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

Baseball Writers Awards

Update: Bryant, Maddon, and Arrieta (!) bring it home.

This is the week the BBWAA gets to announce its winners for the 2015 season.

Bryant seems to be a lock for NL ROY (Monday), Maddon is likely to win Manger of the Year (Tuesday), and Arrieta is probably going to come up a bit short for the NL Cy Young (Wednesday). Unfortunately, HBP doesn't carry much weight, or Rizzo would have a real shot at the MVP (Thursday).

The announcements come at 5:00pmCST. Here's MLB.com's overview

Tags

Comments

Why do you think Arrieta will come up short? Just wondering, not meant as "why the f*** do you think he'll come up short?"

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

My own suspicion is that Greinke will be awarded for being brilliant wire-to-wire and for having the superior ERA. Arrieta's unlikely path to victory is probably hoping that a sizable portion of the West Coast writers prefer Kershaw and split their votes between the teammates.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

To go old school -- Jake pitched significantly more innings and had 4CG to Greinke's one. The Cy Young award winner could have ONE CG? Bob Gibson protests. So, I imagine, would Cy Young. Greinke is an LA wuss, Jake is Chicago tough.

With Bears fan Rob no longer at the helm I'm reluctant to go non baseball but it's just interesting to see the difference in how NFL football teams "rebuild" and baseball teams like Theo's Cubs rebuild. We all know the deal with the Cubs, but with the Bears it's just been an in-season process of putting the pieces back together and just trying to form a well run team on the field. There's so much parity in the NFL that a few players here and there can really turn things around, but in this case, not much has changed. Except for a Cutler who seems to really get the current offensive scheme. They still may end up winning only half their games, but last season was as ugly as I've ever seen. Great to see Cutler finding himself, and Langford has been quite a revelation .

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Meh -- the NFL is all about injuries. In the 4th quarter, it's a question of "can your back-ups beat their back-ups?" because most of the starters are on the sidelines or in the locker room or in the hospital. During last Monday night's game, Gruden made reference to injury on virtually every play -- "The Chargers WRs were just signed this week, they don't even know the plays -- the Bears are using a 3rd string center and backup RB... etc.". The Bears rebuild supposedly started with Kevin White, who won't even play this year.

Agree on the Arietta situation. Expect it to be a close vote, but seems like most analysts settled on Grienke. The ERA's are a virtual wash and most of Arrieta's numbers were superior, but writers seemed to get behind Grienke early in the season and it was just too much for Jake to overcome. Greinke's history of success before this season may also play a small role. Hope I'm wrong, and certainly the 2nd half record performance and the no-hitter certainly helps Jake's cause.

For Manager of the Year, I always assumed it was going to be Maddon...until recently. Maddon came in 3rd place in the peer MOY award behind Collins and Matheny, so I wonder if there is less support outside of Chicago than we assume. Rookie of the Year...seems like only question will be if it is unanimous or not. MVP...Does Rizzo break the top 5? Bryant the top 10?

I ask this every year...but why on earth does baseball wait until no one gives a crap about baseball 2 weeks+ after the world series ends? Why not do it like every other pro sport and announce the winners during the postseason or immediately after. Seems very anti-climatic and stories get buried when everyone is paying attention to football and basketball.

hmm...posts disappeared. Good article about why Greinke, Arrieta, and Kershaw all deserve Cy Young and how in most seasons, any one of the three would have easily won. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14114836/national-league-cy-young-thr… With that said, ESPN "Experts" pick Arrieta in a landside. 1. Arrieta - 16 votes 2. Grienke - 6 votes 3. Kershaw - 2 votes I still wouldn't be the least surprised to see Greinke win. Honestly, if I had a vote, I'd have trouble not voting for the pitcher with the lowest ERA, WHIP, and a stellar 30 of 32 quality starts. Hope Arrieta wins though.

Pitcher Handicapping I am still picking the Cubs to sign Zimmerman and trade for a starter first. If this option doesn't pan out, next likelihood is a Price signing with a creative deal. Should both of these options fall apart, they will for sure put a trade package together of equal WAR or similar. You can put money on it that it will be done before Cubs Convention.

Really sorry for the lost posts. Had a hardware issue which is still unresolved. Backup db got corrupted as well. No excuses. Now I just have to figure out what went bad on my server!

"One executive told Jayson Stark of ESPN.com that he thinks the Yankees "will move" Andrew Miller for a Craig Kimbrel-like package built around MLB-ready starters." yeah, good luck finding a 2nd sucker out there...though a.miller is arguably a better deal. though BOS didn't exactly "give up the farm" i still can't figure out why they went in that direction with that group of talent...seems like they'd be looking in other upgrade areas before jumping on the trade market for a quality, but highly paid 60-70 IP guy.

Got some faulty/premature word about something. EDIT: Wow! Jake!

On a serious note, these awards really cement 2015 as a special and unforgettable season for the Cubs.

The Cubs have signed 25-year old 6'4 235 RHRP Andury Acevedo. 

Acevedo was an MLB Rule 55 minor league 6YFA (ex-NYY) post-2015. He was converted from 3B to RHP in 2011, and combines an upper 90's fastball with a hard slider. He reached AAA for the first time in August 2015. 

Few people have seen him pitch. In 8 minor league seasons, he has played in 191 games, splitting 4 seasons each as a fielder and a pitcher. As a hitter, he has 267 AB, and has thrown 123.2 IP.

[ ]

In reply to by videographer

Sounds very Carlos Marmol-ish. 9.2 K/9 and 5.8 BB/9 for his minor league career. His BB/9 dropped from 8.1 in 2014 to 3.2 in 2015, but his K/9 also dropped from 11.5 to 7.5 over the same period of time. Gave up no HR's over first 3 years (64.2 IP), then 5 HR's last year (59 IP -- 0.8 HR/9 rate). Hard to read the tea leaves on those stats.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

That report only strengthens the Marmol comparison: Was switched from being a position player, "flies open a ton; falls off the mound; can become twister and lose balance", no fastball command, has better control of his slider -- "commands better than FB but still fringe; has hard bite and solid tilt; pure strikeout pitch; shows ability to sweep across and backdoor it."

[ ]

In reply to by JoePepitone

The Cubs seem to collect pitchers with good arms who can't find a consistent release point for their fastballs. (Probably a bigger issue with the fastball because it's mostly arm and hand, not so much wrist.) Strop and Grimm come to mind, but maybe also Arietta before last season. Maybe they think they have pitching coaches who can address this problem better than other teams can.

At present, the TCR "front page" is frozen.  

It isn't possible to post a new article onto the front page.... I can write one (which I did yeterday), but it doesn't post.

Obviously comments can be added to any existent post (article), but the new comments do not appear on the right sidebar of the front page.

I can update the Cubs Roster block that appears on the left sidebar of the front page, but the update does not change the block. I can't even delete the block and replace it with a new one (which I tried to do), since the front page is frozen. 

Also three pages in my MLB Roster Rules information book are frozen ("Rule 5 Draft Eligibility," "Minor League Roster Rules," and "Minor League Free-Agency"), but for some reason the other pages are not frozen and can be edited.

The Organizational Depth Chart is not frozen and neither is the 40-man roster info page. Changes (edits) can be made and saved and the changes (edits) do show up on the page. 

Hopefully the TCR Admin can get the problems resolved soon. 

In the meantime, just keep posting comments here, and I will make changes to the Depth Chart and 40-man Roster pages as transactions occur. I have already added Acevedo to the depth chart and 40-man roster pages, and I will add additional players to the 40-man roster info page when more players are added to the Cubs 40-man roster today or tomorow. 

One other thing. 

When I attempt to "log-in" on the three frozen pages in my MLB Roster Rules book, I get the following message: 

An AJAX  HTTP error occurred.
HTTP Result Code: 200
DEBUGGING INFORMATION FOLLOWS
...

and then nothing follows.

mlbtr is all over the Theo/Shark meeting yesterday. In truth, Shark is just hitting up Theo for some really good Notre Dame Football game tix vs Boston College this Saturday. Game is in Fenway. Who has better contacts for this one? Theo/Fenway vs Shark/Alumni?

Haven't seen a whole lot of commentary about Smaradzija here. I want nothing to do with the guy in a cubs uniform again, even as a 4th starter. Way too much inconsistency to be worth what any team is going to spend on him.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I might be interested in Samardzija if the price is right. This article at fangraphs suggests that his lack of performance last year is in large part attributable to the poor Sox defense. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/whats-up-with-jeff-samardzija/ The author also suggest that the Sox defense punished Sale and Danks as well as Samardzija. It would be interesting to find out what metrics the Cubs are using to evaluate Samardzija. They may view him as a good candidate for a bounceback year, at a relatively cheap price. If nothing else, he is a proven workhorse with plus velocity and decent control. If they identify a mechanics issue, perhaps Bosio can help.

cubs open up the season @ANA april 4th (10pm EST, ESPN2). also, the cubs have to finalize rosters pre-R5 draft by tomorrow...31 players currently on the roster (including the recently signed acevedo).

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Because Jack Leathersich is an injured player (July TJS), the Mets had until 5 PM (Eastern) tomorrow (Friday) to outright him to the minors if they didn't want to carry him on their MLB 40-man roster during the off-season or risk losing him if they non-tender him on 12/2. And the Mets almost got him through waivers, too (the Cubs are 28th in waiver claim priority until the 31st day of the 2016 MLB regular season).

Actually, the Cubs were in a similar situation with Jacob Turner post-2015, except the Cubs tried to get Turner (who underwent season-ending elbow surgery in June) through waivers much earlier in the off-season than the Mets did with Leathersich, and Turner had the right to elect to be a free-agent if outrighted, while Leathersich does not. (Turner was claimed off waivers by the White Sox on 10/27, so he did not have a chance to be a FA).

So unlike some off-season waiver claims where the player is placed back onto waivers again almost right away, the Cubs will not be able to outright Leathersich to the minors during the off-season (although they could non-tender him on 12/2, release him, or trade him), but they will be able to place him on the MLB 60-day DL as early as the first day of Spring Training in February (or anytime thereafter) if his slot on the 40 is needed.

Leathersich will accrue MLB Service Time for as many days as he is on the MLB 60-day DL during the 2016 MLB regular season (again, he cannot be optioned to the minors until he is 100% healthy enough to pitch), but that really doesn't matter because he's three years away from being eligible for salary arbitration (not that the Cubs care that much about arbitration eligibility). 

So really the only significance pertaining to Leathersich being on the Cubs MLB 60-day DL next season is that the Cubs will have to pay him the pro-rated MLB minimum salary ($507,500) while he is on the MLB 60-day DL during the 2016 MLB regular season, rather than the pro-rated minor league "split" salary he gets paid if he is on Optional Assignment to the minors. 

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

the cubs coaches will have the dude after not pitching for nearly a year once he completes his TJ rehab under their watch. he may not make a night/day turnaround, but it seems like a decent risk to take. given his stuff, it's hard to complain about this project even if it costs a roster spot at a slightly inconvenient time.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

CRUNCH: Exactly.

The Cubs are in a somewhat unusual position in that they have a lot of open slots on their MLB Reserve List (40-man roster), so claiming a TJS rehabber off waivers and carrying him on the 40 until the start of Spring Training (when he can be placed on the 60-day DL if his roster slot is needed) is a smart move.

Cubs acquire Spencer Patton from Texas. Tigers acquire Cameron Maybin, so that option is off the table.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

his stuff is just really ordinary, unlike the other 2. still, results matter rather than stuff when it comes down to it...it's just easier to go "oh yeah" about someone who's got above-average stuff as a project. it's not like losing delarosa is a horrible move given it doesn't seem like he can play 2nd or SS. his arm is weak and it's accuracy sucks, good glove...little/no power. -edit- evidently his delivery style is part of the story behind the numbers according to this site: http://kingsofkauffman.com/2014/05/25/spencer-patton-deserves-chance-ro… "With those results, one would likely expect Patton to be firing the ball in the upper 90’s. Instead, Patton is typically in the 90 to 93 MPH range with his fastball, mixing in a slider and a change. According to his scouting report from when he was drafted, Patton has a delivery that makes it difficult for opposing hitters to pick up the ball. As his fastball appears to be more explosive than it actually is"

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

"ordinary fastball/slider guy" You have a high bar for ordinary. Above Eugene in the Cub organization, only Carl Edwards and David Garner had more strikeouts last season than combined walks/hits allowed. Patton only has 50 innings in the majors. In 268 innings in the minors, he had 364 strikeouts versus 326 walks/hits allowed. His BB/9 was 3.2 over five minors seasons.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I'm not saying he's great, but can we agree on the word "decent"? Became a pro at 23, called up at 26; nothing wrong with that trajectory, he hasn't been knocking around. Even in the majors his SO9 is 9.7. In the minors it's 12.2, so he's always missed bats, and without being a wild man: his walks are low. He cost the Cubs an unheralded A-ball middle infielder and a roster spot.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

i'll take him over frandy since it's unlikely he'll progress as a SS (and 2nd isn't looking much better). i hope patton's delivery deception skills play well in the bigs over time. cubs need pitching options that are MLB-ready and dude fits the bill for a MLB/AAA mix...both needed.

Maybe he's not 19, or going to busted for PED like Vizcaino and McKirhain last year :)

Carrie Muskat ‏@CarrieMuskat 1m1 minute ago #Cubs select contracts of Candelario, Contreras, Pierce Johnson and Vogelbach from Double-A Tennessee. 40-man now 37

rumor: s.castro/b.gardner swap being discussed between the cubs and yanks. that would be epic. that said, i imagine the cubs would have to give up more than just castro.

[ ]

In reply to by blockhead25

yanks need a 2nd from somewhere...that said, this deal makes little sense for the yanks outside of that without additional talent, and probably not someone that's just a toss-in even if it's not a top prospect. ah...rumor season.

[ ]

In reply to by blockhead25

What doesn't make sense? If the Yankees like Castro, then damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead! The Yankees may want pitching prospects that the Cubs don't have or won't yield, but that's when you get a third team involved. The main thing is to get Castro's jersey back and free up second base.

I guess when you acquire a bunch of guys who can't throw strikes you don't have to worry about Corey Black anymore.

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).