Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

GMs In Favor Of Reruns

  • The GMs have voted 25-5 in support of limited use of video replay. A proposal will now be forwarded to the Commissioner, who will involve representatives of the Players and Umpires unions in evaluating the proposal. Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB's VP of Baseball Operations, says he does not expect the proposal to become a rule in time for the 2008 season.
  • Curt Schilling is now officially no longer a free agent, but rather, Red Sox property for the upcoming season, his last in the big leagues. It seemed like just the other day he was listing 12 teams in addition to the BoSox that he would be willing to play for. I'm going to assume the Cubs came in second.
  • Rob mentioned this earlier in the comments: Glendon Rusch has apparently recovered from the life-threatening blood clot that ended his '06 season prematurely. Last week, he threw a 60-pitch audition for scouts from nine Major League clubs, the Cubs not among them. The session included breaking balls, change-ups and 86-87 mph fastballs. He is hoping/expecting to get a Spring Training invitation...from somebody.

Comments

Gee, if the umping didn't totally fucking blow this year, maybe they wouldn't have taken such drastic measures.

Pie to choke up, bunt more #$##@!@#!$!! I don't want Felix Pie to turn into Juan Pierre. I want him to turn into Andruw Jones or something. For cripes flippin' sakes, didn't we learn anything with Corey Patterson? Argh.

RYNO: I agree! THis past year was the single worst umpiring I can ever remember, and I just turned 50. Joe West's shit-ass call in Cinci on Sori's HR was one of many blown calls. Also, taking it further, the home plate umps strike zones are absurd. Very little consistency. Enough!

felix pie choking up will shorten his zone and cause him to think a little more before he lets loose his bat. however, this may take away how quickly he can move the bat through the zone with his arms extended for power contact. then again, it could help him develop inside power, too. it all depends on how well he adapts and how it screws with his natural swing. he's a "wild swinger" when it comes to pitch selection, but most of his actual swings (whether they connect or not) are pretty powerful and nice looking efforts. he definitely needs some kind of pause for thought about what he's swinging at...hopefully this helps him attack stuff he can hit better rather than making an attempt to hit everything.

Not only was the umpiring far worse than usual, their over - the - top arrogance increased with their ineptitude. I still remember the game in Atlanta when Lou was miked up and the home plate ump (?) threw him out after Lilly threw an alleged retaliatory pitch high and tight. They've forgotten that the game's not supposed to be about them.

i gotta general question about a near-total nobody... k...i got a question about pete laforest...DRays washup, canadian, and overall "who cares" kinda player. what happened here? June 1, 1995: Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 16th round of the 1995 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1995. August 15, 1995: Granted Free Agency. ...me and a friend been picking that question over for a while and it popped up in my head while checking stats tonite. injury? language problems? (he only spoke french when he was drafted..maybe that's why he quit baseball (that's for you, chad)) why he go back to college just to go to community college...and was it to learn english?

btw...i know he learned english while in CC, but we cant figure out why he went back to college, why it was a CC, and why he quit baseball to do it.

Mike Wellman's most recent entry at "Road to Wrigley" had this little gem -- Any discussion of appearance/autograph fees always brings Bob Feller to mind. He has a ‘museum’ in his hometown of Van Meter, just a short drive west of Des Moines. I’ve never been there, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the place has pay toilets. There’s nothing ‘Bullet Bob’ won’t do for money and very little that he’ll do for nothing. At this stage of his game, the nickname should be ‘Bitter Bob’. I've driven by Van Meter on I-80 many times over the years & saw the sign mentioning it was Feller's hometown but never stopped. I'm feeling good about that choice now...

I think the Dempster switch is a trade tatic. If Hendry is going to try to peddle him as a starter to teams in need, he needs to show some confidence in him as a starter. If they sign Wood to close before they annouce him as a starter it looks like were shopping a 5.5 million middle reliever.

I agree with Chifan. This is marketing positioning as it is anything else. We did it before in one of our favorite trades-the trade of Julian Tavarez for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca. We had Baylor telling everyone that Tavarez was his #4. I can't remember who the other player we gave the Marlins, however...

I want to re-sign Wood too but we already have a Dempster replacement named Zeus. That Howry guy got the job done OK too. Bring back Woody but why make him the closer? Maybe our leadoff hitter told Kerry to just ask for whatever he wants.

am i the only person who likes this move for the dumpster? the quality righties in the pen is adequate without dumpster, imo. hell, i wouldnt be surprised to see another "quality" pen arm added to compliment this move given there are actually a few on the market worth having. you got (if no trades happen) marquis, marshall, and dumpster fighting for 2 SP slots. there's gallagher/hart hovering around (and juan "hell no" mateo). its not like giving him a shot means the cubs miss out on signing anything out of the FA market that's worth having, imo... its also not on par with "counting on wood/prior" or counting on the dumpster to fit into the 1/2/3 slots in the rotation. ...speaking of prior...wtf they gonna do with him?

I don't hate taking Dempster out of the bullpen, crunch. I think what we've got down there is good w/o him. I do hate puttng him the rotation, though. I just want him to kinda go away.

lol wtf... stupid html rules... Anyways, here's what I really said... Jose Macias (is less than) Kaz Matsui (is less than) Derosa Meh...

"More Cubs intrest in Japanese players:" I posted this around 8 AM already, today. just as much bs the 2nd time around.

Maybe the Cubs are thinking about moving DeRosa to short, getting a new second basemen, moving Theriot to PR/UIF and sending The Fontenaught and Cedeno on their merry ways. Agree with the consensus that Matsui isn't the guy to bring in, even if that's the case.

well it looks like pie is in the plans for CF since hendry said pie will have every chance to win it...doubtful he'd say that if he was out shopping for a CF. that pretty much makes RF jones/murton at this point and one of 2 points of batting upgrade along with a middle-IF slot. everything else seems to be spoken for. also seems the cubs are outta the FA SP market with what's being done with dumpster. RF upgrade? 2nd/SS upgrade? dump the extra loot into pen/closer?

from phil rogers' article: "Hendry does not preclude the Cubs' making a run at a free-agent starter but says the priority is adding a left-handed hitter, hopefully to move into a regular's role in right field." and on the subject of marmol closing... "Woody could be very effective in the late mix," Hendry said. "Howry could also close out games. Ideally, I think you'd like to give Marmol another year doing what he did last year, when he could maybe come in and give you two innings at a time and get a little more experience. But that's something Lou can figure out in camp." http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-071106roge…

Real Neal, If they were switching Dero to short, I'd imagine they would be targeting Iguchi to play 2b and not Matsui.

I agree with Wes, I'd just like to see Dempster go away. It's not like he had even average success as a starter before his surgery. His best value to the Cubs is saving 80-85% of his opportunities. If that's not how you're going to use him, then trade him to some team desperate for a 4th/5th starter. I'd rather see Marquis and Hart if they can't get Kuroda.

I agree with a few other posters, trade Demspter. If he has such a great, affordable, below market contract as some seem to be saying he should be easy to trade and we should actually be able to get something for him. Unfortunately, there were people saying JJ and Todd Walker were easily tradeable because of their contracts/output, and we see that wasn't the case.

Still pounding the untrue thinking of "If they arent traded they must be worthless" gimmick? You have been slapped up and down dozens of times on this Manny yet you keep saying it. Much like your Hendry Donut jokes. It depends on what teams are seeking in return for the players they have. Everyone is easily tradeable if you give them away for nothing.

The Cubs want a legit #3 righty starter to spit lefties Lilly and Hill/Marshall. The only problem is that neither Marquis or Dempster qualify as legit #3 starters. And the competition for Kuroda looks to be very intense, which significantly reduces our chances of signing him. So I look for Hendry to deal either Hill or Marshall, and either Marquis or Dempster in order to upgrade the #3 spot. The 2008 rotation would look like Z, Lilly, (new acquisition), the survivor of Hill and Marshall at #4, and the survivor of Marquis and Dempster at #5. Hart becomes the swingman they sought all of last year. If Pie has the first shot at CF, then Murton and Jones are definitely out in RF, as Hendry will look to add his high-OBP/lefty hitting OF in RF. Kaz Matsui definitely adds the speed at 2B that the Cubs reportedly seek, which would push DeRosa to a utility role (allowing the Cubs to rest ARam and his chronic leg problems.)

MikeC: "Still pounding the untrue thinking of “If they arent traded they must be worthless” gimmick? You have been slapped up and down dozens of times on this Manny yet you keep saying it. Much like your Hendry Donut jokes." Man wasn't it nice with no MikeC around trying to bully people? Oh well... But I do agree everyone is tradeable if given away, it just seems that Hendry was not willing to do so for JJ and/or Walker.

Of course FELIX PIE will have a "chance" to win the job in center because if he flops next year he's pretty much reached the end of the line. Corey Patterson was already our everyday CF at his age. My guess is, we may see JJ back there after Pie's spring training numbers (.360 .396 .510 career) inevitably fade away in April. And even if JJ's power really is gone he still showed more than Pie did last year...or any year. Pie has a total of 2 HR in 277 AB's combined ST and regular season with the Cubs. Go Pie! As for Ryan Dempster, doe he not remember that starting means he'll find himself in a NON-SAVE SITUATION every outing?!

White Sox take step in right direction to get back to WS by reupping Juan Uribe today. ~chuckle~

Bruce Levine reported earlier today on ESPN 1000 that he is hearing from his "sources" that the Cubs have about 25 million to spend, pushing the payroll into the 125-30 million area. That can't be bad news...

How is Matsui - especially if it costs $3 million a year on a multi-year contract - any better than Eric Patterson? Matsui hit 81 points higher at Coors than on the road.

dave: "That can’t be bad news…" No, that is really good news. Of course, if we can't spend the money on the players we want, it doesn't help much, but at least that opens up the ability to make trades to add good palyers with bigger salaries.

dave: "What?" If we wanted Schilling or Kuroda (sp?), but can't get them and spend the money on Lohse or Silva, then having that extra money doesn't help as much. Having the money is nice, but we need to sign good players with it.

$25 Million? dump some contracts and sign Arod... Done and Done... If it was only that simple, huh?

"How is Matsui - especially if it costs $3 million a year on a multi-year contract - any better than Eric Patterson?" Matsui wakes up for baseball? A Japanese player on the team might sway other Japanese to sign? Matsui is a major league ballplayer? Um...he has a cool nickname? I'm out.

Hendry sound bite on radio yesterday -"No Soriano like contracts this off season." Money wise I was understanding.

"$25 Million? dump some contracts and sign Arod…" Don't even need to dump contracts. Just back end it. He'll def take 25 mil next year on year 1 of a 350 million dollar deal.

Yeah, I don't see enough of the "sign him and figure it out later" philosophy in the Cubs' org... I wish they would...

At some point Aramis and Derrek's contract will expire and at some point Arod should be playing one of those positions, so it's not a terrible idea... But apparently one the Cubs aren't even considering..

Regarding reruns, Mary Ann is hotter than Ginger. Regarding Matsui, I don't want to see anyone by that name unless he's Matt Suhey and he can hit the gap a lot faster than Cedric Benson can. And that ain't asking much.

"If we back end A-Rod too, our payroll will be outrageous in about 2011 or so." Rob did cover that but who the hell cares about 2011. The AVERAGE team payroll may be over 100,000,000 by then (ok that's high) "But apparently one the Cubs aren’t even considering.." Posturing, I'm sure. Because if everything we are told is true, ARod will be playing Jai-Alai back in his native Miami.

"If it was only that simple, huh?" f'real...this isnt fantasy baseball and a "good deal" for the cubs in trade usually brings a "good deal" for a dozen+ other teams and is more often than not a "good deal" for the team to not even consider moving the person in question.

thinking about this Kaz Matsui rumor.... when you think of the shortstops out there, he just might be the best option. Cubs seems desparate to add some lefties to the lineup and some speed (32/36 in SB's). Defensively he was one of the best at 2nd base last year(115 Rate2) and scored above average at SS in 2004 (106) with the Mets. I'm not necessarily for it, but I can start to see the reasoning. If he falls on his face, he's probably better than Fontenot for a bench spot and you can go back to Theriot or Cedeno (although with Cedeno out of options I believe, he'd be traded). Food for thought...

I still think his Japanese-ness is a major factor. Future Japanese would (I'd think) be more willing to sign, knowing they wouldn't be alone on the team. And Kaz offers veteran MLB presence for anyone who does eventually sign.

I don't know if this is allowed or not... But Derek Smart has a good post up on CubTown (all about short stops) rock on, ROMERO

Kaz had a .637 OPS away from Coors. He'll be 32 y/o. He's not good, won't be getting better, and he's not cheap. In overall ability, he's not enough of an upgrade over Theriot at SS to bother. If you read betw Hendry's line, if Kaz played 2B, DeRosa would sometimes play RF. DeRo's value is good at 2B. It's not in RF. Hendry could screw up a wet dream. Payroll apparently going up (good)....Hendry still the one spending it (very, very bad).

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...