Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* 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: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Fire Sveum...Act Surprised Everyone

Submitted by Rob G. on

In a move that everyone should have expected, Dale Sveum was removed of his duties as the Cubs lineup filler-outer. Some new lucky schlub will now get that honor with a very nice paycheck, posssibly $3M or more if their name is Joe Girardi.

In the official statement, TheJedi were their normal political correct selves, wishing Dale good luck in his future endeavors and taking the blame for the record the last 2 years...while not really taking the blame though. Because if they were really upset about it, they'd Samurai Futaba themselves like any honorable G.M.

It's all just P.R. rhetoric, but if there's a statement of hope to hang our hats on, it would probably be this paragraph.

Soon, our organization will transition from a phase in which we have been primarily acquiring young talent to a phase in which we will promote many of our best prospects and actually field a very young, very talented club at the major league level. The losing has been hard on all of us, but we now have one of the top farm systems in baseball, some of the very best prospects in the game, and a clear path forward. In order for us to win with this group - and win consistently - we must have the best possible environment for young players to learn, develop and thrive at the major league level. We must have clear and cohesive communication with our players about the most important parts of the game. And - even while the organization takes a patient, long view - we must somehow establish and maintain a galvanized, winning culture around the major league club.

So far Girardi and Brad Ausmus have been the only names mentioned, certainly more will follow. TheJedi says they'll start the formal process tomorrow morning asking for permissions and so forth. Girardi is technically under contract until November 1st with the Yankees, so they'll certainly get first crack to retain him. The press release says they plan to have a manager in place by the GM meetings in early November, if not sooner, and will be stressing the development of young talent in any hire.

Tags
Cubs Managers
Dale Sveum

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:17 pm

Davey Johnson retires...Gardenhire re-ups for 2 years.

So far open jobs are:

Yankees, Cubs, Mariners and Nationals.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:40 pm

"31. St. Louis Cardinals — Kodi Medeiros, LHP, Waiakea HS (HI)" every time a list gets made he moves more and more up those lists. if he actually played in a more competitive HS field he would probably be a top-15 pick...and may end up cracking at/near that depending on how many people pay attention to him and how he does next season. deception + velocity and good control. i was hoping he'd fly under the radar and perhaps make it to the 2nd round, but that seems to be less likely as time goes on. hoffman linked to the cubs on that list... from an earlier post (which involved medeiros/hoffman/rondon that i made a few weeks ago about another list... "kodi medeiros is on his list and he's been absent or very deep on a lot of lists even though he's got great stuff. very interesting guy with extremely good fastball + slider combo and unusual mound delivery. he throws between 3/4 and sidearm...very deceptive...especially for a guy who's stuff, alone, doesn't need deception. the biggest hangup for him is it's been hard to gauge how good he is in competition because he plays weak competition in hawaii. it's hard to tell what kinda loot he's gonna want...he's not committed to any college (and it's thought that he doesn't want to go to college), but if he falls too far in the 1st he may go the community college route to raise his value. btw...i still don't like jeff hoffman as much as some people. he's getting a lot of positive buzz since he's one of an extremely small list of guys who had "sit up and notice" performances with summer ball exhibitions/leagues. still, it's one big crapshoot after c.rondon anyway...who's control/command doesn't excite me very much. killer tools on rondon, though...he's got the parts (fb, cutter, slider, curve, change, kitchen sink, etc)...he just needs to make it repeatable."

Submitted by The E-Man on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:54 pm

...we must somehow establish and maintain a galvanized, winning culture around the major league club. Really??? Somehow? I think Ryne Sandberg could have done just as badly (or, even better) and he had built solid relationships with many of the former AAA players. They brought in "their guy" and I really do not see positive progression from any youngsters, save Travis Wood and maybe Castillo. Yet TheoJed brought in career minor leaguers, waiver claims, and cuts. The mess continues.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:34 pm

It doesn't inspire confidence, but at least they cut their losses and, by swallowing a year of the contract, are admitting their mistake. The bigger problem is that just as Hendry staked it all on the Soriano gamble, TheoCorp has really thrown it down on Castro and Rizzo. If they pedal backwards next year, that's 14 years of bad contract. So if nothing else, they really didn't have a choice here.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:59 pm

that's 14 years of bad contract.

They're both gonna be playing their age 24 seasons next year, I have a hard time imagining someone getting paid this

13:$5M, 14:$5M, 15:$6M, 16:$7M, 17:$9M, 18:$10M, 19:$11M, 20:$16M club option ($1M buyout)

and this

13:$0.75M, 14:$1.25M, 15:$5M, 16:$5M, 17:$7M, 18:$7M, 19:$11M, 20:$14.5M

is really going to sink the ship...that's kind of the point of those contracts, you can move on a lot easier and someone will always take a chance on 24-25 year olds with previous major league success.

And if by chance the two really are disasters going forward, most people around here already think the Cubs should trade Castro and finding a 1b-men shouldn't be all that hard. Obviously the media would have a field day with it, but I really don't think it would kill the organization at all.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:08 pm

I actually didn't mean to make it sound like it was a direct comparison to the Soriano contract, more like Soriano-lite. It definitely came out that way cuz I said they are "really" throwing it down but it wasn't quite what was in my head. I didn't object to the contracts at the time - well, the Rizzo one seemed a little hasty to me but I was still pretty ok with it. I still don't, but I also didn't object to the Soriano contract. I saw it for what it was, a huge roll of the dice. Cubbery won. I also think the Rizzo and Castro contracts are big dice rolls. Not as big, but it's still a pain in the ass if they don't perform. Cubbery usually wins gambles. They own the house.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 09/30/2013 - 09:39 pm

hire mike maddux...replaces manager + pitching coach issues all in one... actually, i wouldn't mind seeing mike maddux as manager...though it would probably take $1-$1.5m to get it done. i still hope they find some sub-$1m guy, ultimately, and puts the loot "saved" back into the product on the field. rob deer's role was "assistant hitting coach"...for some reason...i guess if anyone has had to hear various people trying to coach various methods of trying to correct hitting, it is him. corey patterson for assistant hitting coach!

Recent comments

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

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