Cubs 40-Man Roster

You can click on a column heading to sort by position, name, jersey number, etc. Option Year info courtesy of the ever-resourceful Arizona Phil. Player ages are determined by the July 1st cutoff. For example, Jake Fox will turn 26 on July 20th, but 2008 will be considered his age 25 season by most statistical records. Service time is as of Opening Day 2008 and goes by the format of Years.Days meaning 2.055 is equal to 2 years and 55 days, where 172 days equals a full year.

(Column sorting tested on IE7, Firefox 1.0++ and Safari v3++. Javascript must be enabled for it to work properly. It does not work well if you're using any version of Safari below version 3).

1 - Jose Ascanio has used two minor league options, but because he has spent only three “full seasons” on an active minor league or major league roster, he will be eligible for a 4th minor league option, as long as it is used prior to completing five full seasons.

2 - Angel Guzman has used three minor league options, but because he has not completed five “full seasons” on an active minor league or major league roster through the 2007 season, he gets a 4th minor league option, as long as it is used prior to completing five full seasons. (Guzman will likely spend most or all of the 2008 season on the DL rehabbing from TJ surgery, so he will almost certainly have the 4th minor league option available again in 2009).

3 - Billy Petrick has used one minor league option, but because he has spent only two “full seasons” on an active minor league or major league roster, he will be eligible for a 4th minor league option as long as it is used prior to completing five full seasons.

4 - Jeff Samardzija has used one minor league option, but because he has spent only one “full season” on an active minor league or major league roster, he will be eligible for a 4th minor league option as long as it is used prior to completing five full seasons.

5 - Players with at least three years of MLB service time or players who have been previously outrighted in their career can refuse an Outright Assignment to the minors, and players with at least five years of MLB service time can refuse an Optional Assignment to the minors. As of Spring Training 2008, Neal Cotts, Angel Guzman, and Michael Wuertz qualify. For further info on the current Cubs roster situation and upcoming milestone dates, visit Arizona Phil's latest update.

There are also certain players with less than five years of MLB service time who must first clear MLB Optional Assignment Waivers before they can be optioned to the minors. Players reach this point when they hit the third anniversary of being added to a regular season 25-man roster, or the two-year anniversary if the player spent one full season on optional assignment to the minors prior to being added to a 25-man regular season roster for the first time, or the one-year anniversary if the player spent two full seasons on optional assignment to the minors prior to being added to a 25-man regular season roster for the first time.

Optional Assignment Waivers are revocable the first time they are requested in a given waiver period, and irrevocable the second time they are requested in the same waiver period. The waivers can be requested at any time, and the club does not necessarily have to option the player to the minors once the player clears waivers, because once a player clears Optional Assignment Waivers, the waivers are good for the entire waiver period. Because these waivers are revocable, getting a player through Optional Assignment Waivers is usually just a formality, but another GM could make a nuisance claim if he were so inclined.

60 Day DL - A player placed on the 60-day disabled list frees up a spot on the team's 40-man roster.