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, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* 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
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Complete Trade for Nevin

Submitted by Rob G. on
The Cubs acquired AA pitcher Adam Harben from the Minnesota Twins to complete the Phil Nevin deal from last week. They also called up pitcher Jae-kuk Ryu and catcher Jose Reyes. To make room on the 40-man roster for Harben, the Cubs also put Jerome Williams on waivers and he was claimed by the Oakland Athletics. Sayonara Sir Williams! Harben was a 15th round pick of the Twins back in 2002 out of community college in Arkansas. Scout.com had him at #11 in their pre-season Twins prospect ranking but dropped him down to #38 when they revisited the list mid-season. Harben recently turned 23 and finished his AA season going 4-9 with a 3.96 ERA with 74K/67 BB/5 HR in 122.2 IP. I believe he's been shuttled between the pen and the rotation. Judging from his splits this year, he's pretty decent at getting righties out (.197 BA against) and keeps the ball on the ground (2.03 GO/FO ratio). Harben once threw in the high 90's, but his velocity starting taking a dip in 2005 and he throws in the low to mid 90's. He also features a slider and a change, both of which he seems to have trouble commanding. Sounds like he's about what you'd expect for an aging, one-month rental. A kid with some upside and tools, but all kinds of trouble putting them together. He was expected to go to the AFL for the Twins, so we'll see if the Cubs do some switching around. This will probably have to suffice for today's preview. Stupid job getting in the way. It's Juan Mateo versus Victor Santos. A loss and the Cubs take over last place in the division. Yeah 2006!

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:58 pm

yes

Submitted by aaronb on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:58 pm

No he was in the minors. I am just glad that we kept John Mabry around to help with the pennant drive. Jerome Williams was obviously not going to help this team. Only a stupid franchise like Oakland would waste their time on a guy like that.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:02 pm

alright fine, I'll clarify. He would have been out of options next year and with the minor league season over, it's a moot point. Nobody wanted to give up anything for him, so it was either release him now or or release him later. I doubt we'll see any great days from Jerome Williams. There's also about 10-15 guys in front of him on the depth chart here.

Submitted by Ryno on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:07 pm

Bah... Williams. Who cares. I know, I know, he was a feel good story and everyone liked him. I'm more concerned with how they are going to dump Rusch. They can't leave him on the roster if they plan on doing any sort of winning next year.

Submitted by Krish on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:32 pm

Harben has only touched high 90s. He's always been 89-94 iirc. Anyways, look at his K:BB pre/post all star splits. It was sub 1.00 the first half and over 2.00 the second half.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:33 pm

in the literal battle for last place (division and entire NL)... J. Pierre cf R. Theriot 2b A. Ramirez 3b D. Lee 1b J. Jones rf M. Murton lf H. Blanco c R. Cedeno ss

Submitted by dave on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:42 pm

With Barrett down, you would think we would at leas some Soto. We know what we have in Blanco. We need to know if Soto will be a worthwhile #2 catcher.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:05 pm

if anyone cares... LHP Scott Koerber and 3B Josh Lansford are going to the Hawaii winter league. So far, that's all I've heard. Koerber was supposed to go to instructs in Arizona and was a non-drafted FA in 2004. Was last in Peoria. Lansford was a 2006 draftee, round 6, played in Boise.

Submitted by Dying Cub Fan on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:23 pm

I am concerned about what offense the Cubs will be able to muster next year even if everyone is healthy. I don't think that there is any way the Cubs can afford to start Pierre, Izturis and Cedeno next year without suffering greatly on offense. Of the positions that they play, the one to upgrade offensively is probably second base. The problem is worsened if you figure that Barrett catches 130 games a year, tops, and sits the rest of the time. Possible ways around this would include the following: 1. Sign Ray Durham (preferable) or Mark Loretta or Adam Kennedy as a second baseman and get rid of Cedeno. 2. Try to get Barrett in the lineup when he doesn't catch. 3. See if Pie can replace Pierre. 4. Obtain a righty bat to platoon with Jones and/or replace Jones with an OF that can hit lefties. Can Barrett play the OF?

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:54 pm

For MLB to award the waiver claim to Oakland today, because of Sunday being a day when the MLB office is closed and with yesterday being a National Holiday, Jerome Williams had to have been placed on waivers last Friday, and it would have been unrelated to the acquisition of Adam Harben. Once Harben was acquired and if the Cubs needed a spot on the 40-man roster for him (which was the case), Mark Prior could have been transferred to the 60-day DL (and having already spent close to 60 days on the DL, he would be eligible to be reactivated on September 12th, if he were in a position to return to action). So it was not necessary to drop Jerome Williams to make room for Harben. The two transactions appear to be related, but were just coincidental.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:07 pm

#1 of 11: By Ryno (September 5, 2006 04:54 PM) Can anyone tell me, was J. Williams out of options? -- RYNO: And Adam Harben has two options left. Also, the only two players currently on the Cubs roster who will be out of minor league options next Spring Training are Freddie Bynum and Les Walrond, although it's likely that Walrond will be dropped from the 40-man roster after the close of the regular season to make room on the 40 for prospects like Jake Fox, Ryan Harvey, Chris Shaver, and Randy Wells, and Bynum could be dropped from the 40 as well, although that's a little less likely. And I still don't know if Angel Guzman will get a 4th minor league option next season or not. If he doesn't get a 4th option year, he will be out of options next Spring Training. However, if Guzman has accumulated less than five "full seasons" (at least 60 days on an active MLB or minor league roster in a given season) by the end of this season, he gets a 4th option year. I know 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006 will be considered "full seasons" and 2004 and 2005 will not be. So it all depends on how many days Guzman spent on the active roster with the Cubs now defunct Venezuelan Summer League club in 2000. (And don't go by how many innings he pitched there... VSL clubs have 30-man rosters, and players are not removed from the roster if they are deactivated or placed on the DL unless there are more than 30 players needing spots, which was never the case in the VSL).

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:22 pm

As ROB G said, the Twins had originally assigned Adam Harben to the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL, but now that he has been traded, Harben's AFL assignment is canceled. However, the Cubs could assign him there, if one of the pitchers they originally assigned to the AFL (Grant Johnson, Lincoln Holdzkom, Clay Rapada, or Carmen Pignatiello) can't pitch for some reason. The trade also means the Twins will need to assign another pitcher to the Solar Sox to replace Harben. BTW, the Mets still owe the Solar Sox two AA or AAA pitchers (perhaps RHP Matt Lindstrom and LHP Eddie Camacho?) and one AA or AAA outfielder. I suspect Lastings Milledge was originally going to be the outfielder, but now that he has been recalled and is playing with the Mets and could be part of their post-season roster, the Mets will probably have to find somebody else.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:43 pm

Cubs could have known by Friday that they were targeting Harben and needed to make a move. They also might have been trying to sneak Williams through hoping no one would notice in the middle of the pennant chase compared to the off-season. They knew they were going to have to make a move with him in the very near future.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 09:09 pm

ROB G: You could be right. It's possible that Hendry had decided last Friday to outright Williams to make room on the 40-man roster for Harben. But he also could just as easily have transferred Mark Prior to the 60-day DL. But I doubt very much that Hendry was trying to sneak Jerome Williams through waivers during a pennant chase, because even if Williams had cleared waivers and had ben assigned outright to Iowa, he would have ben a six-year minor league FA on October 15th anyway. On the positive side, the Cubs got $20,000 out of the deal when otherwise they would have lost him for nothing if he had cleared waivers and became a 6Y MLFA next month.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:04 am

Adam Harben's last seven starts at AA: 2-3 3.97 ERA 40.1 IP 41 H 20 R (16 ER) 18 BB 36 K 2 HR 5 HBP 3 WP 1.46 WHIP Not great, but his control was greatly improved from where it was in April-June. I have not seen Harben pitch, but he would seem to project along the lines of Justin Berg (the RHP the Cubs got about a year ago from the Yankees for Matt Lawton) or Todd Blackford (the RHP the Cubs got from the Braves about a year ago for Todd Hollandsworth), except Harben is slightly more advanced.

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:48 am

I agree, our lineup is gonna be mighty soft next year. Let's bring in Soriano baby. Pierre Murton Aram D-Lee Soriano Barrett Jones Izturis or Cedeno and opening day Barry Zito starting opening day...now we are talking...of course the Cubs will probably pick up someone like Cliff Floyd instead...oh well

Submitted by Seamhead on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:41 am

The Cubs fired Jerome Williams, plain and simmple. They apparently felt that they had tried everything with him, that nothing had worked, and it was time to move on. And with Williams being out of options in 2007, his trade value was nil.

Submitted by aaronb on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:55 am

Maybe Williams doesnt amount to anything from here on out. But he is still only 25. has won double diget games in a season. And was still cheap. My point is why roster trash like Blanco,Mabry,Waldrond that has no future in the organization? Williams is the type of player you should be taking a chance on.

Submitted by Newman on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:58 am

"I doubt we'll see any great days from Jerome Williams. There's also about 10-15 guys in front of him on the depth chart here." That may be true Rob, but this still qualifies as one of the dumbest moves of Hendry's tenure. Sure, I know it's more important see a month of Mabry or Miller. Or that Les Walrond or Glendon Rusch have a brighter future than Williams. Or that it's more important to get Prior back to the majors this year rather than transfer him to the 60 day DL to make room for the stiff from Minnesota. The mgmt of this team is devoid of rational thought. Shit the A's stated they've been after Williams since he was with the Giants. Ya think Hendry could have gotten something rather than just set Williams adrift on the wiaver wire.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:54 pm

I would venture a solid guess that Hendry did try and get something for Williams and he's been trying all season. For whatever reason, he fell far out of the Cubs favor very quickly.

Submitted by Newman on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:10 pm

"I would venture a solid guess that Hendry did try and get something for Williams and he's been trying all season." So why not keep trying until the end of ST next year? Giving up now seems short sighted and totally silly. Typical Cubs managment, I guess.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 09:52 pm

If he was a minor league free agent after this year as AZ Phil says, they had until October I believe to move him. You don't get put on waivers before being floated to other teams usually. This is nothing more than JVB part 2, no one is going to miss him.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    The issue is the Cubs are 11-7 and have been on the road for 12 of those 18.  We should be at least 13-5, maybe 14-4. Jed isn't feeling any pressure to play anyone he doesn't see fit.
    But Canario on the bench, Morel not at 3B for Madrigal and Wisdom in RF wasn't what I thought would happen in this series.
    I was hoping for Morel at 3B, Canario in RF, Wisdom at DH and Madrigal as a pinch hitter or late replacement.
    Maybe Madrigal starts 1 game against the three LHSP for Miami.
    I'm thinking Canario goes back to Iowa on Sunday night for Mastrobuoni after the Miami LHers are gone.
    Canario needs ABs in Iowa and not bench time in MLB.
    With Seiya out for a while Wisdom is safe unless his SOs are just overwhelmingly bad.

    My real issue with the lineup isn't Madrigal. I'm not a fan, but I've given up on that one.
    It's Tauchman getting a large number of ABs as the de factor DH and everyday player.
    I didn't realize that was going to be the case.
    We need a better LH DH. PCA or ONKC need to force the issue in about a month.
    But, even if they do so, Jed doesn't have to change anything if the Cubs stay a few over .500!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

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