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

2015 Draft Pick Update

 

Team.PCTGB
1. D'Backs.395--
3. Rangers.4000.5
4. Rockies.4053.0
5. Twins.4264.5
6. Red Sox.4366.0
7. Astros.4427.0
8. Cubs.4427.0
9. Phillies.4589.0
10. White Sox.4589.5
11. Reds.46210.0
12. Marlins.47712.5
13. Padres.47712.5

Updated through 9/21/14 - 6 games left for Cubs.

It's been quite a run by the D'Backs and Rangers over the last week and now the D'Backs hold the top spot in next year's draft with a week of games left. As for the Cubs, they're currently tied for the 6th worst record, but Astros own the tiebreaker there, so pushes the Cubs back to 7th and pushed back another spot with the Astros owning the 2nd pick in the draft for failing to sign Brady Aiken. 

It seems the most reasonable options for Cubs in terms of a draft pick next year, is either falling to the 5th worst record (6th pick) and overcoming the World Champs, whom they trail by one game and own the tiebreaker over. Or staying where they are and picking at #8, although they have less teams between them if they go on a win streak and the Phillies, White Sox or Reds go on a losing streak.

They're pretty close to clinching a protected pick with a 5.5 game lead there over Miami and San Diego. Miami has the tiebreaker over the Cubs, while the Cubs have the tiebreaker over the Padres. The Cubs have 6 games left, Miami and San Diego have 7 each. A Cubs loss or Padres win would clinch no worse than a tie between those two clubs and the aforementioned tiebreaker going the Cubs way, the Cubs couldn't do better than them this season. The Cubs need to lose tonight and the Marlins win or some magic number combination of the two before the season runs out and a protected pick will be the Cubs.

Comments

Cubs loss or Marlins win will lock in a protected pick for Cubs.

Red Sox, Astros, Cubs jockeying for the 6-8 picks, separated by a half game.

Cubs: 2 vs. St. Louis, 3 @ Brewers

Red Sox: 3 vs. Rays, 3 vs Yankees

Astros: 2 @ Rangers, 3 @ Mets

Rangers have been playing well lately which is unfortunate for them and Cubs draft pick.

fwiw, last year difference between 6th pick and 8th pick in slotted bonus value was a little less than $400K. Not sure the overall difference and some of that is determined by free agent signings and the goofy draft lottery, but guesstimating, it could be close to $750K difference overall.

"Arrieta has a 2.31 FIP that would rank second in the National League to Clayton Kershaw’s 1.87 if he had enough innings to qualify for the leaders." does arrieta have 1 more year of club control or 2?

Draft Pick Updates don't quite bring the same traffic as Mike Olt posts.

I'm gonna bring back the Milton Bradley tag if I have to.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Blast from the past posters! Wes, Carlos, Johan, JP, Dave, Brick, Manny, Jordan, Robr, CA Phil (along with the surviving AZ and VA varieties), Jace, Vorare, Manny, Horatio, Andrew, Ron Galt, Real Neal, Chad, Garsky, Vegas Brian, Joe C, Dave in Pittsburgh, Jessica, 433 ... it felt like going to Old Timers' Day.

m.olt not playing again tonight because dusty hates kids...or hendry made him not play him...or something like that. i wonder who he'll be playing for next season.

A Miami win clinches a protected pick for Cubs, so that's good, otherwise Cubs a game and a half from 6th pick and a game and half from dropping to 9th pick (although they have tiebreak over Phillies).

AZ Phil, have you seen a complete roster of the Instructional League players? Thanks.

Hot Take! Jeter plays anywhere but NY, he's Craig Biggio.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

eh, Jeter has the titles and playoff highlights, Biggio generally shit his pants in the playoffs. Overall, WAR numbers are close 73 to 65, but Jeter gets a lot more on offense which is gonna be more appreciated. And yeah, New York, duh. Andre Dawson isn't a Hall of Famer if he stayed in Montreal, ask Tim Raines.

Being a great player in a major media market tends to lead to some deification.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Certainly without NY he would be remembered very differently. Smaller market and he wouldn't have the post-season heroics and would certainly have done far worse in award voting, etc. But short stop is a premium position and his cumulative stats are way up there. Jeter: 310/377/440, 3461 H, 543 2B, 260 HR, 1922 R, 1307 RBI, 358 SB, 71.8 WAR Biggio: 281/363/433, 3060 H, 668 2B, 291 HR, 1844 R, 1175 RBI, 414 SB, 65.1 WAR Alomar: 300/371/443, 2724 H, 504 2B, 210 HR, 1508 R, 1134 RBI, 474 SB, 66.8 WAR Molitor: 306/369/448, 3319 H, 605 2B, 234 HR, 1782 R, 1307 RBI, 504 SB, 75.4 WAR Yount: 285/342/430, 3142 H, 583 2B, 251 HR, 1632 R, 1406 RBI, 271 SB, 77.0 WAR Brett: 305/369/487, 3154 H, 665 2B, 317 HR, 1583 R, 1596 RBI, 201 SB, 88.4 WAR Ripken: 276/340/447, 3184 H, 603 2B, 431 HR, 1647 R, 1695 RBI, 36 SB, 95.5 WAR His career is better than Biggio's or Alomar's and short stop gives him a clear edge. Ripken and Brett were obviously better, but it's not like playing in Baltimore or Kansas City held them back. And Yount and Molitor (who is a good offensive comp to Jeter but played DH) went into Cooperstown on the first ballot and played in Milwaukee. So my sense is that his legacy would lie somewhere below Ripken but above Biggio, along the lines of Brett or Molitor or Yount, depending on how particular events and awards and post-season stuff played out in his career in this other hypothetical non-NYC market.

"When I saw this guy swing [in December] I knew he was going to be a big-leaguer for them soon," Sheffield told ESPNChicago.com on Tuesday. "Right now when I watch his swing, he has something in his swing that can be fixed real easy. He collapses his back leg. And anytime you do that a pitcher is going to have a field day on you.

"When you collapse your back leg, anything over the belt line you have to upper cut. You can't stay on top of it."

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/27640/sheffield-javier-b…

rest of the article is about not striking out while walking in snow uphill, both ways, or something like that, Sheffield lost me at some point.

It would have been good to see Baez come up in April, if only to see the first player with 400 strikeouts.

Logan Watkins intentionally walked Jake Arrieta tripled to right center, Luis Valbuena and Logan Watkins scored ...lulz

after 7ip arrieta's WHIP drops below 1.00 neat. the way he's thrown all season he would be in the CY discussion if he didn't miss april. note: discussion...even if kershaw has it locked up...which he does.

1.) Arrieta is just filthy nasty. 2.) Soler is a beast. 3.) Baez is REALLY bad at hitting right now. Maybe the worst stretch I've ever seen.

Also Olt (wherever Renteria has him locked up) is now batting the same as Baez at .161. Oh the dark damp doghouse of captain happy. The cruel twisted chamber ... deep in the crusted shards of death a monster does push-ups just waiting to go to the cardinals or Brewers.

as the season winds down i keep hoping that MLB Network finally decides to show winter league games and some AFL action... they've dabbled in showing games from both in years past, but it's been very few games. some more off-season game content would be nice. also, i hope this off-season is one that matters for cubs fans. also, i want a pony.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I suspect that Arietta's emergence will make TheoCorp more interested in Lester than they might have otherwise been. You may see some kind of deal with the Mets that the NYC media seems so interested, too, if the Cubs are willing to give up one of their shortstops. It would have been helpful if Baez had not looked like a winged dreidel up there most of his at bats. I'm surprised there's no interest in Yasmany Tomas from the Cubs. I guess they feel like they got a great bargain in that fellow in right so why bother. You can't collect too many power bats though, especially if your philosophy is collecting young power bats. Either way I think it will be a very interesting off season for Cubs fans that will matter quite a bit. Even if they stood pat, and they won't, they'll have two significant bats they didn't at the beginning of the year in Bryant and Soler, and an ace pitcher in Arietta. They've already got a solid bullpen. Now they need to get lucky on a starter or two and maybe (gulp - I hate free agency when it comes to this) a Lester type.

[ ]

In reply to by Old and Blue

I'm curious to see some projections, but I think without making any additions this is already a 75-80 win team in 2015. If 88 wins is a wild card, this team should have the financial assets to try to make that type of push. And that's prior to even thinking about trading anyone from the existing roster. Whether they use money, trades, or a combination of both, I expect this team to be good enough on paper to compete next year.

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.