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

Soto Wins Rookie of the Year

As expected, the Cubs field general Geovany Soto took home the NL Rookie of the Year honors. He's the 5th Cub to win the honor and first catcher since Mike Piazza in 1993. He did it on the strength of a 285/364/504 batting line with 23 HR's, 86 RBI's and 66 Runs in the traditional baseball categories. He also created 6.6 Runs per game, had a 7.0 WARP-1 value and was 5 runs above average on defense, those last two numbers courtesy of Baseball Prospectus. That's quite a nice little season that was good enough to get 31 of the 32 possible first place votes, with one yokel probably from Cincinnati voting for Joey Votto.

Thanks to the legwork of reader WISCGRAD, here's the complete list of Cubs that have received a vote for the Rookie of the Year. The five winners are in bold (Geovany Soto, Kerry Wood, Jerome Walton, Ken Hubbs and Billy Williams).

Name
Year
Place
Geovany Soto
2008
 1st
Mark Prior
2002
 7th
Kerry Wood
1998
1st
Jeremi Gonzalez
1997
9th
Kevin Orie
1997
11th
Steve Trachsel
1994
4th
Chuck McElroy
1991
5th
Mike Harkey
1990
5th
Jerome Walton
1989
1st
Dwight Smith
1989
2nd
Mark Grace
1988
2nd
Damon Berryhill
1988
6th
Les Lancaster
1987
6th
Mel Hall
1983
3rd
Ryne Sandberg
1982
6th
Scot Thompson
1979
3rd
Manny Trillo
1975
3rd
Bill Madlock
1974
3rd
Randy Hundley
1964
3rd
Ken Hubbs
1962
1st
Billy Williams
1961
1st
Jack Curtis
1961
3rd
Ron Santo
1960
4th
Dick Drott
1957
3rd
Ernie Banks
1954
2nd
Bill Serena
1950
5th

Now that Soto has earned the ROY hardware, next up - OSCAR!

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Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Saw that too, but can't get it to open. Is it anything new?

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

absolutely not, whoever Mad Dog is, just yells at you for a minute saying he thinks the Cubs will land Peavy and that everything in the offseason revolves around the Yankees. He needs a haircut too.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Shucks. I should have realized "Mad Dog Minute" refers to guy from Mike & the Mad Dog show in NYC on WFAN. Fucking annoying as hell. No wonder he thinks everything's about the Yankees.

but can't get it to open. Is it anything new? ----------' try Firefox. For some reason it didn't work on Safari. No, nothing new...just a rant, I think he expected Holiday to go to the Yankees.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

harvey pekar approves

Should the Cubs be interested in Huston Street at all? Would make re-signing Wood a much lower priority. You could close with Street or use Marmol and put in Street in set-up work. Either way, would save the Cubs some money. The Roto story suggests the Rockies might be in a real money bind. Which raises the question for me: Brad Hawpe, available? Would solve the Cubs' need for a LH hitting RF. Would also make the Cubs the all-time favorite team of every LSU Tigers fan in the world, LOL.

"Outfielder Shane Victorino, a spark plug in the Philadelphia Phillies' postseason run, hosting a World Series championship party for his family and friends on Sunday in the VIP bowling suite inside Red Rock Lanes at Red Rock Resort. Among his friends joining him was Reed Johnson of the Chicago Cubs. Victorino lives in Las Vegas in the off-season. " http://www.lvrj.com/news/34191634.html Why isn't he in mourning like the rest of us?

to sign Dempster and Wood before other teams can start making offers... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081110.WBbaseball2… first, Dempster's smart enough to know his stuff is best suited to the National League. Second, although it's been reported that he's asking for five years and $70 million from the Cubs, he has apparently told the team he is willing to give them a discount in terms of money and years to stay with them in the event they acquire Peavy, and help form what would be a beastly starting rotation. From spending a couple of days with the Cubs and Dempster down the stretch, it's pretty clear Chicago's where his heart is, and my guess both sides would make it work.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

It's cool to see a player that wants to make his team great (or wants to be on a great team?) more than he wants the extra five million on top of the tens of millions he'll surely be making anyway. Then again, if everyone did this, it would be the death of parity... I don't care though, because it's the Cubs who would benefit most.

just one more thing to worry about...sure would be nice to have a diagnosis as to what is the cause of him still hurting after a full month of rest... from Paul Sullivan's Trib article on Soto: Soto disclosed Monday that he's still taking painkillers for the sore left hand that started bothering him in mid-September. "It's still hurting right now," Soto said. "It feels like the worst hurt you could have without being injured. It was a pain I couldn't really shake. After I hit the ball, you'd have to give me five or six minutes and it would go away. It was giving me nagging pain … It didn't hurt catching, but it didn't help it to get better either, so I just had to play through it." http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-11-cubs-soto-chi… and the similar article from Gordon Wittenmeyer in the Sun-Times is a bit more reassuring: -- despite finishing the season with a hand injury he admitted was worse than he let on at the time. He said the hand -- which he hurt on a swing the at-bat before a huge ninth-inning, game-tying homer against Milwaukee Sept. 18 -- still hurt Monday but that he's taking medication and doing rehab exercises. He said he's not worried about it lingering into spring training and expects to be 100 percent in about a month. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1272055,CST-SPT-cub11.arti…

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).