Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

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

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

That Matt Holliday is sure some kind of gamer!

Submitted by CubbyBlue on

 

You were wondering too.
"What's the matter with Napoli?" 
He's rolling around on the ground for no reason whatso...
Then they showed the replay.
DID YOU SEE HOW FAR HIS ANKLE BENT?
Oh my GOD!
I fell off the couch making dog noises.
Just get a freaking stretcher and have a surgeon re-attach his foot.

But then he... stood back up.
Mike Napoli is made of stuff I have no experience with whatsoever.

Conversely, there's St. Louis' future Alfonso Soriano, Matt Holliday.
Here's what it says at St. Louis SB Nation:  
"The St. Louis Cardinals will be without Matt Holliday for the rest of Game 6 of the World Series, after their star outfielder injured his little finger in the course of getting picked off at third base in a crucial bases-loaded situation in the sixth inning. The Cardinals outfielder has had an incredibly rough game, making a critical error that led to an early run and looking uncomfortable at the plate; his only solid play in the game was a brilliant takeout slide of Ian Kinsler that led to the Cardinals' third run."  

BWA HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Are you kidding me?
What a gamer Matt turned out to be.

But seriously, the above is a buncha nothin', because this was just one of those games that make you love the game of baseball, even if you hate the Cardinals.
You experienced every single emotion you can have even if you're not emotionally attached to a single person on the field. 
You saw every kind of play imaginable.
Errors and slop, brilliance and heroics, clutch hits and coming back from the dead.
And of all things, the Cardinals make it go the full seven, winning 10-9 in 11.

Didn't you think Josh Hamilton won it with his 10th inning 2-run dinger?
What a great story - guy playing with some sick injury we'll all know more about later.
But no.
Freaking Berkman ties it up in the bottom.
And this hometown kid David Freese from St. Louis - he turns out to be The Man with his walk-off homer to center in the bottom of the 11th.
Oh, and that was after he hit the game-tying triple in the bottom of the 9th on what I thought was the last strike of the season for the Cards.

Amazing game.
Amazing.

BTW - Mike Napoli went 2 for 3 with an RBI and walked 3 times. 

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:05 am

seems to be fixing my javascript problem for the time being...

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Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:06 am

this will have to suffice until I have time to figure it out....apologies to all. and eff the Cardinals.

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:13 pm

Jerry DiPoto likely to be Angels GM, Tony LaCava likely to take over O's. Orioles gave John Stockstill an interview late in the process.

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:27 pm

I'm sure there's an example of this, but has any team come back to win after blowing a clinching game that badly? I recall World Series 2002 Game 6 and of course Cubs 2003 Game 6 and Red Sox in 2004 down 3-0.

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Submitted by Rob Richardson on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:42 pm

1975 Reds over the Red Sox. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_World_Series "The sixth game of the Series was a twelve-inning classic at Boston's Fenway Park. While there are many memorable moments from that game (among them Red Sox pinch hitter Bernie Carbo hitting a game-tying home run in the eighth; Reds reliever Will McEnaney pitching out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the bottom of the ninth; and Boston's Dwight Evans making a spectacular eleventh-inning catch to rob Joe Morgan of a go-ahead home run), it is remembered in Boston for the walkoff home run hit in the bottom of the twelfth by Carlton Fisk. Fisk's home run gave the Sox a 7–6 win to send the series to a deciding seventh game, which the "Big Red Machine" won to clinch the first of back-to-back World Series championships." "Momentum? Momentum is the next day's starting pitcher." - Earl Weaver

Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:50 pm

replaced by Adron Chambers on roster, Allen Craig will start.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:06 pm

Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:24pm — The Real Neal Super 2's No Cubs (not a surprise). David Price probably will be the one that hurts the most, assuming he's not on some long term draft deal still: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/10/price-p... ================================== REAL NEAL: To qualify as a "Super Two" after a given season a player must be above that season's MLB Service Time cut-off (which varies from year-to-year) AND accrue at leat 86 days of MLB Service Time that season. So Red Sox RHP Scott Atchison shouldn't be on the list, because he did not accrue at least 86 days of MLB Service Time in 2011 (he rode the Boston-Pawtucket Red Line back & forth for much of the year, and only accrued about 60 or 61 days). BTW, although no Cubs qualify as a "Super Two" this year, there is a fairly good chance that Starlin Castro (presently at 1+150), Tyler Colvin (presently at 1+138), and/or Andrew Cashner (presently at 1+126) will qualify as a "Super Two" after next season (presuming they spend most or all of the 2012 season on the Cubs MLB 25-man roster and/or 15-day or 60-day DL). Also, if James Russell spends no more than 19 days on optional assignment to the minors in 2012 he will automatically qualify for salary arbitration after next season because he will have 3+000 MLB Service Time through the 2012 season (players accrue a full season of MLB Service Time if they spend no more than 19 days on optional assignment to the minors in a given season), but if he spends at least 20 days on optional assignment to the minors in 2012 and does not accrue a full seaon of MLB Service Time, he still could qualify for salary arbitration post-2012 as a "Super Two" (presuming he comes in above next year's "Super Two" MLB Service Time cut-off - TBD).

Submitted by Cubster on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:01 pm

Transcript of a Boston radio interview with Larry Lucchino...love that LL throws darts at the media too (more after the block quote ends). transcript... http://tinyurl.com/3wuk5pc audiolink... http://tinyurl.com/42mzdw4
Can you tell us why the compensation with the Cubs is taking so long? I think the process has been decided upon because the parties have different views of what is significant compensation. That’s the operative standard, in our view. That was made clear in the first conversation with the principal owner of the Cubs. People have different views of what exactly that phrase means. That’s one thing. So, it stands to reason that the commissioner’s going to jump in here? I don’t know. I think that’s a possibility. But we now have general managers in place on each team who have some job security, some comfort going forward, and are more able to make this decision than the individuals who were participating before. I think that we now will give Theo and Ben a chance to work it out as best they can. But now there’s at least a mechanism. The importance of making the decision to proceed even though the issue of significant compensation had not been resolved, I think was evident last week. We were able to start a new chapter. I think Ben Cherington introduced himself beautifully the other day. You see the kind of general manager who is going to be leading the baseball operations of the Red Sox going forward. And we were able to make some progress and stop dwelling on the past and playing the blame game and doing all the nonsensical things that the media was leading us into. We were able to move forward. I think bifurcating those things was a good thing. Did he just say it was the media’s fault? I think he did. You said the media was leading you into these awful things? Yeah, Callahan, I think for example it led you into a pathetically petulant and misleading article about John Henry.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:48 am

Even with a step back in the system over the past year, the Cubs have put 14 players into the big leagues from their last six drafts and international signing classes — a number that ranks among the top five in baseball.
neat...let's try and name them. Castro, Samardzija, Colvin, Carpenter, Clevenger, Barney, Campana, Cashner, Donaldson, Guyer, Russell, J. Harrison, LeMahieu, missing one

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:34 pm

cj wilson speaks... "The baseball angle here is very strong," Wilson said. "We’ve proven we can win. We have guys on the team coming back. We have a lot of pieces that I think are complementary to me and vice-versa, so in that regard, that kind of speaks for itself. I like it here in that sense. They’ve treated me with a lot of respect the last two years as a starting pitcher and they’ve given me a chance to improve, given me a chance to solidify my role on the team as well as around the league as a premium starter. I feel like a lot of my success is because of the team that I’ve been playing on." ...yeah, after he threatened the club if they didn't start him they "treated him with respect"...if he wasn't in TEX more people would notice this guy's quirks. people are gonna learn this off-season, though. he's a guy who's really good at sounding/acting like a total self-centered jerk when you put a mic in front of him. he shows up ready to play and in shape, though...he gets the on-field part right. my favorite cj quote...from 2+ seasons ago... "It's no secret I don't think I should be limited to the set-up role. I have too many weapons," said Wilson. "Here is the reality. It is real simple. There are not very many guys that have the stuff that I do that would be willing to sign here if they were free agents. There is no experienced pitcher that has my stuff that would sign here, historically." RESPECT, CJ...RESPECT.

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Submitted by crunch on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:39 pm

marsh may never find his way to the rotation again...he's got issues going 80-100+ pitches while maintaining his stuff. it could happen, but he's not shown in the past he's capable when given a chance. it seems like a pitcher is going to have to come from somewhere unless they want to go cashner/ninja/coleman...two pitchers if Z leaves... i don't mind dumpster staying on another year, myself...i think he's a perfectly fine 2-3 slot pitcher...he's worth closer to 10m than 14m, but whatever...it's not a "soriano" contract difference of price vs. worth.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:23 pm

I'm not sure there's any substantial evidence for your 80-100 pitches theory, crunch. Marshall only had two years in which he pitched primarily out of the major league rotation, 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he only started 7 games and in 2009 only 9 games. At the point when you start shuffling a pitcher back and forth between pen and rotation, you can no longer draw many meaningful conclusions about his stamina based on the results he gets in those starts. In 2006 he was a rookie and less than two years removed from having ruptured a tendon in his forearm twice (during the 2004 season and during the 2004 AFL). In 2007 Marshall had some sort of arm injury that I can't remember and can't track down the specifics on, but that seems to be why he ended up spending part of the season in the minors. You may well turn out to be right, crunch. I just don't see enough available data to support your theory. And I'd be willing to gamble on it since the reward would seem to be a pretty good starting pitcher, while the risk is a poor starting pitcher (but a good relief pitcher).

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:38 pm

The problem with Marshall as a starting pitcher is that, being a Cub (plus having spent his entire major-league career until this year under a slider-oriented pitching coach), he doesn't throw a changeup. For a lefty, a changeup is nice on those occasions when you want to get a righty hitter out, since it runs away from him (or seems to). As a reliever, Marshall usually comes in to face the more left-handed area of the lineup. Name me some good lefty starters who don't rely on a changeup. Hamels, Sabathia, Cliff Lee--of course they rely on a changeup. They're not Cubs. (Remember Rich Hill's changeup? Or Kenny Holtzman's? Neither do I. I'm skipping a few decades there, but who am I leaving out? Jamie Moyer--but maybe he learned to pitch after he left the Cubs.) On the other hand, Marshall has three very good pitches including a mid-to-high-80s slider and a high-70s curve plus pinpoint control of everything. Righty hitters don't seem to bother him, so maybe he could do this.

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Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:05 pm

I can see why you would think that if you are judging his repertoire based on the last few years, since he's moved to the bullpen. But he threw a changeup 20% of the time in 2006, 10% of the time in 2007, and even 5% of the time in 2008 (when he made only a few starts). (These numbers are all from fangraphs.) I clearly remember his changeup from his starting days, and it was a decent secondary offering. He throws his cutter a whole lot more since his move to the bullpen, which may be because it complements his improved velocity out of the pen (he occasionally touches 93 now, which probably looks like a fireball compared to his big curve). He also just throws the curveball a much larger percentage of the time now than he did before, so he's obviously going to that against both lefties and righties--and it's working. Not many people throw a lot changeups in relief appearances.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:14 pm

Sean Marshall will be a free-agent after next season, and the Cubs need to find out ASAP if he can be a starting pitcher or not. If he doesn't have the stamina or array of pitches to be an effective starter, fine. But at least give him a shot and see what happens. If the Cubs keep Marshal in the bullpen in 2012 he will be more-likely to reject any contract offers he might get from the Cubs and test free-agency, because lefty relievers (even good ones like Marshall) don't get the kind of FA contract that a lefty SP would get. And if Marshall becomes a FA post-2012 and makes it clear he wants to be starter, some club will give him that chance. Might as well be the Cubs in 2012, anf if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. With all of the Cubs auto-renewal lefty relief candidates (Russell, Gaub, Maine, and Beliveau), it would probably not be wise to give Marshall a multi-year contract to be a LHRP past 2012. But if he can prove himself as a starter next season, then that is a different matter. And if Marshall does prove himself as a starter next season but then signs elsewhere for 2013, the Cubs would almost certainly get at least one if not two draft picks as compensation.

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Submitted by Tony S. on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:26 pm

Az Phil (or anyone else..): How much have you watched Marshall pitch in person? Many of you have far more experience watching/seeing/semi-scouting guys than I do (which is basically none), but I saw him start in 06 and 07 (I believe), in Houston and I think Chicago. I don't have a pitch count, but by the third time through the lineup, he'd get a very obvious hitch in his delivery, like an extra 'push' with his back leg. Never failed, he'd start getting knocked around soon after. He was obviously tired, and laboring. Not sure if that's something that conditioning could fix or not, but it was obvious even to an untrained eye. Disclaimer: Marshall is one of if not my very fave player on the Cubs right now, pending Woody's return. Marshall has wanted to start from the beginning, but never really bitched about it and has done EVERYTHING they've asked of him (including a little LF, if memory serves). That's an asset the Cubs need more of.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:05 pm

In the last few days, four players who would have been MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agents (6YFA) next Wednesday have been added to MLB 40-man rosters: OF Brandon Barnes (HOU) C Luke Carlin (CIN) OF Denis Phipps (CIN) OF-1B David Winfree (AZ) Still waiting to see if the Cubs will add RHP Robert Coello back to their 40-man roster. Coello is eligible to be an MLB Rule 55 minor league free-agent post-2011 by virtue of having been released previously in his career. The Cubs have until Tueday to decide. The Cubs could try and re-sign Coello to a 2012 minor league contract (for "big league money") instead of adding him to the 40-man roster, but if they do that, he would be eligible for selection in the December 2011 Rule 5 Draft, and if he is eligible, he will likely get selected. If the Cubs do add Coello back to the 40, the most-likely outright candidates are RHPs Esmailin Caridad, Marcos Mateo, and Kyle Smit, and OF Lou Montanez. (In fact, all four could get outrighted to make room for other Cubs minor league players who will likely be added to the 40-man roster by the 11/20 deadline). Both Mateo and Montanez are out of minor league options, and both can be minor league free-agents if outrighted. Coello would have two minor league options left if he is added back to the 40-man roster. Caridad and Smit cannot be minor league free-agents if outrighted.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:48 pm

Dave Van Dyke in the Trib says Theo et. al. adding more saber-staff...
sources say they are close to adding Arizona Diamondback scout Joe Bohringer as pro scouting coordinator. He's a 1993 graduate of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and like new GM Theo Epstein believes in making decisions informed by both scouting and statistical analysis.
http://tinyurl.com/4yjpr6d

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:56 pm

looking like his option will be declined...be an interesting market for him. Could make sense if Cubs trade Byrd and want to keep Jackson's Super Two clock from starting or if they dump Soriano or maybe even for RF. Right skillset, right age and might want to take 1-year incentive deal to build up his value. interesting option nonetheless...

Submitted by Rob G. on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:45 am

probably won't be posting tweets in the comments as much regarding Cubs. On the right sidebar, will just be favoriting them and they will show up there. Per example, a few from Kevin Goldstein about LaHair.

Submitted by Cubster on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:32 pm

Buster Olney's blog commenting on the Theo Compensation and the Commish:
Bud Selig believes the whole Theo Epstein compensation thing will drop in his lap. It's an interesting position for the commissioner to be in, and the guess here is that the Red Sox will get relatively little return -- in part because of the general effort to tamp down the perceived value of executives by baseball's central office. Let's say that Selig were to support the position of the Red Sox and give them major return -- two top prospects or right-hander Matt Garza, for example. That would reinforce the belief of some general managers that they are among the most underpaid folks in the game relative to the importance of their work for their respective franchises.
http://tinyurl.com/3r6wh55 (subscription required)

Submitted by Rob G. on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:30 pm

a whole bunch today, the most interesting name probably being Aaron Harang at a mere $5M

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:00 pm

Mon, 10/31/2011 - 11:36am — The Real Neal Re: That Matt Holliday is sure some kind of gamer! Are the Padres a team in financial difficulties? He'd probably cost a little more than that in trade value. It's not some big secret that Petco is a tough place to hit. He also sported a .368 BABIP this year. ================================ TRN: Being a a small market/low revenue team, the Padres are never averse to moving players who are eligible for salary arbitration, if they can get a couple or three "auto renewal" guys back in the trade. With Jed Hoyer now responsible for putting together the Cubs 25-man and 40-man rosters, adding players he knew from his days in Boston and San Diego would not be a surprise. And with the Cubs needing a 3B and with Chase Headley eligible for salary arbitration again (he was a "Super Two" last year), the Cubs acquiring Headley in exchange for a package of two or three prospects (possibly as part of the Hoyer/McLeod compensation deal) would not be a surprise. Headley is a good defensive third-baseman, and he was a much better hitter on the road last year than he was at Petco Caverns.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:48 pm

I was at that game! (although I took the "L" rather than a helicopter). It was one of my first games ever at Wrigley Field. I actually remember the game very well because it was a really crummy game right from the start. Ken Boyer hit a grand slam HR with no outs in top of 1st inning after Bill White loaded the bases with a drag bunt. BTW, although the idea of having a rotating head coach and an athletic director was lame, Phil Wrigley's idea for a "College of Coaches" (instructors who teach rather than coaches who play gin rummy) is the basis for today's roving minor league instructors and the post-season Instructional League. The idea just didn't work at the big league level. At the Leo Durocher press conference after he was hired by Wrigley after the 1965 season: WRITER: Leo, will you be the head coach? LEO: Hell no! I am the MANAGER!

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:20 am

Cubs exercise $16M option, Ramirez opts out Cubs get their draft pick now if he moves on and save $2M in the process. Next up Pena...

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Submitted by Cubster on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:27 am

Rotoworld said on their blurb on ARam that the Cubs will get two draft picks. I understand the supplementary round draft pick, isn't there a 2nd pick (from whatever organization sign ARam)?
Leaving $16 million on the table seems risky for an aging corner infielder, but Ramirez's agent likely believes his client has a four- or five-year offer coming. Chicago will receive a pair of compensatory picks if Ramirez signs elsewhere.

Submitted by navigator on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 10:23 pm

Is there a way to use B-R's many search functions to find this information? Rob Neyer's column:Oct 31, 2011 - "Oddly, nobody ever seems to talk about managers' postseason records. Shoot, I couldn't even find them anywhere. Not even at Baseball-Reference.com (granted, sometimes I just can't find stuff because there's so much there). So I compiled the records myself, "

Recent comments

  • Charlie (view)

    Tauchman obviously brings value to the roster as a 4th outfielder who can and should play frequently. Him appearing frequently at DH indicated that the team lacks a valuable DH. 

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally onboard with your thoughts concerning today’s lineup. Not sure about your take on Tauchman though.

    The guy typically doesn’t pound the ball out out of the park, and his BA is quite unimpressive. But he brings something unique to the table that the undisciplined batters of the past didn’t. He always provides a quality at bat and he makes the opposing pitcher work because he has a great eye for the zone and protects the plate with two strikes exceptionally well. In addition to making him a base runner more often than it seems through his walks, that kind of at bat wears a pitcher down both mentally and physically so that the other guys who may hit the ball harder are more apt to take advantage of subsequent mistakes and do their damage.

    I can’t remember a time when the Cubs valued this kind of contribution but this year they have a couple of guys doing it, with Happ being the other. It doesn’t make for gaudy stats but it definitely contributes to winning ball games. I do believe that’s why Tauchman has garnered so much playing time.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Miles Mastrobuoni cannot be recalled until he has spent at least ten days on optional assignment, unless he is recalled to replace a position player who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And for a pitcher it's 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled, unless he is replacing a pitcher who is placed on an MLB inactive list (IL, Paternity, or Bereavement / Family Medical). 

     

    And a pitcher (or a position player, but almost always it's a pitcher) can be recalled as the 27th man for a doubleheader regardless of how many days he has been on optional assignment, but then he must be sent back down again the next day. 

     

    That's why the Cubs had to wait as long as they did to send Jose Cuas down and recall Keegan Thompson. Thompson needed to spend the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he could be recalled (and he spent EXACTLY the first 15 days of the MLB regular season on optional assignment before he was recalled). 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Indeed they do TJW!

    For the record I’m not in favor of solely building a team through paying big to free agents. But I’m also of the mind that when you develop really good players, get them signed to extensions that buy out a couple years of free agency, including with team options. And supplement the home grown players with free agent splashes or using excess prospects to trade for stars under team control for a few years. Sort of what Atlanta does, basically. Everyone talks about the dodgers but I feel that Atlanta is the peak organization at the current moment.

    That said, the constant roster churn is very Rays- ish. What they do is incredible, but it’s extremely hard to do which is why they’re the only ones frequently successful that employ that strategy. I definitely do not want to see a large market team like ours follow that model closely. But I don’t think free agent frenzies is always the answer. It’s really only the Dodgers that play in that realm. I could see an argument for the Mets too. The Yankees don’t really operate like that anymore since the elder Steinbrenner passed. Though I would say the reigning champions built a good deal of that team through free agent spending.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    The issue is the Cubs are 11-7 and have been on the road for 12 of those 18.  We should be at least 13-5, maybe 14-4. Jed isn't feeling any pressure to play anyone he doesn't see fit.
    But Canario on the bench, Morel not at 3B for Madrigal and Wisdom in RF wasn't what I thought would happen in this series.
    I was hoping for Morel at 3B, Canario in RF, Wisdom at DH and Madrigal as a pinch hitter or late replacement.
    Maybe Madrigal starts 1 game against the three LHSP for Miami.
    I'm thinking Canario goes back to Iowa on Sunday night for Mastrobuoni after the Miami LHers are gone.
    Canario needs ABs in Iowa and not bench time in MLB.
    With Seiya out for a while Wisdom is safe unless his SOs are just overwhelmingly bad.

    My real issue with the lineup isn't Madrigal. I'm not a fan, but I've given up on that one.
    It's Tauchman getting a large number of ABs as the de factor DH and everyday player.
    I didn't realize that was going to be the case.
    We need a better LH DH. PCA or ONKC need to force the issue in about a month.
    But, even if they do so, Jed doesn't have to change anything if the Cubs stay a few over .500!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Totally depends on the team and the player involved. If your team’s philosophy is to pay huge dollars to bet on the future performance of past stars in order to win championships then, yes, all of the factors you mentioned are important.

    If on the other hand, if the team’s primary focus is to identify and develop future stars in an effort to win a championship, and you’re a young player looking to establish yourself as a star, that’s a fit too. Otherwise your buried within your own organization.

    Your comment about bringing up Canario for the purposes of sitting him illustrates perfectly the dangers of rewarding a non-performing, highly paid player over a hungry young prospect, like Canario, who is perpetually without a roster spot except as an insurance call up, but too good to trade. Totally disincentivizing the performance of the prospect and likely diminishing it.

    Sticking it to your prospects and providing lousy baseball to your fans, the consumers and source of revenue for your sport, solely so that the next free agent gamble finds your team to be a comfortable landing spot even if he sucks? I suppose  that makes sense to some teams but it’s definitely not the way I want to see my team run.

    Once again, DJL, our differences in philosophy emerge!

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s just kinda how it works though, for every team. No team plays their best guys all the time. No team is comprising of their best 26 even removing injuries.

    When baseball became a business, like REALLY a business, it became important to keep some of the vets happy, which in turn keeps agents happy and keeps the team with a good reputation among players and agents. No one wants to play for a team that has a bad reputation in the same way no one wants to work for a company that has a bad rep.

    Don’t get me wrong, I hate it too. But there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

    On that topic, I find it silly the Cubs brought up Canario to sit as much as he has. He’s going to get Velazquez’d, and it’s a shame.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Of course, McKinstry runs circles around $25 million man Javier Baez on that Tigers team. Guess who gets more playing time?

    But I digress…

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Seems like Jed was trying to corner the market on mediocre infielders with last names starting with "M" in acquiring Madrigal, Mastroboney and Zach McKinstry.  

     

    At least he hasn't given any of them a Bote-esque extension.  

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

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