Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Anthony Varvaro Waiver Claim Voided

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

The Cubs waiver claim of RHP Anthony Varvaro has been voided by the MLB Commissioner and he has been returned to the Boston Red Sox, where he will be placed on the BoSox MLB 60-day DL. Varvaro will undergo surgery to repair a torn elbow flexor tendon later this week.

Varvaro was Designated for Assignment by the Red Sox on April 23rd, and was claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers by the Cubs on May 3rd. The Cubs almost immediately placed Varvaro back onto waivers, and the Cubs sent him outright to AAA Iowa on May 8th after Outright Assignment Waivers were secured.

The elbow injury was detected after Varvaro threw a bullpen side-session, at which point the Cubs requested through the MLB Commissioner's office that their waiver claim be voided and that Vavaro be returned to the Red Sox, because he had a pre-existing injury and therefore should not have been placed on Outright Assignmmt Waivers. Varvaro remained inactive on the Iowa Reserve List for two weeks while the matter was under review by MLB.

This is similar to what happened with RHRP Brian Schlitter a few years ago, when the Yankees claimed Schlitter off waivers from the Cubs in January 2011, and then the Phillies subsequently claimed Schlitter off waivers from the Yankees in February 2011, only to find out in Spring Training that Schlitter had a pre-existing elbow injury and needed a UCL elbow ligament transplant (TJS).

The Phillies then contacted the MLB Commissioner and requested that Schlitter be returned to the Cubs, with all previous waiver claims voided. And Schlitter was indeed returned to the Cubs at the end of Spring Training, underwent TJS on the Cubs dime, and spent the balance of the 2011 season on the Cubs MLB 60-day DL. The Cubs also had to return the $50,000 waiver fee they received from the Yankees (although the refund actually was channeled to the Phillies, since the Yankees got their money back in February when Schlitter was claimed off waivers by the Phils).  

The Cubs faced a similar-type situation earlier this month, when they wanted to remove RHRP Blake Parker from their MLB 40-man roster to open up a slot for LHRP James Russell. Because Parker was on the AAA Iowa Cubs 7-day DL with right elbow inflammation and was not physically healthy enough to play, he could not be placed on Outright Assignment Waivers at that time. So in order to remove Parker from the MLB 40-man roster, the Cubs had to either recall Parker from his minor league Optional Assignment and place him on their MLB 60-day DL (and pay him a big league salary for at least two months), or release him and then try and re-sign him to a minor league contract (for his minor league split salary). The Cubs chose the latter (although of course Parker had to agree to go along with it), and Parker is now rehabbing his elbow injury at Extended Spring Training in Mesa.  

 

Tags
Cubs Roster Moves
Anthony Varvaro
James Russell
Brian Schlitter
Blake Parker

Comments

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:47 pm

Herrera in for Russell today. Sunday is usually a day that backups get into the lineup. i.e. Mike Olt gets to take the lineup card to home plate.

Submitted by billybucks on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:47 pm

Javy cranking up -- 2 HRs (so far) today, now hitting .326 with OPS of .949. But. what's up with all the errors (11 in 22 games)?

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:01 pm

HR: Alcantara, A (6, 1st inning off Gaviglio, 0 on, 0 out), Baez, J 2 (5, 1st inning off Gaviglio, 0 on, 1 out; 5th inning off Gaviglio, 0 on, 0 out). ...and Christian Villaneuva 3-3 with a double. 7-2, I Cubs in the 5th. What are the chances CV becomes a MLB 3rd baseman? He seems to have improved offensively. From a third baseman perspective, on a marginally-related note, Casey McGehee was DFA'd by Giants.

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:09 pm

I think they should move Castro to LF, Russell to SS, and bring up Baez to play 2B. Castro is making too many errors at SS and Russell is not super comfortable at 2B. I am getting tired of waiting for Castro to grow into this. At some point he has to develop or they have to move on.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:56 pm

Don't think Castro has the bat to play LF. LF needs to be an impact offensive position. Castro is a good offensive player for a middle infielder -- not so much a corner IF or OF. I agree on Starlin -- Castro is on place for a 30+ error season. Still seems to be a guy who relies on talent and makes little effort to learn the game.

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Mon, 05/25/2015 - 05:54 am

Well, Castro had a .777 OPS in 2014, which would have placed him 10th in MLB among left fielders. His 14 HRs would have been 13th. His 33 doubles 12th. Now he had the second-best OPS among short stops (behind only Peralta) so moving him to LF would certainly be a step down. He'd go from a top offensive talent to middle of the pack. But if Baez can produce at an above average level at 2B then some of that would even out. And if team defense would be improved a lot, and the bench strengthened by making Coghlan the first bat off, it might be worth it. Though I am certain Castro would pout, not hit well because of it, and probably make some blunders in LF, so perhaps it's a bad idea.

Looking all of the comps on BR and digging into it a bit more, it just seems like to me that Castro is a worse fielding version of Edgar Renteria. He'll get 2,000+ hits, 400-500 doubles, 150 HR, put up an OPS in the mid-700s, and be worth 30-ish WAR for his career. He'll have a great career. But he'll be solidly in that second tier seet of short stops. I'm running out of hope that he is going to turn the corner and turn into an excellent defender, improve his batting eye and walk more, or start hitting for more power. Any of that could still happen, of course, he's only 25. But we said that at 22, 23, and 24 as well, and at some point we won't be able to say that anymore.

[ ]

Submitted by Old and Blue on Mon, 05/25/2015 - 05:33 am

Castro overall is a perfectly fine, average to above average middle infielder lineup slot who should probably be batting 6th on a team with a George Soler who ultimately starts to hit like I think he will. People make too much out of Castro's errors and gloss over his good fielding. He's had 9 errors this year so far, which is about 5 too many at this stage in his career, and they're still related in my mind to a lack of concentration. Ritalin isn't allowed in the MLB but they should try an exception for him. That late inning error the other day cost him a few fans who may have been on the fence about him. I even turned on him that night on comments here, and I usually am a defender. Castro has progressed some on the fielding front, but most people don't notice it because he's not making some of the errors he used to make. He's charging the ball more on easy grounders than he has in the past. That saves errors. He's getting the ball out of the glove quickly and turning the dp pretty well with an inexperienced second baseman. Easy stuff to gloss over since it doesn't produce a stat. All in all, he sure gets a lot of hate for a 25 year old with 894 hits. Moving him to left field is no answer. He'll be a middling player there on a team bursting at the seams with young talent. TheoCorp is playing this right. Until Russell and/or Baez can push him out of the lineup, or unless someone can offer up decent value - not easy when guys like Bob Brenly and Valentine are berating him and building up his legend as a bad player, he's probably not going anywhere. Ultimately I see Russell at short and Baez at second, especially if Baez keeps showing some progress, but I don't think anything can happen until Baez comes up and can show he won't swing at everything coming within 50 feet of the strike zone. Improvement in the minors is a positive, but it's not the same as facing these MLB pitchers with ridiculous breaking stuff. I'd be very wary of pushing out a 25 year old ball player who has gotten 894 hits against modern pitching staffs. He drives me crazy sometimes, too, but not a lot of players are perfect. The ones that are are superstars. Barring injury, Castro is going to be the shortstop for the rest of the year, so may as well get used to it.

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Mon, 05/25/2015 - 05:07 am

Unfortunately, his OPS this year is down to .646 (10th among NL SS), which makes his batting clean-up even more problematic and seems to have amplified his weaknesses as a hitter. And, through yesterday's game, he was the only "qualified" NL SS with a negative WAR, for what that's worth. If he were hitting 6th or 7th, his bat would be a bonus on a good team -- right now, he is counted on to do too much.

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:42 pm

scrubs lose. hell of a fun series to watch...except for the cubs coming out on the wrong side of the W/L.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:39 pm

"That's the key for Javy. What he's done the most lately is not overswinging. He's not trying to hit 800-foot home runs any more. He's just trying to hit 350- to 400-foot home runs, that's all. He's working really hard at calming things down." if that's true (and it's working for him) then he is basically down there successfully re-inventing himself. calming down his violent swing while retaining most of the power is ideal for everyone involved. can't wait to see it in person. hope it's legit and it sticks.

Submitted by cubbies.4ever on Sun, 05/24/2015 - 05:23 pm

AZ PHIL - Regarding the Valvaro situation. How many CURRENT Cubs and Cubs prospects have under gone Theos Tommy John Surgery collection? - Jason Motte, Tsuyoshi Wada, Hector Rondon, Brian Sclitter, Dallas Beeler, Chris Denorfia, Corey Black, Dylan Cease, Drake Britton, Daniel Schlereth, Ryan McNeil, Josh Conway, Austin Reed, Jose Rosario, Erling Moreno, Barrett Loux, Stephen Bruno, Taylor Teagarden, Will Remillard....am I missing any?? I think theo likes TJS players more than Boston players

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 05/25/2015 - 05:58 pm

84 pitches for wada today...removed with 0 on and 1 out. maybe he can pitch 86 the next outing...maybe make it to 100 pitches in a game by august.

Submitted by billybucks on Mon, 05/25/2015 - 05:05 pm

Another daytime loss -- now 3 under during the day and 7 over at night. Time to set a curfew for the young guys.

Submitted by billybucks on Tue, 05/26/2015 - 05:59 pm

Congrats, and welcome to the highly confusing world of having a boy and a girl. Very, very different creatures, right from the beginning. I completely agree with Phil -- the first time your son picks up a bat, make sure he swings it left-handed. It is such a huge advantage to be a lefty hitter. Watching my son deal with RH curveballs in high school has made me lament the fact that I didn't make him swing lefty when he was young....

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.

  • crunch (view)

    cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.

    taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight.  who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.

    p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury.  good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

Click HERE for the last 50 comments