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

Sun funnies: How does Chris Bosio improve pitchers, anyway?

Seriously?
How does Chris Bosio do it?
Explain Jason Hammel. 
Explain how Kyle Hendricks misses bats.
Explain... Tsuyoshi Wada.
If you were watching last night and saw Wada limit the 1st place Dodgers to 2 runs and 6 hits with 6 strikeouts over his 5.2 innings... you might have seen the cutaway to Bosio that I captured above.
Note his right hand.
Bosio...simply uses his brain.
Have you seen the new documentary "Lucy"?
It's in theaters now.
If so, then you heard Morgan Freeman state, "It is estimated most human beings only use 10% of their brain's capacity. Imagine if we could access 100%."
Obviously, Bosio uses 100%, just like Scarlett Johansson does.
Freaky.
But cool.
So glad Bosio's on our side.

All kidding aside, isn't it awesome that they're not bringing up guys like Thomas Diamond?
The positive vibe going on around our favorite team... that's not a special effect.

 

 

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Castro may have tweaked his lower back during his pinch hit at bat. Had an awkward swing before his 2 run rbi line shot to CF and had long conversation with the training staff when he got back to the dugout after being pinch run for. Hopefully he's okay and back on the field for the Rox series. Who knows, maybe his back was already acting up before the start of the game ...

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Hmm, I didn't read it that way at all. "We know he needs a day, and two days in a row will really help him" doesn't sound like no good reason at all. It sounds like they are watching him and thinking about the long season and knew that a day off before an off day would be good for his health and focus in the long term. Most every play wants to play and will say what he said about wanting to play and not needing a day off--but days off are often still good for them.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Yeah - regardless of that (and you may be right) I question 1.) the timing - he's as hot as he's been in weeks. Maybe could have waited another week? Maybe not. 2.) and more importantly if you are going to rest him - then REST him. Say, relax, watch the game. Unless this thing goes 13+ innings you are to relax tonight. Otherwise what's the point. Now here's a guy who never pinch hits, tight muscles sitting on bench all night, may not have stretched out to prep for his PH and apparently tweaked his back? Hopefully no biggie.

Valbuena batting cleanup. Anyone who hasn't seen Alcantara's defensive play against Uribe, well, look it up it's sick.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

That was CRAZY! The defense was absolutely demoralizing to the Dodgers. You gotta wonder if they just thought they'd take the series without trying, cause I gotta tell you The Dodgers sure didn't look like the best team in the NL. Weird. But yeah the defense was insane (offense not bad too).

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

As much as you dislike Capt Happy, he has this team playing good, sound, fundamental baseball. He can't be responsible for those defensive gems, of course, but overall the team plays good baseball. Best last place team I've seen in a very long time. In game one Vin Scully called them "those pesky Cubs". Scully has always enjoyed Chicago Cubs games anyway, but he seems to like this team a lot for a team that has the record it has. If you think about it, if they'd won more of those close games early in the season, they'd be knocking on .500.

"This is not the hanging curve ball that your looking for" BTW Guardians of the Galaxy best summer movie.

Btw addison Russell homers, so Baez hits TWO! Olt with another decent 1/3 night. Wish I lived in Iowa. Not really.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Bring him up. As I said in the previous post, I don't give a shit about service time. If they lock him up to a long term deal service time doesn't matter, despite some opinions to the contrary. We don't even know if he'll be able to play in 2021, so worrying about that extra year is pointless. Baez has a history of taking some time to adjust to a new level, so let him adjust in September, get some playing time with Castro and Rizzo so they are a nice, cohesive unit come April. My only hesitation on the call up would be that from what I'm reading they are working very closely with him in Iowa on working the plate - he struck out 3 times the other day but yesterday got a couple walks with his two homers. That said, he has a better opportunity to work on that with major league pitching than in Triple A. Addison Russell is sure making things interesting, though. From what I'm reading he's the best fielding shortstop of the bunch. As CubbyBlue says in his post, quite a different thing that bringing up guys like Thomas Diamond.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

When the Cubs acquired Anthony Rizzo from SD post-2011, he was on the Padres MLB 40-man roster and had already accrued 68 days of MLB Service Time (0+068). 

Rizzo was optioned to Iowa to start the 2012 season and he absolutely lit it up at AAA (he hit 342/405/696 in 70 games at Iowa), but the Cubs waited to bring him up until June 26th.

By waiting until 6/26 to recall Rizzo, they gained an extra year of club control, meaning that he would not be eligible to be a free-agent until post-2018, instead of post-2017 (which would have been the case if he had been recalled prior to 6/24).

Some might say that the Cubs were cold & calculating to wait until June 26th to bring him up to Chicago, something that was obviously done just to gain an extra year of club control (the Cubs made some comment at the time about wanting Rizzo to get so many AB at AAA before getting recalled), but the Cubs were merely doing the smart thing, "playing" the system by understanding how to work the CBA to their advantage.

I'm sure there were those who thought at the time that the Cubs were "poisoning the well" with Rizzo by intentionally keeping him in AAA longer than necesary just so they could retain club control for an extra season, but Rizzo and his agent must not have harbored any hard feelings about what the Cubs did, because Rizzo signed a "team-friendly" nine-year contract extention the following May. (Fact is, agents, GMs, and most players understand baseball is a business... it's the fans and the media who don't seem to get it sometimes). 

So the nine-year contract bought out all of Rizzo's arbitration years plus three years of free-agency (taking him to age 32). Also, the last two years (eight & nine) are club options with a $2M buy-out each season, so the "big bucks" years ($14.5M each season in 2020-21) are not guaranteed in case Rizzo has a downturn in his career and is not worth $14.5M per year by that time.

From Rizzo's POV, he sacrificed potential bigger money at the back-end of the contract in exchange for the security of a long-term deal (at least seven seasons guaranteed) and more money in his pre-arb and arbitration years than he probably would have made if he had just gone year-to-year with the Cubs, Rizzo also can void the last year of the deal (making 2021 a "mutual option") with a top two finish in the MVP voting anytime 2013-19 or if he gets traded. 

Meanwhile, Rizzo is not a drag on the club's payroll (he'll be making $5M each season 2015-16, $7M each season 2017-18, and $11M in 2019), and if he does stay through the length of the contract, he won't hit free-agency until age 32 (a point when the Cubs might feel his best years are behind him). 

I would think the Cubs will want to make similar deals eventually with Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Arismendy Alcantara, and Albert Almora (presuming the player doesn't  "flame out"), but Bryant, Russell, and Almora are Scott Boras clients, and Boras does not believe in buying-out free-agent years during a player's career-peak (ages 28-32). Arbitration years? Maybe.  Free-agent years? Likely not. 

Baez might be a different case, however, because he is not a Scott Boras client (he has switched agents twice in the last year), and he supposedly has family issues that could motivate him to take the money (and the security of a long-term deal) if it's offered (as Rizzo did), 

While I suppose it's possible that the Cubs might offer Baez a long-term contract before he spends even one day in the big leagues (as the Astros did with George Springer during Spring Training, although Springer turned the offer down), they might want to wait to see if Baez can "master" MLB pitching before they offer him a Rizzo-type, and that means probably not until sometinme in 2015 or maybe even 2016. But the earlier he signs, the more "team friendly" the deal has to be.

Starlin Castro got a better deal (a larger signing bonus and more $$$ per season ) than Rizzo because he was already an established MLB player (an All-Star) when he signed his eight-year extention in August 2012, and he was arbitration-eligible (as a "Super Two") after the 2012 season. The Cubs bought-out all of Castro's arbitratrion years plus four years of free-agency (the last year--2020--being a $16M club option). Without the extension Castro would have been eligible to be a free-agent post-2016, but by signing the extention he is under club control through the 2020 season (club option for 2020), and, if he remains with the Cubs through the length of the contract, he won't be a free-agent until age 30 (turns 31 in March 2021). 

Again, the earlier the player signs a long-term contract extension, the more "team-friendly" it has to be (at least two seasons of club options at the end of the deal), because the player won't have the track record of a more-established player. 

Some might think a club manipulating service time to gain an advantage is "gaming the system," but it's really no different than an NFL team placing the "franchisc tag" on a player to keep him from becoming a free-agent, or hiring a "capologist" to manage & manipulate the salary cap (sometimes to a player's detriment), or from an agent's POV, convincing an NBA GM to engineer a "sign & trade" deal so that a player can get more money than if the player signed as a free-agent with the new team.   

 

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Bryant has 36 HRs this season at Tenn and Iowa, one behind--who else?--Joey Gallo, who has divided the season between high-A and double-A. Last year, Gallo hit 38 to Baez's 37, when Baez was dividing his season between A+ and AA and Gallo was in low-A. Bryant should hit 40, a number not quite attained by Bryan LaHair (38) at Iowa in 2011 or Brian Dopirak (39) for the Lansing Lugnuts (A) in 2004. I don't recall another Cub prospect hitting 30+ HRs in the minors. Baez has hit 60 in two seasons, and Baez and Bryant together have 59 this year. That must be a record for two Cub players in the same season. In terms of "wishing you were in Iowa," it is exciting to think maybe just shy of 70 home runs will be moving from Iowa to Wrigley in early 2015.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Just for kicks, I went back 40 years through Baseball Reference, which has a nice easy way to bring up all minor leaguers for a franchise in a given year with their stats and you can sort by HR. I noted all players with at least 25 homers for the Cubs in the minors. I listed them below. There have been a fair amount of 30+ Cubs minor leaguers, and 59 would definitely not be the record for 2 players in the same season. Dopriak combined with Kevin Collins for 72 in 2004. And, in fact, Jason Dubois and Brandon Sing had 63 combined that same year. And there have been several other combos over 60, including Tuffy Rhodes and Eddie Zambrano in 1993. Javier Baez 2013 A+, AA 37 Bryan LaHair 2011 AAA 38 Bryan LaHair 2010 AAA 25 Brad Snyder 2010 AAA 25 Jake Fox 2008 AA, AAA 31 Jason Dubois 2008 AAA 25 Micah Hoffpauir 2008 AAA 25 Geovony Soto 2007 AAA 26 Michael Restovich 2006 AAA 27 Scott McClain 2005 AAA 30 Brandon Sing 2005 AA 26 Brian Dopirak 2004 A 39 Kevin Collins 2004 A 33 Brandon Sing 2004 A+ 32 Jason Dubois 2004 AAA 31 Phil Hiatt 2003 AAA 25 Julio Zuletta 2002 AAA 31 Hee-Seop Choi 2002 AAA 26 Chris Haas 2001 AA 25 Chris Hatcher 2000 AAA 31 Julio Zuletta 2000 AAA 26 Hee-Seop Choi 2000 A, A+ 25 Bo Porter 1999 AAA 27 Roosevelt Brown 1999 AA, AAA 25 Rod McCall 1998 AAA 30 Micah Franklin 1998 AAA 29 Rod McCall 1997 AA, AAA 26 Eddie Zambrano 1993 AAA 32 Tuffy Rhodes 1993 AAA 30 Dave Hostetler 1985 AAA 29 Jim Dickerson 1985 A 28 Joe Hicks 1984 AAA 37 Don Werner 1984 AAA 25 Carmelo Martinez 1983 AAA 31 Mel Hall 1982 AAA 32 Carmelo Martinez 1982 AA 27 Joe Carter 1982 AA 25 Rolando Roomes 1982 A-, A 25 Karl Pagel 1979 AAA 39 Karl Pagel 1977 AA 28 Jerry Tabb 1974 AA, AAA 31 Wayne Tyrone 1974 AA 29 Adrian Garrett 1974 AAA 26

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD


CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS WITH AT LEAST 40 HR IN A SEASON
Gene Lillard, 3B (Los Angeles Angels) - 56 (1935)
Steve Bilko, 1B (Los Angeles Angels) - 55 (1956) 
Chuck Workman, OF (Nashville) - 52 (1948) 
Jack Harshman, 1B-OF-RHP (Nashville) - 47 (1951)  
Carl Sawatski, C (Nashville) - 45 (1949)
Frank Demaree,OF (Los Angeles Angels) - 45 (1934)
Gene Lillard, 3B (Los Angeles Angels) - 43 (1933)  
Adrian Garrett, 1B (Tacoma) - 43 (1971) 
Babe Barna, OF (Nashville) - 42 (1949) 
Charlie Gilbert, OF (Nashville) - 42 (1948) 
Buzz Clarkson, 3B (Beaumont) - 42 (1954)
Lou Novikoff, OF (Los Angeles Angels) - 41 (1940) 

Workman, Barna, and Gilbert were ex-MLB players, and Clarkson was an ex-Negro League player


[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Yes, L. A. Wrigley Field was a small park. It had similar dimensions as Chicago Wrigley Field, with the same short power alleys. 

The Los Angeles Angels were the Cubs top minor league affiliate for many years, and the Angels were the #1 minor league team in all of baseball, out-drawing several MLB clubs each season.

When Walter O'Malley wanted to move the Dodgers to L. A. from Brooklyn after the 1957 season, Cubs owner Phil Wrigley sold the the Dodgers the rights to the L. A. market and L. A. Wrigley Field (which was owned by the Cubs) for $3M and the Dodgers AAA Ft. Worth affiliate. (Another really lousy trade by the Cubs). 

BTW, Len & JD mentioned this a bit yesterday, but L. A. Wrigley Field was located at 42nd & Avalon in South Central L. A., and that's where the TV show "Home Run Derby" (a ZIV production) was filmed in 1959-60. The Dodgers could have played in L. A. Wrigley Field when they moved to L. A., but the park had a 30,000 seating capacity, and O'Malley wanted to play in the L. A. Coliseuim (which was built for track & football, but could seat 92,000 for baseball despite the ridiculously short LF fence & high-screen... screw baseball, I want more $$$$$$!!!).  

The Dodgers played in the Coliseum for four seasons (1958-1961), before moving to Chavez Ravine in 1962. 

The American League Los Angeles Angels were an expansion team in 1961, and they did play one season at Wrigley Field before moving into Chavez Ravine with the Dodgers in 1962. (The Angels moved to Anaheim in 1965). And even though the Angels were an expansion team, they still finished 2nd in the A,. L. in HR in 1961 (thanks to the cozy dimensions of Wrigley Field!). 

L. A. Wrigley Field looked almost exactly like Chicago Wrigley Field (pre-1937 bleachers & scoreboard renovation), except L. A. Wrigley Field had lights. 

The Cubs and their Los Angeles Angels affiliate had Spring Training on Santa Catalina Island for many years before the Cubs moved to Mesa in 1952 (Wrigley owned most of Catalina island), and there were three other MLB clubs that had Spring Training in the Los Angeles area pre-1952 (White Sox in Pasadena, St. Louis Browns in Burbank, and Pittsburgh Pirates in San Berardino), and so the Cubs played only the Sox, the Browns, and the Pirates (owned by Bing Crosby) in Spring Training. 

 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Not too many familiar names there. Bilko--but I'm probably thinking of Sergeant Bilko. I do remember Harshman as a pretty good pitcher with the Orioles. That's getting close to the beginning of my baseball consciousness. In terms of my original point about the uniqueness of Baez and Bryant--well, maybe not so much. But they are probably younger than most of these other guys, and Bryant was in college LAST YEAR.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Thanks for the long list and walk through painful memory lane. I guess the main difference for me is that most of those guys didn't get hyped the way these two have, but then again, there wasn't the twitterverse to help fuel the hype machine. I remember being somewhat excited about Carmelo Martinez, and I was very excited about Hee-Seop. I'll never forget a line drive he hit off the basket in Wrigley that looked like it almost went through. That guy surprised me - I really thought he was gonna make it. He had some trouble getting that bat off his shoulders, though, and for awhile I was a little concerned Rizzo was afflicted with that - he sure isn't though. And of course, I was excited about Joe Carter, but mostly because my baseball acumen told me he'd be an outstanding color guy someday.

As Mike Krukow continues to call San Francisco Giants baseball games on TV and on the radio, he’s fighting a battle in his private life. The former major league pitcher and current Giants broadcaster is fighting a degenerative muscle disease. ... Now, this larger than life man has a debilitating muscle disease that is slowly stealing his ability to walk and properly use his hands. It's called inclusion-body myositis, and it's not fatal. But it already makes it difficult for him to walk down hill or even in crowds, because his balance is compromised. http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/beloved-giants-broadcaster-battles-…

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Oh no! Love him as an announcer and as Cub pitcher. My father went to St Louis in '70s to watch games and he would meet up with players at bars after to chat. Krukow once started a fight with visiting team at their dugout after getting hbp (see Rizzo vs Reds) My dad asked Larry Biitner about it, and Biitner said "Yeah that dumb Pole(not Polebut deragatory term)would start a fight in front of other dug out." Take care Mike. Wish you much peace and happieness.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

When I lived out in the Bay Area I loved listening to Krukow. I still listen to the Giants announcers instead of Len and JD when they play the Giants, not so much because of Len and JD but just cuz I like hearing Krukow.

Baez called up!! In COLORADO tomorrow according to Bruce Levine Here we goooo!

Now that Baez is coming to the big leagues, let's all remember that his real first name is Ednel. 

Also, he can do whatever the fuck he wants. 

Over his last 20 games (86 PA), Baez is hitting 342/395/763 with 9 HR & 25 RBI, and 6/20 BB/K. If you prorate that out over a full season, that's a lot of HR & RBI (and not necessarily all that many K).  

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If Javy wants to slug 763, he will slug 763. But it's very possible that he doesn't want to slug that much. We'll see.

Another thing to keep in mind... 

You better think kind thoughts about Javy. And no Perry Como music at Wrigley Field! Unless you want to get turned into a jack-in-the-box and end up in the cornfield. 

looks like Zazzle has removed the "Waiting for Baez" t-shirts off their site --- Dr. Evil is selling them for ONE BILLION DOLLARs!

Soooo..... Baez starts off slow, which vet does Capt Happy replace him with while Baez sits on bench. MIKE OLT BOMB!!!!!!! BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Well that's the absurdity of the Olt situation. From day one of the season Happy platoons him and says he's picking matchups to help him succeed. What if he did that with one of our other prospects? I think Olt is FAR better than many people on this site give him credit for... and the funny part is if he ends up being successful for us or another team all the same people will say "oh I knew he was a good player blah blah." The way he was "groomed" this year was highly fucked. Hell, he's ripping AAA pitching a new asshole as we speak. Batting .340, got 2 RBI Double already tonight and batting cleanup ahead of Soler. I assume hope and pray that there was something unique about Happy/Olt and that we won't see the same thing with any of our other prospects. Clearly he is letting Alcantara play.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

I find it incredibly annoying, too, but I have to believe there was just something there we aren't privy to. He gave Lake enough opportunity to hang himself, he's giving Alcantara at bats, and I'm sure he won't be platooning Baez. Maybe it was something in his swing and he figured it out down in Iowa, or somebody there helped figure it out, or they figured it out in Chicago and said, "go get some at bats and see how this works." It's such a strange thing that it seems like it must be something like that. I'd love to see Olt, Baez, and Rizzo in the same lineup for a month. With no days off for the kids. They can rest in winter.

bryant + soler september callup is starting to look very likely. now all the cubs need is almost everyone to work out nicely...and some quality starting pitching. i'm ready for the end of this too-long rebuild...5 years of losing and 3 (wtf really?) years of rebuilding. let's see how good this front office is with late 1st round picks, deeper picks, and not dismantling the team via trades mid-season.

Szczur, Watkins (2B), Bryant, Olt (1B), Soler (RF), Vitters (LF), Kalish (DH), Whiteside, Soto (SS). Look ma! No Javy. The Jokisch is on them.

Does anyone know anything about Santiago Rodriguez of the Cubs' DSL team? I'm not sure what the competition is like down there, but from the stats it looks like he's dominating the heck out of that league. After throwing 8 scoreless today, he's 8-0 with a 0.92 ERA.

Anyone know who will be demoted to make room for Javy? Also will Russell head to Iowa?

Journo-Cubbery I wish I could be a Trib sportswriter for a day. Then I could call Ty Griffin--who, from his pre-Indy-league stats, looks like a poor man's Logan Watkins--and ask him what it feels like to be Javier Baez. Bryant could get a call-up soon. Anybody have Kelton's number?

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

I saw the Ty Griffin article and thought the same thing. Typical Tribune and this time David Haugh takes a big dump.
"They talked about moving Ryne to third but then it was, 'Ty's a good enough athlete so let's try him there and see if we can catch lightning in a bottle,' '' said Griffin, 46. "It was an unbelievable opportunity in my lifetime and something I'll never forget. But when the experiment went south and I injured my arm, there were repercussions."
Can Earl Cunningham be on speed dial when Soler gets the call up? http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-haugh-baez-spt-08… E. Cunningham: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 1st round (8th) of the 1989 MLB June Amateur Draft from Lancaster HS (Lancaster, SC). http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=cunnin001tim Prospect Ratings by Baseball America: Pre-1990: Rated #44 Prospect

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

There's been times watching Baez swing that I literally can't see him swing. I am watching, and I *think* I see movement, and it's out of the park. I can't remember seeing anything quite like that. I remember growing up they said Ernie Banks' big claim to fame was his wrists, but he was near the end of his career when I was watching and probably too young to really notice, anyway.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

CARLITO: I would think Jonathon Mota will probably move up to Iowa from Tennessee. He's a veteran organizational player (IF-OF) who can play anywhere (he went through the Catcher Training Program at Fitch Park a couple or three yars ago). He's already previously been at Iowa a couple of times earlier this season. 

The Cubs also could activate utility INF Edgar Gonzalez (Adrian's brother). He's been at Iowa all year as a player-coach.  

If Mota goes up to Iowa, Wes Darvill will probably be moved back up to Tennessee from Daytona (he was at Tennessee earlier this season), If so, there would likely then be corresponding moves involving infielders below Daytona (like maybe Danny Lockhart from KC to Daytona, Alex Tomasovich to KC from Boise, and Andrew Ely from AZL Cubs to Boise). 

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

O&B: Junior Lake played infield (SS-3B-2B) for most of his career until he was moved to the OF last season. But Lake plays infield like the proverbial Bull in a China Shop, so if he does play INF it would have to be on a temporary/emergency basis only. He can do a lot of damage there. But he does have a lot of experience playing INF. 

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

CARLITO: I don't think the Cubs will send Chris Valaika back to Iowa. I think he will remain with the Cubs for the rest of the season. Also, he is out of options and could get claimed off waivers if the Cubs try and send him to AAA,  and he has been outrighted previously in his career so he can elect free-agency if he he does get outrighted, 

Junior Lake has only one minor league option left, so if the Cubs send him down they would want to recall him within 20 days so that the option won't be used.

EXAMPLE: Lake optioned to Iowa on 8/5, recalled on 8/24 (19 days on Optional Assignment so final minor league option is not spent), then another player could be dropped from the 25-man roster on 8/24 (maybe there wil have been a waiver trade made by that time, or the Cubs might just release Schierholtz).

Or maybe Schierholtz will get Designated for Assignment today (as happened with Darwin Barney last month). 

The Venezuelan Summer League regular season is over and the VSL Cubs did not qualify for the playoffs, so expect a couple or three of the VSL Cubs to get moved to either the DSL Cubs (as happened with Roney Alcala and Bryant Flete last season) or AZL Cubs. 

A bit off topic, but I have noticed that when batting at home Rizzo walks from the on deck circle directly to the batter’s box (between the catcher and the pitcher), and not around the back as most other players do. Does this break one of the many 'unwritten' rules of baseball? If so, the other teams don’t seem to care.

Iowa not missing a beat on offense: OLT BOLT with a grand slam, 2-4. Soler 3-5 with a HR, double and 3 rbi. Bryant is 2-3 with a walk and a HBP. Strailey pitched 7 IP, 6H, 2 unearned runs. No BB, 9 K.

[ ]

In reply to by Carlito

Just returned from the first 6 ½ innings of I-Cubs vs Omaha Stormchasers. 87, sunny, and humid in outlying Omaha. Bryant: 1B, BB, K, 1B. Single in first was neither served to left or hit hard, whatever is between; single in 7th hit well. Soler: 2B, 1B, HR, K. Double was smoked to left center, don’t know how well HR was hit since I was video-ing his swing and HR trot. Olt: K (looking), HR, F7, 1B. Home run was simple long fly ball that went 350 or so to left, so about 40 feet too far for the field to hold. F7 in the 5th was hard hit liner, and 1B in the 7th hard ground ball right back up the middle. It certainly seemed like Omaha threw Olt almost all breaking balls. Straily: Fastballs early got hit hard, including outs. By bottom of 3rd he was up 5-1 and threw almost all breaking stuff of two speeds and Omaha looked feeble. Largest number I saw on the speed gun for him was 88. I liked both Bryant and Soler in the 3rd taking what was there rather than pressing. Olt got the payoff. Elliot Soto played SS today, last night as well. It seems the Omaha folks don’t have a photo of him to put on the jumbotron. Since he’s about 5’ nothing and looks about 12, they used a photo of Thomas Ian Nicholas (?) from Rookie of the Year.

Multiple reports that Fujikawa is also at Coors field but Muskat says he won't be activated today.

and the roster move is: Blake Parker back to Iowa (Sure-outs stays on the tightrope, for now)

I hope everyone realizes that with Baez in there, there's a very real chance the Cubs don't lose a game the rest of the season. There. I said it.

Jacob Turner DFA'd by Marlins. Seems like a good Bosio reclamation project, change of scenery guy. However, apparently Turner is out of options and would need to be on 25 man roster.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • 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.