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

Giants Wear Their Hitting Clothes at Indian School Park

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

Gustavo Cabrera singled twice, doubled, and drove-in two runs, Jarrett Parker, Angel Villalona, and Tyler Horan contributed RBI singles to a four-run 3rd, and Giants hitters collectively belted out 17 hits, en route to a 9-7 victory over the Cubs in Arizona Instructional League action this afternoon at Indian School Park Field #1 in Scottsdale.


Mark Malave stroked two RBI singles, Trey Martin singled twice, scored a run, and drove-in another, and Giuseppe Papaccio and Jordan Hankins each hammered an RBI double for the Cubs in a losing cause.

16-year old Venezuelan shortstop Gleyber Torres made his profesional game debut today, playing shotstop for three innings and getting two at-bats. He struck out his first time up (an ugly swing on a 3-2 breaking ball), and grounded out 4-3 in his final AB. He had one defensive chance and threw the ball away.

Torres was rated the #2 International prospect by Baseball America this past summer before signing with the Cubs on July 2nd ($1.7M bonus). The Cubs also signed the #1 rated 2013 International prospect (16-year old Dominican OF  Eloy Jimenez - $2.8M bonus), and he is at Instructs, too, although he has yet to play in an AZIL game.    

RHP Armando Rivero got an inning of work in today's game, in preparation for the start of the Arizona Fall League (AFL) season next Tuesday. (He is one of four Cubs pitchers who have been assigned to the Mesa Solar Sox). The 25-year old righthander's fastball was consistently clocked at 95-96 MPH today, and he used his hard splitter as his "chase" pitch. 

Rivero was the closer for Industriales in Serie Nacional (the Cuban major league) for several seasons prior to defecting in 2011. He signed with the Cubs this past March ($3.1M signing bonus), and spent the 2013 season getting into playing shape (he hadn't piched competively since 2011) and then moving rapidly up through the pipeline, before finishing the season at AA Tennessee. Rivero had the fourth-highest K/IP rate in the organization.  

Rivero will almost certainly get an NRI to Spring Training, and I would say as things stand right now, he has a reasonable chance of making the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster as a member of the bullpen. Depending on how things develop, he could even conceivably win the closer's job.  

Here is the abridged box score from today's game. (Cubs players only). The game was stopped an inning early when the Cubs ran out of pitchers, plus after 3-1/2 hours of baseball in the hot afternoon sun (this was one of the longest Instructs games I've witnessed) following 2-1/2 hours of field instruction in the morning, everybody just wanted to go home. 


CUBS LINEUP:
1. Kevin Encarnacion, DH #1: 0-4 (4-3, F-9, K, HBP, K)
2a. Trey Martin, CF: 2-3 (K, 1B, 1B, R, RBI)
2b. Rashad Crawford, CF: 0-1 (BB, K, RBI)
3. Jeffrey Baez, RF: 2-5 (1B, F-7, K, 3-U, 1B, R)
4a. Mark Malave, DH #2: 2-3 (6-4 FC, 1B, 1B, 2 RBI)
4b. Giuseppe Papaccio, PH-DH: 1-2 (K, 2B, R, RBI)
5a. Jesse Hodges, 3B: 1-3 (K, 6-4 FC, 1B, RBI)
5b. Jordan Hankins, 3B: 1-2 (K, 2B, RBI)
6a. Frandy de la Rosa, SS: 0-3 (4-3, L-9, K)
6b. Gleyber Torres, SS: 0-2 (K, 4-3)
7a. Kelvin Freeman, 1B: 0-1 (E-6, BB)
7b. Ben Carhart, 1B: 0-3 (3-1, F-9, L-5)
8a. Charcer Burks, LF: 0-2 (6-3, F-7)
8b. Jose Dore, LF: 0-2 (BB, K+WP, P-3, R)
9a. Danny Lockhart, 2B: 1-2 (1B, 1-6 FC, R, SB)
9b. Gioskar Amaya, 2B: 1-1 (BB, 1B)
10a. Cael Brockmeyer, C: 0-0 (HBP, BB, 2 R)
10b. Tyler Alamo, C: 0-1 (K, HBP)

CUBS PITCHERS:
1. Jose Rosario: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 4/1 GO/FO, 26 pitches (14 strikes)
2. Daury Torrez: 1.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 2/1 GO/FO, 34 pitches (22 strikes)
3. Armando Rivero: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 15 pitches (9 strikes)
4. Tyler Ihrig: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 1 PO, 1/0 GO/FO, 42 pitches (29 strikes)
5. Scott Frazier: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GO/FO, 26 pitches (18 strikes)

CUBS ERRORS:
1. SS Frandy de la Rosa - E-6 (fielding error allowed batter to reach base safely)
2. SS Gleyber Torres - E-6 (throwing error on infield single allowed batter to advance an extra base)

CUBS CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Cael Brockmeyer: 1-1 CS

ATTENDANCE: 11 (mostly scouts)

WEATHER: Sunny, cloudless, and breezy, with temperatures in the 90's 

 

Tags
AZ Instructional League
Armando Rivero
Gleyber Torres

Comments

Submitted by John Beasley on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:38 pm

Don't worry, Gleyber, I'm sure others have had worse debuts. None coming to mind, though.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:28 pm

AJ Hinch's name thrown into the manager pool by Rosenthal

Brief tenure with DBacks, current Padres assistant GM

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:56 pm

Josh Johnson has elbow arthroscopic surgery to remove spurs. Welcome to the Cubs JJ.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:00 pm

if you're not following the twitter sidebar, Cashman says they'll give Girardi every reason to stay in NY and one report says they won't give him permission to talk to other clubs unless it's certain he's not coming back.

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:01 pm

here's rotoworld's blurb on JG:
Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York was told by a source that the Yankees will not give the Cubs permission to talk to Joe Girardi unless their negotiations break down.
Girardi is under contract with the Yankees until October 31 and they will attempt to get something done as soon as possible. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman already met with Girardi on Monday and he's scheduled to meet with his agent on Wednesday.

[ ]

Submitted by The E-Man on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:25 pm

I expected as much. There is not much intrigue or incentive for him to come anymore. They had their chance and hired Lou instead at the time. Girardi's agent is doing the smart Anibal Sanchez thing and will make an unbelievably sweet deal for Joe that I would expect him to accept - provided he declines TV for now. I will look forward to the Cubs selecting a San Diego or Boston cronie and keep the track record intact. Go Cubs!

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:26 pm

E-Man...the next best available old Cub catcher is between Randy Hundley or Koyie Hill EJax could use the extra 5 mph to his fastball with KH

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:22 pm

scott servais is already an assistant GM in LAA. damon berryhill is managing somewhere in the rookie leagues... michael barrett is somewhere knocked unconscious because a candy wrapper blew near his skull, so he's not available.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:27 pm

CRUNCH: Scott Servais is the Angels' Assistant GM in charge of Scouting & Player Development, and Bobby Scales is the Angels' Player Development Director. 

BTW, when Scales was with the Cubs, everybody was always saying how Hendry & Fleita wanted Scales to take a minor league manager job in the Cubs organization, but Scales wanted to keep playing as long as possible (he even played in Japan one year). And so now he has a gig better than minor league manager.   

Speaking of the Angels minor leagues, I always enjoy going to Diablo Park and seeing Bobby Knoop and Marcel Lachemann (Rene's brother). Both of them are what's called "Special Assistant to the General Manager," which means they can pretty much come & go as they please and they work with various young players and try to help them improve.

Knoop and Lachemann are both about 90 years old (OK maybe not quite that old), but they're both out there most every day in their baseball uniforms, Knoop hitting ground balls to the infielders and Lachemann (in full catcher's gear!) working with the catcher's on blocking pitches in the dirt or catching pop ups.

Knoop has a special "director's chair" that he sits in and reads the newspaper when he takes a break. 

Tom Trebelhorn has a similar job with the Giants. Treb almost got thrown out of yesterday's Cubs-Giants instructs game for razzing the umpire (some Richie Cunningham who is probably all of about 21 years old) from the bench while the actual Giants manager was out talking with the umpire about the play (which was clearly a blown call that went against th Giants). 

UMP (yelling back to Trebelhorn): "I'm talking to this guy right now, OK?"

TREB: "Hey. You umpire, I coach."

I was half-expecting him to pull a Javier Baez and say "... and I can do whatever the fuck I want," but he didn't. 

But the young players really seem to get a kick out of the Old Timers. They'll listen to them even when they otherwise don't listen to anybody else.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:04 pm

m.byrd HR's on his 1st ever postseason AB...reaches on error in his 2nd AB. cozart's fielding error turning a DP into runners on 1st/3rd has led to a run on a sac fly. not fun times for CIN...who are down 0-3 in the bottom 3rd.

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Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:38 pm

cueto done after 3.1 after giving up a double that knocked around off umpire tim timmons (which, thankfully for timmons, would have been a double anyway). s.marshall in...to give up a RBI double. 1-4 cin/pit. ibb mcclutch, bb morneau...and marshall is done with 1 out and bases loaded. btw, he went 3-2 on 2 of 3 batters faced (other was ibb)...but none of the strikes he earned on the 3-2 counts were swing-and-miss...all foul contact. btw, PNC park is absolutely slam full of people...even standing room is packed.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:42 pm

ah, Reds losing, maybe next year Dusty...but probably not.

also, must-win game, not sure what he was saving his pen for...Cueto obviously didn't have it today....of course neither did Marshall.

Snake-bitten!

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:44 pm

reds had 2 players with .330+ ob% this season...both well over .400 ob%, though (choo/votto)...and a really crappy hitting bench. SP + pen were near immaculate...only 1 regular with a 4.00+ ERA and it was a reliever (ondrusek). no regular, pen or SP, with a whip higher than 1.26 (also, ondrusek). j.broxton stunk it up a bit, but he was only around a bit under 2/3rd of a season for 30.2ip. spotty hitting makeup with a good chunk of 20-30HR and doubles power...very awesome pitching makeup. i didn't realize how iffy the bats were or how awesome the pitching was until i checked it out.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:58 pm

via rotowurld...via heyman... "CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Cubs are expected to contact Padres vice president of professional scouting A.J. Hinch about their managerial vacancy."

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:29 pm

i heard a matt williams rumor (not from a major news outlet), but it doesn't make much sense. he's pretty much on tap to be the manager-in-waiting for ARZ somewhere down the line, but more importantly to the situation of him maybe leaving, he owns a minority share of the dbacks. some are linking the not-yet-but-expected-to-be-fired mike scioscia, though that's speculation without much legs...unlike the girardi situation.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:56 pm

dusty could take a team to the world series in a sweep the whole way through and fans would complain how another manager could have won the WS in 2 games rather than 4. it was funny watching twitter tonight...while PIT fans were talking about their players, CIN fans were talking about the manager. before 1st pitch it was "omfg ludwig is batting 2nd wtf dusty" and after the 2nd inning it was "omfg why didn't arroyo/bailey/leake start this game wtf dusty" that said, he's under contract for 2014 with 3 postseason appearances in the past 4 years so he's probably safe. also, lulz dusty coming back to the cubs...dale has a better chance...hell, AZ Phil has a better chance =p in all seriousness...i like the current "you can't have girardi" NYY posturing + "other candidates that won't cost much loot" options this whole thing seems to be moving towards.

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 10:09 pm

wow...this year vs lefties f.lirano allowed only 17h in 130ab...and only 2 were xbase hits...both doubles. .131/.175/.146 slash...OPS .321 take that koufax.

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:22 am

Re: Girardi I am now on the CRUNCH bandwagon and acknowledging that a Manager is only gonna win 2 or 3 games the entire season for his club. But, can also be responsible for losing much more than that. And, with that said, I really don't think it makes a difference who they hire knowing the crap they have to put on the field and on the mound.

[ ]

Submitted by johann on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:45 am

In game decisions might only lead to a couple wins, but off the field decisions are much more important than that. Crap load of players credit their coaches/managers for helping them with swings, getting through slumps, etc. Tinkering with Castro failed, but it's helped a lot of other players.

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Submitted by Old and Blue on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:51 am

How on earth do we measure something like that? Where does +2 or +3 come from? Is Cleveland's roster that much better this year than last? I think a manager has a lot more influence that can be reflected in a chip full of stats, and I'm no Luddite. He sets the tone for a team, he can push a specific style of play, and he can influence the morale of the team as a whole, just to name a few. In terms of direct impact by his strategic moves, sure, he has almost zero impact because things will cancel each other out. Sveum had all the excitement of a piece of dried toilet paper dragging along someone's heel as they exit the bathroom. I can't help but think just having a more rah rah guy alone would add some positive impact on a young club.

[ ]

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:46 pm

What do you mean "things will cancel each other out"? I don't get that. How can it be that from year to year, Jim Tracy was either a "genius", or "terrible"? He managed the Pirates and now they finally have success. The Rockies. however, were good and then stunk. Both teams he managed. Is it any coincidence that the only former Cub manager to get hired after he was let go by the North Siders (that I can remember) is Dusty? After what we have seen under Sveum, why could Theo not have hired Ryno? The whole thing is a mess imo.

Submitted by Rob Richardson on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:48 pm

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9758268/joe-girardi-new-york… "Chicago fired Dale Sveum on Monday, and sources say that Cubs ownership views Girardi as someone who can help put a jolt into fan interest in the team. The Cubs' attendance has declined in each of the past five seasons, at a time when the organization is trying to rebuild and probably is at least two or three years away from contending again. Hiring Girardi in anticipation of increased fan interest could be more financially efficient for the Cubs than pursuing big-money free agent players." I would be happy to sign Giradri, but I would rather not get in a bidding war, and certainly don't this the interest attendance will pay for his salary.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:09 pm

I don't put a lot of stock in managers, but a bad leader is always going to be difficult to overcome. And as much as we all bag on Dusty, because he truly is one of the worst in-game managers baseball has ever seen, he seems to be pretty great and all the stuff that happens before and after the game (well except talking to the media)...but players love him and I think it's fair to say he may not extract more out of what's given to him, but he rarely gets less than what is given to him. Say what you will about 2004, but that team was pretty decimated by injuries and was in it at the end...he may not have the illusive clutch factor for a manager if such a thing exists (I don't think it does), but there have been worse managers. The in-game stuff is the stuff we all see and dissect though, so he gets unfairly docked by everyone.

As for 2-3 wins a manager can give or takeaway, there's probably some truth to that with in-game decisions and lineups and so on...but I think the impact on an organization overall is a lot tougher to measure.

 

 

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Submitted by Carlito on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:58 pm

Those are some pretty rosey glasses regarding 2004. It was one of the most talented lineups the Cubs have ever fielded, and they essentially collapsed in a fury of infighting and petty distractions with the Steve Stone war and other such silliness when they should have been concentrated on the field. Dusty's use of LaTroy Hawkins alone might have gotten the average manager fired, but his blame game regarding the media and his own announcers, coupled with an epic failure to seal the deal in the final week made for a pathetic job performance ledger. That said I agree he must be good at the player manager relationship and other off-screen intangibles.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:17 pm

obviously any late season meltdown is gonna look bad and plenty of blame to go around including Baker, but '09 Tigers were pretty bad as well and no one thinks less of Leyland.

Cubs in '04 underperformed their Pythagorean record by 5 games, could be the managing, the bullpen or just bad luck.  Could be just the 2-3 games a year his in-game managing probably does cost a team. But for whatever Baker may have cost the team in September, he probably deserves equal (or at least some) credit for them to even be in that position in September.

I'm no fan of his, but he's certainly demonized worse than most managers. I understand why, epic playoff and late season collapses and poor in-game managing are easy targets, but it certainly misses a lot of the nuance of the job.

He's probably not as bad as we'd like to believe, but we're all happy he's gone (or at least should be).

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:49 pm

latroy was the best pitcher in the pen in 04...kent merker close enough to call it even. i still don't get this thing with dusty where he does seemingly normal/not-controversial stuff, but it becomes world-ending stuff. you'd think j.macias got d.barney amount of ABs a year rather than less than 200ab a year in any season he played for the cubs...or that there was some stud (or even promising) SS neifi was blocking on the team. we put up with ramon martinez + a.gonz for years before that. it would have been nice if the cubs kept r.guiterez, but he ended up going into a career ending injury spiral after he was let go to free agency.

[ ]

Submitted by Carlito on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:18 pm

I think you both make good points and I am sure Dusty was better than *I* give him credit for . . . Also crunch, it was fairly dramatic that year and not just towards Dusty. There was tons of intensity towards everyone. It's not every year a very popular announcer gets ousted because of a fight with a manager etc. maybe it makes more sense to question the intensity of Cubs' nation in general (which is perhaps easy to explain when one really weighs the WS drought pressure etc) but Dusty was not the greatest strategist, was very defensive and reactive and that isn't really anyone else's fault. You may be right about his effect on the ball field being exaggerated but he made his bed in the way he was treated and it had to do with performance and attitude and not much else. They didn't meet expectations and he was the manager. He was also pissy, defensive etc and that doesn't fly when you don't deliver. Not saying it's right, but there it is.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 10/02/2013 - 10:14 pm

Brewers placed a bunch of guys on waivers today including B. Lalli and Mat Gamel....wouldn't mind if Cubs took a chance on Gamel. Coming off knee surgery and arb eligible, but will be 27 next season with good minor league numbers, was going to b their starting 1bmen last year.

Don't ask me where he's going to play, but figure that out in spring training, played mostly 3b in minors and then 1B, a handful of games in outfield.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.

    I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Tauchman gets a pinch hit RBI single with a liner to RF. This is his spot. He's a solid 4th OF. But he isn't a DH. 

    He takes pitches. Useful. I still believe in having good hitters.

    You don't want your DH to be your weak link (other than your C maybe)

  • crunch (view)

    bit of a hot take here, but i'm gonna say it.

    the 2024 marlins don't seem to be good at doing baseballs.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Phil, will the call up for a double header restart that 15 days on assignment for a pitcher? Like will wesneski’s 15 days start yesterday, or if he’s the 27th man, will that mean 15 days from tomorrow?

    I hope that makes sense. It sounds clearer in my head.

  • 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!

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