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

Remlinger Traded To Red Sox

Left-handed reverse-split reliever Mike Remlinger, who was designated for assignment last Friday to make room on the roster for the players returning from the disabled list, has been traded to the Boston Red Sox for "a minor league pitcher" whose identity has yet to be confirmed. Expect a far lesser name than the likes of Anibal Sanchez, Jon Papelbon, Jon Lester and Abe Alvarez, and the Cubs to be chipping in some money too. We'll have an update and a profile of the prospect as soon as we get a name. [Update: Olivio Astacio is the name, and the extent of the profile I can give you on him is that he's Dominican and 21 years old. When signed as an international free agent by the Red Sox a few years ago, he was considered a good prospect with a live arm. His numbers though have been relatively unimpressive, he's apparently been suspended and sent back to the DR this year, and he's still a long way away from the majors regardless.] The Red Sox are making a habit of acquiring elderly lefty relievers from us. Last year, the Cubs traded journeyman Jimmy Anderson to the Red Sox for a minor league reliever named Andrew Shipman and a player to be named later that ended up being Anderson himself. Anderson made just five appearances out of the Boston bullpen, pitching six ineffective innings, before the Red Sox dispatched him from whence he came. He spent the rest of the year in our minor league system, and right now you can find him pitching for the Devil Rays' Triple-A affiliate in Durham, North Carolina. Let's hope, for the Red Sox's sake, that a better fate awaits Remlinger. Andrew Shipman though, aged 23 but blessed with unremarkable stuff, is having quite a season at Double-A, posting a 54.0 IP, 47 H, 0 HR, 26 BB, 56 K, 3.00 ERA line. Indeed, not a single home run allowed in over fifty innings. It may be a pitcher's league and a pitcher's park, and he may not ever project as a major leaguer, but he's certainly giving those in West Tennessee some enjoyable innings. If only the fans in Chicago could say the same more often.

Comments

and hopefully, the cubs have learned, after unloading their second ludicrously overpaid reliever, that you don't tie up that much cash in non-closer relief pitching.

>you don't tie up that much cash in non-closer relief pitching.... You mean like $9.5 million to non-closer relief pitcher Kerry Wood?

The Boston Red Sox tried to bolster their bullpen with yet another left-hander, getting Mike Remlinger and cash from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday for minor league pitcher Olivo Astacio. A quick search on Astacio pulled this bio ... 6'-5", 190, R/R, Born 7/28/84, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

In another roster move, the Cubs recalled outfielder Corey Patterson from Triple-A Iowa and optioned infielder Ronny Cedeno to Iowa.

>>You mean like $9.5 million to non-closer relief pitcher Kerry Wood? well, we all know KW is a starter. this bullpen stint is stupid and will hopefully end in about 4-5 games when the cubs are 10+ games out of the WC "chase"

From Rotoworld: "Red Sox acquired LHP Mike Remlinger and cash from the Cubs for RHP Olivo Astacio. It's surprising that the Cubs couldn't get a better prospect than the 21-year-old Astacio. Remlinger will slide right into the Boston pen, likely taking the spot of Manny Delcarmen. He seems like a pretty good pickup, but we suppose that doesn't guarantee that he'll spend more than a week on the roster." I guess that Theo Epstein's just a hard guy to fleece....

Darn, I was really hoping we could've gotten Jon Lester, if for no other reason than it would be funny to see him on a team with Jon Leicester. "Yes, I'm Jon Lester, no the other one - without the 3 silent letters." And a minor correction. If Jimmy Anderson's pitching playing for the Durham Bull's, he's property of the Mighty Tampa Bay D-Rays. The Twins AAA team is the Rochester Red Wings.

should have traded him to san fran for marquis grissom, he just got DFAd too. Oh, well Korey's coming back up anyhow.

Thanks for the heads up, Blue, Durham is the Devil Rays, you're right. Don't know why I saw Durham and thought Twins.

From Cubs.com "Astacio, 21, has gone 7-11 with a 4.33 ERA in 38 career games in the Red Sox organization. The right-hander has struck out 110 batters and allowed just 4 home runs in 139.1 innings of work. Astacio has worked primarily as a starter (31 games) and had his greatest success with Boston's Gulf Coast affiliate in 2004 - where he posted a 3.13 ERA and hurled his first career complete game." I couldn't find anything on milb.com on him. Sounds like he has a good K rate. Maybe we should try to put him in middle relief in Boise and see how he does. Do you think if we had offered Burny, Dempster, and Rusch to the Sox before the deadline do you think they would given us Sanchez or one of the Jons?

Who takes Remlinger's spot on the major league roster?

remlinger was already DFA'ed off the roster to make room for the miracle three callup in nyc. (wood, williamson, nomar). lineup: lawton walker lee aramis burnitz nomar corey blanco prior

The one moment I will always remember of Remlinger's Cubs tenure: coming in with the bases loaded in the 7th inning of a game against the Yankees and striking out Jason Giambi on what I remember as a changeup on the inside corner. 40,000 people cheering at Wrigley on a Saturday afternoon in July and Remlinger had one job to do, which was get out one of the most feared hitters in the game, and he did it perfectly. Good luck with the Sox, Rem.

sadly that's the only good memory I have of Remmy...but that was a helluva moment!!

I will also miss Remlinger's hiked-up pants that allow his socks to show (luckily, we still have Burnitz for this old-school visual) and his scraggly salt-pepper beard - he was the only pitcher I could instantly recognize in the bullpen from my high seats in the outfield. I think the real lesson on Remlinger is that you don't give a long term contract to 36 year old middle relievers.

Best Remlinger moment for my money was him standing on the grass in front of the Cubs dugout at Wrigley last year yelling at Lance Berkman in the outfield after Berkman had faked getting beaned.

My question about this deal is how much of Remmy's remaining salary did Boston pick up? What ever amount they did (if they did)represents a savings for the Cubs. Probably to go into the coffers of the Tribune Company.

That was a great game, Ruz - Wood versus Clemens, national TV, bases loaded, Giambi up, Karros had just hit a 3 run homer the inning before to give the Cubs a lead. Ah, a Cubs lead.

I don't know the details Moe, but I would guess the Cubs are paying the whole of Remmy's remaining contract. They were willing to release him and the only reason Red Sox make the trade is to pre-empt any other teams from picking him up on waivers.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.