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, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* 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
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Golden Bear Cub Comes Through When It Counts

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Brett Jackson rifled an RBI single into the LF corner with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to score Jim Adduci from 2nd base with the winning run, as the Cubs scored one in the 8th and one in the 9th to edge the Cleveland Indians 2-1 in Cactus League action at Dwight Patterson Field at HoHoKam Park in sunny & warm Mesa this afternoon.

box score

Randy Wells got the start for the Cubs today, and threw four shutout innings (57 pitches - 35 strikes, 6/3 GO/FO), allowing a single and a walk while striking out two. Kerry Wood pitched the 5th and struck out the side (S. Duncan-Valbuena-Donald) after allowing a lead-off single to Travis Buck, and Andrew Cashner pitched the final four innings (55 pitches - 33 strikes), allowing one run (a solo HR by Jayson Nix, the second batter Cashner faced). Cashner's command was a little bit spotty, but he got a ton of ground balls (7/1 GO/FO), and may have taken the lead in the battle for the 5th starter job (with Randy Wells now solidly #4) with his performance today. For the day, Cashner allowed just the one run (the Nix HR) on three hits and a walk, plus three stikeouts and one GIDP, in 4.0 IP.  

Meanwhile, Cleveland pitchers threw 5.2 IP of no-hit ball at the Cubs, as Tribe starter Justin Masterson threw three perfect innings (with five strikeouts) and Jeanmar Gomez followed with three innings of one-hit shutout ball (including three punch-outs). The Cubs didn't even have a baserunner until one out in the bottom of the 6th, when Koyie Hill drew a walk. But with pitcher Andrew Cashner at bat, Hill was thrown out at 2nd base on a busted "butcher boy" hit & run play where Cash faked the bunt and then swung away (and missed), and then Cashner immediately followed the Hill CS with a line-drive single to left, the Cubs first hit of the day.  

Down 1-0 going into the bottom of the 8th, Marquez Smith ripped a one-out double down the left-field line off Frank Herrmann, advanced to 3rd base on a Wild Pitch, and then scored when Indians catcher Chun-Hsiu Chen made an inadvisable (and errant) throw to 3rd base trying to nab Smith (who had already arrived at the bag). Chen had a bad day behind the dish today, with the critical E-5 and a PB.

With the score tied 1-1, Jim Adduci led-off the bottom of the 9th for the Cubs, beating out an infield hit. Fernando Perez then laid down a bunt and reached safely on a SH-FC when Cleveland pitcher Vinny Pestana tried to force the speedy Adduci at 2nd base (Pestana had absolutely no chance). But Scott Moore popped-out into short LF and Josh Vitters popped out to right-center, leaving it up to Brett Jackson (the Cubs 2009 1st round draft pick out of Cal), who came into the AB hitting .063 (1-16) in Cactus League action. And the Golden Bear came through, hammering the first pitch he saw into the LF corner, scoring Adduci from 2nd base with the winning run. 

Today was "Ron Santo Day" at HoHoKam Park, with a pre-game ceremony featuring the Ricketts Family, Ferguson Jenkins, Billy Williams, Randy Hundley, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, and Ronnie's wife and kids. There were a lot of #10 jerseys at HoHoKam today.

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Cubs Spring Training Recap

Comments

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 03:39 am

Submitted by QuietMan on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 7:17pm. Great as usual AZ Phil. How did Colvin look at firstbase? ================================= Q-MAN: I like what I've seen of Tyler Colvin at 1st base (so far). He has the actions of a 1st baseman (not hard to understand since he played there in HS and in his Freshman year at Clemson), and can make all the plays. I'm not saying he's Gold Glove material, but he's not bad. But Colvin has really been struggling with his outfield play in Cactus League games. He has misplayed and misjudged several pop ups and line-drives, and just doesn't look comfortable out there. I guess some would wonder if working out at 1st base has had a negative impact on how he is performing defensively in the outfield, but I don't know if that's true. Colvin was never a good defensive outfielder in the minors (passable is how I would describe him, with plus-range and an adequate arm but poor instincts).

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 03:09 am

Today is the first day since the end of the World Series that Draft-Excluded Players (anyone eligible for selection in last December's Rule 5 Draft who was added to a 40-man roster after August 15th) can be sent to the minors by outright or optional assignment. The four Draft-Excluded Players presently on the Cubs 40-man roster are Alberto Cabrera, Robert Coello, Scott Maine, and Kyle Smit. And next Tuesday is the last day clubs can option or outright an injured player to the minors, as long as the player did not accrue any MLB Service Time last season. So the Cubs have to make sure to send Alberto Cabrera, Rafael Dolis, John Gaub, and Kyle Smit (the four players presently on the Cubs 40-man roster who did not accrue MLB Service Time last season) to the minors by next Tuesday. Otherwise, if the player is not sent to the minors by Tuesday and then gets hurt, or reports an injury that the player claims occurred sometime earlier, the club has to place the player on its MLB 15-day (or 60-day) Disabled List and pay the player at the major league rate (at least $414K pro-rated) while on the DL, and the player also accrues MLB service time for as long as he is on the DL, too. So I would very much expect the Cubs to option Cabrera, Dolis, Gaub, and Smit to the minors by no later than Tuesday (probably after the weekend Vegas trip). Minor League Spring Taining games start next Thursday, so I would expect the younger NRI players in camp (like Carpenter, Clevenger, B. Jackson, J. Jackson, McNutt, and Vitters) to get sent to Minor League Camp by next Monday or Tuesday. The younger NRI players are not competing for big league jobs (at this time). Rather, they were invited mainly so that the player can get a feel for the big league environment, and so that the manager and coaches can get to know the player's personality and the player's strength and weaknesses for future reference. Next Tuesday is also the last day a player signed to a non-guaranteed major league contract can be released where the club only has to pay him 30 days salary (about 1/6 of his 2011 salary) as termination pay. Players with non-guaranteed major league contracts who are released anytime starting next Wednesday up until MLB Opening Day get 45 days salary (about 1/4 of their 2011 salary) as termination pay. All major league contracts become guaranteed starting on MLB Opening Day, and so a player released after the start of the MLB regular season gets 100% of his salary as temination pay (minus the pro-rated portion of the MLB minumum salary if the player subsequently signs a major league contract with a different club), regardless of whether or not the player signed a guaranteed major league contract. In addition, it's very possible that one or more of the MLB veterans signed by the Cubs to minor league contracts during the off-season (OF Reed Johnson, RHP Braden Looper, INF Augie Ojeda, and RHP Todd Wellemeyer) have an opt-out clause in their contract where the player can demand his release if he's not added to the Cubs 40-man roster (and 25-man roster) by a certain date (usually MLB Opening Day). All things being equal, having an opt-out clause might have an impact on whether a player is cut or not, and that's why (for example) Reed Johnson might win the backup OF job over Fernando Perez (who has one minor league option left), why Augie Ojeda might win the middle-infield back-up gig over Darwin Barney (who the Cubs might want to play everyday at Iowa), and why Wellemeyer and/or Looper might capture a slot on the pitching staff when other pitchers (who have options remaining) have performed just as well.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 03:21 am

The Cubs have released 21-year old 6'5 Australian LHP Cody Hams. He's the former cricket star (bowler) who paid his own way to the MLB Australian Baseball Academy in 2007 to try his hand at something called "baseball." The second baseball game he ever saw was one where he was the starting pitcher. (Talk about a blank slate!). The Cubs liked what they saw of Hams and gave him a $150K bonus to sign in March 2008. He apparently did not progress as fast as the Cubs had hoped, however, although I thought that he would get at least another year to prove himself given his lack of baseball background and a solid performance working out of the bullpen in the AZL last summer. With Hams having just been released, and with RHP Adam Spencer and OF Sean Williams getting released a year ago, only one Australian player (RHP Ryan Searle) is left in the Cubs minor league system.

Submitted by navigator on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 03:10 am

The entire extent of the SunTimes' coverage of yesterday's game: At the plate: Outfielder Brett Jackson gave the Cubs the win in the ninth with a single to left field, which was just one of four hits the North Siders had on the day. They also went a dismal 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. On the mound: Right-hander Randy Wells continued to make his bid for a spot in the starting rotation, pitching four shutout innings and allowing just one hit, while fanning two and walking one. Kerry Wood also threw a scoreless inning, while Andrew Cashner picked up the win. Up next: vs. White Sox, CSN, 670-AM, MLB.com.

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 03:40 pm

gwah...ninja c'mon...3 run 9th, 2 outs so far also, yet another homer where adults barrel over kids in the OF to catch a ball. i've seen a LOT of this this spring. saw it twice earlier in the week during a LAD game where a kid got absolutely plastered. i'm yet to see one of these class acts give the ball to a kid, either...especially one they trampled over.

Recent comments

  • 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!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

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