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

Tues Funnies. Just...sharing my Cubs angst.

Edgar Gonzalez, Matt Tolbert, and Trever Miller all in the same day? Yeah, it's just the beginning of price-paying for you and me as our favorite team attempts to claw out of their 104 year old hole. Seriously though, everything's gonna work out just fine, right? Just a little angst now and then. I'll deal with it by drawing.

Comments

Wait til next year when opening day payroll will be less than 90 Million. Such is life when ownership is more concerned with "Wins per dollar" than actually winning.

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

We'll see what happens next winter. There will be a recent record of quality MLB pitching available, even if one or two guys do extensions before then. The Cubs should have plenty of money, with all the albatross except Soriano fully discharged. Having this payroll flexibility will be nice. I don't think they possible could have won in a smart, sustainable way in 2012, so I'm very, very happy with the offseason we've had. My expectation that this team makes the playoffs in 17 of every 20 years begins with the 2013 season. At that point, I think it will be fair to begin judging Ricketts, Epstein, and Hoyer. In some ways, 2012 will be the final year of the Tribune, Hendry era.

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

If they couldn't afford to pay a commensurate payroll. They shouldn't have bought or been approved to purchase the team.
I said that last year multiple times. However, with Theo and friends, I am now in wait and see mode, completely. Hendry left behind a complete mess, and, really, the free agent options are getting more difficult, it seems, by the year. Pujols is a great player, and Fielder is very good, but those contracts are insane. I can see how an owner would not be interested in contracts of that length. Combine that with already getting bit by a Soriano contract, and some hesitancy is understandable. The other free agents just didn't get anyone very excited, at least not that I saw. I'm not exactly sure, then, what you want them to do, specifically. Where should they be spending their money? Even Cespedes seems like a pretty risky bet, to me. I haven't seen him yet, I guess I should go look for a video. But our experience with "5" tool players isn't great. Corey Patterson was supposed to be one and it turned out he had no baseball instincts whatsoever. If the Theothing decides that Cespedes has baseball instincts and isn't just another athlete who can't actually play baseball, I'd be all for taking a chance, but other than that, I don't see a lot of areas where the team can spend much money on established impact players (and Cespedes is by no means established - he merely would become our top prospect). I'm not defending the current roster, which to me seems pretty piss poor so far. I'm only saying that I doubt the roster is complete yet, and I'm not seeing much in the way of existing, available major league talent that the Cubs might be interested in. They can't even really pull off a trade for an established player without decimating what little there is in the minor league system, which they seem to be wanting to build, not tear apart. It's a classic catch-22 scenario. I'm only glad it's not Hendry trying to dig out of it anymore.

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In reply to by Old and Blue

At least Theo has the ability (we hope) to turn this team around quickly. Most of us on this board are old enough to remember the reserve clause. IF you were good at GM, it took 10 years to reverse the fortunes of a team (Cubs, maybe longer...) The difference we hope we have here is his ability to pluck unknowns from Hispanola and other minors systems and mold a B+ team today, A+ soon. It may work. Our history has been change for the sake of change. This off season has been much more studied. Again, we hope...

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In reply to by 10man

Troubling sign #1. Joe Ricketts was the actual money man on the purchase. He doesn't even like baseball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac6h2wczxGA Troubling sign #2. Tom Ricketts saying he figured we'd be top 4-ish in NL payroll. When the 4th place payroll was 97 million. Which was 50 million dollars less than what his payroll was at that time. So he was telegraphing a lowering of payroll over a year and a half ago. Troubling sign #3. His statements such as "We don't need to spend on top level free agents. We can spend on vets coming off of down years and maybe find a bargain" and "I looked at teams who got the most wins per dollar when looking for a new front office voice" It all just kind of reeks of a guy who wants to put as little money as possible into the ballclub. Troubling sign #4 The reports that the Cubs are looking to slash expenditures internally. Also that they planned to have scouts double up in hotel rooms and were planning to cut per diem's from 50 to 30 bucks. Even though they might be backing off of that. It still speaks to the point that they are looking to pinch pennies wherever possible. It just feels like Ricketts wants to be the baron of P.K. Wrigley's adult beer garden.

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

1. Joe Ricketts does not like baseball that's why he put his own son in charge who LOVES baseball and the Cubs 2. It's already been proven that having the largest payroll does not guarantee you championships. 3. Even if they are reducing payroll they are still putting that savings into other areas which in their opinion will make the Cubs franchise as a whole better and more sound which will eventually lead to a strong winning foundation. 4. Well reports are reports. they may be true or not. in this case the latest on that report is that they ARE NOT slashing per diem. they are actually hiring more scouts and increasing the size of the front office to improve the player evaluation capabilities of the team The bottom line is that Ricketts/Epstein/Hoyer's strategy for long term success does not line up with yours. And based on track record, i will put my money on Team Epstein. no offense.

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

You've been in a slump lately, Doc, but this was a good comment. Epstein was sort of a lame duck in Boston in that he had no room to grow. Both Boston and San Diego had a lot of GM-type talent and thought that Epstein and Hoyer were expendable. Given a choice among Epstein, Hoyer, Lucchino, Cherington and Byrnes, I'm quite content with what we have. As for payroll, I'm a bit of a bargain hunter myself. Except for Lilly and DeRosa, I have loathed the high-priced FA's in blue pinstripes over the last five years. You must not have had the same reaction to Soriano, Fukudome and Bradley or you would not be straining so hard to find players like Dunn, Kubel, etc.

another kid goes down via recreational drug use... "Angels' minor league right-hander Daniel Reynolds was suspended 50 games for testing positive for a drug of abuse." okay. yeah, playing baseball on the highest stage is a high-money-earning profession and recreational drug use is something MLB teams do not want their players doing...however...imo...we need to quit punishing kids for this with the same level of punishment as PEDs. jeremy jeffress agrees.

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In reply to by crunch

Totally agree. Hell, there's a distinct threshold that shows an inverse relationship between age and money, and if I had as much cash as some of these young dudes at their age, I'd have been doing lines of blow off call girls' stomachs for the opening fucking act. Not because of how awesome that sounds, but because even normal men in their late teens and early 20s feel immortal/bulletproof to some extent, if I played PRO F'ING BASEBALL and got paid an ungodly sum of money to do it, or even just to sign with a particular team, I mean that's the american dream to some people, man. I'd probably have flamed out young, ended up broke and dead in a puddle of my own vomit at 25, but I'd have had a ride for the ages on the way. Kinda makes the vindictive part some of us wanted in the testing lose its teeth a little. A lot of fans don't want you to punish drug users, Bud-dy boy, we want you to punish FUCKING CHEATERS. And not little scuff the ball/steal the sign with the runner on second cheaters, but real according to hoyle I'm trying to steal an unfair advantage cross the line fucking cheaters. But if a young rich kid can't do blow off hookers man, I mean, come on, what's next, haircut regs and uniform inspections for the whole league? 75 gm suspensions for the side piece some guys have on the road? Not saying I condone the behavior, I simply don't give a shit because it's none of my business, and it ain't the league's business either. /rant over

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In reply to by johann

IF it's affecting the bottom line, maybe. But I would argue it doesn't. But you fine or counsel a guy, you don't make him sit out 50 fucking games just because of it. Teams will let you know if you're screwing up bad enough that it's having effects, see Hamilton, Josh. Bottom line, that's a team issue, not a league issue. People still bought Strawberry jerseys and rooted for a comeback, so effects were minimal. It's also a lot about PR, and who among us saw whoever this minor leaguer is splashed all over front page news for screwing up, until the league slammed him? It reeks of "No, really, look how pure baseball is moms and dads!" PR BS, not the punishment fitting the crime.

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In reply to by Tony S.

Unfortunately, the players who smoke weed are breaking the law, so MLB doesn't have much of a choice when it comes to discipline. They pretty much need to come down on the general side of "if you break the law by ingesting illegal substances, it's 50 days". Otherwise, they'd be taking a political position ("Pot should be legalized"). I'd argue any day of the week that alcohol is a much more sinister drug than weed, and that, well, people who tend to abuse don't base their drug on choice on anything other than what turns them on. But the legalization of weed is a political topic, and MLB can't be seen as taking a position in favor of it. The fact that if you have a predisposition to abuse drugs you are much safer from a physiological standpoint to make weed your drug of choice than alcohol doesn't have any bearing on current law, and, therefore, cannot be used as an argument by the MLB for its drug use policies. If you feel really strongly about this, I'd recommend saving the money you'd spend on a seat to watch this mediocre roster and sending a donation to NORML.

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In reply to by Old and Blue

I don't have a big stake in this discussion, but by your rationale it wouldn't be a big leap to give out 50 game suspensions for DUI's. The enforcement and criminalization of pot is very unnecessary when you realize how many people are in jail for pot. I worked for a contractor building a federal prison and it cost about 80k per inmate to build. FBOP officials told me it costs 40k per year to house each inmate (this is in rural Mississippi about 10 years ago for the sake of cost of living). Also, the crack cocaine laws were bullshit with the 100:1 ratio compared to powder cocaine, but whatever. Just some thoughts to share

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In reply to by Jumbo

Well, I don't want to get all political, but yeah, I agree with the silliness of current drug enforcement laws. I was just saying that I understand why MLB thinks it needs to group all illegal drugs together. I personally would just look the other way. If somebody wants to go all Daryl Strawberry on himself, I guess I see how that hurts a team, but it's still ultimately the most damaging to the player, and laws aren't going to really have any effect on an addictive personality. As for 50 game suspensions for DUI, it actually would be more consistent to do that.

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In reply to by Tony S.

PR is part of what having this big a business in the public eye is about though. Take Apple right now with the sweat shop stuff going on. They risk losing a lot of busines because of bad PR and are going to need to take a huge step to fix it. Baseball has lots of ups and downs and has gone through some bad PR drug wise. If they feel like financially they are better off hitting drug users hard then that is a cost/benefit analysis done and completely in their right. I don't agree with having pot be illegal. I do agree with businesses being able to decide what they want employees doing if their employees actions are harming the business bottom line. You might not think it is with baseball players using pot but in the end we don't have the financials and they do. I see nothing wrong with teams (and MLB) wanting to protect their assetts by making sure they don't start doing stupid crap that's gonna get them in trouble outside of baseball. I see the same thing happening in the NFL with the player safety stuff. As much as people complain that the NFL is becoming sissified, when you pay someone millions of dollars, you want to make sure they keep producing for you.

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In reply to by johann

And I want to make sure I wasn't misunderstood, because I agree with most of that. I have no issues with what MLB can or cannot do, and as somebody pointed out, it's bargained collectively. I just think a) 50 games for recreational drug use is excessive (whether I'm looking at their financials or not, I just don't buy it) and b) it's a crock that it's the same penalty for rec drug use as PEDs. I would ultimately defer to Old and Blue, who I think hit the nail on the head that they have to take the 'all drugs are bad' stance, I'm just surprised and irritated that it's 'all drugs are EQUALLY bad'. Realistically, though, my guess is that was absolutely a result of the bargaining process... "We want 50 gms first time for PEDs." "Oh yeah? Why not for all drugs??"

"Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com in Minnesota reports that the Cubs and Athletics are among the teams showing the most interest in free agent reliever Todd Coffey." alright, then. i like the guy...wood + coffey would make one hell of a positive/intense leadership bullpen.

Please Jeebus pgammo Peter Gammons tweet- Bud Selig still hasn't received written arguments in Cubs-Red Sox compensation case. "OK, I've defined 'significant compensation-Soriano..."

on Epstein and Cashman http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/sports/baseball/cashman-and-epstein-r… “All these negotiations, the team that doesn’t sign the guy is better off than the team that actually signed the guy — the joke’s on us,” Epstein said, before relating the story of his 2002 courtship of Jose Contreras, who signed with the Yankees but failed in New York. “Sometimes, there’s a winner’s curse.”

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I've seen a lot on here (not only you) with this stance. Would it really mattered or been worth it to spen money to plan to finish fucking second or third in the Central with maybe 85-87 wins, or does it make more sense (ie would it make you happier) to see real, long term fixes and legitimate chances at depth and WS rings over the next 3-5 years that the seeds were laid now? YES, before you bother to type it, you maintain that the team can do both. I disagree. The Ricketts bought this team (not the Steinbrenners), and there's a difference between large market club and bottomless pit of money to waste. There is something to be said for frugality so when the next Fielders/Pujols' are on the market, it's not if the Cubs will be involved, but for how much. I don't see what Thoyer does, but I have no doubt that this organization was fucked in several ways top to bottom, and have no issues with that being the focus this year. I'm also an eternal optimist, and maybe Stewart turns it around and hits .250/25/85 this year!! But whatever...

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In reply to by Tito

IMO - he is too often self absorbed. He sounds like every other young announcer, but seems to lack any personality. There was a time, and not that long ago, when you could tell who you were listening too. Now everyone sounds the same. I find Len boring and his analysis of the games to be lacking of anything valuable. When the Cubs are playing the Cardinals, I would rather listen to the Redbird announcers. At least they are entertaining. I know that people's opinion may differ, but when I grew up listening to Harry, and Brickhouse, and Jack Buck, the bar is set high. I love the way that Bob Ucker does a game. The Cubs deserve the best, but we end up with a run of mill, boring, poor excuse of an announcer.

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In reply to by jacos

Kingman hit a moon shot one time onto Kenmore Ave ON THE FLY. It bounced several times and ended up nearly a block past Waveland. The ball hawks had to run their ass off to chase it down. Yes, Glenallen Hill put one on the roof of the apartment building that is behind the left field foul pole. You can find the clip on YouTube the last time I searched for it. When I was a kid, I swore a remember some opposing batter launching one to RF that ended up breaking a third story window on one of the apartment buildings on Sheffield. I want to say it was Stargell, but memory fades.

"TMZ reports that the L.A. City Attorney's Office is not pursuing a DUI case against James Loney "due to insufficient evidence."" 1- lol source 2- found incoherent at the scene after crashing into 3 cars and refused to take a breathalizer he lucked out on a late-taken blood test and came out inconclusive/negative so his lawyer gets him a pass. neat...i guess.

selig decision on bos/cubs compensation due by Oct 2012 decision on ryan braun's appeal due by Dec 2012 and if no one reminds SD...they've forgotten about their compensation with the cubs so everyone be cool and shhh when SD is around...that includes tony gwynn, too. be cool, y'all...

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • 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...