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

Operation Spoiler, Phase 2

GAME 160 IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (78-81) @ HOUSTON ASTROS (87-72) @ THE JUICE BOX 7:05 pm CDT, TV: WCIU, Fox Sports Southwest
Andy Pettitte, LHP
17-9 2.42 ERA
165/41 K/BB, 17 HR in 215.1 IP
Carlos Zambrano, RHP
14-6 3.33 ERA
194/83 K/BB, 20 HR in 216.1 IP
2B Ryan Theriot 2B Craig Biggio
SS #Neifi Perez CF Wily Taveras
1B Derrek Lee 3B Morgan Ensberg
3B Nomar Garciaparra LF #Lance Berkman
LF Matt Murton 1B Mike Lamb
RF *Jeromy Burnitz LF Jason Lane
C Michael Barrett SS Adam Everett
CF *Corey Patterson C Brad Ausmus
P #Carlos Zambrano P *Andy Pettitte
I really had no idea that Andy Pettitte was having THAT good of a year. Z's quest for .300 will have to come from the right side. A hit in one or two at-bats will put him above .300, if he gets three or four at-bats and manages only a single hit, he'll stay below .300. 2 hits off Pettitte and he's a lock. Also, with 6 more K's, Z will top 200 K's for the first time in his career, plus help out my fantasy team. Macias's earth-shattering walk and solid throw last night weren't enough to get him in the lineup tonight. What's a guy have to do? Joking aside, good to see Theriot has recovered from his bout of food poisoning. I wonder if the Astros clinch before Sunday if Geovany Soto will get a start sometime this weekend? I don't believe he's gotten into a game yet since being called up. The Cubs can take the season series tonight as well, so far they're 8-5 against the 'Stros. They'll have to do it against their top 3, Pettitte tonight, Clemens tomorrow, and Oswalt on Sunday (assuming they haven't clinched by then). Puts the 'Stros in an awful spot if they end up tied with the Phils for the Wild Card as Brandon Backe will have to start a playoff death match. Of course having those guys pitching the next 3 games, where 2 wins clinch the playoffs is a good recipe for avoiding said death match. And be sure to come by Monday as we'll being posted our year end round-table discussion starting with the TCR writers. For the rest of the week, I'll try and keep the other playoff race summaries up-to-date after the jump. NL East The Atlanta Braves clinched the division on Sept. 27th NL Central Cardinals clinched the division somewhere around April 20th, I believe. NL West The San Diego Padres clinched the division on Sept. 28th NL Wild Card Astros up 2 games over Phillies Magic number: 2 Games Left: Houston (3): 3 versus Cubbies Phillies (3): 3 @ Washington AL East Yankees are up 1 game over the Red Sox and they play each other the final 3 games of the season Magic number: 3 Games Left: Boston (3) 3 versus Yankees New York (3) 3 @ Boston AL Central White Sox clinched the division on Sept. 29th AL West The Angels clinched the division on Sept. 27th AL Wild Card Tribe and Red Sox are tied. Magic number: 4 (for either team) Games Left: Cleveland (3): 3 versus Chicago Boston (3): 3 versus Yankees

Comments

Derrek Lee just set the record for most RBI's by a first basemen for a Cub..Congrats!! Z has already passed the 200 K mark for the season and currently stands at exactly a .300 average (1 for 2 today) and we're in the top of the 6th. He's pitching quite well so I'm thinking he'll get one more at-bat.

what the hell is going on? he just walked ensberg and berkman. if we go to the pen this things' over...

he threw 9 straight balls and larry the fairy doesn't make a visit. whats he waiting for the three run homer?

Baker gave Z the milestone, pinch-hit for him on his 3rd at-bat. Z hit exactly .300 for the season with some pop. What a player!!!

I believe Soto got into a game last week, if I remember correctly. I want to say Cards or Reds, but I'm probably wrong. He just pinch hit though, so he still has an easy job.

I'm happy for Lee setting the Cub record for RBIs by a 1B but yikes, it's pretty amazing that in 12 or 13 decades some Cub !B didn't get more than 106. Like SS after Banks, just a real unproductive position for generations. And yes, I liked Mark Grace and Buckner to a lesser extent too but 106 RBIs? Wow. One of those things you hear and can't quite believe until you go through the personnel in your head and it makes total sense. Total depressing sense.

runner on 3rd, less than 2 outs, corey patterson has to be the worst in baseball...todd walker now hitting. our version of kirk gibson!

i'm worried patterson is going to get picked off or thrown out trying to steal. no cub has played this bad...

cub ist basemen since banks(from memory) '72 pepitone '73 pepitone/thornton '74 thornton '75 thornton '76 biitner '77 buckner '78 buckner '79 buckner '80 buckner '81 buckner '82 buckner '83 buckner '84 buckner/durham '85 durham '86 durham '87 durham '88 grace '89 grace '90 grace '91 grace '92 grace '93 grace '94 grace '95 grace '96 grace '97 grace '98 grace '99 grace '00 grace '01 stairs/coomer/mcgriff '02 mcgriff '03 karros/choi/simon '04 lee '05 lee

Who says the Cubs won't be playing meaningful games in October? What a game...'Stros lead down to one. Phils will owe all the Cubbies steak dinners if they make the playoffs. Who knew Walker was even available? I didn't see the game, did he limp up to the plate? Clemens vs. Williams tomorrow

Rob G. Walker didn't limp to the plate but he did limp to first after hitting the ball.

Fanzone, Didn't the great Pete LaCock figure in the mid-70s somewhere? Maybe post Thornton? Also, what was Billy Williams' last year with the Cubs? '74? He also played some first. I remember looking at Thornton's career a while back. He'd of been quite a hero here at TCR. Great OBP several seasons.

Way to go Cubs! Lets keep HOU home for October! Man is CLE in a choke job. Cant take a series from TB and are in xtra frames with the Charlotte Knights tonight. I dont get why Guillen would put in his bench guys. Wouldnt it be better for them to play BOS/NYY in the DS than the Angels?

CUBS 1B POST-BANKS 71 - Pepitone/Hickman 72 - Pepitone/Hickman 73 - Hickman/Bourque 74 - B. Williams/Thornton 75 - Thornton/LaCock 76 - LaCock/Thornton/Monday 77 - Buckner 78 - Buckner 79 - Buckner 80 - Buckner 81 - Buckner 82 - Buckner (Durham played CF) 83 - Buckner (Durham played CF) 84 - Buckner/Durham 85 - Durham 86 - Durham 87 - Durham 88 - Grace 89 - Grace 91 - Grace 92 - Grace 93 - Grace 94 - Grace 95 - Grace 96 - Grace 97 - Grace 98 - Grace 99 - Grace 00 - Grace 01 - Stairs/McGriff 02 - McGriff 03 - Choi/Karros/Simon 04 - D. Lee 05 - D. Lee

AZ Phil, Pat Bourque! Just putrid. One of the Breeden brothers must have logged some time at 1st too. Hal. Danny was the catcher. And no doubt Carmen Fanzone himself had to fill in a game or two over there. You had to keep his trumpet in the lineup. If you listed everyone that played even an inning over there, you'd never want to eat again.

The more I think on it, the more I want Dempster back. This is something the Cubs can take credit for--seeing the potential he had as a closer and making it happen. If only they'd done it from day 1, right? God I hate LaTroy even now.

Dempster has always been Hendry's choice for closer, not Dusty's. That's why he wasn't used earlier. Dusty didn't trusty. You can read a bit about it here if you are skeptical.

#15: I was thinking the exact same thing about Ozzieball. I'd be staying up at night worried about getting stuck with the Angels in the first round. Because unless they get three Phenomenal starts from their rotation against the Halos, they would definitely lose that series. They can't outhit them, they can't outlast them in the bullpen, they play like garbage in the state of California and they, like most pitching staffs, have absolutely no answer for Vlad the Impaler. If they get them in the first round, Contreras wins Game 1 at the Cell, then they get swept out. How do you avoid getting them in the first round? Beat the life out of the Indians.

Of course, Dempster has always been Hendry's choice as a closer. Some of us don't need a google search to know that. But to hear Bluewater Pennant tell it, you'd think he'd been traded. After all, he's the only established talent the Cubs have had in the pen all season, and Pennant can't stop reminding us that "all the talent in the bullpen is playing for other teams."

I predict that Dusty will use Zambrano as a pinch hitter in these last two games. With the exception of Walker, he doesn't have a better choice. I listened to Stoney's comments on the Score and his take was we 2 1/2 times the payroll of Milwaukee and still had a horrible team. That, in my opinion, points the finger at Mr. Hendry, and is a major reason why Baker will not get fired. The pen looked good for about two weeks when Wood was setting up Dempster. Last but not least, what would you give the Marlins to get their malcontent Miguel Cabrerra? Would you trade Aramis and Patterson for Cabrerra and Lowell? I'd say they're going to make some big trades this year, we might be a good trading partner for them.

"The pen looked good for about two weeks when Wood was setting up Dempster." And then Wood started giving up home runs.

CWTP: "Dempster has always been Hendry's choice for closer, not Dusty's. That's why he wasn't used earlier. Dusty didn't trusty." Dempster was both Hendry's and Bakers SECOND choice as closer going into this year. And BOTH said so at a Q&A at teh Cubs Convention this past year. Remeber JoBo was pitching good in ST and was going to be teh closer and with Wood and Prior big question marks all ST, they decide to have Dempster as insurance for a #5 starter, which is turned out they needed. They only had 1 LH relief guy int eh pen and Rusch had shown teh year before that he could handle going back and forth from the pen or start (turned out to be a fluke). But then JoBo got hurt in ST and everything got mixed up again. Hendry and Baker did actually have this one right, but injuries to JoBo, Wood and Prior messed it all up.

Actually, Dempster was Busty's FORTH choice as a closer. Don't forget about Hawkins and Fox, the latter who's arm fell off! Best regards, Cle

"That, in my opinion, points the finger at Mr. Hendry,... Last but not least, what would you give the Marlins to get their malcontent Miguel Cabrerra? Would you trade Aramis and Patterson for Cabrerra and Lowell? I'd say they're going to make some big trades this year, we might be a good trading partner for them." Carmen, On the 1st point it reflects more upon Hendry's bosses than it does Hendry. He could not spend $$$ he was not given. He had no flexiabilty as the roster he had was at 90 some odd million already. He will have $$$ to spend this off-season by my calculations at least 43.5 MIL and as much as 45.5 to spend. I want a 10-15 mil OF (Dunn, Giles, Matsui, Soriano), Furcal (8-9 MIL), an 8th inning guy (2Mil), and either a Burnett/Dempster or Millwood/Ryan combo (15 MIL) that would add up to 35-41 Mil and the rest would go the bench. On point 2 NO WAY IN HELL would FLA trade Cabrerra he is so damn good and so cheap compared to what he can do. Plus any trade would have to be Hershal Walker like. Were talking something like Prior, Murton, Pie, Cedeno, Gallagher for him.

Chifan: "He had no flexiabilty as the roster he had was at 90 some odd million already. " And who had already spent the $90 million you are talking about....HENDRY!! It wasn't like he was taking aver for some other GM who made those deals. The deals that held him back from getting better players was his own doing. No excuses this year. He has like $30-$40 million availible depending on which options he picks up.

Dempster was just given a 3-year extension. No word on the cash. Good job, Hendry. Now keep it up...

Carmen Said: 'I listened to Stoney's comments on the Score and his take was we 2 1/2 times the payroll of Milwaukee and still had a horrible team.' The Cubs don't have a horrible team. Pittsburgh and Kansas City have horrible teams. The Cubs have a mediocre team. Despite all the calls for Hendry's head, the Cubs are not the worst $ to wins team, and they'll probably never be the best, because they have a payroll floor of about $70 million. It's nice of Steve Stone to take pot shots, but did he ever say what he would have done were he in Hendry's place last off season? There were four major factors that lead to the Cubs poor season- Wood, Garciaparra, Patterson and Ramirez. If any two of those things don't happen, the Cubs are probably claiming the WC spot for themselves this weekend. All this hindsight is 20/20 stuff is ridiculous.

"Hendry and Baker did actually have this one right, but injuries to JoBo, Wood and Prior messed it all up." Geez... Baker did NOT have this right. His first choice was LaTroy even after he proved in 2004 that he couldn't close. He said multiple times during ST that Hawkins and Borowski would be battling for the closer job. As has been pointed out, Dempster was Dustbag's 4th choice for closer. Don't try to spin it any other way or give Dusty credit for this. Hendry had the insight to want to try Dempster as closer out of the gate and if Dusty had any balls, he would've given him first shot after Sweaty Joe went down in ST... instead he sent LaTroy to melt down on the mound numerous times.

with Wood and Prior big question marks all ST, they decide to have Dempster as insurance for a #5 starter, which is turned out they needed. For the millionth time, can we get beyond this myth that Dempster needed to be the 5th starter? The only reason Rusch wasn't used as a starter was because Dusty thought he needed THREE lefties in his pen. (And he apparently forgot how good Rusch was as a starter in 2004.) Wood and Prior were both in the rotation at the start of the year. Wood pitched the home opener, and Prior was used the first time the Cubs needed a 5th starter. No one had to fill-in for either of them. Dempster was in the rotation for 1 reason and 1 reason only: Dusty wanted him there.

I like the Dempster extension. Now let's go out and make this team significantly better in middle relief and the outfield.

Nice move by Hendry locking up Demp for 3 years. 1-1 so far geting team ready for 2006. Just need to see how much we have to pay him to see how good of a move it is.

3yr 15.5m personally...im far from happy with this. hope it works for mr. free pass. his only saving grace so far is he's not been giving up the home run.

That is a little more than I had hoped for. I was hoping for 3 years/$12-$13.5 million... So for the money it was a good deal, not great, but keeping him around is very good. That means no Ryan or Wagner this offseason.

The Cubs will never be the best team because they have a "payroll floor" of about $70 million? What is a payroll floor? If you mean that is all we will spend, you are about $30 million off. I believe our payroll this year was about $100 million.

Payroll floor = minimum payroll. Payroll ceiling would = maximum payroll.

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).