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, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* 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
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

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





Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Sign Gaudin, Tender Rest of Arbitration Eligible Players

No suprise here, but the Cubs end up offering contracts to all of their arbitration eligible players that Arizona Phil went through this morning.

They even got Chad Gaudin to sign a one-year deal already, terms have yet be to be disclosed.

This seemed like a no-brainer to me once they dropped the Jake Peavy pursuit. None of these guys will be making much and all could provide some sort of usefulness next season.


6:10 PM CST: It looks like Neal Cotts signed as well. Sullivan says Gaudin will get $2 million, and Cotts will get $1.1 million.

1:20 AM CST: Add Reed Johnson as well for $3 milllion.

Comments

If the Cubs signed Chad Gaudin on contract tender day, that means they have been negotiating with him, didn't want to go to arbitration with him, and were probably planning to non-tender him today if they hadn't come to an agreement. The deal probably involves performance incentives that aren't possible to get into a contract if it goes to arbitration.

Same thing happened last year with Neal Cotts and Mark Prior on contract tender day. The Cubs re-signed Cotts ($800K with $75K in incentive bonuses), but could not come to terms with Prior, so Prior was non-tendered..

WMVP says Cubs agreed to terms with Cotts at $1.1 million. RE: RF - I suppose Hendry's decision between Abreu and Bradley would also come down to contract length. Reportedly Abreu wants at least a 3 year deal. If Bradley will take a 2 year deal Hendry might jump at that. Even though I really don't like him, I'd prefer Abreu as well.

In summary the off season is looking like... Hendry's bringing "the gang's all back" except for Kerry Wood who had to be sacrificed (at least salary-wise) because Fukudome was a bust and we needed another Left handed hitting outfielder who can supposedly bat 4-5th. It looks like the payroll increase is just due to relatively predictable contractual raises (which I suppose includes Dempster in a free agent kind of way). I guess they could have dumped other salary to make more changes (hear that Jason Marquis) but that was more difficult than just dumping KW. If Fukudome does reverse course (big if)...he just needs to have comps vs what Edmonds did last yr to break even now. I guess that's why the Peavy possibilities were exciting as it would have made the predictability of "the gangs all back" not the case.

that makes no sense. Either the Dbacks are really high on Yusmeiro Petit for a 5th starter, or they really want to be rid of the Unit. Maybe the Unit really is a tool in the clubhouse and they don't want him around the all of their young guys.

If nobody has already mentioned this, you can listen to Kevin Towers' interview yesterday on XX Sports Radio in which he, obliquely, blames the Cubs for blabbing everything about the Peavy deal to the media thus deleveraging his position. Absolute bullshit! By all reports Towers was the one leaking everything to the press and it pissed off Hendry and the Cubs. It's also pretty clear from the interview that he and the Padres put all their eggs in the Cubs/Peavy basket and now are in complete disarray with no clue what to do next. You can listen in here http://www.xxsportsradio.com/common/global_audio/40/3310.mp3

but Daniel Cabrera is an intriguing high-upside, long-shot non-tender guy. --------------- I agree that he's interesting. Control has been his downfall but I wonder if he could be reworked into a set up reliever, maybe scrapping a pitch. Probably not a fit with the Cubs but it will be interesting to see where he goes and if he rebounds. on another note, it's been awfully quiet on the Hank White front. I guess the death of his brother might be the reason and the Cubs (or other teams) are giving him some time to support his family. Still, the backup catcher position needs to be addressed unless it's Koyie Hill or Wellington Castillo they plan on going with. Blanco just might get a starting job somewhere though. If Arizona Phil sees this, I love to hear his thoughts on the Cubs backup catchers if Blanco moves on.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I think you're right about Cabrera, that he's not really a fit with the Cubs. But I do see a few clubs that could be interested. If I were the Pirates I'd at least check out what the price might be, and the Padres will probably be rumored to be interested in just about every cheap, high-upside pitcher available because of their park. I would think the Cubs either re-sign Blanco or go with Hill as their backup catcher. If they go with Hill, they'll probably sign a minor league FA catcher to play in Iowa and to hang around in case Hill sucks or gets hurt. But I'm clearly not AZ Phil, and I'm sure he has plenty more info and better ideas on that one. Are there some teams that might look at Blanco as a full-time player, or at least as someone who deserves more playing time than the Cubs give him?

here is Kevin Goldstein's take on the Cubs acquistion from the Rule 5 draft (from a transaction with the Reds) David Patton (from Baseball Prospectus); Patton is another reliever with a solid chance to stick. More of an organizational player entering the season, Patton's stuff significantly improved with a move to the bullpen, as his fastball consistently sat in the low 90s in shorter stints, and he also uses a sharp slider that projects as at least average. If there's a word of warning, it's that he got torched in the Arizona Fall League and then struggled with his command in Hawaii. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8362

What about offering John Bale a minor league contract? He may have Farnsworth's IQ, but he threw well in September after coming back from the DL. If Hendry can move Marquis, and Marshall covers the 5th spot in the rotation, then they could use another lefty in the pen.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 10:19am.

If Arizona Phil sees this, I love to hear his thoughts on the Cubs backup catchers if Blanco moves on.

=====================================

CUBSTER: Having Henry Blanco around while the jury was still out on whether Geovany Soto could be a frontline catcher probably made sense to Hendry going into the 2008 season, but with Geo having won the N. L. Rookie of the Year Award and catching 125+ games, I suspect the back-up catcher roster slot is one area where the Cubs are going to want to cut costs in 2009.

As of right now (12/14), it looks like it's going to be a Spring Training battle between Zambrano-favorite Koyie Hill (who is on the Cubs 40-man roster) and veteran Mark Johnson (signed to a minor league contract by the Cubs last month). I sure wouldn't want to have to count on either of them if Soto were to suffer a season-ending injury, but as long as Geo catches 125+ games, I guess the back-up catcher isn't going to be much of a concern to Hendry. (Neither have much to offer offensively, but K. Hill is a switch-hitter who has the versatility to also play 3B and 1B in a pinch, while M. Johnson is a left-handed hitter with considerable MLB experience). 

There was talk somewhere recently that the Cubs were considering bringing back Paul Bako (like Mark Johnson, another below-average veteran MLB left-handed hitter) as their back-up catcher in 2009, and if that's true (and it definitely sounds plausible), it probably means the Cubs want to find a back-up who won't cost more than about $800K. (Of course, you get what you pay for!).

As for Welington Castillo, he is a very good prospect and he will play in the big leagues, but he's still raw (he won't turn 22 until April), and I would say he needs at least one more year in the minors (maybe two) before he's ready for The Show. He still makes too many mistakes (he had a ton of errors & passed balls in 2008), and I doubt that Uncle Lou will tolerate that on a contending team.

W. Castillo is eligible for the 2009 Rule 5 Draft, so he will certainly be added to the Cubs 40-man roster no later than 11-20-09, probably most-likely as the September 1st "3rd catcher" call-up. Castillo could get a shot earlier than that, though, if something bad happens to Soto and the Cubs need a right-handed hitting catcher to platoon with Bako (that's presuming the Cubs sign Bako) or M. Johnson. or K. Hill. Bottom line is, the Cubs better hope Soto stays healthy in 2009. Soto getting hurt (or having a "sophomore slump") would be difficult to overcome.

Thanks Az Phil...and Bako (as you mentioned) is a lefty bat plus he got the most playing time (299 AB's) he's had in awhile last year in Cincy. All that playing time didn't amount to much production though. .217 .299 .328 6 HR (including one off of Lieber) Ah, Dusty Dusty Dusty. That 'splains the near 300 at bats.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

  • Eric S (view)

    Definitely needs a 10 day stint for the hangnail - have to nip those things in the bud or suffer the consequences (ie, more opponent home run derby, etc)

  • Eric S (view)

    Thanks for checking and yeah, that’s a double ouch

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Believe you are correct, checked and appears Cubs have a $2.51 million obligation to Barnhart this season per Cot's Contracts.  Also paying Trey Mancini $7mil this season.  Ouch.  

  • crunch (view)

    m.busch had 0hr and 2 doubles when he was last at wrigley.

    we'll probably see a few more of his jerseys in the seats when they return tomorrow.

    wonder who will go down for taillon.  hey hendricks, you got a hangnail or something?

  • Eric S (view)

    Nice work by Wesneski with some solid defense behind him and the late tack on runs were welcome. Gladly take a 5-4 West Coast swing, particularly down two key starting pitchers … Now just don’t get swept by the Marlins for Pete’s sake. 

  • crunch (view)

    dansby takes the team lead in SB today after a SB with 2 SB total.  the team has 3.  madrigal has the other one.

    cubs also have 7 triples, 7 players each.

  • crunch (view)

    sure am ready for p.wisdom and m.masterboney to swap roster spots.

  • Eric S (view)

    The fifth inning has not been kind to Wicks this season. Giving up leadoff doubles to Tucker Barnhart is also not good for business. IIRC, the Cubs are on the hook for the majority of Barnhart’s salary this season to add insult to injury (could definitely be wrong here). 

  • Cubster (view)

    Kris Bryant to IL with low back strain. He’s keeping the Rockies docs busy.