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

Wednesday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up

I'll keep this brief...

- Jerry Crasnick says the Cubs will be in on Ben Sheets if they lose out on Dempster and Peavy. I suppose that could be an and/or since the Cubs were considering both.

- It seems someone in the mass media has finally gotten around to mentioning that Jake Peavy is a huge injury risk.

- Jeff Passan returns and I mostly ignore everything in it.

- Rosenthal says the Padres now want Single-A catcher Tyler Flowers from the Braves instead of center fielder Gorkys Hernandez. He says the Cubs have given from six to eight names for the Padres to choose from.

- Bruce Miles was apparently on the radio and says Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno aren't of that much interest to the Padres and they're more interested in Josh Vitters, Welington Castillo, Sean Marshall and possibly some others.

Comments

As long as it is a 1 year incentive laden deal for Sheets fine, if its anything that requires a big commitment in terms of dollars and years, no.

Not to save the internet or anything, but I was intrigued by this line in your summary--"Bruce Miles was apparently on the radio and says Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno aren't of that much interest to the Padres and they're more interested in Josh Vitters, Welington Castillo, Sean Marshall"--because Miles doesn't usually have first-hand information or insider knowledge. He's more of a paid blogger than a reporter. So I checked your link, and it says that Jim Memolo was on the radio saying these things about Pie and Cedeno. Miles threw around the other names on his blog of 11/7:
Young major-league pitcher Sean Marshall is likely in the offer as is Felix Pie, who has bounced up and down. Believe it or not, the Cubs do have several other minor-leaguers they can offer. Among them: --Catcher Welington Castillo, who played in the Futures Game this year. He hit .298 at Class AA Tennessee before getting a promotion to Class AAA Iowa. He was at big-league camp this past February, and if he's not traded, he'll be there again in '09. --Third baseman Josh Vitters, the Cubs' No. 1 pick in 2007. He played at Boise (A) and Peoria (A) this year, hitting .328 with a .365 OBP at Boise.
Just some players the Cubs "can offer," not "have offered," and nothing about who the Padres are interested in. In spite of all the gossip, I'm going to assume that Jim Hendry would not mention Josh Vitters in a conversation about Peavy.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

way to cite a 5-day old story that's already been on here, suffice to say things can change.

I didn't hear the interview, but from that link it does seem that it is Memolo that was saying those things about Pie and Cedeno. Once again, apologies to the Internet.

As for offers, no one really knows as Hendry keeps things close to the vest. Cubs might not trade Vitters and I hope they don't, but saying the Padres are interested (as a few other reporters have) isn't much of a reach. They seem to like some Flowers kid in Atlanta which means catching is also on their mind, so Castillo makes sense too.

If Samardzija is out of the picture, I can't imagine a deal getting done with the Cubs that doesn't involve Vitters unless Towers is absolutely forced to dump Peavy and the Braves fall out of the picture.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If San Diego wanted Flowers, they want him more tonight: he hit three home runs this afternoon for our Mesa Solar Sox. The last one was his tenth. Tommy Hanson, another guy the Padres wanted but won't get, is 4-0 for the Solar Sox. Today he struck out nine in five innings. This is a strong Mesa squad, not much thanks to the Cubs. Colvin is on sick leave, and Clevenger and Spears seem to have retreated to the end of the bench. Darwin Barney usually plays short, though, and has raised his average to .375 after about 65 at bats.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Well, that's one list. Here are a couple others. In the AFL top ten in BA, 2005: Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Brendan Harris, Andre Ethier, Andy LaRoche. Also hitting .300 or above: Stephen Drew, Nick Markakis, Ryan Garko, Dan Uggla. AFL hitters with BA above .320, 2006: Yunel Escobar, Kevin Frandsen, Ben Zobrist, Hunter Pence, Troy Tulowitzki, Mark Reynolds, Ryan Braun. It's a little soon to look at 2007, but Longoria and DeWitt were in there. I sometimes wonder where you guys think ballplayers come from. Free agency? Or maybe the stork brings them? When Fuld was MVP in 2007, nobody had more than six home runs. Flowers has 10 in 62 at bats. And other than the fact that Lou will never play a guy in the outfield who has 3-home-run power, what's wrong with Sam Fuld? He says his hand was injured in the first half last season. Give him a break. He got it going in August: 325/424/445. I'm a Cub fan, he's a Cub, so I like him.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

apparently you missed this...

a lot of good players do play in it, but success in the AFL, which is a very friendly hitting environment, doesn't mean a whole lot...

on the other hand, you did list a a virtual who's who of top prospects the last few years. I think Dan Uggla is the only one who really used the AFL as a springboard.

My point being, AFL numbers don't mean much, the good players that come out of there were already considered good players before they got there 99% of the time. Flowers is already a pretty high-end prospect, the Padres aren't going to see 3 HR's in an AFL game and suddenly decide he's the one they need to get a Peavy deal done.

At this point, I think its up to Peavy. The Braves have and are willing it seems to give up more talent than the Cubs. Peavy is likely just torn between playing for the hometown team who might compete by 2010 or the 2nd best team in the NL right now. If this was a baseball move, then a Braves deal would be done by now.

No Peavy, no Sheets, just sign Dempster and Wood. And I know this factor is overplayed, but what's the key stat to discern offensive differentials between the Padres' stadium and Wrigley?

[ ]

In reply to by Dmac

Park Factors? Wrigley had about 7% more run scoring than the average ballpark in 2007. Petco had an amazing 20% less. I'm too lazy to try to calculate how that would affect Peavy's innings, but just straight calculation puts him at a about a 3.21 ERA had he pitched for the Cubs last year. I did round a .49 run up to a run, because he would have pitched fewer innings in Wrigley, than he had in Petco.

Sheets bad - stay away from more injury prone people Dempster - offer arbitration and cut bait take the sandwich picks....he's over rated he had a great contract year and is going to cash in...stay away...seriously going to pay him over 10mil a year. Get Peavy and give up the prospects that you will be drafting from dumping dempster. Wood - would be nice to keep him but will ask a lot on the market and we have capable closers. Peavy - if you can convince peavy to demand a trade to the Cubs that would be ideal...if you can get him get him...we are in it to win it NOW...not in five years. Pie - put him in center and the 8th hole or 9th and let him play, let him work it out, if the organization thinks he's good then commit to it. If not trade him away and get some one you can put in CF that is a no doubt leadoff man that forces Soriano down in the order. Marquis - 10 mil a year what a terrible contract! Good luck getting rid of that to anyone unless we eat the money. Roberts- give up on it all ready...we have nothing to give up and they are trying to sign big name players this off season they need something.

From the Yahoo Free Agent Tracker: 152) Corey Patterson, OF: He turned in one of the truly awful seasons in history for a full-time outfielder. Safe to say greatness isn’t in the stars.

Those of you who heard Andy Mazur (former Cubs 6th inning break guy, now with Padres) on WSCR 670 - Murph asked him in football terms to describe the chances of Peavy to Cubs or Braves. He said, "Cubs are 3rd and long. Braves, 3rd and short."

Thanks for the analysis, Real Neal; I have no idea how you compare the parks - how many games does the wind blow in vs. blow out? Do you take April/May/early June and balance that out with the rest of the year (until late Sept?). Only Fergie knows for sure.

Why would the Cubs be very interested in Jeremy Hermida? Seems like a younger version of Jeromy Burnitz to me. Talk about your low expectations. Stick to Dunn or Abreu pursuit for RF, please.

Burnitz did hit 315 career HR's...not too shabby considering he got a bit of a late start. I'm not aaying he was great or anything, but he had a really good stretch from 1997-2001, averaging 32HR and 102 RBI. I'd love Dunn's bat, but can he play RF? He seems like a mediocre LF at best. Abreu I like too, but he'll be 35 before the start of the season. I'd hate to see a 4 year deal for Abreu or something like that.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    LHP Blake Weiman appears to have been the last cut from the AAA Iowa roster. He is with the Tennessee group at Minor League Camp.

     

  • crunch (view)

    bruce bochy is hobbling rather badly for a guy who's had 2 hip replacements.  his gait is extremely wonky taking the lineup card to the ump.

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.