Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

TCR Friday Notes

I realized my Cubs apathy reached a new height when I had no idea who the Cubs are playing today and don't really care to look it up.

- In the news, Kaplan's impeccable, most-excellent sources told him that the Cubs and Starlin Castro are working on an extension that would take him up to free agency and beyond. Rosenthal piggybacks on it with a tweet today saying that it should be a 6 to 7 year deal possibly with a club option and that it could be completed by next week. If my math is right, that should take him through 2018 and possibly 2019 which would be through his age 29 season. The numbers on this should be fascinating. My prediction yesterday was something in the 6/60 range, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's higher considering inflation and factoring in the usual rise in salary numbers.

Theo is already saying nice things about Castro in the media, so looks like this is just crossing the t's and dotting the i's, and hopefully doing it a lot better than Jim Bowden did during the trade deadline.

- Filed under "You Can't Make This Stuff Up", Ryan Dempster was put on the Rangers restricted list for personal reasons and won't make his start for Saturday in Toronto. Sounds terrible, until you find out that the personal reason is that Canadian-born Ryan Dempster can't find his Canadian passport.

- And in "Sad Trombone" news, Mark Prior has been released by the Boston Red Sox. The 31-year old had a 3.96 ERA in Pawtucket in 25 innings with 38 K's, but 23 walks.

Comments

"I realized my Cubs apathy reached a new height when I had no idea who the Cubs are playing today and don't really care to look it up." this. we don't even have many game threads anymore and no one seems to care/notice. also, last i checked, the topic in Parachat was welcoming Rizzo's 2nd day on the team or something.

Will Ryne Sandberg return to the big league with the Phillies? http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20120817_Will_Ryne_Sandber… "Confidently professional" is how Phillies catcher Erik Kratz describes his former manager. "He thinks he was just a regular player who just grinded it out and tried harder than everybody else, and it just so happens he ended up in the Hall of Fame." Told of Kratz's description, Sandberg smiled. "I was," he said. "That's true. I felt like I was an average player. I was told when I won the MVP in 1984 that Pete Rose said, 'This guy did not necessarily have the best tools, but he outworked everybody else.' I think that hit the nail on the head then. That's what I did, and that's what I have always done. That's what I continue to do."

It's easy to get a Canadian passport quick. My friend was coming to the states in January, eh. He realized 5 days before he was coming that his passport was expired. He went to the passport joint and got one in 3 days. Governmental shit moves a lot faster when you only have 10% of the population of our dumb asses. Say what you want about their floppy heads and beady eyes, the goofy bastards are pretty good at life. Alas, Dumpster is in the states, so it will probably take him like 3 months to get a passport. Hoser.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

before he got his latest injury (shocking) he was doing well enough to eventually get a call-up, even if it took until Sept. ...after he came back from injury he forgot how to locate his pitches...dunno about velocity change. either way it got ugly, quick.

Vogelbomb 3-5 with a TRIPLE Almora 2-4 and a double 7-6 win for Hawks over Dust Devils

Dudes: pretty impressive Soriano homer off Cueto! ... and just became like the 6th guy in HISTORY with 1000 RBI, 400 2B, 350 HR, and 250 SB. That said, the best part about the homer is watching Reds Catcher, Hanigan's immediate reaction to contact: priceless!

BTW - Glanville article front page of NYT. Nicely done, Dan...er Doug!

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

nice. via rotowurld: "The contract covers four years of arbitration eligibility and three years of free agency, including a $16 million option for 2020. Castro, 22, was expected to qualify for "Super Two" status, so the Cubs were able to lock up one of their core players for a reasonable $8.57 million in Average Annual Value (AAV). It’s hard to see this as anything but a positive for a rebuilding franchise.?

starlin castro...you gotta pay attention to your 3rd base coach rather than watching the OF'rs. sigh....another mental blowup.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Like I have been saying. Most minor leaguers learn the craft without the prying eyes of an MLB audience. Castro is learning on the job, and theocorp still thinks enough of him to tie him up for 7 years. This is a good year for these kinds of mistakes. Team isn't doing shit anyway.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I can't go back and doublecheck--the game is in mlb.com quarantine for a while--but during the live broadcast, the replay showed Listach giving Castro the stop sign. Brantley had already accused Castro of not watching his coach, and should have corrected himself, but why bother--right, Cowboy?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Virginia Phil has it 100% right. Went back and just watched it. Listach has the stop sign on and pointed at the bag. Castro was perfect. Also as correctly called on the Cubs broadcast, Castro's run was not the problem as it would have brought the Cubs within 1 run. Wellington Castillo COMPLETELY BLEW his job watching a popup drop with two out, representing the tying run, and never reaching 1/2 a jog, and somehow avoiding ending up at 2nd base and in scoring position. So yeah, Cowboy owes Starlin an apology as he apparently can't watch a replay very well. And Wellington needs an ass-whoopin' and likely will get one.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Yeah he was, but the advantage of watching the replay showed it was while Soriano was running, then as Castro approached the base Listach had a stop sign up and pointed at the bag. Actually just showed crappy overall awareness by Brantley, since Casro's run was meaningless as far as possibly getting thrown out at home with two outs in the ninth and down two.

@ESPNChiCubs: Theo says nothing finalized on Castro contract. Beyond that no comment. --- Proverbially putting horses on hold.

I'd suggest Adderal for young Mr. Castro but that just brings in another host of problems. How about using a clicker?

Game 2 lineup, omg... @CarrieMuskat: Cubs lineup for G2... Valbuena 3b, Mather lf, Rizzo 1b, Castro ss, LaHair rf, Clevenger c, Jackson cf, Cardenas 2b, Raley p

And in Welington's defense... @ESPNChiCubs: Sveum not down on W Castillo for not advancing to second in ninth. Castillo playing on sore right foot that nearly kept him out of lineup.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Well Sveum needs to watch the play again, because baseball awareness says, quit watching your damn ball, drop the frickin' bat, and proceed at your top speed (however gimpy it might be) if there are two outs in the ninth and you are the tying run. Anyone who watches it will see he wasn't hustling or aware of the situation (and there was no limp, he moved well when he realized the ball was kicked, sped up around first, and stopped). Sveum is probably just covering Castillo's ass for some reason.

b.jackson not only didn't K in the first game...he just hit his 1st HR (solo) to RF in the second game.

3 innings, 4 hits, 4 bb, and 1 run to show for it....which was, of course, a solo HR. CUBBIES!

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Jackson got completely f&cked on his second at bat. Called strike three on a pitch at the shoulders. Ump let's a wild pitcher off the hook for no reason with one of the highest strikes I've ever seen called. Two men on of course. Cubs dugout got in a shouting match with the ump . . . He pulled off his mask and yelled "blah blah blah I didn't have it up!". Ridiculous call. NO one booted from game tho. No fun being a rookie sometimes mr jackson... Nice hr though!

i can't believe there's no castro post yet...or more "OH FUCK YEAH! WOO!" posts. down year for him, but in a world where a guy who hits like castro this year can easily get $3-6m...great gamble, imo...especially when the contract is supposedly through 2019 and castro projects to do better than what he's doing in 2012.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I expected to see something, too. This is the new model, of course, as it's been since I guess the Evan Longoria contract. Rizzo's next, I guess next year? Overall I'm content with the Castro deal. I think he's going to hit no matter what. His defense has improved.

FYI: Randall Delgado has been getting lit up regularly in AAA. (tonight already 4 ER 2 HR in 4 innings so far). Cubs AND Braves may end up happy with the deal that wasn't made. I know that's oversimplifying things but Delgado has pretty much sucked at all levels this year. Might not be an accident that they were dealing him.

@CarrieMuskat: Jorge Soler homers to straightaway center in 3rd at bat, 3rd hit of game for Peoria. Very impressive.

b.hamilton (AA, CIN) is 2/2 with a SB tonight (in progress). 143...2 away from sharing the record.

Angels are looking like the bust of 2012. Tonight they were up 8-0 on Rays and Carlos Pena just jacked a 2-run pinch homer in top of 8th to take 10-8 lead. Farnsworth, Fuld and Pena having great games tonight btw. Frickin' Angels about to fall 8 back of Texas in a real ugly way, if they can't come back in the last 6 outs. This could be a nail in coffin type game.

save that for the regular season....

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

1.) Unbelievable! ... if this is at all representative of the amount of dishonesty in the doping practice, we are all in for a rude awakening when as Bud said last week at the owners meeting in Denver, "this all comes out." 2.) I'm shocked that it was only 50 games, if they knew about this deception, and all it indicates about premeditation etc. And if it wasn't fully known I wonder if the suspension can be increased in severity?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

at least his agent is trying to earn his pay. i wouldn't worry about only having a 50-game suspension. in this era his career is practically over...tainted player, bad example to the kids...a horrible career-ending gamble. if history is any lesson...he's screwed. lol...not...he'll get $10m+ multi-year next season. that will teach kids not to roid. ain't that right STL's hitting -coach-?

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

The guy just turned 28 this month. No way that his career is OVER. He did hurt his pocketbook in what should have been a big offseason payday. He will still be in MLB during the 2013 season.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

pretty much... i'm not worried about the impact on the records/stats as much as the players and those not on the mlb level yet. things are a lot better than they were. i'm satisfied with what's been done to address PEDs, even if it took a long time to get there.

Can I just say, as a fan of the new regime, and a fan of Dale Sveum's, that the Cubs' baserunning is f%cking ATROCIOUS! Its a disaster. I mean these are the things we can supposedly control (as opposed to talent): The fundamentals! Soriano thrown out at second stealing before pitcher delivers, Valbuena's game changing out overrunning third, Volstad jogging to first, partway with bat and turning back to watch the play today when a reasonable sprint to first would have been safe, Castillo's space cadet romp to first yesterday. I'd be embarrassed if I was Sveum right now -- aggressive and smart is harder than it looks apparently.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

they're being very aggressive with their running game...very very aggressive...with players you probably shouldn't be aggressive with. the 2nd game last night...that's a perfect time to be aggressive. dude's leg kick was so high (didn't pitch out of the stretch without a high lift to the leg) and his velocity low enough that even b.lahair made the battery seem like j.moyer throwing to m.piazza.

Cubs claimed LHP Alex Hinshaw off waivers from the Padres. Cubs transferred RHP Arodys Vizcaino to the 60-day disabled list.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

It's like beating a dead horse but were gonna call up someone awesome to pitch soon.... Cubs manager Dale Sveum mentioned Chris Rusin as a good candidate to be called up to start Tuesday at Milwaukee. The 25-year-old left-hander has never pitched in the big leagues. He's 8-8 with a 4.59 ERA over 24 starts at Triple-A Iowa to go with a 87/52 K/BB rate over 133-plus innings. Chicago needs a Tuesday starter because of Saturday's doubleheader. Yikes, Hendry left a lot of good talent behind.

[ ]

In reply to by MikeC

What really sucks is that I really got duped into thinking Hendry was good for at least pitching even if not so much position talent. I don't know how much of it was Hendry because I'm not a walking encyclopedia like others here, but at one time the Cubs had going through their system and to the parent club or other teams, Z, Wood, Prior, Dontrelle (who imploded as expected but was still good for a few years), Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco, and I'm pretty sure there were others. He even did some good stuff roster-wise early on, like the Miracle at Home Plate (getting rid of Todd Hundley for Eric Karros and Grudz if I remember right), and getting Ramirez. Then it's like he turned into a semi truck on a hot Texas highway blowing out his tires and crashing into flames.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Juan Cruz, Renyel Pinto, Rich Hill, Todd Wellemeyer, Scott Downs and Kyle Lohse all had some MLB success. We also had a lot of really highly hyped Pitching prospects (suspects) that never panned out due to injury. Bobby Brownlie Ben Christiansen Chadd Blasko Luke Haggerty Matt Clanton Mark Pawelek Were all 1st round picks over a 5-6 year period that were felled by a combo of injury/cubbery.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Thanks, Dr. A. I guess I sort of attribute the list of busts as really pretty typical for an MLB team, rather than Cubbery. Although it's safe to assume at least one of them had some sort of freak injury.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Losing 6 first round picks in 6 year to injury is REALLY unlucky. Not even counting Mark Prior who was a 7th 1st round pick of that same 6 year time span. Not even counting guys like Grant Johnson and Donnie Veal who were 2nd rounders.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Unlucky? Cubbery? Stockstillery, you mean. Did Lou Mantanez and Ryan Harvey have sore arms, too? They were Stockstill's non-pitcher first-rounders. Not late first round, either: Montanez was 3, Harvey 6. A lot of recent Cub pitchers have had arm problems and are still standing. We traded one of them for Rizzo, and another for Epstein.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I think Montanez was a Hendry as scouting director pick? Harvey might have been Stockstill's first pick. Prior Brownlie Christensen In particular were thought of as "can't miss" types. Tough to fault a Scouting Directer completely for injury problems. The training and development people employed by the Cubs share much of this blame.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

There are conflicting stories around the web about who was scouting director in 1999-2000, like this one from baseballanalysts.com:
Cubs: John Stockstill (1999) First-round picks under Stockstill: Ben Christensen (99), Luis Montanez (00), Mark Prior (01), Bobby Brownlie (02), Luke Hagerty (02), Chadd Blasko (02), Matt Clanton (02), Ryan Harvey (03) Best pre-2004 players drafted: Steve Smyth (99-4), Dontrelle Willis (00-8), Mark Prior (01-1), Brian Dopirak (02-2), Ryan Harvey (03-1) Steals: no 1999 steal, Dontrelle Willis (00-8), Brendan Harris (01-5), Adam Greenberg (02-9), Sean Marshall (03-6) The longest tenured NL scouting director, John Stockstill has both success stories and blemishes on his resume. Most consistent in his ideology is the tendency to draft players that have slipped due to economic concerns, using the Chicago market to his advantage. Stockstill also tends to spend late-round picks on players generally seen as hard to sign, and many are names that tend to pop up again: Khalil Greene, Taylor Teagarden, Jeff Larish, etc. Stockstill was unfortunate to come right before the Corey Pattersons and Kerry Woods were drafted, and also is likely bummed that Jim Hendry chose to include Dontrelle Willis in the Matt Clement trade. I'm not sure that Stockstill will have a lot more drafts with the Cubs at this pace, but expect more of the draft-the-undraftable strategy to continue in 2005.
But I think you're right about Hendry. This quote from Phil Rogers in 2000 clinches it for me:
"We thought Montanez was the best player for us in the country," Cubs scouting director Jim Hendry said. "He's a lot like the [Alex] Gonzalez kid who plays for Toronto. His bat at 18 is probably farther along."

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Alex Gonzalez of the Toronto Blue Jays, aka, the Cubs starting shortstop in 2003, he of the NLCS error and .220-ish batting average. (I really liked watching him play and rooting for him, but you never hope a 1st round pick turns into him.) The Alex Gonzalez you're thinking of was with the Marlins.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Nope- I knew exactly who he was talking about. Again, he started at SS in the big leagues for several years. He wasn't great, and arguably wasn't even good. But not many prospects, even those drafted in the first round, become everyday starters for several years in the big leagues. Not quite sure when the Hendry quote was said, but Gonzalez was also a top ten prospect by BA in 1994 and 1995.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Apologies. Your description sounded to me a lot more like the other, more successful Alex Gonzalez. I guess as realistic projections for first rounders, that makes sense. But usually when we talk about first-rounder ceilings we compare them to Gary Sheffield or Jose Reyes or Chris Carpenter or something. A draft selection with a ceiling of Alex Gonzalez the lesser shouldn't go in the first round, if that's really what you think of him as a scouting director. But Hendry obviously thought pretty highly of that Alex Gonzalez.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

"the other, more successful Alex Gonzalez." You made me look up for on B-R. Cub A-Gonz played 13 seasons and amassed 8.7 WAR for his career, topping out with 2.0 WAR twice. (over $30M career earnings) Marlin A-Gonz in in his 14th season and has 8.1 WAR for his career, with his two best seasons being 3.3 and 2.0 WAR. (over $27M career earnings)

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

Point was more the projecting the Ceiling of your 3rd overall draft pick to be a replacement level big league player. I'd be akin to hoping Mark Prior would have the ceiling of Jason Marquis.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).