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

Cubs Fire Sveum...Act Surprised Everyone

In a move that everyone should have expected, Dale Sveum was removed of his duties as the Cubs lineup filler-outer. Some new lucky schlub will now get that honor with a very nice paycheck, posssibly $3M or more if their name is Joe Girardi.

In the official statement, TheJedi were their normal political correct selves, wishing Dale good luck in his future endeavors and taking the blame for the record the last 2 years...while not really taking the blame though. Because if they were really upset about it, they'd Samurai Futaba themselves like any honorable G.M.

It's all just P.R. rhetoric, but if there's a statement of hope to hang our hats on, it would probably be this paragraph.

Soon, our organization will transition from a phase in which we have been primarily acquiring young talent to a phase in which we will promote many of our best prospects and actually field a very young, very talented club at the major league level. The losing has been hard on all of us, but we now have one of the top farm systems in baseball, some of the very best prospects in the game, and a clear path forward. In order for us to win with this group - and win consistently - we must have the best possible environment for young players to learn, develop and thrive at the major league level. We must have clear and cohesive communication with our players about the most important parts of the game. And - even while the organization takes a patient, long view - we must somehow establish and maintain a galvanized, winning culture around the major league club.

So far Girardi and Brad Ausmus have been the only names mentioned, certainly more will follow. TheJedi says they'll start the formal process tomorrow morning asking for permissions and so forth. Girardi is technically under contract until November 1st with the Yankees, so they'll certainly get first crack to retain him. The press release says they plan to have a manager in place by the GM meetings in early November, if not sooner, and will be stressing the development of young talent in any hire.

Comments

Davey Johnson retires...Gardenhire re-ups for 2 years.

So far open jobs are:

Yankees, Cubs, Mariners and Nationals.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"31. St. Louis Cardinals — Kodi Medeiros, LHP, Waiakea HS (HI)" every time a list gets made he moves more and more up those lists. if he actually played in a more competitive HS field he would probably be a top-15 pick...and may end up cracking at/near that depending on how many people pay attention to him and how he does next season. deception + velocity and good control. i was hoping he'd fly under the radar and perhaps make it to the 2nd round, but that seems to be less likely as time goes on. hoffman linked to the cubs on that list... from an earlier post (which involved medeiros/hoffman/rondon that i made a few weeks ago about another list... "kodi medeiros is on his list and he's been absent or very deep on a lot of lists even though he's got great stuff. very interesting guy with extremely good fastball + slider combo and unusual mound delivery. he throws between 3/4 and sidearm...very deceptive...especially for a guy who's stuff, alone, doesn't need deception. the biggest hangup for him is it's been hard to gauge how good he is in competition because he plays weak competition in hawaii. it's hard to tell what kinda loot he's gonna want...he's not committed to any college (and it's thought that he doesn't want to go to college), but if he falls too far in the 1st he may go the community college route to raise his value. btw...i still don't like jeff hoffman as much as some people. he's getting a lot of positive buzz since he's one of an extremely small list of guys who had "sit up and notice" performances with summer ball exhibitions/leagues. still, it's one big crapshoot after c.rondon anyway...who's control/command doesn't excite me very much. killer tools on rondon, though...he's got the parts (fb, cutter, slider, curve, change, kitchen sink, etc)...he just needs to make it repeatable."

...we must somehow establish and maintain a galvanized, winning culture around the major league club. Really??? Somehow? I think Ryne Sandberg could have done just as badly (or, even better) and he had built solid relationships with many of the former AAA players. They brought in "their guy" and I really do not see positive progression from any youngsters, save Travis Wood and maybe Castillo. Yet TheoJed brought in career minor leaguers, waiver claims, and cuts. The mess continues.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

It doesn't inspire confidence, but at least they cut their losses and, by swallowing a year of the contract, are admitting their mistake. The bigger problem is that just as Hendry staked it all on the Soriano gamble, TheoCorp has really thrown it down on Castro and Rizzo. If they pedal backwards next year, that's 14 years of bad contract. So if nothing else, they really didn't have a choice here.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

that's 14 years of bad contract.

They're both gonna be playing their age 24 seasons next year, I have a hard time imagining someone getting paid this

13:$5M, 14:$5M, 15:$6M, 16:$7M, 17:$9M, 18:$10M, 19:$11M, 20:$16M club option ($1M buyout)

and this

13:$0.75M, 14:$1.25M, 15:$5M, 16:$5M, 17:$7M, 18:$7M, 19:$11M, 20:$14.5M

is really going to sink the ship...that's kind of the point of those contracts, you can move on a lot easier and someone will always take a chance on 24-25 year olds with previous major league success.

And if by chance the two really are disasters going forward, most people around here already think the Cubs should trade Castro and finding a 1b-men shouldn't be all that hard. Obviously the media would have a field day with it, but I really don't think it would kill the organization at all.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I actually didn't mean to make it sound like it was a direct comparison to the Soriano contract, more like Soriano-lite. It definitely came out that way cuz I said they are "really" throwing it down but it wasn't quite what was in my head. I didn't object to the contracts at the time - well, the Rizzo one seemed a little hasty to me but I was still pretty ok with it. I still don't, but I also didn't object to the Soriano contract. I saw it for what it was, a huge roll of the dice. Cubbery won. I also think the Rizzo and Castro contracts are big dice rolls. Not as big, but it's still a pain in the ass if they don't perform. Cubbery usually wins gambles. They own the house.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

hire mike maddux...replaces manager + pitching coach issues all in one... actually, i wouldn't mind seeing mike maddux as manager...though it would probably take $1-$1.5m to get it done. i still hope they find some sub-$1m guy, ultimately, and puts the loot "saved" back into the product on the field. rob deer's role was "assistant hitting coach"...for some reason...i guess if anyone has had to hear various people trying to coach various methods of trying to correct hitting, it is him. corey patterson for assistant hitting coach!

Recent comments

  • 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"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.