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

Cubs Potential Offseason Targets: Randy Winn or Marlon Byrd

I had to take a break from the series last week cause of that annoying paying job that I jeopardize every day spending way too much time here on TCR. So I'm gonna double up the efforts and today we look at some more potential center field candidates. Let's start with Randy Winn.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1998 24 TBD 109 379 338 51 94 9 9 1 17 26 12 29 69 .278 .337 .367 .704 83
1999 25 TBD 79 324 303 44 81 16 4 2 24 9 9 17 63 .267 .307 .366 .673 71
2000 26 TBD 51 190 159 28 40 5 0 1 16 6 7 26 25 .252 .362 .302 .664 72
2001 27 TBD 128 480 429 54 117 25 6 6 50 12 10 38 81 .273 .339 .401 .740 97
2002 28 TBD 152 674 607 87 181 39 9 14 75 27 8 55 109 .298 .360 .461 .821 120
2003 29 SEA 157 660 600 103 177 37 4 11 75 23 5 41 108 .295 .346 .425 .771 107
2004 30 SEA 157 703 626 84 179 34 6 14 81 21 7 53 98 .286 .346 .427 .772 103
2005 31 TOT 160 683 617 85 189 47 6 20 63 19 11 48 91 .306 .360 .499 .859 128
2005 31 SEA 102 436 386 46 106 25 1 6 37 12 6 37 53 .275 .342 .391 .733 100
2005 31 SFG 58 247 231 39 83 22 5 14 26 7 5 11 38 .359 .391 .680 1.071 173
2006 32 SFG 149 635 573 82 150 34 5 11 56 10 8 48 63 .262 .324 .396 .721 84
2007 33 SFG 155 653 593 73 178 42 1 14 65 15 3 44 85 .300 .353 .445 .798 104
2008 34 SFG 155 667 598 84 183 38 2 10 64 25 2 59 88 .306 .363 .426 .790 105
2009 35 SFG 149 597 538 65 141 33 5 2 51 16 2 47 93 .262 .318 .353 .671 75
TBD (5 yrs) 519 2047 1836 264 513 94 28 24 182 80 46 165 347 .279 .342 .400 .743 95
SFG (5 yrs) 666 2799 2533 343 735 169 18 51 262 73 20 209 367 .290 .345 .432 .776 100
SEA (3 yrs) 416 1799 1612 233 462 96 11 31 193 56 18 131 259 .287 .345 .417 .762 104
AL (8 yrs) 935 3846 3448 497 975 190 39 55 375 136 64 296 606 .283 .343 .408 .752 99
NL (5 yrs) 666 2799 2533 343 735 169 18 51 262 73 20 209 367 .290 .345 .432 .776 100
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/10/2009.
Giants Winn Singles Against the Rockies in Denver

It's gonna be hard to get excited about a guy with a .262//318/353 slash line last season.  You can't even attribute it to an unlucky BABIP as it was .314 last year. No, his power disappeared hitting just two home runs after a healthy stretch of double digits. He did hit a measly 1.4% of HR/FB which is Ryan Theriot 2007/2008 low, so maybe there's a little bounceback (7.8% in his career albeit steadily declining).

Defensively, his UZR remains excellent over the last few seasons, as does his Rate2 and the Fan's Scouting Report considers him above average. Unfortunately most of that has been in right field and with the declining stolen base numbers you have to think he may not have the range for center, even in the cozy Wrigley Field confines.

While the novelty of a reunion between the player the Rays traded to get Lou Piniella and Lou would be a neat angle for the papers, I  assume the Cubs will pass on the soon-to-be 36 year old. Despite his switch-hitting ability and potential leadoff qualities, his stolen base numbers are merely okay and he only walks 8% of the time and sees well under 4 pitches per plate appearance, so I don't think this would be much of a match for the Cubs.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
2002 24 PHI 10 36 35 2 8 2 0 1 1 0 2 1 8 .229 .250 .371 .621 66
2003 25 PHI 135 553 495 86 150 28 4 7 45 11 1 44 94 .303 .366 .418 .784 111
2004 26 PHI 106 378 346 48 79 13 2 5 33 2 2 22 68 .228 .287 .321 .608 54
2005 27 TOT 79 259 229 20 61 15 2 2 26 5 1 19 50 .266 .323 .376 .698 87
2005 27 PHI 5 15 13 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .308 .400 .308 .708 86
2005 27 WSN 74 244 216 20 57 15 2 2 26 5 1 18 47 .264 .318 .380 .698 87
2006 28 WSN 78 228 197 28 44 8 1 5 18 3 3 22 47 .223 .317 .350 .667 76
2007 29 TEX 109 454 414 60 127 17 8 10 70 5 3 29 88 .307 .355 .459 .814 112
2008 30 TEX 122 462 403 70 120 28 4 10 53 7 2 46 62 .298 .380 .462 .842 121
2009 31 TEX 146 599 547 66 155 43 2 20 89 8 4 32 98 .283 .329 .479 .808 106
8 Seasons 785 2969 2666 380 744 154 23 60 335 41 18 215 515 .279 .340 .422 .762 99
PHI (4 yrs) 256 982 889 136 241 43 6 13 79 13 5 68 173 .271 .332 .377 .709 86
TEX (3 yrs) 377 1515 1364 196 402 88 14 40 212 20 9 107 248 .295 .352 .468 .820 112
WSN (2 yrs) 152 472 413 48 101 23 3 7 44 8 4 40 94 .245 .318 .366 .683 82
NL (5 yrs) 408 1454 1302 184 342 66 9 20 123 21 9 108 267 .263 .327 .373 .701 85
AL (3 yrs) 377 1515 1364 196 402 88 14 40 212 20 9 107 248 .295 .352 .468 .820 112
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/10/2009.
MLB: Mariners v Rangers August 25, 2007

The rumors flooded the TCR newsroom yesterday (i.e. Google Reader) with the Cubs targeting Marlon Byrd as their potential new center fielder. When I made a cursory list of guys I might look at it in this series, Byrd was on the radar as a potential 4th outfielder, but leave it to Jim Hendry and the Cubs to make him a top priority.

Anyway, Byrd was a top prospect in the Phillies system, one of the top prospects in the game at the time, but fizzled out before the Phillies gave up on him and moved him to the Nationals for Endy Chavez. It didn't go much better for him there, but then Texas gave him a shot and whether it was Rudy Jamarillo or the Ballpark or fate, he bounced back with three solid, albeit unspectacular seasons in Texas.  

2007-2009 splits (courtesy of Baseball Musings Day-by-Database and ESPN.com):

Home: 309/375/522 with a HR every 27.20 AB

Road:  281/321/414 with a HR every 45.60 AB

vs. LHP: 277/336/462 with a HR every 28.93 AB

vs. RHP: 302/359/470 with a HR every 36.89 AB

It isn't like Wrigley isn't friendly as well, but those home/road splits have to be a little worrisome. His lefty vs righty splits aren't too pronounced, actually showing a bit of a reverse split so the Cubs need not worry about matchups too much.

Now one of the things the Cubs are said to be looking for is a run-producer/RBI guy and Byrd did have some decent RBI totals the last 3 years, particularly relative to his plate appearances. That included driving in 17.9% of the runners on base when he got up in 2009 which is an above average mark along with 18.4% in 2007,  but just 12.5% in 2008, so you can see how volatile and unreliable hitting with runners on can be. 

Defensively, he had a UZR/150 of 10.9, 10.9 and -2.8 over the last three years while bouncing around all three outfield spots, so it's tough to say from that if he'll be much of an improvement in center field. BP is kinder to him in LF and RF (109 and 107) then in CF( 95) for his career using Rate2, but it all suffers from small sample size issues as does UZR. The Fan's Scouting Report seemed to consider him as just a bit above average over the last three years.

He did walk an abysmal 5.5% of the time in 2009 which isn't too far off from his 7.5% career mark...both of which are below the standards I'd like to see the Cubs employ. The Cubs pursuit of Byrd shouldn't come as too much of a shock as they tried to acquire him for Matt Murton last season but were rebuffed, so obviously they've believed in skills for awhile. I guess we'll see how this unravels, but I'd probably prefer Mike Cameron on a one year deal (if that is in the cards) over Byrd and a likely multi-year deal, but I don't think we know the market yet for either player. 


Check out Arizona Phil's Top 15 Cubs Prospects and enter our TCR Free Agent Frenzy Contest.

Comments

So, ROB G, no "Bradley Pool"? Oh well - as we are getting the hang of the new owners we can be very sure that Hendry is only looking for "value on the cheap". And, at the same time, trying to pare back the ramifications of his own back-loaded contracts. He could do worse than Byrd, Cameron, Castillo, I suppose. We have HAD worse, actually. Winn WAS a fit two or three years ago. Instead, Hendry found a way to pay $48MM for Fukudome.

The pressure to win is so great on the Cubs that they can't take their time with guys like Sam Fuld. In my opinion the Cubs already have their starting center fielder and lead-off man: Fuld. His defense saves at least a run every two or three games and I think he'd get on base at close to .400, and probably steal 30 bases. Give him a shot!

On our outfield situation---I'm with Billy Williams---we've already bought high on Bradley. He apparently has a good history with Jaramillo. Why not hang in there another year, or part of a year, and see if he can't produce something. He'll never have less trading value than the 0 he has right now. It isn't as if any of the available outfielders are really going to make a difference.

What about Coco Crispies - coming off surgeries & should come cheap - leadoff hitter - switch-hitter - upgrade on defense & can steal bases !!! This is a no brainer - sign Reed Johnson as backup to all 3 OF spots - effort & big time defense .

IF a commie jerk idiot murderous puny sop like Kim Jong Il can paralyze a whole region of Asia and starve millions of Koreans, why can't Lou make MB into the comeback kid? China and Japan hated the U.S.A. and now they are our biggest trading partners, so hello! Lou: you can use that as your model for reforming MB. If the freaking Berlin Wall can go down...well, you get the idea.

So when does Fuld get to prove himself? He turns 28 this month. He hit nearly .300 in 100 abs with an OBP of over .400. He hit .400 a couple of seasons back in the AZ league. And he consistently makes doubles into outs in center. The problem with starting Fuld in center is that we really need another power bat in the lineup, preferably left handed, and that would leave only middle infield to add that player -- not much there. And since I really don't think Bradley's going anywhere, our best bet may be to save a few bucks by starting Fuld in center, do a straight L - R platoon in RF with Fuku and Bradley, and have Bradley also get in some games in LF hitting left handed against some tough righties who might give Soriano problems. The fact remains if Soto and Soriano don't improve over this year it doesn't matter who we add in center.

[ ]

In reply to by MartyK

So, I'd just like to validate all this by responding to you, Mr. Fuld. What in your history indicates that you would be a .400 OBP guy in the majors? The 100 plate appearances you had this year? Because, Ryan Theriot and Matt Murton both had some nice numbers in limited plate appearances in 2005, particularly in slugging %, and neither of them have been able to match them in significant plate appearances. How 'bout your AFL numbers a while back? Well, isn't that also in a fairly small sample in an hitters league against many players who are often in the AA range of development? Oh, and about those stolen base numbers, I know that you had a good season at AAA this year when it came to base stealing, and if you've turned a corner then that's great. But the last time you had a base stealing season that we might even describe as interesting was 2006 in Daytona. On the other hand, you look like a very valuable 4th or 5th outfielder who could step into a more regular role when you get hot and/or somebody else gets hurt. Also, I hope you prove me wrong and manage to become a .400 OBP, gold glove, 30 SB guy for the Cubs. I sincerely do. But I have high hopes for all Cubs prospects.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

the book shouldn't even have to be written, imo. it's a mystery to me why more people aren't tuned into the fact a manager's main role is babysitting (or communicating in varying ways...various issues...to players from many walks of life how they fit into the team and their expectations). there's a lot of talk about oldschool classic managers who's style is rounded up these days by ex-players and commentators "well, with these players today he wouldn't be able to..." we can't go back in time to the era where players played like they need EVERY paycheck they get. we live in an era where a player making minimum wage in his first season is going to make more bank than his human peers in the rest of the world by 100s of thousands of dollars. this whole game has changed a lot since the free agency era...which wasn't really THAT long ago. it's no longer about making sure players don't find ways to skip curfew as a main off-field player management goal. it's no longer about how whites and blacks can meld on a team...it's about how cultures from countries a world apart from each other can meld on a team...and much more.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

It's just me peering into the dugout, but Crunch's point is magnified by the 2 world series managers, also a world apart in age. Comparing payrolls, Charlie Manuel brought an average team the farthest using the laid back dad approach. Manager of the year, IMO. Meantime, Girardi was more rah-rah with expectations and accountability high. The 2 styles were entertaining to watch, and post game interviews were respectful in wins and losses. In contrast, Lou gets the resources and all we fans and Hendry get is bruises from head butting the wall in frustration, starting with Chad Guadin in the dog house and ending with the MB suspension. Hendry's biggest off season job is to light the fire under Lou, if that's possible. Start by having Lou and Soto schedule workout (Crunches?) sessions, with Z as their trainer yelling Ozzie's favorite F* word to get it out of their collective systems. ~~~ 'Til I'm red in the face I'll say it. Lou IS the problem. *"Fun!" As in "What The Fun...?"

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I'm guessing aaronb was suggesting that since he's a Type A, if Hendry offered it to him, his value on the open market would dry up. Not sure what Grabow could win in an arb case, maybe $5M?

Ok, I've got dealbreakers for Winn, and Granderson: Randy Winn in 120 ABs against Left Handed pitching: 158/184/200 Granderson in 180 ABs against Lefties: 183/245/239 Even worse is the futility of one of our overly Right Handed players: Soriano in 98 ABs vs lefties: 184/283/286 With 30 Ks

MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan sees a three-year deal worth $18-24MM for Marlon Byrd, though he notes the limited demand for center fielders. --- no wonder Hendry is interested in Byrd...why spend 2/6 on reed johnson when you can spend 3/24 on 4th OF marlon byrd, the first two years would both be 2/6, with the difference that he can backload the 3rd year so it's at $18M. I smell yum-yum donuts

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...