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

Sunday Funnies: What ARE they going to do at this year's Winter Meetings?

While not alot of the activity involved our favorite team, I'm dizzy from all the signings and trades that have already happened this winter.
So, just wondering what all the general managers could possibly talk about at the Winter Meetings in Orlando tomorrow...

(Usually, I can give credit for an illustration's idea to someone's comment here, and while that's what happened I couldn't find it. So anyway, whoever did make that comment wondering if the gms would have anything to talk about...thanks!)

Comments

I LOL'd and I thank you for that, sir, because it's snowy as shit where I am and I have been working straight through the past 10 days.

Hi Charlie, it's just starting to come down in Chicago too. Yuck. And thank you.

per a completely untrustworthy twitter souce..A's/Cubs have a meeting set-up for tonight

Some talk of Brett Anderson and A's have had prior interest in Schierholtz and Barney...

normally I don't bother with those, but it actually makes some sense, other pieces would certainly be involved, but sounds like a good starting point for talks.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

to be clear, A's at some point in the past may have asked about Schierholtz and Barney, doesn't mean they are asking now

I think Gentry possibly filled any OF depth issues, Barney may have some use to them and Anderson is certainly someone they'd deal to get out of his contract (they are the A's afterall), but no one knows exactly what they're looking for now. But they always have an eye on this season and the following seasons, so I'm sure there's some options out there.

they could probably use starting pitch depth, maybe a swingman like Villanueva or maybe a player that has more option years left than Anderson. Maybe they don't match up at all...

Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette indicated Sunday that they are comfortable with Ryan Flaherty as the team's second baseman.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

yeah, and the O's are trying to bring him back. the O's have a thing for r.flaherty. he actually took over the job on a daily basis for a while last year, but he didn't step up and lost the role. the guy can field 2nd adequately (as well as 3rd) and he's got 20HR power. consistent quality contact is his only knock.

I had a thought on Tanaka vis a vis FA spending. Theo appears willing to spend 'FA' money on players like Rizzo, Castro and 25-yr old T-O-R SP like Tanaka. My guess would be to see similar money spent on Baez, Almora, & Bryant as they enter their arbitration years. Until the Cubs are coming off an 88-90 win season, we won't see Ellsbury/Granderson contracts thrown out let alone Cano deals (which was just assinine).

The Cubs are nearing a tipping point with Samardzija, who remains under club control for two more seasons at a time when the franchise is ramping up for 2016 and beyond. Samardzija’s camp confirmed nothing has really changed since last winter, when talks about a long-term extension gained no momentum. After years of shifting between the bullpen and the rotation and commuting from Triple-A Iowa to Chicago, Samardzija simply wants to let this play out and establish himself as a No. 1 starter before signing a new deal.... The two sides have different definitions of market value. The skyrocketing price of pitching could force a Samardzija trade. http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-focusing-tanaka-samardzija-winter-m…

TIM: Funny, funny shit! Again - L. Berry would love this with a sick Cubs twist!

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Brown for Schierholtz/Samardzija would make some sense as a starting point, obviously Phillies would need to add some prospects of which they have few, not sure if they'd deal Jesse Biddle.

Brown's not due for free agency until after 2017 season.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Biddle + Brown for Samardzija would be a helluva deal for Cubs imo, also probably a pipedream.

some folks seem to be freaking about Brown fading in the second half, but at age 25, no reason to freak out too much. #4 prospect in baseball heading into 2011, the path isn't always linear.  BB rate over 10% in the minors, just under 9% in minors and with Bryant and Soler, he'd probably eventually move to left field.

Still a lot of potential in there, major league ready and 4 years of service time and Cubs could use some left-handed power.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

Outside execs say (that totally aren't associated with another NL East team)

way to kill my buzz...although as I said, think you'd have to throw in Biddle to make the deal and not sure he's available.

that being said, a pretty consistent 18.4% career K rate isn't indicitive of a huge hole in his swing and seems like he's played long enough that they'd figure it out by now.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

d.brown's swing can get sloppy and long...he loves going for outside stuff, especially high. he couldn't make up his mind whether he was a pull hitter or a reacher in a kinda erratic fashion last season. when he hit a lot of homers up and in the outer part of the zone last may, he spent a few months going back/forth biting at stuff outside the zone trying to replicate may. his K rate doesn't mean much...quality of contact is in play.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

d.brown hit 12 HR in may...and 12 HR in june/july/aug/sept. his D is rather average. if they give up even just ninja for brown it's a blown move, imo...i see it more of a brown + others for ninja before a ninja + others for brown.

torre/cox/larussa to HOF via veteran's/expansion committee. btw, torre was a hell of a player before his managing career.

Bruce Levine‏@MLBBruceLevine Source :The Rays and Dodgers may be matching up on David Price. Bruce & Ned are buds...

tweet there from Witty says Cubs exploring reliever trade market, Storen and Clippard mentioned

Another pitcher on the market. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Indians are listening to trade offers for Justin Masterson. The Indians are aiming to contend in 2014 and Masterson is their ace, but Rosenthal says the thinking in dealing him would be to explore "longer-term options." Masterson is entering his walk year, and the Tribe must not feel good about their chances of locking him up to a long-term extension. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported earlier this offseason that Masterson was looking for an extension in the five-year, $75 million range.

Skaggs about to be off the table...3-way trade nearing completion.

DBacks: Trumbo & 2 prospects

White Sox: A. Eaton

Angels: Skaggs & H. Santiago

maybe DBacks getting 2 really good prospects to ship for Samardzija, but I doubt it.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

unless the sox are giving up the prospects i'd rather than a.eaton over h.santiago... bats should be big this offseason. next year's FA market is pitching-heavy (pending extensions) and very bats-bare (and should get worse with extensions in the coming season). the OF market is really bare. hanley ramirez, chase headley, and pablo sandavol are the batting "stars" of the 2015 FA market who aren't going to be 35+ years old...and it's expected that h.ramirez will be off the table pretty soon...and the 35+ year old crowd doesn't contain anyone to be too excited about. tons of pitching, though.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

blah blah blah...tremendous challenge...blah blah blah... renteria has sent a "text" out notifying the kids that they should be willing to sacrifice things outside the game to make their game better...focus, desire, etc...come together and become a family... has spoken to s.castro...great kid...must continue to have conversations...understands he has to do well... almora/soler/bryant excites him...organization as a whole excites... likes the foundation of the rotation...talked about how the bullpen needs building... d.barney is "a solid baseball player" who's "capable of turning it around"..."he needs to know we believe in him." ---- on whole it seems like renteria's main focus is baby sitting kids making sure they know they're there to play the game and expected to be ready and able to perform at the best of their ability.

deal was as I mentioned

DBacks get Trumbo, and 2 PTBNL's...one each from Angels and White Sox to be finalized after Rule 5, one may be A.J Schugel from Angels

White Sox get Eaton

Angels get Skaggs and Santiago

"FOX Sports' Jon Morosi reports that the Cubs, Pirates, Royals and Braves have showed interest in Jason Hammel." good stuff, poor results (so far)...he's one of those guys that should be doing better than he is given the velocity + variety of pitches that comes out of his arm. he's already 31 (as of a few months ago), though, and people have been waiting for that turn-around for a while.

"two unidentified NL teams" in on Kemp trade talks. wp.me/p2reWi-3NT Prediction: Mets are one, obviously. I just can't imagine who the other one is if not the Cubs. The only other team that makes sense from need and financials is San Francisco, but I simply do not think that can happen.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

i can't imagine the cubs would be in on it...unless for some reason the LAD want ninja...which makes as little sense as all the other SP they've been rumored to be looking at because they have a full house of pitching already (kershaw, greinke, ryu, beckett, haren). vogelbomb will probably be a trade chip for the cubs eventually and would be attractive to almost any team out there who doesn't have a long-term 1st/DH solution. he will probably come in handy one day in a trade, if not this offseason. the cubs can also play fast/loose with some of their 3rd base prospects since they're flush with them, though bryant is almost assuredly going no where out of that group. kemp's interesting...can play all 3 OF positions so he's got flexibility. he's had an injured shoulder nagging him for years, but it's his non-throwing arm. he's got a good enough arm to play RF should a situation dictate him playing there rather than CF (aka, almora). that said...i dunno if the cubs have what it takes to get it done...or what the dodgers would even want. it's hard to guage what kemp's worth, especially without knowing how much (if any) money the LAD is willing to chip in to lower his contract value and get something done.

"CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Cubs' brass will have a meeting with Jeff Samardzija's agents on Wednesday. Heyman says an offer "isn't necessarily expected," and an extension is "unlikely anyway.""

Sahadev Sharma‏@sahadevsharma One source tells me Samardzija will get moved soon. Another says nothing doing. Cubs official, "Yeah, both those sound about right."

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).