Cubs MLB Roster

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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 2007 Season In Review

Submitted by Cubnut on
Opening Day is still more than a week off, but the prognostication season is well under way. Sports Illustrated’s annual preview was mentioned here yesterday, but The Hardball Times and Baseball Prospectus are also out with their player-by-player predictions, as is Baseball Think Factory’s Dan Szymborski, father of the ZIPS Projections.

THT, BP (with their PECOTA Projections) and Szymborski each employs a unique methodology, which I won’t even try to summarize or explain. Regardless, I thought it would be worthwhile to stack all three sets of Cub player predictions side by side, focusing on the eight likely starting position players plus Cliff Floyd, the five starting pitchers including Wade Miller, and the closer, Ryan Dempster.

The THT numbers come from their most excellent season preview book featuring the work of one Rob G.; the Baseball Prospectus numbers come from BP 2007; and I pulled the ZIPS Projections from the Baseball Think Factory site. (Thanks again, Dan, for your permission to use them here.)

Also, to round out the field, I consulted my old friend, Phil, a very smart, very dedicated Cub fan who can calculate slugging percentages in his head and who, coincidentally, turned me on to The Cub Reporter what seems like a very long time ago. Phil employed no simulation models or complicated algorithms in coming up with his picks, but rather, a time-honored technique called educated guesswork that took about 15 minutes.

Without further ado, here are the picks. BTF stands for Szymborski’s projections at Baseball Think Factory, BP stands for Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA numbers, THT stands for The Hardball Times 2007 Baseball Preview, and MOFP signifies picks from My Old Friend Phil.

Michael Barrett

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.285

.293

.281

.294

HR

15

15

17

16

RBI

63

64

71

57

Pretty even across the board. Obviously, these number will be way off after Lou reads Sports Illustrated and immediately follows their suggestion to bat Barrett lead off.

Derrek Lee

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.299

.288

.290

.290

HR

32

22

24

38

RBI

97

68

75

105

Mark DeRosa

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.265

.282

.261

.270

HR

8

11

11

8

RBI

49

50

56

45

Cesar Izturis

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.272

.278

.274

.260

HR

3

2

2

1

RBI

43

29

34

30

A-Ram

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.296

.299

.299

.300

HR

35

35

34

35

RBI

110

108

110

110

The numbers from BP and THT seem to reflect the fact that Lee is coming back from a significant injury. The Ramirez numbers are so close it’s spooky. I guess that’s what consistently excellent productivity will do for you.

Matt Murton

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.299

.303

.283

.300

HR

13

15

14

16

RBI

61

62

67

75

Cliff Floyd

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.261

.263

.270

.275

HR

18

17

20

12

RBI

61

59

70

50

The Fons

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.265

.285

.272

.300

HR

36

41

37

42

RBI

86

115

111

90

SB

27

32

33

30

Jacque Jones

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

AVG.

.263

.281

.277

.275

HR

24

17

24

25

RBI

77

60

87

80

My Old Friend Phil is a little hotter on Murton than the others. Floyd’s numbers are bound to be way off from these projections, given his ongoing recovery from the foot problems. (BP actually worked up Floyd’s numbers before he even signed with the Cubs.)

The spread in Soriano’s numbers is noteworthy. Not sure if BP and THT consider Soriano’s likely spot in the batting order as part of their calculations, but Szymborski’s numbers seem to and I know My Old Friend Phil’s do...because he told me they do. Also interesting that no one foresees a repeat of Alfonso’s 40-40 season with the Nationals.

Lots of variance in Jones’s numbers, too, with BP’s low home run and RBI figures standing out.

On to the key pitchers. (Aside: no editorial comment implied by the fact that Zambrano's stat box is larger than anybody else. I just don't know how to deal with HTML tables.)

 

Zambrano

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

W

14

13

14

17

L

8

11

7

8

ERA

3.46

3.66

2.77

3.33

Ted Lilly

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

W

12

10

7

13

L

12

10

8

13

ERA

4.26

4.19

4.60

4.42

Jason Marquis

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

W

11

7

8

13

L

15

10

10

14

ERA

4.95

5.14

4.68

4.60

Rich Hill

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

W

12

9

8

12

L

8

10

6

12

ERA

3.65

4.28

3.94

4.20

Wade Miller

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

W

3

5

2

4

L

5

8

3

8

ERA

4.97

5.15

4.69

5.30

Dempster

BTF

BP

THT

MOFP

W

5

3

4

2

L

4

4

4

4

ERA

4.09

4.14

4.22

4.00

Saves

n/a

19

18

32

 

Three of the four Zambrano projections look good; BP’s, not so much. This is reflected in their comments about Z in BP 2007, in which they suggest an increased walk rate and lower groundball/flyball ratio last season might be early signs of wear.

As for Lilly, apparently, baseball computers, like many of us, see him as a .500 pitcher. They also appear to have limited confidence in Larry Rothschild’s ability to work black magic with Marquis. Hill’s BTF projection (3.65 ERA) would be nice if works out that way, Miller better hope the computers and My Old Friend Phil were all drunk when they worked up his totals. And everyone seems to have the same picture of Ryan Dempster. And it’s not very pretty.

Teamwise, the THT Web site has the Cubs pegged for an 84-78 record and a second place finish, one game behind the Cardinals; the Baseball Prospectus Web site is not yet out with their NL Central team picks; and my Old Friend Phil says the Cubs’ “solid hitting (though OBP-deprived) plus mediocre pitching will leave them at 81-81,” with a reasonable possibility, however, that they could win up to 85 games and contend for the division.

That sounds like a pretty reasonable prognostication to me.

 

 

 

Comments

Submitted by mannytrillo on Fri, 03/23/2007 - 03:17 pm

I tend to agree with much of those numbers surprisingly. Weak pitching, but pretty good offense = about .500 season. It looks like to me that we will need 3-4 career years or at least guys playing way over realistic expectations to guarantee a playoff spot IMO.

Submitted by cubster on Fri, 03/23/2007 - 03:19 pm

Did SI pick the Angels vs Dodgers for the World Series? If so, the jinx is acting up promptly as Chone Figgins broke bones in his right long and index fingers and is expected out 5-6 weeks. Apparently Raphael Furcal has a badly sprained ankle from a wednesday collision and should miss a few weeks (DLee, it's not nice to snicker).

Submitted by Joe Koek on Fri, 03/23/2007 - 03:56 pm

81-81 sounds good to me. I kinda know your old friend Phil, and doubt very much that he was drunk when making his predictions. Maybe this is the year? When your old friend Phil went to his first ball game at Wrigley, the Cubs beat the Cards. So he and the Cubs go way back. Looking forward to opening day. Let's go CUBS!!!!

Submitted by pd on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:18 am

Updated standings from baseball prosectus: Central W L RS RA AVG OBP SLG Chicago Cubs 85 77 829 791 .275 .337 .460 Milwaukee Brewers 85 77 788 748 .266 .335 .445 St. Louis Cardinals 81 81 731 734 .260 .331 .417 Houston Astros 80 82 769 781 .260 .334 .435 Pittsburgh Pirates 76 86 752 805 .270 .331 .434 Cincinnati Reds 71 91 726 827 .259 .329 .417

Submitted by pd on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:19 am

From the BP site: Central W L RS RA AVG OBP SLG Chicago Cubs 85 77 829 791 .275 .337 .460 Milwaukee Brewers 85 77 788 748 .266 .335 .445 St. Louis Cardinals 81 81 731 734 .260 .331 .417 Houston Astros 80 82 769 781 .260 .334 .435 Pittsburgh Pirates 76 86 752 805 .270 .331 .434 Cincinnati Reds 71 91 726 827 .259 .329 .417

Submitted by pd on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:22 am

standings from bp projection Central W L Chicago Cubs 85 77 . Milwaukee Brewers 85 77 . St. Louis Cardinals 81 81 Houston Astros 80 82 Pittsburgh Pirates 76 86 . Cincinnati Reds 71 91

Submitted by Pat on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:32 am

I used the THT Pythagorean Formula for projecting record for the Cubs in 2007 using BP player projections (with some modification--if I didn't think players would get the ABs projected, I proected their output downward)---I came up with 92 wins. Pitching was better than average (4.44 r/g) and offense was quite good (5.3-5.4 r/g). I think that these numbers are similar to the Mets on the high end and the Dodgers on the low end, with 97 and 88 wins respectively. Hope my projections are accurate.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:22 am

Healthy, the Cubs will win 90 games, unless they get a lot more low side performances than high side peformances. But with the entire roster, we're only counting on performance increases from Izturis, Dempster and Marquis- and we're not expecting even new levels, just return to previous levels, so it's not a stretch for any of them.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:33 pm

i predict the cubs with 116 wins based on the 2001 seattle mariners theorem. my backup prediction is 95 wins using the 2006 detroit tigers matrix.

Submitted by Silent Towel on Sat, 03/24/2007 - 03:30 pm

81 wins, 3rd place finish. The starting pitching is so-so, the bullpen not as strong as everybody thinks, and the defense subpar in too many places.

Submitted by Daver on Mon, 03/26/2007 - 03:54 am

A meta-question of sorts here: Is there any way you guys could clean up this post? It appears riddled with HTML on my computer, making it really hard to read. The info looks great, though.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.

  • crunch (view)

    cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.

    taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight.  who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.

    p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury.  good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

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