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

Game 4 Quick Recap - Wells Runs Dry for DBacks Offense

Box Score | HighlightsFangraphs WP chart

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E
DBacks 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   1 8 0
Cubs 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 x   4 8 1

The Gist: Wells didn't quite pitch as well as he did all spring and was uncharacterstically wild, but held the DBacks to just 6 hits, and only one of the extra base variety, that being a leadoff home run to Willie Bloomquist of all people. Geovany Soto showed off his healthy shoulder gunning down Justin Upton on a steal attempt and Miguel Montero on a wild pitch that didn't bounce very far away. The bullpen locked down the last 3 innings, even with Q-Ball and Kirk Gibson battling for over-Manager of the Year honors. First, the Cubs bring in Sean Marshall who is perfectly awesome versus lefties and righties to face Geraldo Parra. After getting him out, Gibson went to the righty Xavier Nady and Q-Ball countered for no good reason with Marcus Mateo and Gibson countered with lefty Juan Miranda who did single. Mateo retired the next batter and Q-Ball went to the pen again and John Grabow to get Kelly Johnson.

Soriano proved he can still hit a hanging breaking ball, breaking the 1-1 tie with his second home run in as many days. Starlin Castro showed that he can still make bad throws, by putting Kerry Wood in a jam in the 8th that Wood escaped after loadiing the bases with 1 out. Marmol shut the door in the 9th and the bullpen has thrown 10.1 IP so far, giving up 2 runs (both by Marmol yesterday), on 7 BB and 9 K's. Marmol and Wood both pitched their third straight games, so it'll be interesting to see if Q-Ball will push either of them for a fourth if the need arises Tuesday. And with Andrew Cashner on the mound, that could mean having to get through 4-5 innings with Grabow, Marshall, Samardzija, Mateo and Russell with Q-Ball iikely saving Marshall for the 9th.

Pena hurt this thumb in the 8th and is considered day to day...like the rest of us.

So far the team is exactly what we expected out of them, solid starting pitching, good bullpen, crappy defense especially on the infield and a mediocre at best offense. Project .500 remains on target...

Comments

I hereby start a "Byrd is Injured" Rumor to get him out of the lineup/#3 spot. I went onto gamecast yesterday in the fourth or fifth inning and see that the Cubs have four hits at this time. I made the mistake by using the handy "show field" option and select "home hits." I'm horrified to find that Baker and Byrd's hits were contained in the infield. So Marlon's 167/167/167/333 line is artificially enhanced by an infield single. Otherwise he would be 111/111/111/222. I realize it's early but this guy hitting third is horse shit. Get Soto or Ramirez in the 3 spot, and if not them use Colvin for God's sake. Looking forward to seeing Cashner pitch for real

Looking at Cots Assuming ARam gets bought out there is already 72MM committed to next season. If his option is picked up that figure would be 86MM. Garza gets arb, probably 8-9MM, call it 95MM. Fuk, Pena, Grabow, Shark all go away. Still have to give raises to Soto, Wells, DeWitt. Soto getting 3MM this year, so figure 4-5 for him, now up to even $100MM. I wonder what Wells is worth in arbitration?

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

“There's still going to be a few blips along the way. He just turned 21 a couple weeks ago. There are still some growing pains. Thinking back to my career and others, we just didn't get it overnight. But the sky's the limit. I know he's a good student. I saw him earlier today. I just had a quick conversation, and he thanked me. And that means a lot. It's something that even though I'm not there anymore, he'll be somebody I'll be following for the rest of his career. That's how much he means to me. He's a solid kid. But there's going to be some growing pains still." Alan Trammell

[ ]

In reply to by Jumbo

Submitted by Jumbo on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 3:50am. Looking at Cots Assuming ARam gets bought out there is already 72MM committed to next season. If his option is picked up that figure would be 86MM. Garza gets arb, probably 8-9MM, call it 95MM. Fuk, Pena, Grabow, Shark all go away. Still have to give raises to Soto, Wells, DeWitt. Soto getting 3MM this year, so figure 4-5 for him, now up to even $100MM. I wonder what Wells is worth in arbitration? ============================================================ JUMBO: Not counting a signing bonus unless all or part of it is actually paid in 2012, here is how I would project the Cubs payroll for 2012 (very much subject to change): MLB ARTICLE XX-B FREE-AGENTS POST-2011: Ryan Dempster (player option) John Grabow Reed Johnson Carlos Pena Aramis Ramirez (mutual option with club buy-out) Kerry Wood SIGNED BEYOND 2011: + Has NO TRADE rights + Alfonso Soriano - $18M + Carlos Zambrano - $18M + Aramis Ramirez - $16M mutual option or $2M club buy-out + Ryan Dempster - $15.5M player option (contract was restructured in 2011) Carlos Marmol - $7M Marlon Byrd - $6.5M Carlos Pena - $5M deferred from 2011 salary Sean Marshall - $3.1M + Jeff Samardzija - $3M club option (Cubs will almost certainly opt-out) Carlos Silva - $2M 2012 club buy-out to be paid post-2011 TOTAL: $91M (presuming Cubs opt-out of Samardzija contract, and Dempster and Ramirez return for 2012), or $77M if Cubs opt-out of Ramirez contract post-2011 PROJECTED ELIGIBLE FOR SALARY ARBITRATION POST-2011: Jeff Baker ($2M?) Blake DeWitt ($2M?) Kosuke Fukudome (see NOTE) Matt Garza ($9M?) Koyie Hill ($1M?) Geovany Soto ($7M?) Randy Wells ($3M?) NOTE: Kosuke Fukudome is technically eligible for salary arbitration post-2011, but he can demand his Outright Release if not signed to a 2012 contract by 11-15-2011. PROJECTED TOTAL: $24M? AUTO-RENEWAL (PRE-ARBITRATION) POST-2011: Darwin Barney Justin Berg Alberto Cabrera Esmailin Caridad Andrew Cashner Welington Castillo Starlin Castro Robert Coello Casey Coleman Tyler Colvin Thomas Diamond Rafael Dolis John Gaub Scott Maine Marcos Mateo Fernando Perez James Russell Jeff Samardzija (if 2012 club option declined) Kyle Smit Jeff Stevens TOTAL: $7M? (includes minor league splits for players on Optional Assignment) So that's about $112M (or $98M if Cubs opt-out of Ramirez contract post-2011). Also... If the Cubs opt-out of Samardzija contract post-2011 (almost a certainty) and he becomes an Auto-Renewal player in 2012, his salary cannot be cut more than 20% (to $2.5M). So it is far more likely that he would be either outrighted post-2011, or be non-tendered on 12/2. Other Fun Facts: The following players presently on the Cubs 40-man roster will be out of minor league options in 2012 (list includes only players who will have accrued less than five years of MLB Service Time through the 2011 season, since players with five or more years of MLB ST can decline Optional Assignment to minors): Jeff Baker Justin Berg Thomas Diamond Koyie Hill Fernando Perez Jeff Samardzija Geovany Soto Jeff Stevens NOTE: Blake DeWitt, Marcos Mateo, and Randy Wells will be out of minor league options in 2012 if any of them spend at least 20 days on Optional Assignment in 2011. Jim Hendry likes to trade or outright a guy who is out of minor league options during the off-season if the player is not believed to have a decent chance to claim a spot on the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster. The following Cubs minor league players can be MLB RULE 55 Six-Year Minor League Free-Agents (6YFA) if not added to Cubs 40-man roster by the 4th day following the conclusion of the World Series: ELIGIBLE TO BE MLB RULE 55 MINOR LEAGUE FA POST-2011: Jim Adduci, OF Marco Carrillo, RHP Angel Guzman, RHP Dylan Johnston, RHP Bryan Lahair, 1B J. R. Mathes, LHP Mario Mercedes, C Lou Montanez, OF Scott Moore, INF Jonathan Mota, INF Jake Muyco, RHP Augie Ojeda, INF Max Ramirez, C-1B Chris Robinson, C Bobby Scales, INF Brad Snyder, OF Alvaro Sosa, RHP (ex-C) Polin Trinidad, LHP John Urick, 1B (player-coach) Brandon Watson, OF Todd Wellemeyer, RHP NOTE: Angel Guzman, Bryan Lahair, Scott Moore, Max Ramirez, and Brad Snyder are out of minor league options should they be added to the Cubs 40-man roster during the season or by the 4th day following the conclusion of the 2011 World Series, and Augie Ojeda and Todd Wellemeyer would be eligible to be MLB Article XX-B FA post-2011 if added to Cubs 40-man roster during the 2011 season (both Ojeda and Wellemeyer have more than five years of MLB ST). PREVIOUSLY RELEASED - CAN BE MINOR LEAGUE FA UNLESS SIGNED BEYOND 2011: Adrian Aviles, LHP (ex-OF) Austin Bibens-Dirkx, RHP Alvaro Ramirez, OF The fiollowing Cubs minor leaguers will be eligible for selection in the December 2011 MLB Rule 5 Draft if not added to the Cubs 40-man roster by 11-20-2011: ELIGIBLE FOR DECEMBER 2011 RULE 5 DRAFT: Jeffry Antigua, LHP Jeffrey Beliveau, LHP Michael Brenly, C Justin Bristow, RHP Ryan Buchter, LHP Michael Burgess, OF Kyler Burke, LHP (ex-OF) David Cales, RHP Matt Camp, IF-OF Tony Campana, OF Chris Carpenter, RHP Hung-Wen Chen, RHP Steve Clevenger, C-1B Manolin DeLeon, RHP Eduardo Figueroa, RHP Ryan Flaherty, IF-OF Luis Flores, C Marwin Gonzalez, IF-OF Yohan Gonzalez, RHP Jose Guevara, C Marcus Hatley, RHP Jay Jackson, RHP Junior Lake, INF Blake Lalli, C-1B Jordan Latham, RHP James Leverton, LHP David Macias, IF-OF-C Oswaldo Martinez, RHP Craig Muschko, RHP Jon Nagel, RHP Jake Opitz, INF Blake Parker, RHP Marcos Perez, LHP Nelson Perez, OF Ramon Reyes, RHP Dae-Eun Rhee, RHP Rebel Ridling, 1B Carlos Romero, C Nate Samson, INF Ryan Searle, RHP Marquez Smith, 3B Luke Sommer, LHP Matt Spencer, OF-1B Larry Suarez, RHP Matt Szczur, OF Jose Tineo, RHP Jose Valdez, OF Josh Vitters, 3B Ty Wright, OF

[ ]

In reply to by garsky

Submitted by garsky on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 2:31pm. To me there's 4 on that list who seem to be locks to be added to the 40: Carpenter, Jackson, Szczur & Vitters. Maybe Lake too? Anyone else, AZP? With 2 spots on the 40 open already, and Samninja and Reed Johnson probably gone, looks like the Cubs will need one more spot. Pena will probably be that guy, but if the Cubs sign Fielder/Pujols (fingers crossed) it's a wash. ================================== GARSKY: As things stand right now, I would say: VIRTUAL LOCKS: Josh Vitters Jay Jackson Chris Carpenter Matt Szczur LIKELY: Max Ramirez (otherwise he is a minor league FA) ON THE BUBBLE: Ryan Flaherty Marquez Smith Steve Clevenger Tony Campana Marwin Gonzalez Jeff Beliveau David Cales There also are a number of candidates to get added to the Cubs 40-man roster during the season (especially after September 1st), including guys like Scott Moore, Bobby Scales, and Augie Ojeda, but if any of them are added they would probably be outrighted after the season to make room on the 40 for long-term investments like Vitters, J. Jackson, Carpenter, and Szczur, who would need to be added to the 40 by November 20th. And there is always the possibility that somebody will push their way onto the 40-man roster and get called up to Chicago during the season and a year ahead of schedule (as happened with Castro and Cashner last year), such as Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt, D. J. Lemahieu, Chris Rusin, or Brooks Raley.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

You actually read the article? Frankly, I'm having a hard time with it. For example, can you explain where Kahrl is coming from when she writes, .
"I would argue that the more basic problem wasn't his first innings. Wells' problem was that he's pitching much worse than he had in his rookie season in 2009. The first-inning “issue” may have, at best, become the poster child for a pitcher who fundamentally wasn't pitching as well as he had.
Statistically speaking, there were plenty of symptoms: his walk rate went up by almost a full percentage point, and his ground-ball rate dropped. As a young pitcher whose fastball rarely touches 90 mph, that means he'd been leaving a lot balls up in the zone and giving up a lot more extra base hits. "
"he's pitching much worse than he had in his rookie season in 2009" --- and yet his FIP was about the same, his xFIP better, his WAR went from 3.1 to 3.3, and his SO/9 increased by 1 full strike out per game. Maybe the fact that the defense behind him was really awful (e.g. team fielding % of .896) compared to the year before had something to do with the perception that Wells was "pitching much worse." "his walk rate went up by almost a full percentage point"--- Eh what? Is Kahrl claiming Wells' walk rate went up almost 1% or something else. It actually went from 2.50 to 2.92/9IP (17%). On the other hand his SO/9 rate also went up .... from 5.6 to 6.7/9IP and as a result of that his SO/BB was about the same 2.26<--->-2.29 That doesn't look like a negative to me. "His ground ball rate dropped".....it went from 47.9% to 46.9% which must be some kind of statistical portent of DOOM that I just don't understand . "As a young pitcher whose fastball rarely touches 90 mph, that means he'd been leaving a lot balls up in the zone and giving up a lot more extra base hits." ---except that his ground ball rate only dropped significantly on PLANET KAHRL..... and wouldn't PitchF/X be a better way to see if he was actually leaving pitches up in the zone rather than pretending to deduce it from pseudo-analysis? signed, Perplexed in Paradise

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I think it was the lack of her statistical chops that helped her jump at the ESPN gig. She was a bit of an ugly duckling over at BP. I really don't like her writing style, it screams "I try to hard" to me. I talked about this a couple weeks ago, the difference between his '09 and '10 seasons was mainly that he had the misfortune of letting singles getting strung together more often last year, and a worse defense certainly contributes a bit to that. It doesn't surprise me that Karl didn't actually look at SIERA or xFIP when writing her article, I am not sure she really gets them. Last year his BABIP with runners on was .328, in 2009 it was .252. Mystery explained. Worse defense, worse luck, higher ERA. Yesterday he was a bit lucky, so let's hope that trend continues throughout the year.

Recent comments

  • 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)

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  • 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...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.