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

Musky fishing with the Cubs, sort of.

Just got back from a big Musky Trip waaay up in Wisconsin.

Got some bass, but skunked on the musky part, of course.
There's this thing about fishing for musky, they say "you only get a musky hit every ten thousand casts."
Man, that's alot of casting...
I got mad at this one lure - a giant old Rapala that cost a fortune.
I don't think I've EVER caught anything with it.
Started calling it "Alfonso Soriano" since it cost so much and couldn't catch anything.
(I know - he's been better, but still...)
After that, I started naming all my lures after Cubs.
Like the AC Plug, since it actually caught a musky before, became "Reed Johnson" because they both made "The Catch".

Had someone been recording, it might have sounded like this:
"Oh okay Mr. Musky... Won't bite on old Alfonso? We'll see what REED JOHNSON has to say about that!"
Reed would last about a dozen casts, then it would be, "Hmm, maybe Reed needs a little RELIEF. Lets put in a little call to the pen for Mr. Kerry Wood."
Then I got out a Suick, which is made of wood. 

Silly?
Duh, but anyway here's the gif:

There may have been a hand-crafted Wisconsin something in the little cooler I brought on board to help with the names...

And... back to the Cubs.

It's hard to concentrate on the games right now since the BIG THING is getting the new general manager, but man, it's always nice to beat the Reds. 

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

what is frightening about this? There will, however, be some flexibility for Ricketts and his next general manager to make changes to those spots in the near future. Fleita’s deal (and a possible one for Wilkens) will be structured creatively with buyouts and options to benefit both the team and the executives. I'd also add that prospective gonna-be-totally-awesome-GM-that-never-fucks-up isn't necessarily gonna be able to clean house right away. Presumably "their guys" may be under contract and can't jump ship immediately. And especially with a guy like Fleita that allegedy knows the system, you might want some overlap before making big changes.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I get your point, Rob, and conceptually agree with you that this shouldn't be a deal maker. However, I don't know how any top shelf replacement for Hendry can read this any other way than EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) baseball goes through Ricketts. The 'baseball guy to watch his baseball guy' is Ricketts himself. I'm hearing on sports radio here that the top candidates are already passing on this 'opportunity'. Obviously, I can't confirm that but these are 'sources' they have reporting what their sources have told them. I don't have names but probably the Cashman, Epstein, Friedman group are among those passing. What baffles me is how Ricketts can go on and on during the Hendry dismissal press conference about how the new GM will be able to hire their own people, and then extends Fleita for 4 years (with Wilken in the on deck circle). Why the rush on guys signed through 2012? I mean, it's not like their track record is a half-dozen starting position players, and top of rotation starting pitchers in the league currently. I had a shred of optimism until the Fleita announcement, but this just looks like 'Cubbery' business as usual. As they say in Texas, 'all hat and no cattle'.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Rob, I get that you have a low regard for sports radio. I'm certainly not going to champion their genre or accuracy. That being said, I can't point to the Chicago print media or even the national guys being poster children for great scoops either. I've been in management a long time, and when I've been approached with a job offer to leave my current employer it is a plus to know I can make changes. It is a plus knowing I'm not tied long-term to personnel who may not be the best fit in my department. I have a hard time believing a Friedman or Epstein wouldn't have the same reservations. The fact that I could approach Ricketts with my desire to fire Fleita would be tempered with the fact that it was going to cost Ricketts money to do so. Again, Fleita and Wilken are under contract thru 2012. I'm pretty sure these guys could decide within the year if they wanted to give them a 4-year contract in that time.

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

I totally agree GA, I don't buy that either of these guys were such hot commodities that they need 4 year extensions now. MAYBE they are so great that a new GM will want to keep them? However isn't that a decision that....I don't know.....MAYBE THE NEXT GM SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE? Sure maybe there is latitude for the next guy to axe these guys. However I'm sure Ricketts will have some reservations about eating these contracts. I'm sure the new guy will have to plead his case to jettison these guys. What top candidate want to deal with that kind of meddling oversight from ownership?

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

It's not having a Utopian view, it's basic facts of managing anything. What is a better management position to come into? 1. Managing something where you can choose who you want to fill the 3 top positions 2. Managing something where the boss has his 2 Sons and an idiot cousin installed as your direct subordinates It might not seem like a big deal to you. However much of a GM's job is delegating authority to his underlings. If the underlings aren't up to the task then it will reflect poorly on the GM. Whether it's his fault or not.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

It might not seem like a big deal to you. However much of a GM's job is delegating authority to his underlings. If the underlings aren't up to the task then it will reflect poorly on the GM. Whether it's his fault or not. sure. I'm saying Fleita and Wilken are pretty well respected in the league. I'm also saying that if one of the top 4 wants the job, I'm gonna guess Ricketts isn't gonna tell him he has to keep them, but they are there to help the transition and there are options to change them. and the assistant GM's are gonna be fucking thrilled to just have a job with the flexibility to change things if they see fit.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

But... why the rush to give Fleita 4 years of contract? There will, however, be some flexibility for Ricketts and his next general manager to make changes to those spots in the near future. Fleita’s deal (and a possible one for Wilkens) will be structured creatively with buyouts and options to benefit both the team and the executives. And if you have an owner micro-managing, the only GM you'll pull is one desperate for a job. doubtful, there's only 30 GM jobs in the world and only about 10 with the resources the Cubs have. Maybe you meant you won't be able to pull a GM that already has a job and with that I partially agree with. that being said, besides Beane, I don't see a GM right now that fits what the Cubs want and the Cubs could lure. Epstein isn't going anywhere and Cashman isn't gonna lose $80-$100M off his operating budget.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I've only heard them on websites like Chicago Now, not from any actual baseball writers. Even Wittenmyer doesn't say that they did meet, and he says A's officials say there was no contact at all. It sounds more like fanciful speculation fueled mostly by fan-type blogs like Chicago Now, where they pull flying monkey's out of their asses and claim it proves the world will end on Wednesday.

Castro SS, Barney 2B, Ramirez 3B, Peña 1B, Soriano LF, Byrd CF, Colvin RF, Soto C, Lopez P W. Tenn vs. Chattanooga Lookouts (Dodgers) starting Thursday, Brooks Raley gets the Game 1 start Daytona starts tonight vs. Dunedin Blue Jays, Dae-Eun Rhee gets the start

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM: Try and look forward to next year with these positives going forward. New GM - should be better than Jim Hendry No John Grabow what a waste of $$ and spot on the roster. No Koyie Hill......likely not to return No Zambrano.......that drama is over No Ramirez.....we didnt win with him save $$ No Soriano ???? a possibility No Pena ???? a possibility Do a complete rebuild go young except for pitching. They have lots of money to work with, and it sounds like the desire to do what it takes. We've seen the bottom things will only get better.

there's quite a internet sabermetric war to end all sabermetric wars going on today... it started here http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archives/2011/09/06/is-war-the-new-rbi/ was rebutted somewhat here http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/9/6/2408060/limits-of-war-zobrist-analysis some more here http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/war_doesnt_work and so on... this one comment though is Cubs-related from Colin Wyers of BP left on Neyer's post Is it possible that this is due to random chance? Potentially. I should say that I didn’t pick the worst possible example; Cubs left fielders were 62.4 runs better at home than on the road, for instance. Sox CFers are only the ninth-most extreme home/road split in UZR of the time period being measured. But it’s also possible that these sorts of issues are caused by park-based biases, is it not? I’ve done extensive research into bias in batted ball scoring and other stringer-collected data, and it seems that there are park biases caused by things such as the position of the press box. And these will be persistent errors – if there is something that is causing UZR to systemically overrate Cubs LFers, it won’t make Soriano’s WAR any less persistent, it will just make it less accurate.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

It's my opinion that team OPS correlates pretty well with team runs-scored and OPS isn't some nebulous, hard-to-figure-out statistic like WAR. So when sizing up a hitter, I usually just look at OPS for a quick measure of offensive capabilities. For defense I still don't trust anything but my eyeballs. The interesting thing about baseball is that team defense, even though there still isn't a reliable stat, is still the single biggest factor in winning games. Nearly 50% of all runs are scored with 2 outs. If you give the other team another out in an inning, then it makes it extremely difficult to win games.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

if people would just quit taking other people's work and championing it like it's a fact it wouldn't be so bad. there's grown up/good stats from the new realm...and there's a lot that are in their infancy and make people look foolish over the years as they're improved upon and old methods tossed aside. the arguing between the statheads aren't helped by the peanut gallery who have nearly arbitrarily decided they've found religion picking sides for which boy-king they cherish. some stats should be left alone by bystanders until they grow up.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

#1, unless your argument is having a good defensive team vs 9 paraplegics is hugely advantageous. The difference between the woeful Cubs' defense and the Rays' is .037 (or the Rays turn batted balls into outs about 5% more often than the Cubs). The difference between Houston's runs per game (3.78) and St Louis's (4.67) is 23%. The thing about the 50% of runs being scored, think about it a little. There are three possible out conditions, so if everything else was equal, you would expect 33.3% of runs to be scored with 0 outs, 1 out and 2 outs. Assume you have a inning in which no runs have scored. What is more likely, you get a guy to 3rd base (the easiest scoring position) with no outs (so a leadoff triple, or double stolen base etc) or a guy on third with two outs? The reason most runs are scored with 2 outs is that you've got a shit load more baserunners in scoring position with 1 and 2 outs. Simply put, the deeper you are into any inning, the more likely you are to have baserunners. The more likely you are to have baserunners, the more likely you are to score runs. If you have the best defensive team in the league, or you have the worst, you're still going to give up more runs with two outs. The 2010 Marlins tried to stack the deck by grabbing a bunch of guys that UZR liked as defenders... it got Hernandez an ERA title and Cy Young, and the team 100 losses.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Yes, that's exactly my point... the deeper you go into an inning, the more probable it is the opponent can score on you. If you give away outs then it makes it much much more likely the opponent will score. On the other hand, if you have defenders that go above and beyond and take outs away, it becomes much much more difficult to score runs. I only cited the 50% thing because it illustrates this point and the importance of taking outs away from the opponent. And the case of the 2010 Marlins is interesting. You say they "tried to stack the deck by grabbing a bunch of guys that UZR liked as defenders" which is neat because the Marlins ranked 11 out of 30 in baseball last season in most unearned runs allowed. I'm skeptical of UZR and any stat that claims to reliably measure defense. I'm even skeptical of unearned runs. But stats or no stats... in baseball- you play defense or you lose.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Shit, and all the time I was thinking that giving up walks and home runs was a sure way to give up runs... Let's just check. Two teams that are last in walks allowed in the NL are the two teams last in runs allowed. The Astros are also worst in HR's (Cubs 4th worst in HR's). Just like walks and HR's are major drivers for OPS, they're major drivers for pitching OPS. You're VASTLY overrating defense. Is your theory that the Cardinals played a bunch of shitty defensive teams and the Pirates played only the Rays all year long?

Can anyone explain why Ricketts is supposedly talking to Wilken about an extension? Wilken is signed through 2012. There is no reason to give him an extension until a new GM takes over and decides if they want to keep him. I can slightly understand Ricketts excuse with Fleita since the Tigers were interested, but c'mon, if they resign Wilken too then the next GM has no major positions to fill/retain other than the next manager. It's just poor stewardship by Ricketts.

Game 1 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays Crawford, Watkins, Cerda, Bour, Optiz, Burgess, Szczur, Soto, Brenly with Rhee pitching

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Dunedin leads off with a double in bottom of 9th, then a bunt single and IBB with no outs. Followed by... A. J. Jimenez grounds into a force out, second baseman Logan Watkins to catcher Chad Noble. Justin Jackson out at home. Ryan Goins to 3rd. Brad McElroy to 2nd. A. Jimenez to 1st. Ivan Contreras lines into a force out, pitcher Frank Batista to catcher Chad Noble. Ryan Goins out at home. Brad McElroy to 3rd. A. J. Jimenez to 2nd. Ivan Contreras to 1st. Brad Glenn grounds out, second baseman Logan Watkins to first baseman Justin Bour.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Barney since he peaked on May 16 with a .345 BA and an .802 OPS: .245 .289 .317 .606 .280(BABIP) I think he's 1 for his last 21 He's arguably a below average fielding second baseman. 12 errors. Only Rickie Weeks has a lower FPCT and he has the lowest number of double plays in the major leagues at his position. And he tries to play second base like the SS he really is. Bob Brenley has called him out for getting in the way of Castro making plays on balls hit behind the pitcher. Personally, I'd like to see what LeMahieu can do instead of watching Barney implode.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/6387/notes-quade-juggles… “Oh yeah! I think there is some happy medium,” Quade said. “These [veterans] absolutely deserve it. I’ve given some of them some down time. I rested [Alfonso] Soriano and I rested [Carlos] Pena. We will continue to look for spots to get the kids in, but, oh yeah, by the way, you’re trying to compete and win some games.” Quade’s problem is that many of the veterans put the team in a better position to win, but the fan base would prefer to see more areas of player development this month it's a shame Q-Ball wasn't around the last 5 months to see the vets compete and lose a bunch of games.

Chuck LaMar resigns from #Phillies. I gotta say that's a surprise.

Rangers up 2.5 on Angels and they play each other final series of season, everything else is up 5 games or more...

DeVoss, Zapenas, Lopez, Cuneo, Hoilman, Golden, Darvill, Harrington, Na with Zeller pitching you'd think they'd play Baez...

Colvin had 2 deep fly outs to center according to Yahoo... warning track power or is wind blowing in?

horrible bottom 11th. if wilken would have signed this 12th round kid at 25% above slot money back in 2008 with the permission of fleita and then started him A+ ball with an educational emphesis on taking a walk (there's a simple phamphlet for that)...the cubs could have pinch hit him in the 9th and ended the game. this is why the cubs are in trouble, people. wake up and smell the pencil shavings.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0907-call-ups… "We talked about it, just didn't feel the time was right for him yet," Bush said. "He's getting better. We're thrilled with his progress. He certainly put himself on our radar. He continues to get at-bats and continues to show great improvement. … But I feel he'll come to spring training again with a chance to open eyes, if not make the team with the way he's progressing." said decision was ultimately Ricketts, but he agreed with his baseball people. ~snip~ One major league executive who has been involved in similar GM searches said the Fleita extension is unlikely to have a significant effect on "the type" of candidates Ricketts is seeking. that's not nearly sensationalistic enough Mr. Sullivan, you'll sell no papers with that kind of language.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

While I agree with you that it really shouldn't be Ricketts' call, without a permanent GM right now, Bush really shouldn't be the one making 40 man roster decisions. That really only leaves the decision to the one person the GM truly reports to and that right now is Ricketts. We didn't really hear anything about Tom meddling this past year when Hendry was making the decisions, so maybe he is just a bit more involved since there is no permanent GM?

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)

    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...

  • 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.