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

When the Baseball World Slows to a Halt

Who do you turn to?

BRUCE LEVINE

It's been really slow in the Cub universe of news. The baseball winter meetings were a horror show as far as this Cub fan could tell.

I'm incredibly news starved when you consider that I took running notes on BL's "Talking Baseball" show on ESPN-1000 radio. This week, his 2 hour baseball gab session with sidekick Jonathan Hood covered three main Cub topics: CF, 2B and the bullpen.

So here's an IV dose of baseball, Bruce Levine "Talking Baseball" style. What follows are my notes and occasional commentary from the Saturday post-Christmas program. After the jump...

BL's Opening statement: Cub fans may still be disappointed with Jim Hendry not adding to the team yet (no kidding!).

Matt Capps - Bruce Levine said he's not sure Hendry got beyond the basic parameters of a contract. BL couldn't confirm that  any formal contract offer was made. He thought Hendry needed to do a back loaded 2 year deal to get Capps. Ultimately, Capps took a one year deal as a closer thinking that he'll do even better in one year, either in his last year of arbitration eligibility or as again a non-tendered free agent. BL says Hendry would backload a one year deal if that were possible but BL says they don't allow that. We can expect Jim Hendry will recommend a backloaded a one year deal with Dunkin' Donuts though (insert your own gratuitous donut joke...ta da boom).

If the Cubs have about $8M to spend for 3 players (OF, 2B, BP), Hendry will need to do his backloading thing on whoever they sign (for any contract beyond one year).

Cubs needs: CF

Marlon Byrd is probably the fit, given the Jaramillo factor which will provide a comfort level for Byrd. Byrd is coming off of a career year at age 33. Where does hit in the order? Batting #5 thru #7. How much of a contractural commitment beyond one year is an issue.

The Cubs had no interest in Coco Crisp (now signed with A's) because of concerns about his health and that he's too far away from his peak year.

Why consider Scott Podsednik? Because he's a leadoff man. Adequate LF, not a good CF. Not good on the base paths with lots of gaffs and he gets picked off a lot. Theriot is better as a #2 hitter or 7,8 (but not a leadoff hitter).

Trade possibilities for CF - David DeJesus (KC).

Reed Johnson - Levine says that his agent is talking to Yankees.
-----
Cubs needs: 2B

Caller mentions consideration of a one year deal with Orlando Cabrera or Miguel Tejada at SS, moving Theriot to 2B while waiting for Starlin Castro to develop. Levine is a big Cabrera fan because he manages to go to the playoffs every year. Levine mentions he's got a rep of not being a team guy but can lead off because he takes pitches. Cabrera is coming off of a $7M deal so a lowball deal might make him disgruntled. BL recalled Cabrera's involvement in the three team 2004 trade that netted the Cubs Nomar Garciaparra (Cabrera went to Boston, who did eventually did win the World Series that season).

Bruce Levine discussed Ryan Theriot in detail, in the context of the Cubs evaluation of their own minor league system's talent. Theriot could have easily fallen through the system (I remember the failed experiment to turn him into a switch hitter). BL says nobody in the Cubs system projected him as a starting SS, but when Piniella saw Ceasar Izturis was not bringing anything, he gave him a shot. Theriot is a gutsy little guy. Coaches (Trammel and DeJesus) worked on his footwork to help some. Theriot has been a very good offensive player and an adequate SS but he'll never remind one of Omar Vizquel. I (don't we all) expect his ultimate destination is 2B, but who knows if that shift can happen as soon as this season.

-----

Zambrano in a trade?

Put those rumors to rest. Cubs weren't interesting in trading Z but like any team they should be listening to offers (to understand his market value). Z will not waive his NTC per his agent Barry Praver. Z has been living in Chicago this winter for the first time and working very hard with a personal trainer. Levine said that it was a mistake to use Z as a pinch hitter letting him run the bases and risking him to injury if you are wanting Z to pitch more than 30 games a season.
-----
Cubs needs: Bullpen

Caller asks about who is next on their reliever acquisition radar. Cubs have extreme interest in Kiko Calero. Makes me wonder what he was thinking when he unloaded Michael Wuertz for Billy Goat Beanes (see the above comments on evaluating your own talent). At least we've gotten rid of Aaron Heilman and all the other mistakes named Aaron from the 2008 offseason.

The Cubs have talked to Jose Contreras agent considering him as a starter/swingman.

Caller asks about the using the upcoming minor talent for the bullpen. BL says Esmalin Caridad will get a shot in the pen and Cubs are expecting Samardzija to be a starter (at some point).
-----
Bruce Levine's Cubs top 10 of the Decade: 1. ARam, 2. Zambrano, 3. DLee, 4. Kerry Wood, 5. Dempster, 6.  Sosa, 7. Moises Alou, 8. Theriot, 9. Prior, 10. DeRosa

-----

I'm going back to my cave to hibernate.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

It crossed my mind a week or so ago. I assume the impact would be that Marmol would be traded for a CF or something else that can be swapped for a CF. Fowler? Cody Ross? Or someone like that. If Valverde's asking price eventually falls to something reasonable, Hendry would not be doing his due diligence without discovering what is Marmol's trade value. If I can have one or the other on this team, I think I'd take Valverde and see what Marmol can fetch in a trade. There's enough teams willing to look past his '09 BB/9 and see his stuff and his K/9 and possibly overpay. I'm not saying Marmol can't bounce back and look in '10 like he looked in '08. But Valverde sure looks like the safer bet today, and even if Marmol does rebound, he won't stay cheap for very long. Using his money to sign Valverde and potentially making Marmol available would give Hendry a lot of options on how to improve the rest of the team.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

im a big ross fan, but i dunno if you can count on his knees holding up to a full season in CF. as concerned as people were about milton, ross has been a constant injury since his career began. both knees carry permanent lingering pain he has to deal with as long as his youth and health hold out. he generates such a tremendous amount of power in his swing for a midget. he swings hard at anything thrown at him. btw, he lists at 5'11" on some sites...yeah f'n right.

"Levine said that it was a mistake to use Z as a pinch hitter letting him run the bases and risking him to injury if you are wanting Z to pitch more than 30 games a season." It was utter stupidity by Lou. I can understand in the 13th inning when you've used your bench to use him as a PH, but to use your supposed $100 million ace as basically a regular PH just does not make much sense.

While BL's list is not the end all be all, it is pretty sad that Ryan Dempster made the top 5. I think that could be a good indicator why the team has not won a playoff game in over 6 years.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-27-new-rogers-inside-basebalde… He ranks pitching staffs: 1-2 Yankees/Giants, Phils 3rd, Cards/Rockies tied 4th, Cubs/Mariners tied for 8th. WSux 12th, Angels 13th. then this tidbit: If the Red Sox wind up with Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, the Cubs immediately would make a major effort to land Jacoby Ellsbury to fill their center field/leadoff hole, according to sources. That scenario helps explain why the Cubs have been so patient in studying their options. The best way to do such a trade might be for GM Jim Hendry to facilitate a three-team deal that sends first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres to the Red Sox by packaging a group of prospects, possibly including one or two of their top ones, such as third baseman Josh Vitters, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee and pitchers Andrew Cashner and Jay Jackson.

Thanks to the CUBSTER for the Levine update. I can't figure out if Phil Rogers is a full-blown alcoholic, a crack-addict, or has psychological issues, or maybe a combination of the above. Where he comes up with this stuff I have no idea. The fact also, that as far as I remember, he gets all of his "deals" incorrect and his "pearls of wisdom" do not measure up to his colleagues, makes me wonder how he keeps his gig. Also, can a staff with Jake Peavy and Mark Berlhe, and a real #3 pitcher really be worse than the Cubs?

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Peavy, Buerhle, and Danks is an excellent pitcher, and Floyd is hit and miss but damn good when he's on. The Sox have a very impressive rotation for this season, and we have 3 middle of the rotation guys making $10-18 mil each. Yuk. As for Phil Rogers, I agree, he's about the worst possible sports columnist on the planet. Worse even than Mariotti. At least with Mariotti it's easy to see his motives - he's a windbag trying to create controversy. Rogers just piles up the bullshit column after column, none of it ever correct, and his trade suggestions are outrageous.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Really? The thing I love/hate the most about fellow Cubs fans is how out of their minds they become when defending their players. Last 3 seasons WHIP: Z: 1.33/1.29/1.37 Peavy: 1.06/1.18/1.12 Z is clearly not in Peavy's league Dempster: 1.34/1.21/1.31 Buerhle: 1.26/1.34/1.25 Buerhle lower WHIP in 2 of 3 seasons, rearrange them however you want, he has a lower WHIP combined the last 3 seasons. Lilly: 1.14/1.23/1.06 (no surprise he's been better than Z or Demp) Danks: 1.54/1.23/1.28 No surprise that Lilly has better numbers than Danks, but aside from Danks rookie season, he has had better WHIP the last two seasons combined than Z or Dempster. Let's go further: Gavin Floyd: 1.49/1.26/1.23 (Sox number 4 starter's last two seasons better than Z or Dempster, the Cubs number 1 and 2 starters) Who will be the Cubs number 4 starter: Randy Wells, with a respectable middle/bottom of the rotation WHIP of 1.28? Sean Marshall, who last 3 seasons has WHIP's of 1.37/1.27/1.44? Gorz? 1.40/1.80/1.32 Sharkboy? 1.41/1.76

[ ]

In reply to by Paul Noce

What happens to Z's numbers if he can pitch half his games in SafeCo? I like to think they get closer to Peavy's, though I can still admit Peavy has been the better pitcher. Clearly Dempster and Buehrle and Lilly and Danks have been very comparable. I'll take Wells and one of Marshall/Gorzo for the bottom of my rotation, certainly. We'll see a year from now which team's pitching actually will have performed better. Does it seem like a stretch to imagine that either one could come out on top?

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Let's try figures adjusted for parks, like ERA+ (100 is average, higher is better) for the last 3 years: Peavy: 157, 133, 112 Buehrle: 129, 121, 121 Danks: 85, 138, 123 Zambrano: 117, 117, 119 Dempster: 98, 155, 123 Lilly: 121, 112, 145 Damn, Dempster was good 08. Well, it's close. Buehrle and Z are almost a wash, with a nod to Buehrle. Same with Dempster and Danks with the nod to Dempster. I think a lot depends on what you make of Peavy's 100 innings and Lilly's career year in 09. All healthy, I'd take Peavy and the Sox rotation. With Lilly's injury, I think that only settles my mind further. Randy Wells' sophomore year and the Cubs' prospects are welcome to swing me back.

[ ]

In reply to by Stevens

When I made that statement I was probably using a three year weighted average. It's hard to see how Dempster's 2007 season is very relevant to 2010. CHONE projections: Buehrle 192 IP, 4.12 ERA Peavy 145 IP, 3.95 ERA Danks 169 IP, 4.26 ERA Zambrano 181 IP 4.28 ERA Dempster 179 IP, 4.12 ERA Lilly 173 IP, 4.21 Basically the same. But my the real point is that there's not a #1 pitcher in the group. It's six two and three starters. With the possible exception of Lilly there's guys there who have a chance to be an ace, but no one you would count on as one.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Again you claim Peavy isn't an ace. What more does a guy have to do to be an ace in your book? He has a personal .583 winning percentage on a team with a .473 winning percentage since he arrived. He won the Cy Young. But somehow he's comparable to Dempster, a career journeyman with a career WHIP close to 1.50.

Chad Fox? http://cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091221&content_id=7839980&vk… OCTOBER Rudy Jaramillo, who has been fixture in Texas for 15 years, hired as hitting coach for Cubs staff. ... The Ricketts family is formally introduced as the Cubs' new owners on Oct. 30 at Wrigley Field. NOVEMBER Lilly underwent arthroscopic surgery and debridement on left shoulder. ... Zambrano won third Silver Slugger award. ... Heilman dealt to D-backs for two Minor League prospects. ... Grabow signed two-year, $7.5 million contract. ... Lee finished ninth in NL MVP vote. ... Tom Ricketts and team president Crane Kenney traveled to Florida to meet with Naples, Fla., group that wants Cubs to move Spring Training site to Sunshine State. Earlier in month, Ricketts and Kenney met with Arizona officials to discuss sites in Mesa. DECEMBER Cubs declined to offer arbitration to Gregg, Harden, Johnson and right-hander Chad Fox. ... Tom Ricketts met with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to discuss moving team to Florida for Spring Training. ... Miles and Fox traded Dec. 3 to Athletics for pitchers Jeff Gray and Ronny Mota and infielder Matt Spencer. ... Ryne Sandberg named Triple-A Iowa manager. ... Cubs selected right-hander Michael Parisi from Cardinals in Rule 5 Draft. ... Cubs acquired righty Arismendy Mota from Nationals for cash considerations. ... WGN Radio signed former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo to three-year contract extension. ... Bradley traded to the Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva and cash.

New Year 2010 already off on the wrong foot... On Seems ESPN Classic Sports, early Saturday, Jan 2nd at 5:30AM, is broadcasting Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. Prior, Alou, Bartman and Alex S. Gonzalez. Oh the pain. Maybe it will end differently this time.

i know it's Xmas holiday time and all, but the OF market this year has been oddly slow. we're going into JAN with only mike cameron worth mentioning...and at his age and pricetag it's barely worth mentioning. if you want to count the DH-quality matsui or broken down c.crisp as on par with cameron i'm not gonna argue it, though. -edit- on par, as in...a "worth mentioning" OF signing...not talent-level.

jon heyman's HOF tweet... "just mailed Hall of Fame ballot, beating deadline yet again. voted for alomar, dawson, larkin, parker, morris & mattingly" mattingly? yeesh. bert blyleven, no...mattingly, yes... okay, whatever. props to him for making his vote public, though... also, props to whatever mail service he used on a Sunday.

Since it's so slow today I'll start a new argument up: Why the hell do I keep reading that the Cubs need a 2B, but not a shortstop? Isn't Theriot much more natural at 2B? Wouldn't it be nice to have a real shortstop for a change? If it's availability, fine, just say it: We can't find any good SS's so we're going to kludge our middle infield together until Starlin Castro turns into the second coming of Ozzie Smith.

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Some of those expiring contracts can be a good thing, regardless of how we feel about the player or how productive the player is. My feeling is that Ramirez will excercise his option. $14.6 million is a lot to pass up for one year. As for Lee, I am not sure who would be the most natural replacement, but I would be willing to re-sign Lee at a favorable price. Fukudome goes back to Japan after 2011. Lilly may be one of the most sought after pitchers next season, especially if he recovers nicely from his shoulder surgery. The only arguement one could make is his temper tantrum he threw on the mound in Game 2 at Chase Field, but based on the offensive production during that series, it is understandable. He knew that a shutout would not neccesarily save him. I guess my point is that the Cubs do have some decent talent in the farm system and the expiring contracts are not a terrible thing. The window may be closing, but new doors will open and more money will be available for player development and good free agent signings. The Cubs have recently over paid for free agents because of their inability to develop any kind of productive offensive threat. If they can start to develop and scout better, with the budget they have, then we will see better results. Lots of ifs, but it is that time of year.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I think the Cubs are going to move forward in 2010 with Theriot at SS and Fontenot/Baker at 2nd. I don't think they want to spend on a SS because Castro is waiting in the wings and they don't want to spend on a 2nd baseman because Theriot is destined to move over there. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing Theriot move to 2nd and Andres Blanco take over at SS until Castro is ready. Blanco has a helluva glove and I don't think he's going to hit any worse than Fontenot/Baker. If Tejada is available for one year and a couple of million dollars, that wouldn't be bad either. But I don't see that happening.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I think 2008 would have been the best year to have Blanco at SS, since we had such good offensive production from DeRo at 2B. Putting Theriot at 2b with Blanco at SS is just an absolute black hole of offense in the middle infield. With question marks in both RF and CF (and let's face it, LF), we can't afford zero offense out of half the infield.

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

DD -- Why do you consider Theriot to be a blackhole offensively? His .288/.356/.369 isn't tremendous, but it's not bad. True, he doesn't have much pop (7 HR, 54 RBI last year was his career best), but I wouldn't say he's "an absolute blackhole."

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

I don't know if his 83 OPS+ last year qualifies as a black hole or not, but certainly the combination of Theriot and Blanco (65 OPS+) is really bad. My point was if you're going to have terrible offense from your SS (Blanco), you probably need to make up for it somewhat at 2B. This is compounded by the fact that we have very little power coming out of RF, a traditional power spot in the lineup, and our leftfielder may be on an out-of-control downward spiral (let's hope not).

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

To be honest, I would rather throw $6-7 million at a shortstop that can produce than Marloyn Byrd or Scott Podsednick for 2. Trading for a defensive minded CF would not be the end of the world. The bench improves and the productive bat is there, just from a different position. Lou wants a productive outfield bat (CF). Well if there is not one out there, then there is not one out there. Rudy Jaramillo may be considered the best, but perception is normally reality.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Theriot's .712 OPS, which ranked him 12th (of 18) among MLB shortstops who qualified for a batting title would rank him 20th (of 22) second basemen. Theriot is essentially what a fourth outfielder is. He doesn't hit well enough to justify playing in a corner, and he doesn't field well enough to justify playing CF.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

judging non-power guys by OPS just isn't fair and you're not gonna find a lot of happy space. riot hits singles, makes an occasional double, an even rarer homer and shows up for work everyday. that's about all you need him to do until you start thinking about paying him 3-6 million bucks a year, imo.

Rosenthal jUst tweets that DeRosa to SF is close to signing a 2 yr deal. Glad to see him out of a StL uniform, that was a nightmare. --- Ken_Rosenthal: DeRosa close with SF on 2-year deal.

"Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that Xavier Nady's asking price is above New York's current budget." did i wake up this morning in 1995? what the hell is a Yankees budget?

"While (Felix Pie) probably won’t ever be the superstar people though he would be become before the Cubs started jerking him around (as is their tradition), he’s young, good, and has little enough service time that it’s understandable why other teams are interested in obtaining him, and also why the Orioles have so far refused to sell him for a bag of magic beans." http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-os-enviable-outfield-logjam

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

while that quote is pretty much right on the article uses a bunch of useless and full-of-holes stats as a matter of fact when evaluating a player's worth. the comparison of jones vs. pie on defense and expectations of moving them elsewhere is a straight up joke.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Though I agree that he is much to matter-of-fact in stating the player's values, I disagree that Pie isn't a better CF than Jones and that he'd be a terrific LF. I said before last season that they'd be better served using Pie in center and Jones in left, and a year on, people who actually think about it agree. Just like playing catcher makes your offensive game decline, playing CF (to a lesser extent of course) will do the same thing. They should let Jones concentrate on the hitting and get as much value out of Pie as they can.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

aside from all that in the article..chalking reimold up as a defensive liability or defensively weak is stupid as hell. it's also stupid to assume pie would play better in LF over reimold because of which one plays better CF...especially since reimold easily has a better arm.

SI_JonHeyman: #giants will have announcement tomorow on derosa. done deal, they say. it's $12 mil for 2 years. good move by them. --- stupid twitter-ter anyway, glad he's not back in stl.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/rockies/2009/12/28/schemmel-a-candidate-for… Denver Post-Troy Renck: As for the Ryan Spilborghs’ rumors involving the Cubs. Talked to a major league source Monday night who downplayed the Cubs’ interest. Basically, the Cubs’ search for a reserve outfielder is down on their priority list. That said, Cubs manager Lou Piniella has long liked Spilborghs so it would not surprise me if the Cubs have called about him. My gut tells me the Rockies’ asking price will be too high to get a deal done.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9877 Baseball Prospectus has an article on which managers use their bullpens for the best leverage (by Tim Kniker). It seems an interesting concept so I'm asking for some of our sabermetric guru's to see what they think. I'm not sure I fully grasp this since on first glance it seems that teams with the most reliable closers give a manager the best BMAR. Hence Piniella would suffer from Kevin Gregg's 2009 season. Anyway...here's his description: use the overall team’s wOBA against the same-handed batter. This serves as a baseline if the manager essentially drew names out of a hat based on who would be the next reliever. So if we subtract the Effective wOBA from the "random" wOBA, we get a statistic that we will call BMAR for Bullpen Management Above Random. Essentially, a BMAR of 15 says that by putting the best pitchers in the highest leverage situations, the Effective wOBA of the opponent’s hitter is 15 points worse than if the manager chose his relievers at random. The 5yr winner is the Twins mgr, which means Joe Nathan is the most consistent closer over the last 5 yrs. I don't think I needed a statistical analysis to come to that conclusion though. So is this stat of any value? of course there's the upper bound bullpen management (UBBM) which he uses to refine the BMAR info. Say that one out loud three times.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

I don't think he's probably seperated cause and effect to determine his correlation and I'm confused about his methodology to set a 'baseline'. Until he's cleared that up, I can't give it the TRN stamp of approval. I posted some questions in the comments.

[ ]

In reply to by mannytrillo

Year/OBP/BABIP/BB% 2003: /.328 /.312 /7.6 2004: /.341 /.317 /9.4 2005: /.315 /.298 /6.1 2006: /.354 /.311 /9.5 2007: /.376 /.338 /11.9 2008: /.367 /.344 /8.9 2009: /.357 /.332 /10.1 I'm not sure I see anything I'd call a "decline." It's not like he'd steadily been achieving OBPs in the .370-.380 range. The thing that should be worrisome is that those 2007-2009 OBPs, which are higher than the ones before correspond to the three highest BABIPs in his seven year career. The overall pattern of the BB% seems to be a plateau over the past four years.

SI_JonHeyman: francesa just said bay will go be a met if he passes physical. Bay a Met. Me like 3 letter words.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • 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.