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

Koronka Traded

Apparently Texas and Florida are the place where Cubs pitchers go when they're unwanted. The Cubs traded LHP John Koronka to the Texas Rangers for infielder/outfielder Freddie Bynum. Bynum was traded earlier to the Rangers along with pitcher John Rheinecker from the Oakland A's for pitcher Juan Dominguez. Bynum is 26 years old and was a 2nd round selection of the A's back in 2000. His minor league numbers indicate a player with very limited hittings skills who strikes out way too much for a utility player with no power. Like any good Oakland Athletics player though, at least he's not allergic to taking walks. He did have a fantastic spring as he hit .373/.439/.667 in 51 AB's. He does have a bunch of speed(rated the fastest baserunner in the A's organization by Baseball America the last 2 years and it may go farther back then that) and can play both the infield and outfield, more specifically second and third base along with left and center field. The most that I could find on his defense was that he's at best, "competent"; *COUGH* Jose Macias *COUGH*. This should be the final piece to solve the 25-man roster puzzle as Wade Miller will be put on the DL before Opening Day and Ryan Theriot sent down to AAA Iowa most likely. ----- OPENING DAY 2006 ROSTER STARTERS Carlos Zambrano, Glendon Rusch, Greg Maddux, Sean Marshall RELIEVERS Jerome Williams, Michael Wuertz, Will Ohman, Scott Williamson, Scott Eyre, Bobby Howry, Ryan Dempster CATCHERS Michael Barret, Henry Blanco INFIELDERS Derrek Lee, Todd Walker, Jerry Hairston Jr., Ronny Cedeno, Neifi Perez, Freddie Bynum, Aramis Ramirez OUTFIELDERS Matt Murton, Juan Pierre, Jacque Jones, John Mabry, Angel Pagan DL Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Wade Miller

Comments

Just like Todd Wellemeyer, Freddie Bynum is out of minor league options. He would have to clear outright waivers if the Cubs want to send him down. This means either Dusty intends to go with six relief pitchers once Jerome Williams moves to the starting rotation, or not only will Ryan Theriot get sent down now, so too will Angel Pagan when Jerome Williams moves to from the bullpen to the starting rotation the second week of the season. (Pagan DOES have options left). The Texas Rangers selected John Koronka from the Cincinnati Reds in the 2002 Rule 5 Draft, but returned him to the Reds before Opening Day 2003. The Cubs acquired Koronka from Cincinnati for LHP Phil Norton in 2003.

not a bad trade, not a good one considering the cubs situation they needed a bench player with power. the have bench guys with every other attribute. they traded for a player who's fast, versatile defensively, has a decent OBP....but has NO power. he's alright as a player, not what they needed on this 25 man roster though...although i prefer him to theriot i guess. i still would prefer restovich, and could have kept koronka. not that i think he'll do much ever in the majors, but not a bad chip as a lefty.

If it means Angel Pagan goes to Iowa (which is the case if Dusty goes with a 12-man pitching staff come the second week of April), I do not like this trade. Bynum is versatile and athletic, indeed a younger version of Jose Macias.

well I will say that he appears to be able to get on-base better than Macias and he's certainly faster.

Green Lantern: they needed a bench player with power. I suppose Walker will probably be that "bench player with power", although I think he deserves a starting job.

who is Dusty's first option off the bench versus lefties to start the season? My $$$ is on Neifi!

Rob, Neifi is our best option aganist a LHP coming off the bench. I guess this means Pagan will go down once we use a 5th starter and Novoa will brought up. This trade also incrases the chances of a Walker trade in my opinion as with Bynum on board.

chifan- if nobody has bit on walker so far, why would they now? unless hendry simply dumps him, of course.

Kasper and Brenley just said that Walker was named the Opening Day starter, but that Dusty is going to "mix and match" and play all three guys (Walker, Hairston, and Neifi) depending on the matchup

Rotoworld's take: Bynum will be the last man on the Cubs' bench, booting Ryan Theriot back to Triple-A. He can play throughout the outfield and both middle-infield spots, and he'll get on base once in a while, which will serve to differentiate him from Jose Macias. He's not someone who figures to have any fantasy value at all, but it looks like a good trade for Jim Hendry It'll be Koronka's second stint in the organization. The Rangers picked him in the Dec. 2002 Rule 5 draft, only to return him to the Reds the following March. Koronka is basically Terry Mulholland, and we're referring to the 2006 Mulholland, not the quality starter of the early-90s. If he were right-handed, he wouldn't have any shot at all. Since he's a left-hander, he might stick as a middle reliever and spot starter. That's his upside.

Ryno- "I suppose Walker will probably be that "bench player with power"," Dusty said today that Walker will start at 2B for the start of the season and be the primary 2B. Also, that Hairston and Neifi will get playing time based on the oppsing pitcher and who is pitching for Cubs and who would be best defensively. So Dusty stuck with all his promises to start Walker at 2B, Murton in LF and Cedeno at SS.

Oh yeah, this info above came from Kasper on the WGN telecast.

Marshall is getting pounded... pur fourth starter?

OMGMARSHALLGAVEUP4RUNSTHEWORLDISENDING!!!!!!!!11 *waits for the posts proclaiming the end of the season before it begins*

Wow... I just hope this brings him down to earth a little... Hopefully he will put this behind him and give us 6 solid innings next sunday...

There was nothing to freak out about that 1st inning cause in an MLB sized park that Gonzalez double would have been a lazy fly out. Expect for that Castilla HR nothing has been hit hard off him.

Hey, if innings were only 2 outs long, Marshall would have a no-hitter. It's ok, 5 runs and 5 hits and a walk, all after 2 outs...is just helping ease me into Cubs baseball again for this year.

love the fact that we have 3 walks, a stolen base, a sacrifice, and walker hit a grounder to the right side advancing 2 into scoring position. Good fundamental baseaball makes me happy...is it too much to expect we will keep this up next week?

wow... he got 2 outs, then gave up another homer! Ohh god, and these are the Padres...just wait until he faces Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen...

While it certainly wasn't a great night for Marshall, he mostly got hurt by the Home Run, on a night where the wind is blowing out 15mph, in a ballpark that's small by minor league standards. I didn't realise before tonight that Cedeno had taken Nomar's old number 5 this year. And its good to see our broadcasters are in mid-season form already: Brendly has brought up his time as manager of the Diamondbacks about 16 times in the first 2 hours of the game. I've grown to like Kaspar, but Brendly is just flat out bad.

i was confident all along that walker would be the starter....it would have just been ridiculously dumb (even beyond dusty/hendry) not too. sit him against lefties and when maddux pitches, and i'm ok with that. and now we have an answer to who will be (or rather who SHOULD be) the first man off the bench against lefties....hairston! please not neifi...but i'm not as confident in this choice of dusty's as i was in the walker starter situation, which luckily is more important. i smiled when i checked the box score tonight and saw the lineup that I want against righties: pierre walker lee ramirez jones barrett murton cedeno murton just got a dribbler up the middle after working a 2-0 count by taking two close ones. the advantage of being ahead in the count is so important....he also worked a walk tonight. i like NARANJA! and brenly is really annoying. no doubt.

Well, Cedeno and Pierre look ok now.... The Cubs have been playing some small ball, while SD pounded out 3 homers...

Brenly is great compared to the Padre announcers... They are just playing around up there: "For what it's Wuertz, he hasn't had many at bats." They are a laughingstock...

when it comes to hairston vs. walker at 2nd...hell...its nice to have both around, healthy, and playing.

The A's fans consider Bynum a "poor's man version of Chone Figgins", which means...unlike Macias....Bynum can actually be productive. So the comparasion of Bynum to Macias is NOT a valid comparasion, IMO.

The Cubs also owe the Rangers a PTBNL in the Bynum-Koronka deal.

A's fans are a little euphoric over Bynum's spring. The only reason they made the comparision is cause he's fast and can play lots of positions. Figgins can actually play a few of his well and has been a decent hitter in the majors already. Not so sure that's true for Bynum. The Bynum/Macias thing was just a joke anyway. Bynum seems to be capable of stealing a base and seems willing to take a walk at least.

I just think it is great we got something of value for the junk we traded. I'll take a poor man's Chone Figgins over a poor man's Shawn Estes every day of the week.

i think marshall is going to have days like these -- he pitched at daytona most of last year. what else can anyone expect? but it is concerning that he consistently misses his spots -- not just last night but last weekend as well. while johnson's homer last night was a wind-aided cheapie, mirabelli's ball would've gone out of the polo grounds and he made a lot of mistakes all night taht could've been similarly abused. i'm not a major league pitcher, but i DO know that you can't miss spots by six inches or more consistently and expect to be more than chum in the majors. i thought the padres actually let him off lightly, considering some of the mnistakes they just didn't capitalize on.

I tend to agree about Marshall but it should be noted that Las Vegas is essentially the minor league equivalent of Coors Stadium...

I found Marshall's comments to Len and Bob after his appearance reassuring as well. He wasn't distraught or mortified, but he took it in stride and admitted he needed to work a little harder next time around to hit the zone.

go check out mlbtraderumors.com You won't believe your eyes....

CUBBIEFAN: That rumor wouldn't have anything to do with this being April Fools Day, would it?

Cubbie Fan, I think it is a April Fool's joke. But for the sake of arguement that it is real I would be tempted to do it. As much as I love Murton he will never be Clee's equal with the bat and Hill is either going to be a back of the rotation guy or LOOGY. For me Guzman would have to be the deal breaker. If I were Hendry I would try to talk them into Jerome Williams and a guy like Gallagher or Marmol instead.

that's a mean joke the site is playing or someone played on him; sounds like Hendry would be massively overpaying and that's just not his M.O. .284/.337/.488 career with only 2 seasons of 100 RBI ball out of 6. He's not the big hitter everyone thinks he is.... of course he'd fit perfectly with how this team operates. Trade away the one guy who will probably be a 350+ OBP guy consistently for a guy who hits a few more homers.... Unless the part about an extension already being in place, no way that Hendry would pay that much for a pending free agent.

so how does one tell the difference between the regular 1/2 assed crap that site throws up with their "source" vs. this deal? they could have at least thrown in a PTBN that pitches 120mph. in snow boots. FAIL.

After Lee is acquired the Cubs will then trade Mark Prior and Felix Pie for Manny Ramirez to play RF. The batting order will be Pierre Lee Ramirez Lee Ramirez etc. etc.

You nailed it crunch. Every day is April Fools Day at MLB Trade Rumors.

I don't believe it for a second, but I would love it.

Crunch: you are so dead-on. That MLB Trade rumor guy is always full of it and takes credit many times for things that are nearly generally known and usually says, "As MLBTraderumors reported earlier..." He is thin-skinned as well when one questions his "sources", too! I know if I was in Vegas and had gotten tips from that guy, I'd run the other way.

LOL!!1!11!! I just read on mlbtraderumors.com that Hendry was trading Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano for 3 ponies!!1!! They can't play baseball but OMG PONIES!!!1!!

I hate to get upset about something before it happens, but Arizona Phil is right; it sure looks like Angel Pagan will be out the 2nd week of April for a 12th pitcher. He may be the best defensive outfielder on this team. If he's sent down, that means the Cubs' best defensive outfielder is at Iowa; the RH bats for the bench are Hairston and Perez and Jacque Jones plays against all left-handed starters, which is significant because there will be at least 10 of them in the division. While others complain about the Cubs not getting Zito (wasn't going to be traded) or Giles (wasn't going to leave San Diego), it would be a move like this that would bother me even more.

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.