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

Cubs Select Kyle Schwarber

So the big 3 pitchers went to the first 3 picks - Aiken to Astros, Kolek to Marlins and Rodon slips to White Sox. That left the Cubs in the position to do pretty much whatever they want. The reality is that after the first 3 picks, there was no obvious #4, or 5 or 6 or 7. Some guys really liked Nick Gordon and Alex Jackson, but they're projectable high schoolers and if they were sure things, let's face it, they'd be going top 3. No one passes a sure thing bat for pitching unless it's Strasburg coming out for the draft and that's what the 3 teams just did ahead of the Cubs.

So the Cubs had their pick of the rest of the bunch and they ended up taking the player they "claim" to be #2 on their draft board in C/OF/1B Kyle Schwarber (#1 was Aiken). Draft junkies aren't buying that, but hell with them. If baseball teams ran their teams by mock drafts and twitter they should all get fired. Here's what we know about Schwarber and that is that he can rake...a left-handed hitter with a good power/patience profile. College stats don't mean much, but they're as ridiculous as you expect. Now is the bat just good enough for a catcher or is it good enough to play the outfield or first base? Well that's the question because there are very few that believe that Schwarber will stay behind the plate and he doesn't seem to be the physical specimen that would make much of an outfielder although being a catcher and all, he should at least have a solid arm out there.

McLeod talked up his bat, calling him the surest bet in the draft, someone who does all the things the Cub want from a hitter in terms of controlling the strike zone, hitting for power and hitting for average and said his make-up is off the charts which has been a reoccuring theme with their other 2 top picks (Almora and Bryant). Added bonus is that the Cubs will likely save a little on this pick once Schwarber signs and that'll give them a chance to get a little higher upside arm in some of the lower rounds.

Comments

speaking of leaps, Brewers took Kodi Medeiros at #12, Callis and BA had him as a late first rounder

when they put in the DH after the next CBA, Cubs will be looking good with Schwarber and Vogelbach :)

Kind of a meh pick, but it was a meh draft. Ahh, Cubbery. Nobody does it better.

KKKKKKK-not Well, if my math is right he only struck out less than 12% of the time this year in 228AB's. No way he fits the team profile with that much of a low percentage of K's. I don't know - solid college players have way more success than high school draftees, according to James. And, everyday ones move to the top of that list when compared to college arms. This team still has zero #1 pitchers in the entire system and I really was hoping they would get a big college arm regardless of picking 4th.

@ESPNChiCubs

McLeod, after talking with Schwarber before the draft, etc. : “We expect him to sign really quickly.”

Call him up :)

Keith Law scouting report on Schwarber

Schwarber may have the most raw power of any prospect in the class, showing plus-plus power to right field thanks to tremendous lower body strength and strong wrists. He transfers his weight well and has the type of raw power that could produce 30-plus homer seasons if he's able to play every day. He shows good feel at the plate, and a willingness to work pitches and get on base via walk, but doesn't have elite bat speed and there's a lot of swing-and-miss in his bat as well.

Padres take Trea Turner at #13, Tyler Beede goes #14 to Giants. Leaves Erick Fedde left as guys the Cubs may have had any interest in..

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Hmmm...seeing the Giants taking Beede? Very surprised our former Vandy pitching director couldn't convince TheoJed to draft Beede. Not like the Giants have had shitty home-grown pitchers over the last 10 years or anything... Beede right now may have been the #1 pitching prospect in the Cubs system - or maybe 1-B. Cubs are so goddamn pitching prospect poor. But, catching too I suppose. Wonder what those MLB draft war-rooms are like.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

it is highly likely LF or 1st is his future...though he'll probably get a chance to catch to start his career. it's not just his slight bulk that's the issue, it's his overall skills behind the plate. unfortunately, he's also a rather slow runner. that said, he's supposed to be a "nick swisher" type as a supposed ceiling...

Another thing really gets me - that has been discussed here frequently - is that "Competitive Balance" pick. How the fuck did MLB let this happen? What a joke. It should just be called the "Yankees Retribution" pick. So, in essence, the teams with money cannot spend more than "slot" - yet at the same time they get penalized b/c they are in a "larger" market?! Just bullshit to allow the Cardinals to win more Pennants and World Series. Fuckers...

#21 pick is Bradley Zimmer, OF from U of San Francisco, Cubs selected him in Round 23 of 2011 draft.

I like our draft pick! Captain happy is still an asshat. That's all for now.

RHP Jake Stinnett, senior from Maryland is 2nd pick, they usually sign for under slot. 

College seniors have done well with the new Draft rules as teams try to find ways to strategically use their bonus pools. Stinnett has the chance to be the first senior to come off the board in 2014. Originally a two-way player who played third base for the Terrapins, Stinnett started focusing on pitching only as a junior in 2013. He's really taken off this season, showing a jump in velocity up into the mid 90s with plenty of sink. His slider has greatly improved, flashing as a plus pitch. His changeup is behind the other two, but he has shown some feel for it. The focus on pitching has helped his command, and he's able to pitch to both sides of the plate. There is some effort to his delivery, but not enough to make a team think he can't start. College seniors typically are value picks, but Stinnett has the chance to go in the early rounds based on his size and stuff alone.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

i was hoping they'd go for nola...that said it's a decent pick with the only major possible flaw being that he's probably a LF/1st type. the cubs have 1st locked up to the end of the decade and LF posibilities are starting to look a bit crowded unless bryant can manage to stick at 3rd (and olt doesn't develop enough bat to stay there). schwa will probably get a chance to catch out of the gate in the minors, but his D/skills there aren't praised much. either way, quality youth bats can always be traded if there's a logjam.

Even after reading all the lipstick applied to this pig of a pick, I feel underwhelmed. Kyle Schwarber is the reward for watching an atrocious 2013 season of baseball. Repeat to myself: "Trust in the plan, trust in the plan, TheoJed know what they're doing."

[ ]

In reply to by Sonicwind75

Well if Jason McLeod, director of scouting, is right and Schwarber is the "best hitter -- hands down -- in this year's draft" I am happy to kiss that pig. On another note, do people think the Cubs will begin to sign bigger name free agents this off season?

Made my first trip to Wrigley last night -- by far, the most popular jersey worn was....good old #23. A few Rizzos and Castros, but not an Eli Whiteside in the bunch. Contrast that to a Hawks or Bears game, where most (or at least a lot of) people are wearing the jerseys of current players (ex. Walter, perhaps), and you get a sense of the fan connection to the current team. I must say, though -- I am liking the young bullpen.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.