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

Wed Funnies: How Morneau will beat Rizzo in All-Star voting.

Thanks John Beasley.

Comments

Here's what I've never understood with Rickey's lineups.....can't Valbuena play LF? I mean, I believe Az Phil when he wrote that Epstoyer were dictating lineups to Rickey. So...you can still play Barney, Schierholtz, Valbuena & Ruggiano almost every day AND play Olt at 3B at least 5-6 times a week IF they wanted to. The only result would be less at bats for Sweeney, Coghlan, & (God forbid) Lake. Since Lake couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat - not a big loss. There has to be a reason but right now the only conclusion I can come to is that Epstoyer don't see Olt as a long term part of the rebuild. And that brings another question: then why has he been the 25-man all season? .

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

hell, if olt is going to be a part time player how about letting him play LF/RF/1st/whatever to increase his playing time? the guy is 2nd on the team in HRs with 200-ish less PA than #1 or #3. along with the good D there's something there worth investigating or building value with.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

It's silly to play Olt anywhere but third. He's a good third baseman, just play him there. See what he can do. In an earlier post Ryno bitched about all the swooning over Olt. It's worth addressing again. It's NOT swooning over Olt. It's wondering out loud why a guy with such enormous power - to all fields, which suggests he may eventually hit some doubles - isn't getting a real test out there. For all I know, Olt will end up a being a dud. He looks rather Oltish pretty often at the plate, swinging and missing at what seem to be perfectly hittable pitches for a major leaguer. On the other hand, he rarely goes fishing, plays nice D, and it could be that he misses those fastballs simply because his timing is not quite there. So his percentage of jacks may actually go up a bit if he plays more, and his average BETTER go up if he has any hope of sticking. But the team has a pretty brief window here to find out if he can play, and if he ends up being good, it's going to be ugly if he ends up good for another team after the Cubs skip out on this window. Even if he doesn't fit the new "Cubs Way", if he gets some playing time and does fairly well, he's another valuable trade chip. This is not about swooning or even thinking Olt is some kind of star in the making. This is just fans wondering why the team isn't more eager to find out what they have here, especially given the prodigious power he has shown.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Yeah hard to imagine not wanting the power in the lineup especially with good D. At 1 HR every 14 AB he'd be hitting a little over a homer per week ... and that's at his current pace. Plus I would like to see how he settles in. Remember how balanced and confident he was coming out of ST? Shark said he knew exactly what he was doing at the plate and that he was the real deal.

I had some concern about the Kris Bryant ejection last night, wondering just what exactly happened, is he a hot head, etc. The report from the Iowa broadcasters today: The reason Kris Bryant was ejected last night is after his strikeout, on his way back to the dugout, Kris calmly says "that's on you, blue". I think most times comments like this don't get a response.

Alcantara's starting tonight. Coghlan LF, Alcantara 2B, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Valbuena 3B, Ruggiano CF, Sweeney RF, Castillo C, Beeler P

Tanaka headed for MRI, unknown what part of arm yet.

...baseball gods be cruel

the good: Kane and Toews sign 8-year extensions

the bad (sort of): Anthony going back to Knicks, maybe Bulls can pull of Kevin Love trade if they want any chance

Tanaka, MRI right pitching shoulder. Has Battleship Cubbery made a 180 degree course change?

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Cubbery is giving the Cubs good health this year just to snatch it away when the team aims to be competitive again. Pure, unadulterated optimism. Seriously though, in a year when so many players are getting injured around the league, the Cubs have been relatively unscathed by the injury bug.

d.beeler throwing 85-87mph cheese. awesome. -edit- in the 2nd+ he was hitting 88-90 (especially the 3rd/4th). no idea what was up with the 1st inning.

Well I can tell you that based on some of Alcantara's swings that he could use a large helping of Captain Happy's patented big league rest. Let's bring him up and get his ass on the pine for a few months - he'll be fine in no time at all.

20 strikeouts for Iowa pitchers in 14-inning win. Jokisch started them off with 11 in 7.

i dont blame renteria for getting tossed...im a bit sick of watching this game, too.

Alcantara underwhelming debut, 0-4 with 3 ugly ABs, with his third and fourth trips of the night being much worse than the first two.

jason hammel delay of game because of a thumb cramp. trainer is out... we're about 4 minutes in so far. crazy.

Kyuji Fujikawa with another rehab outing for AZL Cubs (second in four days after being shut-down for a month following conclusion of EXST), a 1-2-3 inning (9 pitches - 7 strikes). Fastball velocity was consistent (90-91 MPH on all six fastballs thrown), plus three outstanding hard-splitters (one used to chase the strikeout on first hitter faced). After the first batter struck out (swinging) on a 1-2 pitch, second man popped out on a bunt, and the third hitter flied out to short-center. Very fast inning. 

2014 7th round draft pick RHP James Norwood (Saint Louis U.) worked a dominating 9th for AZL Cubs, pitching with swagger (unlike pro debut last week, when he looked uncomfortable on the mound) and pumping one 94-95 MPH fastball with heavy sink & run after another. Unhittable tonight.

Stinnett, Sands, and Steele haven't thrown in games yet (not ready) and Cease has sprained elbow UCL, so Norwood is (by far) the best of the recent Cubs draft pick pitchers I've seen so far. Future bullpen power arm. Has the "short-arm" action you often will see from a converted infielder. Just get the ball and throw it.

What we already knew intuitively about AJ Pierzynski confirmed by Boston clubhouse here.

Tito, Ryno... I'm sorry if I've been annoying. This is not meant to be argumentative but let's look at the numbers: Olt vs. rest of Cubs roster: HR - 2nd on team RBI - 4th on team BB - 4th on team AB - 9th on team behind: Barney Castillo Boni Lake Valbuena Sureoutz Rizzo Castro Olt vs. other NL rookies: HR - 1st with 12 next closest has 6 BB - 2nd in league RBI - 2nd in league behind Billy Hamilton who has 317 AB to Olt's 174 AB. And it's worth noting Hamilton was struggling early and has even missed games due to minor injuries AND he plays on a contender. Now he's playing GREAT! There have been 14 times this season that he's been allowed to start back to back days. The last time that happened was in May - 27th and 28th. Remember this is a rookie who needs exposure and repetition at the highest level of play. Again sorry if it's been tiring to hear - I agree I personally am a one trick pony at this point because there's almost nothing else to explore this year on the ML team. Maybe K. Hendricks will be fun. Valbuena was my favorite player last year and I hate seeing his name right now. I think Ryno is right about there being little to cheer for so I'm filling my energy with Olt bitching. But I think, at least for a few of us it's just as baffling that they aren't letting the guy play every day. He was a platoon+ matchup player from week one who's pretty much been abandoned now - and on a last place team that's really hard to figure out when he is a former top 50 prospect and plays great D, while showing flashes of brilliance. That's pretty much the whole of my argument and the rest of it either I or someone else had said before. I'm hoping it's just very shrewd marketing of people Theo wants to trade but I think when Ricky opens his mouth or consistently pulls him late in close games (even when he homered, walked and lined out hard in the same game) it makes some of us wonder what Ricky is doing because obviously front office doesn't dictate that. Anyway that's the best I can explain it. I hear your opinions, this is just mine.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Carlito, this is July and the Cubs are sellers. The seats behind the plate are filled with scouts. This is Valbuena's month and Barney's month, not Olt's month. The previous months were geared to making Valbuena and Barney look like starters come July. Next month will be different for Olt. Of course, so will next season, when Bryant comes looking for his job. But at least it won't be Valbuena and Barney keeping Olt on the bench.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

This is the only thing that makes sense. I hope you are right. As we've seen theo jed are pretty cutthroat with their strategies - I really hope you are right. It just feels like Ricky does stupid shit on top of this strategy which makes me wonder if he'll ever get behind him. That said your argument fits and as I've said before if they didn't like Olt I think they'd be playing him to shop. Weirdly now I wonder what they will do with him haha as word is Bryant is a better defender and of course Russell / Castro / Baez / Alcantara all vying for infield jobs!

Hendricks gives up 3 in the first vs the Louisville Reds (No Phillips, Votto, Bruce or Mesoraco)

BB, BB, pop out, Double, Single, Single and E-7, FC out at home, IBB, Fly Out

error actually didn't lead to any runs

good Q&A with Jason Parks on Cubs prospects

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-insider/2014/07/cubs-prospects-qa-with-b…

gushes over Russell and offers this on whether Baez, Castro and Russell will play togehter

JP: Sure. I can see that. In fact, I’d love to see that. However, it does seem likely that one of Castro/Baez will be with another org long-term. But I would love to see the Cubs figure out such a first-world problem and put all the talent on one field. Can you imagine that? Damn.

Something like Baez at third, Russell at short, Castro at 2B, Rizzo at 1B, Alcantara in LF, Bryant in RF? That lineup is baseball pornography.

Bailey comes out with apparent arm injury in 6th with a 1-2 count on Castro.

#robotpitchers

the #VoteRizzo twitter campaign is making twitter unbearable today...ugh.

Hendricks strikes out the side in 6th including Jay Bruce pinch hitting with 2 on and 2 out, nice bounceback from the rough early innings. Ludwick had his number though 3/3 with 2 RBI's.

Cubs dugout flipping out against Chapman. Rizzo clearly called him a mother fucker while pointing at him. Now Baker mocking Chapman after getting a walk. Awesome viewing right now.

Was Alcantara's 2nd hit a swunt or line drive off pitcher?

Gameday says "singled to pitcher", so just curious.

some sort of melee in Cincy, twitter says Rizzo went over to Reds bench which regardless of what Chapman did or didn't do (not watching) seems a bit bush league.

*updated - seems someone was yelling at him as he took first base, I withdraw my bush league comment

well fun teaching moment for Captain Happy, game tied 4-4 in 9th...

does he he order the Code Red and nail a Reds batter or try to win the game instead?

let's hope he chooses wisely

Haha. Just watched it all - John Baker was frickin' hilarious ... priceless. Never seen that before. Love him!!

Alcantara "tripled to shallow right"...

I await the video with giddiness.

Reds then IBB Rizzo to get to Castro...shrug

Y. Molina out 6-8 weeks for Cardinals, torn ligament in right thumb, B. Phillips could be out 2 months too with possible torn ligament in left thumb.

@jimcallisMLB 5m

Rodon's $6,582,000 bonus is the 5th-highest in @MLBDraft history, behind Cole ($8 mil), Strasburg ($7.5 mil), Starling ($7.5 mil) ...... and Bryant ($6,708,400). All five of those top @MLBDraft bonuses ever were signed by Boras Corp. clients.

Trying to avoid sarcasm: but it REALLY is gonna be hard to go back to watching Barney after the offensive clinic at second by Alcantara today. Damn. I guess he shook off the nerves pretty quick!

Valbuena nearly an inside-the-park HR, Cubs challenge that plate was blocked but they keep with ruling that he was out. Catcher was up 4-5 feet up the line without the ball and Valbuena had to go way out of his way to avoid tag.

~shrug~

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I watched this live and three replays and he was safe by this year's revised rules. However, Ricky is going to have learn that getting tossed twice in the same series and bitching about the strike zone from the dugout every inning is not going to buy your team any close calls as he's not Torre/Cox/LaRussa.

I'm really looking forward to the return of the Darwin Barney era. This Alcantara kid just doesn't cut it for me.

I really like that the cubs showed some heart - it's good to win the ones when there's chippy shit going down. And dammit AA that was an amazing ball game young man!!

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Awesome. Glad to see that happened. Hopefully he stays for a while. He will certainly go through some struggles, but I liked what I saw today--great speed down to first, cruised around the bases, looked comfortable on defense and had a great arm, and ball seems to jump off bat. Unlike Lake, he just looks like a ball player!

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

When they brought up Alcantara, I was hoping he would do a Wally Pipp on Barney, and was disappointed by his performance at the plate yesterday. But today was great, and I commend the Cubs for giving the kid a continued shot. Will be interesting what happens next--trade of Valbuena and Barney? Olt at third, Logan Watkins the new utility guy? This could be fun.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

No reason not to keep Arismendy Alcanatara on the MLB 25-man roster after Barney returns.

The Cubs won't need a 4th starter again until Tuesday 7/22 and they won't need a 5th starter again until Saturday 7/26, so Kyle Hendricks should be sent back down when Barney is reinstated, just like Dallas Beeler was optioned back to Iowa to make room for Hendricks. Then Hendricks and Wada can be recalled when 4th and 5th starters are needed again in a couple of weeks. 

BTW, even if he is optioned back to the minors Hendricks won't burn an option until he spends at least 19 days on Optional Assignment, and he would be recalled before that. 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Capt Happy-"Alacantara! congrats you're staying up in the show!" Alcantara-"Thanks skip, I'm looking forward to helping the team and getting at b.." Capt Happy interupts-"Good, good...oh Mike? show the kid where to sit on the bench so I can't see or hear him" Olt shuffles over- "Follow me"

Also liked what I saw from Hendricks today. After a rocky start, he settled in and kept the Cubs in the game. My guess is the excitement of that first inning is extra tough on a young finesse/change up pitcher. Could be a nice back of the rotation pitcher. Hope to see more starts after the ASG.

landmark commission approved Cubs revised signage plan...7 new signs. I'm lost at where it's at, but word be they have meeting with rooftop owners tomorrow to try and settle something and get started. Dan Bernstein claiming on twitter they've already ordered materials and won't wait for rooftop owners if they can't agree on something.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Bernstein seems to have Cubs source that's pretty wired in and his predictions have so far been proven spot on. Rooftop owners probably need to realize Plan A (threats) and Plan B (offering 2 sign settlement) failures are leading to Plan C -- settle with Cubs or try to sell property.

@BryanHoch 3m

Cashman: Masahiro Tanaka has a partially torn ligament in his throwing arm. Will have one PRP injection. Tear is considered small.

UCL btw, not sure why they think rehab will work in this case...

@pcaldera 4m

Cashman: Partially torn ligament for Tanaka - no surgery recommended for now. 3 doctors in agreement. 6 week return time if successful

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

This is why I don't like free agency as a way to get top of the line pitchers, and why last year I wanted Bryant instead of a pitcher first round, and why this year I wanted a position player first round, instead of a pitcher. Although I will admit I was a little disappointed the Cubs didn't get Tanaka - I got caught up a bit in the hype, but I was hardly crushed when he went to the Yanks. The TheoCorp approach is working pretty well - somehow they are finding quality starters every year without breaking the bank. The one time they did spend some money they got burned, but at least that wasn't an injury. So next year, can they get a Hammel type again on the cheap? I hate to even see them move a high end prospect for a TMJ candidate, sort of a reverse of the Rizzo trade. They may decide to do that, but there's a 50-50 chance that if they do, whoever they pick up will miss a year just like half the other pitchers in the league seem to be doing these days.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

probably true....if that's the case I would withdraw the offer to 'Melo if I was the Bulls...seriously what would be the point. Love, James, Irving, Wiggins on Cleveland is a better core than the Heat had...don't even bother. Although I guess they could trade Wiggins for Love, not up to speed on the NBA trade mechanics at the moment.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

who are they going to trade for Price?

guessing Alcantara at 2B or CF, Castro SS, Rizzo 1B, Castillo C, Bryant 3B, and free agents/scrubs at the other 3 with Baez starting the season in Iowa and ready to jump in at 2B, Russell and Soler should be looming next year as well depending on how the rest of AA in 2014 goes.

A lot of musical chairs going on in those last few comments. I don't get the impression that the Cub brass enjoys moving shortstops and 3Bs to other positions. What they really love is trades, preferably blockbusters.

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).