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

Last Day to Vote

The folks at Baseball Prospectus are running their annual Internet Baseball Awards which I find far more interesting and relevant than the ridiculous BBWAA vote. Today is the last day to vote though, so head on over.

- Cubs fan and PECOTA master Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus (and occasional TCR reader) has branched out to politics with a new polling-analysis website. You can see his guest spot on The Colbert Report by following the link.

- More jokes at the expense of us Cubs fans courtesy of SNL and Bill Murray (go to about 3:30 left in the clip).

Comments

if i remember this correctly, my vote:

NL MVP: Pujols, Berkman, Howard, 7 other guys (I think I put Soto 6th or 7th)

NL CY: Lincecum, Santana, Sabathia

ROY: Soto, Votto

MOY: Piniella, Manuel

AL MVP: Mauer, Sizemore, Arod, Lee, Halladay, Quentin, Hamilton, K-rod (totally forgot to put Pedroia in there, but he'd probably be 2nd or 3rd)

AL CY: Lee, Halladay, Krod (probably doesn't deserve this but that's a lot of saves)

ROY: Longoria and who cares

MOY: Maddon, Gardenhire 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Mine, FWIW. AL MVP: Hamilton, Morneau, Pedoria, Sizemore, ARod, Huff, M. Cabrera, Youkilis, Markakis, Quentin NL MVP: Pujols, Wright, Beltran, Berkman, Howard, Utley, Reyes, H. Ramirez, McLouth, A. Gonzalez AL Cy: Halladay, Lee, Santana, Burnett, KRod NL Cy: Lincecum, Webb, Santana, Haren, Hamels AL MOY: Gardie, Maddon, Gaston NL MOY: Torre, LaRussa, Cox

Pinella doesn't deserve it. Not even close. Torre is more deserving. Hell, Cooper and LaRussa deserve it more.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

probably should have voted LaRussa 2nd...

not sure what Cooper did other than the Astros got on a hot streak in September, doesn't excuse the other shitty 5 months. if that hot streak came in July, no one would have noticed.

Also, why Ryan Howard this year and seemingly half the MVP's of the last 5 years don't deserve it. 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

a chunk of it has to do with voters wanting to blown away, not lulled into the extra 20-ish walks/hits leading to a .400-ish ob% taking importance over 20-ish more extra base hits. voters also tend to not care about someone's walk/singles totals unless it's leading to runs or a good sb/cs percentage putting the guy on 2nd/3rd to score in better position. hell, some voters don't even put that much thought into it...they just vote. mvp voting has 1 mostly-consistant point...dominance of more than just 1 or 2 categories...

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

I think it's impossible to know exactly what a manager influences and does. But, I too think Pinella deserves it for the regular season. What he touched generally turned to gold for 97 wins this year, a good 10 wins above what I expected them to do. Cards crashed and burned at the end, so I think that takes LaRussa out of it. Even with a great September, the Dodgers still only won in the mid 80's. Most everything was expected in the NL...but it wasn't expected that the Cubs would win 97 games and have the best record in the NL.

[ ]

In reply to by blockhead25

Well... I remember that BP had projected the Cubs offense to lead the league in OBP. The other 'surprise' this year was probably Dempster, who Pinhead should get some credit for putting in the rotation... however, Pinhead is the same guy who didn't put him in the rotation last year. I like Sveum for manager of the year. Sveum, Sabathia, Ramirez... who's a rookie who came up late and did well? Smardizjia, those are my winners.

As I recell those BP Internet awards follow the VORP ranking so closely there's no point in even doing them. Like taking a poll for who should be the VP at the Republican National Convention. Biased sample = biased results. Maybe VA Phil and Chad's website should run a poll too.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

don't know about Mauer

VORP Winner followed by IBA winner

2007 - Arod/Hanley

Arod/Holliday

2006: Jeter/Pujols

Jeter/Pujols

2005: Arod/Derrek Lee

Arod/Pujols

I was going to do the rest of the decade but BP seems to freeze a lot on my Mac for some reason when I start sorting through there stats. Safari and Firefox...weird. 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

2007 VORP vs IBA: MVP VORP Arod 1 Ordonez 2 Ortiz 3 MVP VORP Holiday 4 Wright 2 Rollins 9 Cy Young VORP Sabathia 1 Beckett 4 Carmona 2 Cy Young VORP Peavy 1 Webb 2 Penny 3 ROY VORP Pedroia 3 Matsuki 2 Bannister 4 (Guthrie was 1st, was he rookie eligible?) ROY VORP Braun 1 Tulowostki 3 Pence 2 For the most part, pretty close except the NL MVP, where I think the voters did factor in some defense, for some reason.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

the internet awards tend to be a bit more sane at least... they don't match up totally, but they're trying really hard to sell mauer on people this season. last year it was LF holliday and his big park they were celebrating over SS rollins...this year's focus on mauer seems to be really odd and pretty much hinging on the fact he was the only AL catcher this year healthy or talented enough to put in a full season. in the end it's the will of the people...granted, people that frequent their kool aid stand...that get to vote. they've done a pretty decent job historically.

it's like how I imagine the playoffs should have gone, just the Cubs would be up 8-2. /slits wrists

Doesn't it hurt even more when a team or player that kills us, gets killed by someone else.

I vote for...who f**ing cares, the Cubs got swept, does anybody even remember...I'm still bitter...

My ballot: AL MVP: K-Rod (I know its out there but if the Angels had Eric Gagne as their closer those 15+ games they won the division by would have turned into a tight 3 way race race with the Rangers and A's. Also its not like their is a hitter with eyepopping stats.) 2. Youklis 3. Mauer 4. Sizemore 5. Hamilton 6. Pedroia 7. Quentin 8. Longoria 9. Morneau 10. Lee AL CY- Cliff Lee (Just too dominate as a SP to to give the award to a CL even if he is the MVP) 2. K-rod 3. Dice K 4. Mussina 5. Halladay AL ROY- Evan Longoria 2. Alexi Ramirez 3.Denard Span AL MOY Gardenhire (While the Rays were a surprise, everyone knew they had talent unlike the Twins) 2. Maddon 3. Ozzie NL MVP Pujols (He showed how valuable he was this year by making guys who looked they were done (Glaus) and washed out (Ludwick) into solid contributors. He also lead the in BA and was up there in most everything else) 2. Berkman 3. Utley 4. Lidge 5. Howard 6. Sabathia 7. Chipper 8. Beltran 9. Soto 10. Hanram NL CY Lincecum 2. Webb 3. Santana 4. Sabathia 5. Lidge NL ROY- Soto 2. Joey Votto 3. Jair Jurrens NL MOY Joe Torre (Found a way to mesh a team that was rebuilt at the trade deadline) 2. Fredi Gonzalez 3. Tony LaRussa How I aspect the BWAA voting will go: AL MVP Pedroia (East Coast writters just love scrappy white guys), AL CY Lee, AL ROY Longoria AL MOY Maddon NL MVP Howard (BWAA loves the counting stats and East Coast guys making Howard too hard to pass up), NL CY Webb (Hey he had 21 wins!) NL ROY- Soto NL MOY Torre

[ ]

In reply to by Vince

The Cy Young is suppose to go the Best pitcher, while the Most VALUABLE Player award is suppose to go the player who is the most imporant to a team's success. Given all the 1 or 2 run games the Angels won having K-rod instead of a league average closer likely gave the Angels more wins than Mauer gave to the Twins or Pedroia gave to the Red Sox. If the award was meant as an award to be strictly given away to the best player in any year, Sizemore would be running away with it.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

a lot would argue MVP goes to the best player, period. how important a player is to a team matters, but they do tend to be above average in a number of categories rather than being simply a team leader with few peers on other teams. when i think "MVP" i think the player who could walk onto any of 30 teams and not only do well, but dominate a number of categories.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

If you were a manager and had the Angels bullpen, and instead of K-rod you had Gagne, and you used Gagne as your closer instead of someone else, you would be fired by July. You are using an illogical and unrealistic example to try and prove your point.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

So Sheilds [sic] would blown at least 10 saves? And the team would have lost those 10 blown saves? Heh. The MLB leaders in blown saves were Gregg and Corpas, with nine (9) each. The MLB leader in losses was 10. I am pretty confident that Scott Shields would have had less than 10 blown saves and less than ten losses, or he would not have remained the closer. The Angels would have won more than 90 games with or without KRod.

NL MVP Pujols NL Cy Santana Nl ROY SOTO NL MOY Torre AL MVP Mauer AL Cy Lee AL ROY Longoria AL MOY Maddon

Cubs, Sox (for those so inclined in Chicago), and now another absolutely brutal Bears loss, the 2nd in 3 weeks. Somebody in this town has SERIOUSLY pissed off the sporting gods.

Vindication? ...but Jeez, what a weird existence. Jose C. must have used his advance book money to make this purchase. Did anyone read the second book? hCG is also what is tested for in positive pregnancy tests http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin ========================== SAN DIEGO (AP)—Jose Canseco was held for nearly 10 hours by immigration authorities after agents said they stopped the former baseball star as he attempted to bring a fertility drug from Mexico, his lawyer said Friday. Canceco was detained at San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing Thursday after agents searched his vehicle and said they found human chorionic gonadotropin, which is illegal without a prescription, said his attorney, Gregory Emerson. Emerson declined to say if Canseco—who admitted to using steroids in a 2005 book that also alleged steroid use by other baseball players—had the drug, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for use in males. The drug helps restore production of testosterone lost in steroid users. A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Virginia Kice, said Canseco was ordered to appear in federal court in San Diego “related to an alleged smuggling violation” Thursday at a U.S. border crossing. She declined to elaborate. Canseco has not been charged with a crime, Kice said. If he were to be charged, it would happen at his court appearance.

Through the grapevine... sounds like the Cubs are going to be making a serious play at this guy over the off season. Could be a good thing, could be bad... We'll see if the rumors are serious.

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.