Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

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

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 





Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

You Are Now Free to Vomit: Cubs End Homestand with Loss to (Gulp!) Astros

The Cubs squandered another superb start, this one by Ryan Dempster, and lost 3-2 to the Astros in 10 innings Sunday afternoon. To make matters worse, the bullpen culprits on this day were the Cubs' two relief studs so far this young season, Carlos Marmol, who surrendered the tying run in the 9th, and Sean Marshall, who took the loss after allowing a double by Jason Michaels and a sacrifice fly by Pedro Feliz in the 10th. To make matters worser, the the now 5-7 Cubs wound up dropping two of the three games to Houston, thus ending the season's first homestand at 3-3. To make matters even worser, the Astros really, truly suck.

In the aftermath of the loss, Lou Piniella announced that Marlon Byrd, who had three hits and both Cub RBI Sunday, would henceforth be leading off against lefthanders with Jeff Baker moving up to the second spot and Ryan Theriot sliding down to eighth. (Byrd has actually hit leadoff or sixth more often than in any other spot in the lineup throughout his career.)

Young lefty Jon Niese is supposed to start for the Mets when the Cubs begin a four-game visit to Citi Field on Monday night, so Lou's new lineup will get its first go right away. Randy Wells is scheduled to start for the Cubs.

Comments

Harold Ramis was in the booth for the 7th with Len and Bob. He said something to the effect of "the Cubs have got this one." I laughed out loud at that. Has he never seen a Cubs game before? If I didn't think they were probably going to blow it anyway, I would say he jinxed it.

Why did Hill take Soto's place late in the game? Soto was 2-3 and has been hitting well lately. Was Soto hurt? I see Hill came up with a runner in scoring position and two outs ninth. That just seems strange to me. Is Hill that much of a defensive game changer?

The last I saw Castro was doing pretty well. I am pretty sure 95% of the intelligent viewing public will disagree with me but I say bring up the kid just to add some electricity to the lineup. Anyone who wears that much jewelry probably isn't gonna lose much in the way of confidence no matter what happens.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

Castro is off to a good start: Average in the .350s, OPS over .900. I wouldn't mind seeing a Robinson Chirinos appearance at some point. He's off to a good start, and it looks like the HR power was not a complete fluke--he's got 3 in 29 ABs for AA, and he can play C as well as all over the infield. I don't know whose spot I'd give him--probably one of our reliever's. But neither guy is a middle of the lineup hitter (Chirinos is just a bench player, actually), the place where the Cubs are really struggling. Soriano and Ramirez are not producing the way the Cubs need them to, and the rest of the lineup really isn't playing over their heads enough (or at all *cough* Theriot) to make up for it. The Cubs need Ramirez and Soriano to produce near their career averages in order for this team to at least stay in the playoff picture. It's no secret that the Cubs can't skate by on pitching and defense.

I was in the car yesterday for 9th inning, when Marmol blew the save. Santo kept muttering "Makes you wonder, makes you wonder." Please get him out of the booth. In fact if the Ricketts want this to be "year one" ban all 1969 Cub players from the park. They all combined do not have the playoff experience of Ryan Theriot but they reminisce like they were the 1927 Yankees. Here's your statue, go home.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

Milton Bradley on the roster, that automatically precludes me from being a fan... but in all seriousness: Here's my formula. You start with a field of guys that play good defense. You don't need guys that hit 300, just players that will defend their position and do the fundamentals well: work counts, lay down bunts, make contact with the ball. Next, you get some starting pitchers that go out there and keep you in the game. They don't have to be flashy, just able to keep you in the game a large majority of their outings. Wells, Dempster, Lilly, all perfect. Then you find two guys that can mash. They hit 3 & 4. (This is the piece the M's do not have). It sounds reductionist, but the more I watch the game and the older I get, the more I think the formula is really this simple and that batting average is a bunch of bologna. It's worth noting that I've basically just described the St. Louis Cardinals. In fact, I believe one of the great fallacies in the baseball world is that without Pujols the Cardinals would be lost. It's not true at all. They actually have a good, somewhat non-flashy team.

i am soooo w/ cubnut re: the stretch singers & the interviews that go w/ them...such things in combination w/ a poor team approach intolerability; we are already @ the point where much of my fan-ness is essentially addictive behavior being repeated out of unbreakable habit...suffer the worst damned winter on record & 2 weeks in you're sick of the commercials, the team, the tired 7th inning act, the pat & ron shtick, the insufferable dave otto fill-ins...better stop; beginning to read like a suicide note...

I don't understand the need to carry so many pitchers when they cannot be used! Yesterday's use of Marmol is a perfect example of wasted space on the roster. Clear out the useless "junk" and add a bench player to pinch-hit and play the field. A third catcher would be great.

Pagan cf, Castillo 2b, Wright 3b, Bay lf, Francoeur rf, #29 Ike Davis 1b, Barajas c, Cora 2b, Niese P vs. CF Byrd, 2B Baker, 1B Lee, RF Nady, 3B Ramirez, LF Soriano, C Soto, SS Theriot, P Wells

Count Cubs manager Lou Piniella among those delighted that Alfonso Soriano has promised to give up his patented "hop" while making catches in left field. In fact, Piniella and others in the dugout had been requesting it for some time. "All it can do is make your head bob and your eyes move and the ball flutter," Piniella, a former outfielder, said before Sunday's game. "It's like catching a knuckleball. So if you can keep stable and catch it conventionally, I think it will help him." ------------- Ummm...uh...hmmm. Okay. At least everyone got together and decided it's about time Soriano did something that would help him play the game better...when he felt like it. How many 3-4m dollar managers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

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In reply to by Ryno

Ditto. Except that playing a starting pitcher in LF while you have position players pitching is just plain dumb. Also, RE: Posnaski: And even now, he HAS to use the most pinch-hitters, and he HAS to change around his lineup, and he HAS to use a lot of relievers, and he HAS to move runners, and he HAS to sacrifice. It's his nature. He has to attack the game before it attacks him. Why? I think it's because he knows the limitations of the job. And he can't help but rage against them. I think it's because he has a massive f***ing ego that he has to feed by pretending he has more of a say in the outcome of the game than he does. But then, I don't like him. It's sort of a half full half full of shit situation.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    PCA finally gets a hit!  2r HR!!!

  • Charlie (view)

    They certainly could be coupled. It could also be the case that a team needs good players at the heart of the team and if they are not coming from one source (development) they have to be sought out elsewhere. I don't see the evidence needed to infer the cause. 

  • crunch (view)

    bases loaded for the cubs, 0 out...and no runs score.

    cubbery.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Walker was a complimentary piece who was well past his prime. Edmonds, Holliday, Ozzie Smith and a few others were good trades. Notably, they have almost always been quiet in the free agent market. But the fundamental workings of the organization were always based primarily upon the constant output of a well oiled minor league organization. That organization has ground to a halt. And when did that hard stop start to happen? Right at the beginning of the Goldschmidt/Arenado era, perpetuated by the Contreras signing, followed by the rotation purchases during the last offseason. The timing is undeniable and, in my mind, not coincidental.

    Again, we are all saying that player development became deemphasized. I’m just linking it directly to the recent trades and involvement in the free agent market. I don’t see how the two concepts can be decoupled.

  • Charlie (view)

    The Cards also traded for both Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker. It's the developing part that has fallen off. Of course, it could also be the case that there are no more Matt Carpenters left to pull out of the hat. 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubs sign 28 yr old RHRP Daniel Missaki. He was in MiLB from his 17yr old to 19yr old years and did pretty well.
    He's been in Mexico and Japan the last four years and has done well also.
    He's supposedly Japanese and Brazilian.
    Interesting sign. We obviously need to RP in the system
    Injuries are mounting everywhere!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Sure, they made generally short term trades for established players to enhance what they already had or traded for players early enough in their careers that they were essentially Cardinals from the start. What they never did was to try to use the more established players as foundational cornerstones.

    Essentially we’re saying the same thing. They have given up on player development to the point that even their prospects that make it to the bigs flop so that they have to do things like buy most of their rotation and hope for the best.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I don’t buy that. They had been doing that for years.

    They did it with Matt Holliday. They did it with John Lackey. They did it with Mark Mulder. They did it with Jason Heyward, who had a great year for them. I’m sure there’s more but those come to mind immediately.

    I attribute it more to a breakdown in what they’re doing in terms of development than a culture thing.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    They won those trades and sacrificed their culture. That’s exactly their problem.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    The other part that’s kind of crazy is they made two very high profile trades, one for Goldschmidt and one for Arenado, and they very clearly won those trades. They just haven’t been able to develop players the last handful of years the way they usually do.

    I guess the moral there is it’s hard to stay on top of your game and be good at what you do in perpetuity.