past decade. The 2005 Draft saw one Chicago Cub draftee make the big leagues (thus far), and that was left-handed reliever Donnie Veal, who pitched 16.1 innings for the Pirates in 2009 and compiled a 7.16 ERA. The system suffered yet another blow prior to the 2011 season, when they sent Chris Archer, Hak-Ju Lee, and company to Tampa Bay for Matt Garza.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

The problem with this kind of analysis is that it only addresses the June amateur draft--at which the Cubs have obviously been miserable for the last decade and a half. But the story is a bit different when you look at international signings, the Cubs have been one of the more active teams there, and the results have been good over the same time period. On last year's team alone you had Zambrano, Marmol, Soto, Castro and I suppose you'd need to include Fukudome as well? Plus, Soriano, Pena and Ramirez were originally intl FA signings with other teams.

tweeting Nick Cafardo @nickcafardo 1hr ago A Red Sox official indicated he expects comp decision on Theo Epstein "very soon."

from this fucken tool Nick Cafardo --- don't forget that Nick the Tool thinks this significant announcement will be for significant compensation even though he thinks Theo was a worthless jerk and really bolted for a lateral move compared to his significant boss, Lucchino who is a real President of Baseball Operations.

Best pre-ST news I've heard so far -- Tony Campana has been working on his (abysmal) bunting. IF he could bunt, his OBP would be forty points higher and he'd be worth keeping around. Best suggestion I've heard for Tony Campana's weak hitting --- fine him every time he hits a fly ball.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Campana showed bunt almost every PA last year but he was so inept infields didn't take the bait and third basemen just played him at normal depth. He only had 3 Sac Hits. I'm saying he could raise his OBP all the way up to .340 if he could bunt---it was .303 last year. e.g. A combination of 2 more sacrifice hits, 4 more bunts for hits, a walk instead of a strikeout bunting, and 2 hits past a pulled in infielder last year would have done the trick.

If you're wondering where the Cubs rank in the ESPN INSIDER super-flawed "future power rankings," they are 13th.

Take that you stoopid Cafardo...our own Captain Wrongway sez: Phil Rogers @ChiTribRogers Selig has spent "a ton" of time studying Theo case. Decision likely by week's end.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/42553/mlb-insider-keith-law Re: Hak Ju Lee 10-15 HR peak. Should hit for high averages, get on base, run, save 5-10 runs a year with the glove. What's not to like? Re: Soler with Cubs Definitely not ahead of Rizzo, but most likely ahead of Jackson on ceiling. Re: Cespedes vs. Soler I haven't seen either guy yet, but given what I've heard, and their listed ages, I'd rather roll the dice on Soler. Re: McNutt I wouldn't rule out starting, but he's got to get some consistency in that delivery first.

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.