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

Draft Pick Watch is On

- The Dodgers have won 40 of their last 48. This has nothing to do with the Cubs right now except it gives me an opportunity to post this gif of our old friend LaTroy Hawkins after serving up the game tying home run.

- Back to the Cubs, they've lost 13 of their last 17 and have moved into a tie for the 4th draft pick with the Brewers, in which they own the tiebreaker.

PickTeam.PCTGB
1Houston.328--
2Miami.3877.0
3White Sox.3877.0
4Cubs.43312.5
5Milwaukee.43312.5
6San Francisco.43713.0
7Philadelphia.44213.5
8Angels.44514.0
9Minnesota.44914.5
10San Diego.45014.5

You can always find that table on the left sidebar by the way. While I'm mostly wrong in my predictions, I didn't do too badly this year. I surmised that the Cubs could probably make a run at .500, but once they start trading off pieces, they'll be near the bottom again. Now they never quite got to .500, but their run differential was pretty close for awhile and then once the trading began, the freefall was inevitable. Of course at this point, they're a lot closer to the 13th spot (3.5 ahead), then the 2nd spot (5.5 behind), but I think we're all confident in their ability to tank the rest of the season. I think the 4th or 5th spot is the most likely, although I wouldn't put it past the Marlins to make a decent run...they have some decent youth that's been playing much better of late.

Comments

"The former Cubs manager was in a particularly good mood, noting he finally could walk to the mound without boos erupting en masse, a byproduct of the summer malaise at Wrigley in the final weeks of Year Two of the rebuild. "They love me," Baker said. " 'Come back, Dusty, we didn't mean it. We love you. I'm a big fan of yours.' I'm like, 'Where were you a few years ago?' " ---Paul Sullivan article

Nice to see Soriano with his 13 RBI two game set there. I bet he's really been flashing that big smile of his a lot in NYC lately.

w/ lineups like yesterday's on the eve of an off-day (resting key regs for the final push or what?!?) raises legitimate suggestions of tanking for sake of draft position, imo...forget winning the occasional home game, is scoring a run or two now & then too much to ask @ the prices they charge?! *#@% 'd-mac' was hitting in the low 200's here!

[ ]

In reply to by Mike Wellman

The way I see it, the guys in uniform are obligated to put forth a good effort to win games. The guys in the front office are not obliged to put effort into winning games when the goal is to rebuild. SO I suppose I agree with you that it is bad form to intentionally throw games. To be clear I don't think the Cubs are intentionally throwing games. They currently have, like, 3 major league ball players. Cut them some slack.

on the other hand, not sure how many 'key regs' this team actually has, come to think of it...

finally, which is more stimulating: watching paint dry or listening to dale sveum on the pre/post game?

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2007/04/01/rip-heinie-massman-1927-2007

so anyone with computer/database savvy, know why I get this error?

EntityMalformedException: Missing bundle property on entity of type comment. in entity_extract_ids() (line 7693 of /home/thecubre/public_html/includes/common.inc).

Seems to be affecting all articles that were imported after we moved to our own site...they were all working for the most part for awhile I remember.

Any help would be appreciated....

soriano goes 4-5 today (all singles)...only 1 RBI, though 10-14 in his last 3 games...4hr, 1 double

[ ]

In reply to by Newport

i wonder if he even still smokes since he's now "born again." to my knowledge he hasn't said he wasn't...nor would it exclude him from being "born again." either way, i hope the cubs stay away from both of them...but i imagine they'll be signing some kind of "name brand" starter to go with ninja/ejax/arrieta/carlos manuel (paulino) villanueva

olt 0-4, 2Ks ...starting to get a bit alarming. he was on the upswing before leaving TEX, but he hasn't even put together back-to-back promising games in iowa. .127/.179/.253 in 84 PA.

How common is it for a MiLB shortstop to crank 30hr in a season at any level(s)? Baez is a monster ... Jeez.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

At his age I'd hardly call it alarming. Everything I've read about him says he is working hard on that part of his game, too. I'm kinda surprised, though, that Theo hasn't gone ahead and offered a ten year contract to the kid.

Some really good pitching in the system tonight including: CJ Edwards for Daytona: 5IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K and at KC, recent draft picks Tyler Skulina started with 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 4K and Rob Zastryzny with 3IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 4K. At Boise, with a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the 5th...Dillon Maples pitching, so far with a line of 5IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 9K

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

With all of the caveats about sample size, etc. this years pitching draft picks are doing very well overall. Clifton and Garner are struggling, but Zastryzny, Skulina, Masek, Frazier, Wilson, Godley, Graham, Wagner, and Ihrig are all doing very well in the early going. Position player prospects are not doing well overall. Bryant has been great, Hannemann was doing well prior to the injury, and Brockmeyer is hitting very well, especially for a catcher, at Boise, but the rest aren't impressing yet. Here's a quick overview: 1) Kris Bryant - obviously doing very well 2) Rob Zastryzny - Combined 2.21 ERA in 20 IP between Boise and KC 3) Jacob Hannemann - .780 OPS in 60 ABs at Boise before getting injured 4) Tyler Skulina - 1.20 ERA in 15 IP at Boise, though struggling a bit in KC 5) Trey Masek - 1.20 ERA in 15 IP at Boise 6) Scott Frazier - 1.47 ERA in 18 IP at Boise 7) David Garner - 7.15 ERA in 11 IP at Arizona, he is struggling 8) Sam Wilson - 0.59 ERA in 15 IP at Boise 9) Charcer Burks - .356 OBP and 5 SB in 23 games at Arizona, but only ONE XBH! 10) Zack Godley - 2.37 ERA in 19 IP at Boise 11) Jordan Hankins - struggling, just a .616 OPS in over 100 ABs at Boise 12) Trevor Clifton - struggling with a 12.46 ERA in 5 games at Arizona 13) Trevor Graham - 2.25 ERA in 16 IP at Arizona 15) Michael Wagner - combined 2.61 ERA in 17 IP between Arizona and Boise 16) Cael Brockmeyer - solid .836 OPS in 26 games for Boise 17) Kelvin Freeman - .706 OPS in 98 ABs for Arizona 18) Giuseppe Papaccio - .801 OPS at Arizona, but just .642 OPS at KC 20) Zak Blair - just a .580 OPS at Arizona 22) Kevin Brown - just a .213 BA in 89 Arizona at-bats 23) Tyler Ihrig - 1.04 ERA in 17 IP at Arizona 24) Tyler Alamo - only 14 ABs so far at Arizona 28) Brad Renner - just 4 IP so far at Arizona, but no runs allowed 30) Zak Hermans - 3.52 ERA so far in 7 IP at Arizona

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I'd be happy to do that actually, but anyone have good advice on where to find an accurate transactions list for the Cubs? The one on Cubs.com is terribly incomplete. Rizzo/Cashner, Zambrano/Volstad, etc. aren't even on there! I've used retrosheet in the past, but that is sometimes incomplete as well and I think only goes through the end of 2012.

The Smokies’ skipper said during his postgame press conference that right-handed pitcher and Cubs prospect Trey McNutt – who has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury since June 28 – ran into a roadblock after tossing a scoreless inning and allowing three hits while striking out one in his second appearance with the AZL Cubs. “McNutt was getting real close,” Bailey said, “and then in just the last day or two something showed back up but in a different spot.” http://smokiesonradio.com/2013/08/15/injury-update-mcnutt-suffers-setba…

Why was Roney Alcala moved from the VSL Cubs to the DSL Cubs this week?

1. The VSL season starts & ends about three weeks prior to the beginning & end of the DSL season;

2. The VSL Cubs were swept by the VSL Mariners in the VSL Championship series last week, so their season is over;

3. Th DSL Cubs had a roster opening;

4. The DSL Cubs will almost certainly be in the DSL playoffs that start in about ten days; and

5. Alcala was the VSL batting champion & RBI leader, and so he can probably help the DSL Cubs in their pursuit of the DSL Championship. 

BTW, the DSL Cubs have the second-best record in the DSL, and that's a 35-team league (25 MLB clubs have one club each in the DSL, and five MLB clubs have two DSL teams).  

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet 3. Christian Villanueva, 3b, Cubs Team: Double-A Tennessee (Southern) Age: 22 Why He’s Here: .458/.519/1.000 (11-for-24), 2 HR, 7 2B, 7 RBIs, 6 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 0-for-1 SB The Scoop: When the Rangers traded Villanueva and righthander Kyle Hendricks to the Cubs last year to add Ryan Dempster, the move made sense for Texas, where Villanueva was blocked by Adrian Beltre and Mike Olt. One year later, Villanueva is again blocked by Olt—though Olt’s struggles have certainly narrowed the gap between the two—with Kris Bryant, Jeimer Candelario and potentially Javier Baez also competing with Villanueva to be Chicago’s third baseman of the future. At some point, that could make Villanueva trade bait once again. For now, he’s one of the hottest hitters in the minors with a .305/.351/.543 slash line since the all-star break. His 36 doubles are a career high, and his 16 home runs are one off the 17 he hit two years ago in the low Class A South Atlantic League. 9. Kris Bryant, 3b, Cubs Team: high Class A Daytona (Florida State) Age: 21 Why He’s Here: .444/.469/.852 (12-for-27), 2 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 7 RBIs, 4 R, 3 BB, 9 SO The Scoop: If you ever wanted to see College Player of the Year and No. 2 overall draft pick Kris Bryant don a cap featuring a sunglasses-wearing cartoon bear, then here’s your chance. You’ll want to act quickly, though, seeing as he’s launched two homers and gone 4-for-13 (.308) in his first four games for the Daytona Cubs. At three minor leagues stops, Bryant has hit .333/.381/.679 with 16 extra-base hits (including six homers) in 24 games as a professional. 10. Javier Baez, ss, Cubs Team: Double-A Jackson (Southern) Age: 20 Why He’s Here: .370/.433/.704 (10-for-27), 2 HR, 3 2B, 5 R, 7 RBIs, 3 BB, 6 SO, 2-for-2 SB The Scoop: The hottest hitter in the Southern League has been on quite the tear. Baez has eight multi-hit games in his last 12. He’s 7-for-his-last-7 on steals and he’s reduced his at-one-point obscene number of errors, committing nine errors in 34 games at shortstop in Double-A (.944 fielding percentage). While that’s still more miscues than the Cubs would like to see, he has made significant strides at converting chances into outs, as attested to by his poor .922 fielding percentage at high Class A Daytona, where errors tended to occur in bunches. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-hot-sheet-aug-16-mets-ra…

Phillies calling a press conference for 1:30pm, CST (2:30pm Eastern), Managerial Change! Go Ryno Go...

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I wonder how long the standing O will be the first time he goes out to the mound. Sure, he'll get cheered during the lineup exchanges if he presents them, but not everybody will be in their seats, etc., for that.

muskat tweets... Villanueva accepts shift in roles. Says being versatile can be "a pain in the butt" but admits it's kept him in the big leagues

Charlie Manuel is the first manager fired in 2013. I think that's pretty late into the year for no firings.

Tears in his eyes, Reuben Amaro Jr starting presser. Manuel speaks next at conference. Manuel gone but will remain in Phils organization (he hasn't accepted this role yet). Sandberg offered the job on an interim basis through the remainder of season. Sandberg has accepted. Juan Samuel will be their 3B coach.

[ ]

In reply to by tem99

I don't blame him for the record. i blame him for his general bad baseball decision making. Is he passable as a manager? Probably... 

Would a trained monkey or a well-programmed computer simulation get the same results? Not really sure...

He's just there, which is probably fine, but doesn't get me too excited.

junior lake swinging a bat sure brings back memories of sammy sosa...only with 1/4 of the actual power behind the results... he's pretty convinced he can hit 40+ homers if he swings hard enough to separate his shoulders on every offer.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

speaking of injury... Muskat updates them:
Cubs pitcher Matt Guerrier underwent surgery Friday to repair the flexor mass in his right arm, and he will be sidelined six to eight months. Dr. Timothy Kremchek performed the procedure. Acquired from the Dodgers in the Carlos Marmol trade, Guerrier was 2-1 with a 2.13 ERA in 15 games with the Cubs. The right-hander does not have a contract for next season, and he said before the procedure that he would like to come back to Chicago.
The Cubs did get good news on outfielder Brian Bogusevic, who has been rehabbing a strained left hamstring since July 15. Bogusevic was expected to join Triple-A Iowa to continue his rehab, and he could be activated soon. The outfielder has been playing with the AZL Cubs in the Arizona League. In six games, he was batting .286 (6-for-21), and he has played center field in four of his six games.
Infielder Luis Valbuena, sidelined since Aug. 3 with a strained right oblique, has been able to swing a fungo bat, but has yet to hit. He is able to play catch from a short distance.
Outfielder Ryan Sweeney, on the disabled list since June 30 with a left rib fracture, has been able to hit in the batting cage. He's expected to return in September.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130816&content_id=57…

and Barney gets an intentional walk to get to the pitcher...Cards must be ignoring their advanced scouting (even though Arrieta out on a fielder's choice)

8th soriano HR... 2-2 on the night...4 rbi...top 3rd.

[ ]

In reply to by Jackstraw

he was the O's opening day starter last year...he's always had the stuff...it's how it comes out of his arm game-to-game and inning-to-inning that's been his knock. if they can work this kind of magic with him maybe they should make a run at phil hughes in the off-season.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

he's doing crazy bad...like, bad enough that if it wasn't mid-August he'd probably be sent down. he's sporting an OPS around .430 as a cub since the trade...which requires no ob%/slugging split because that's blindingly obvious suck.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Well CJ Edwards better keep plugging on because without him I'd say we "got f%cked at the auction" to quote an English as a Second Language tape a friend of mine has, explaining how to use that particular F word in context. Funniest language training tape ever - and it was not trying to be. Olt however is not funny and Grimm is grim.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

olt will most likely still be a top-5 cubs prospect come list-maker time (probably 3/4 on more than a few lists). he's better than what's going on now. his D is good...good arm...power...but what's going on since he came over the cubs is mindblowingly awful. fwiw, valbuena and d.murphy are under club control next year and both will probably be back...valbuena (3rd/2nd) and murphy (3rd/SS/2nd)

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I want him to succeed. I understand that he may ride the momentum of his previous rankings, but this whole year is just a mess and that is a very bad sign. Beaned in the head, hits like crap, vision problems, nonfucntioning tear ducts, this isn't standard baseball stuff. If has the weird stench of a bad head injury or psychological effects from the beaning or both. I'm very concerned regardless of how he is ranked. That said maybe we don't get him in the trade if he wasn't struggling. But this doesn't just appear to be growing pains and slumps. This seems more serious.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Me being a glass half full kind of guy, maybe instead of doing some time in Arizona or something, the Cubs should give him a little time off after the summer and see if they can focus (no pun intended) on getting those eyes fixed. He may just come back ok.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Glass full or empty I think I'd agree he needs a rest more than he needs to plow thru this mess. But we'll see. I REALLY want that dude to be a success for the Cubs ML team. I take no measure of satisfaction in freaking out about his struggles. It totally sucks. I think a rest is in order and some medical attention on those eyes or whatever. Maybe a spa! ;)

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

A lot of small sample sizes. The one season where he played 200+ innings at 2B was for the 05 Royals, and UZR hated him there. However, in most years with even smaller sample sizes, like the 04 Royals, the 08 A's, and the 12 Marlins, each in less than 100 innings, he has nice-looking UZR numbers. At the end of the day, he's probably OK to hang at 2B, but he's sure not going to be Darwin there with the glove.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I have no problem with that . . . He clearly lost his balance a little even after dropping to a knee. But more importantly his running out of the box promptly had no meaning whatsoever. It was either a homerun a single or an out. The winning run was half way home and Baez run was meaningless. I think there is way too much focus on whether a guy looked at his HR or flipped his bat etc. Soriano (a serious veteran I know) is the absolute worst I've ever seen. And he never gets retaliation. I think it's gotten a little silly. There is follow through on the bat with a decent swing and the days of hitting it that far but somehow ignoring it, putting your head down and sprinting are gone, that is if it ever happened. The player needs to gauge the hit, but again HD TV makes it look more vivid. Anyway just something I've been thinking about after watching pitchers plunk guys this year and watching the replay and trying to figure out what was so offensive about a players subtle reactions to the home runs. (Meanwhile Soriano basically hits the ball, makes a dinner reservation, sets up a table and toasts himself with fine champaign before trotting like a Russian Diplomat from the 19th century) I think a young Mets player was the subject of some serious retaliation against the Braves or something and I couldn't see what he did at all. It's all ridiculous.

"Seems that his swing brought him to one knee, then he took his time getting out of that position (to admire the homer)?"

link

j.blanton (LAA) 128.1ip 174h 30bb 104k, 6.03era/1.59whip 28HR (2 tonight) ...last 3 outings, 6ip 13er (3, 6, 4) ...owed $7.5m next year (+$1m buyout for 2015) and has been working as long relief since late july...ow.

Miguel Tejada suspended for 105 games for using Aderall? My God man, Starlin Castro desperately NEEDS the stuff. Why would they ban something half the population under 30 is taking?

Dale pulls Castro after letting run score on infield fly rule catch with bases loaded.

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

it's not like getting an exemption is hard...MLB has 8-12% exemptions. there's 105-130+ players in any given year with an exemption since they started handing them out. i kinda wonder why more people aren't all over this if they wanna abuse speed...i'm looking at you c.ruiz.

Sveum seemed to handle it well, take him out, make your point...then hopefully put him back in tomorrow.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Agreed Rob. I've been a Castro supporter. I know he's had a crap year, but the freaking mental mistakes, bad fundamentals, and.poor atbats have got to stop. I damn near leapt out of my chair when he pulled that crap today.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Frustration with Castro is really mounting. It's pretty difficult to explain his struggles at the plate this year, aside from simply restating the obvious.

olt 0-3 (no Ks) grimm 7ip 4h 0bb 8k, 3 r/er rosscup 1ip 1h 0bb 3k (3.2ip 2h 2bb 10K)...all but 1 out via the K in his short AAA career, 14.5 K/9 between AA/AAA (47ip/76K) baez 1-3 (double), 1bb 2k bryant 2-5 (single, double) vogel 1-3 (single), 2bb i.pineyro 5ip 8h 2bb 4k, 6 r/er

OK, here is a breakdown of the players the Cubs lost and gained in trades since Epstein/Hoyer took over. Players Lost Tyler Colvin: Solid .858 OPS in 2012, but has spent 2013 in AAA DJ LeMahieu: Utility infielder for Rockies with .701 OPS in two seasons Sean Marshall: Solid set-up man in 2012, but has spent most of 2013 on DL Carlos Zambrano: 4.49 ERA in 20 starts for Marlins in 2012, spent half of 2013 in Phillies minors before being released in July Andrew Cashner: 4.27 ERA out of the bullpen in 2012, 3.27 ERA in 20 starts for Padres in 2013 Kyung-Min Na: Struggled badly in 2012 and was released, not playing in 2013 Chris Carpenter: Has battled injuries with Red Sox and struggling in minors in 2013 Aaron Kurcz: 3.04 ERA out of bullpen for Red Sox AA team Marlon Byrd: Struggled with Red Sox in 2012 before being released and then suspended for PEDs, having a rebound year with .847 OPS for Mets in 2013 Paul Maholm: 3.54 ERA in 11 starts for Atlanta in 2012, but just 4.41 ERA in 20 starts in 2013 and now on DL Reed Johnson: Just .663 OPS in 2012-13 for Atlanta Geovony Soto: Combined .641 OPS in 2012-13 for Texas Ryan Dempster: 5.09 ERA in 12 starts for Texas in 2012, 4.50 ERA in 24 starts for Red Sox in 2013 Jeff Baker: Limited ABs as utility player for Tigers, Braves, and now Rangers in 2012-2013 Blake Lalli: AAA catcher for A’s and now Brewers, limited big league ABs Tony Campana: AAA outfielder for D-Backs in 2013, doing well, but only 12 ABs in bigs Alberto Gonzalez: Struggling badly in AAA for Yankees Drew Carpenter: Went from Cubs to Rockies to Angels to A’s in 2013, playing in minors Ian Dickson: 5.15 ERA for Nationals A team Brent Lillibridge: Utility infielder and AAA player for Yankees Hisanori Takahashi: Struggling in AAA for Rockies Scott Feldman: 5.18 ERA in 7 starts for Orioles Steve Clevenger: Only played in 18 games so far in Orioles minor leagues Carlos Marmol: 4.00 ERA in 9 IP for Dodgers Scott Hairston: Terrible (.560 OPS) for Nationals since trade Matt Garza: 3.86 ERA in 5 starts for Texas Alfonso Soriano: 1.020 OPS for Yankees so far Guillermo Moscoso: 4.73 ERA in 13 IP for Giants **Note: Cubs Still Owe Nationals PTBN in Scott Hairston Trade Players Gained in Trades Tyler Colvin Trade Casey Weathers: Terrible 6.62 ERA in AA in 2012, hasn’t played in 2013 Ian Stewart: Sucked, got injured, released Sean Marshall Trade Ronald Torreyes: .711 OPS in A in 2012, .642 OPS in AA in 2013 until traded to Astros for international bonus slots Dave Sappelt: .671 OPS in 150 ABs for the Cubs in 2012-2013, and has not impressed at AAA either. Travis Wood: 3.69 ERA in 51 starts for the Cubs in 2013-2013 Carlos Zambrano Trade Chris Volstad: Terrible 6.31 ERA in 21 starts for Cubs in 2012, currently in AAA for Rockies Andrew Casher Trade Zach Cates: 4.23 ERA in 20 starts for Daytona in 2013 Anthony Rizzo: 2.3 WAR in half season in 2012, 2.3 WAR so far in 2013 Theo Epstein Trade Jair Bogaerts: Released just a few months after the trade, not playing anywhere in 2013 Marlon Byrd Trade Michael Bowden: 2.95 ERA in 30 games for Cubs in 2012, 4.60 ERA in 20 games in 2013 Hunter Cervenka: Did well out of bullpen for A and A+ in 2012, and has 3.25 ERA across A+ and AA out of the bullpen in 2013 Paul Maholm Trade Jaye Chapman: Struggled in 2012 and to start 2013 before being shut down following hip surgery Arodys Vizcaino: Still recovering from TJ surgery, may pitch in Arizona Fall League Geovany Soto Trade Barret Loux: 4.84 ERA in 16 starts for AAA in 2013 Ryan Dempster Trade Christian Villanueva: Has a .799 OPS in AA in 2013 Kyle Hendricks: 10-3 with a 1.85 ERA in 21 AA starts in 2013, recently promoted to AAA Jeff Baker Trade Marcelo Carreno: Injured, has yet to play in Cubs system Blake Lalli Trade Anthony Recker: Cup of coffee with Cubs in 2012 but then lost on waivers, back-up catcher for Mets in 2013 (.629 OPS in 100+ ABs) Tony Campana Trade Erick Leal: 2.98 ERA in 45 IP for Arizona League Cubs in 2013, still just 18 years old Jesus Castillo: 17-year-old on Cubs Venezuela team in 2013, 4.26 ERA in 19 IP Ian Dickson Trade Henry Rodriguez: Just 4 games for Cubs and 3 games for AAA Iowa in 2013 Scott Feldman Trade Jake Arrieta: 3.56 ERA in 7 AAA starts, and 2 great starts for Cubs so far Pedro Strop: 2.41 ERA in 19 games out of Cubs bullpen Carlos Marmol Trade Matt Guerrier: 2.13 ERA in 15 games for Cubs out of bullpen before getting injured and lost for season Scott Hairston Trade Ivan Pineyro: 3.18 ERA in 6 starts for Daytona Matt Garza Trade C.J. Edwards: 1.84 ERA in 4 starts for Daytona Justin Grimm: 6.04 ERA in 5 starts for AAA Iowa Mike Olt: Struggling with .397 OPS for AAA Iowa Alfonso Soriano Trade Corey Black: 3.21 ERA in 3 starts for Daytona Players Owed Yet 1 or 2 PTBN from Rangers for Matt Garza PTBN or Cash from Giants for Guillermo Moscoso PTBN or Cash from Yankees for Brent Lillibridge PTBN from Rockies for Hisanori Takahashi PTBN or Cash from Yankees for Alberto Gonzalez Future Considerations from Rockies for Drew Carpenter PTBN from Nationals for Scott Hairston For many of these deals, the sample size is simply not sufficient yet or the players are too young to really evaluate the trade. But overall, here are my thoughts, for what they are worth: 1) The Cubs haven't really lost anything in these trades that they didn't know they were going to lose (e.g. Marshall, Garza). Virtually none of the prospects they have traded have shown much promise and many of the sell-high guys like Feldman and Maholm have regressed since they left. 2) The Cubs also saved money in lots of the deals or gained international signing bonus money, and that is not considered above. 3) A few of these returns have really sucked. Weathers and Stewart have been worthless. One wonders the point of guys like Bogaerts and Carreno. And Sappelt is running out of time to show something. 4) Many of these trades look really good in the early going. Travis Wood, Anthony Rizzo, and Pedro Strop are major contributors to the big league club. Arrieta is on is way up. Michael Bowden has had some decent innings out of the bullpen. Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva are top prospects in the Cubs system. C.J. Edwards is dominating. Black and Pinyero are doing well in limited time so far for Daytona. Hunter Cervenka is doing well in the minors. 5) The jury is still out on a few of these. Zach Cates has been just OK so far. Grimm has had a few bad outings for AAA. Olt is really struggling. Chapmn and Vizcaino are both injured. The two kids the Cubs got for Campana are still teenagers and a few years away.

[ ]

In reply to by Hagsag

Nice going, and thanks, WISC! I think that Travis Wood has to be the most valuable commodity of all their moves to date. What would their staff look like without him? He has kept the shitty team in so many games without much run support to speak of. As a bonus, he is a terrific athlete, and has a higher OPS and BA than Darwin Barney.

dale adds another useless ejection to his career record. ...and somehow j.russell got ejected, too.

4 years left on Arod's contract...and the GM is afraid to talk to (or about) him because he might be sued by him. fun times.

DUMPSTER!!!! throws behind arod...2 inside...then HBP. girardi is the maddest i've ever seen him...by a long shot. BOS fans are in love. HUGE "Yankees suck" chant going on. warnings immediately issued.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Dempster's behavior was inexplicable . . . I think he is my second least favorite player behind A-Rod. I mean honestly what was he trying to prove? Ultimately he succeeded only in lighting a fire under A-Rod and the entire Yankee lineup. Oh and losing the game after A-Rod takes him deep. Nice job Demp, I'm sure your teammates are thrilled with your adolescent vigilante crap. You are the voice of a generation . . .

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In reply to by Carlito

it seemed to be a personal message...unless the team "not so secretly" wanted it...and if it was more of a team thing, then it almost assuredly was coming from the locker room, not the management/coaches/etc. j.lackey has been especially vocal about arod the past few days. no matter how you cut it, though...it was pure revenge that was personal brought on by something that had nothing to do with dumpster or the rsox team.

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In reply to by crunch

I suppose it could have been a "you beat us all those years and you were cheating" at bat. Which would kinda make sense given that rivalry. If Dempster did it of his own I think it was idiotic. If he was following instructions, which might be likely given his persistence, I suppose I was too harsh. But I guess we'll never know. My problem with it is it actually backfired in a bunch of ways. And also I cannot stand "you can't trade me I was napping and now I'm mad" Dempster. Given last year's trade deadline episode and things like today, I think he might be less mature than people give him credit for . . .

Cubs move to 4 games from the 3rd spot in the draft...also just 4 games from the 13th spot with a lot more teams in-between though.

From the tweet box: "Brett Jackson's woes at AA Tennessee continue. Hitting just .179 with 20 strikeouts in 56 at-bats." Time to convert him into a pitcher. And bring him up!!

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).