Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is 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 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

2014 Winter Meetings Day 2

8:51 PM CST: Gordo, unsurprisingly, couldn't have been more off as Lester has called the Giants and let them know he won't be signing there. All indications are as earlier, it's between the Red Sox and Cubs. MLB Network had a report that Lester's agents had a meeting scheduled with Lester again tonight. However... whomever @BaseballEssential is, they are claiming lots of buzz that Lester is signing with Cubs, but nothing official yet.

If Cubs lose out on Lester, Morosi is reporting that Boras is seeking $200M guaranteed contract.

7:35 PM CST: Just kidding about all that Giants out of it nonsense, Gordo has a source saying Lester is leaning towards Giants now. ~shrug~

6:30 PM CST: Theo claims they are not shopping Welington and that Montero will be a good compliment to him. "We're not shopping (Castillo) at all. The second that the Montero news came out, we got calls from a number of teams about Wely." Of course, just cause they're not shopping him, doesn't mean they won't move him if one of those calls bears fruit.

Olney says Lester will have final options tonight.

5:00 PM CST: You're not a good agent until you're squeezing every last dollar out. Oy vey!

4:15 PM CST: On that Ross note, Cubs have a meeting with him tonight.

3:36 PM CST: Jeff Passan says the Cubs will indeed look to move Welington Castillo. Well, 38-year old David Ross was pretty good against lefties last year as well (.809 OPS in 67 PA's, .770 for his career). Of course, if he's Lester's personal catcher, won't be able to take advantage of the offensive split.

3:06 PM CST: Montero deal is done pending a physical. D'Backs get Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley. That seems absurdly reasonable. Neat. The 20-year old Mejia can certainly end up being quite good, but you have to give up something to get something. And he wasn't anyone, nor was Godley that was anywhere near a top 20 prospect list at this point. The 25-year old Godley has a real nice K rate, but was a bit old for the Hi-A league last year (ages are what their baseball playing age will be next season using the July 1st cutoff).

2:52 PM CST: Giants assistant GM was on the radio and said Lester told him that top dollar will not be the deciding factor and that "heartstrings" are pulling at him. Sounds like a reunion with the Red Sox, unless there's more to his relationship with Theo and Jed that we don't know about it. AZ Phil nailed it in the comments, that Jeferson Mejia would be one of the pitchers heading to the D'Backs for Montero.

1:43 PM CST: The Cubs have "ratcheted up their offer" for Montero and a deal seems close.


The big rumor last night was that the Cubs were well along on a deal for Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero and Bob Nightengale of USA Today says the deal should be done by the end of the day. The Cubs would take on Montero's contract (3/40M) and DBacks would get 2 low level pitchers, presumably of good quality, but not CJ Edwards quality. The debate rages on if the Cubs should bother with Montero, afterall he's owed some money, he'll be playing his age 31 season next year and his OPS has been south of .700 the last 2 seasons. But we do know the Cubs want some vet leadership on the team and the catching position is where they want it, add in that Montero hits from the left side and has good on-base skills and you can see some of the interest. One other thing to note, his splits versus lefties and righties. He had a .719 OPS in 2013 .735 in 2014 versus righties, but just a .492 in 2013 and .563 in 2014 versus lefties. On the other side, Welington is a .684 vs. righties for his career and .845 versus lefties. Let's say I'd like that a platoon if it works out. Maybe the Cubs go with a Montero/Ross platoon if this all happens, but I don't know if they need 2 vet catchers.

Also of note, DBacks ownership already nixed a deal of Andre Ethier for Montero, although no reasons were given. Did they not want to trade Montero within the division, did they want to just shave payroll in a Montero deal or do they just not want to move him? I doubt it's the latter, otherwise their GM would stop shopping him in deals, but regardless, there's probably a final obstacle even if they do agree on a deal.

- The White Sox acquired Jeff Samardzija and former international signing bonus baby Michael Ynoa from the A's for 4 players: INF Marcus Semien, RHP Chris Bassitt, C Josh Phegley and 1B Rangel Ravalo. The White Sox weren't done there, as they then signed reliever David Robertson to a 4/46M deal. I don't know if the White Sox have completely closed the gap between themselves and the Tigers, Royals and Indians, but they have made some nice moves this offseason. The Robertson deal is dumb, don't get me wrong, but I don't think he's a guy that's going to just fall off a performance cliff either and I guess if you have the money and have determined you're going all in next year, that's the kind of deal you make. Sale, Samardzija, Quintana, Danks and Noesi is a pretty nice looking rotation for sure.

- Looks like Francisco Liriano is headed back to the Pirates on a 3/39M deal.

Comments

Other notes

...Masterson allegedy getting a multi-year offer from Red Sox, doubt Cubs are interested much after signing Hammel

A. Callaspo signs with Braves

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

In the Cubs Organizational Depth Chart I maintain here at TCR, I had projected Zack Godley to be the closer at AA Tennessee and Jeferson Mejia to be one of the "Big 3" starters (along with Carson Sands and Justin Steele) at Eugene in 2015. 

Kemp to Padres deal gaining steam...owed 5/107M although contract is uninsured which seems to be a bit of an issue

Grandal and some prospects would seem to be the return.

Curious moves to let Kemp and Ramirez go, imagine they'll spend some of that money on pitching.

Also, some real guts to trade Kemp to division rival.

@Buster_ESPN The Tigers' focus is on retaining Max Scherzer. They are prepared to spend big, big dollars. Want to keep Price for 2015, too.

"Ratcheted up" probably means the Cubs dropped their insistence that Ed Jackson be exiled to the desert - if so, damn it!

Muskat and Gordo Wittemyer tweeting that the Montero deal is done, pending a physical

Just on mlb network two sources now tweeting it's Cubs or BoSox with Cubs leading stating "lester likes theo"

this essentially is why they wanted a new catcher

 @TheCubsWord Via Baseball Prospectus, last year Montero produced 138.9 extra strikes in advanced catcher framing metrics. Castillo -77.4 extra strikes.

not enough salt in the world, but alas

http://www.overthemonster.com/2014/12/9/7362385/red-sox-jon-lester-free…

According to multiple league sources, there is a growing sense among those in the industry that Lester is leaning towards signing with the Chicago Cubs. Sources have indicated to Over the Monster that the Cubs are making a hard push to sign Lester and the two sides are deeply entrenched in conversation. A final decision will likely come on Tuesday or Wednesday from Lester's camp.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

well the only "big" bats on the FA market are Melky, Morse and Chase Headley...I guess Melky or Chase could make some sense.

Valbuena, Welington, prospects to offer in a trade...no idea whom or what position they would target. LF/3B/CF would be the obvious ones I suppose, Bryant can move to outfield if they find a "big" bat 3b. Not a lot of big bat CF's to be had, would mean Alcantara is in the minors or on the bench and that's kind of a waste for him. Maybe he's the trade bait or maybe he moves back to 2b and Baez is the trade bait...a lot of options at least.

Of course. Swelington is on the block.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

I kind of liked the Montero/Castillo platoon idea.  I think Castillo is a good bounce back candidate from last year.  And he's cheap.  That being said, if they can get something for him that would be useful I am all for it.  Something besides two low minors pitchers to replace the two we just gave up would be nice.  Perhaps a package deal with one of the many extra starters they have or something.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

John Baker (208), Eli Whiteside (26), and Rafael Lopez (14) collected a total of 248 PAs last year. Keeping Castillo around to see if he rebounds, to mash lefties, and to be a more than adequate backup seems like a good idea. Trading him now really feels like a sell-low situation.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Hard to believe every other organization doesn't know he's poor at pitch framing as well with a lot of K's and gets hurt a lot, so I doubt he'd be the center piece of any trade.

But maybe a deal from depth with Valbuena or middle infielders...we shall see.

Saltalamacchia sure could use a platoon-mate in Florida.

I do like Rafael Lopez as third in line for at-bats.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Do not want (at expected price tag). Mixed feelings about him leaving the division, if that were the scenario. Obviously it'd be better for Cubs hitters to not have to face him--but then I don't get to see one of the most interesting pitchers in baseball on a regular basis.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Reds seem open for business, but I imagine Chapman, Latos and Bruce are only going for huge returns.

Chapman seems like a guy you wait for the trade deadline to move. Teams are gonna start believing that bullpens win playoff games and you'll get multiple offers.

RSox pulling out all the stops...

 @JosephKellyJr I double dog dare ya @JLester31 to come back to @RedSox #Iwillbeyourbestie

Ryne Sandberg being very chatty about trading Cole Hamels. Says Phillies would need to be wowed and need multiple pieces that could begin helping this year.

typical joe maddon interview on MLB network...a lot of talk about him, his hobbies, and old stories with very little said about the team. the cubs should try to get zorbist...he liked talking about him.

Brian Roberts un-retiring? Probable joining the Cubs before Lester decision is completed. Lester still deciding which contract to take after Cubs don't win WS for 2nd century.

"Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports that Jon Lester's agents are not at the stage to present their client with final offers from teams." duuuuuuude...

castro/bryant/rizzo/soler/montero 2-6 (not necessarily in that order) coming soon to a lineup near you for a good number of years...and there's still the issue of where baez crams into the lineup. get a friend for arrieta (and hope arrieta doesn't regress) and things are looking interesting quite quickly going forward.

Sounds like Boston is getting one final chance. Maybe if the Cubs just promise to start Bryant in April Boras will let them sign Scherzer for less than the final price of Lester

My favorite tweet of the day was from some guy calling Lester a dick for taking so long to decide. I love the Twitverse.

SF sounds effectively out of the lester bidding race based on what MLB network just blurbed...tweets n stuff...not officially out of it.

The Twitverse is saying WGN is saying Lester is coming to Chicago. Anybody confirm? EDIT: Probably a never mind, they're retweeting a nobody named @incarceratedbob:

"ESPN's Buster Olney reports that Jon Lester's decision is "nearing the finish line." Olney adds that Lester "soon will have final options to choose from" and it's "reasonable" to think a decision will come Tuesday night."

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

It IS beginning to look like the Cubs are it, though. Well, it's always fun getting a big time free agent. Year 4 of the contract should be interesting. Maybe bring Jamie Moyer in as Aging Coach? I'm basing that more on the David Ross thing than on Twitverse, which is agog in Twitverseness.

a lot of the most recent chatter about lester, including from theo, seems to indicate that all the sales pitches are done and it's in lester's lap to decide.

@CSNMooney Theo: "We'll always listen, just because it would be crazy not to listen. But we really like the way (Montero and Castillo) fit together."

@GDubCub ML exec with ties to at least one team in bidding believes Lester leaning toward Giants.

Gordo just trolling Cubs fans now.

Joel Sherman: Lester called sfgiants directly to tell them they r out of running. It is cubs v Redsox for Lester.

Looks like BoSox are working on plan b Gammons tweet Always thought Scherzer would go back to Detroit, but one Tiger official says "not happening," but might do Porcello for Cespedes & DeLarosa

There's some interesting depth on the Cubs infield right now: C Montero/Castillo/Lopez 1B Rizzo/Olt 2B Baez/La Stella/Valbuena/Alcantara SS Castro/Baez/Alcantara/Valbuena 3B Bryant/Valbuena/Olt/La Stella And with Ruggiano and Sweeney floating around, the OF has some flexibility too. I know it's not a given that all of those guys are still here come April, but it seems like the only position where an injury could really demolish the Cubs season is 1B. And of course this also gives the front office a lot of room to wheel and deal, as others have noted. Also, there will be no PAs given to Darwin Barney, John Baker, or Nate Schierholtz, and probably very few if any going to Junior Lake. Wow.

as only Desipio can do: Gordo reports source tells him Lester is Dodger bound. (after Dylan Hernandez tweets: Dodgers not in on Lester)

Boston media picking up bad vibes Dan Roche ‏@RochieWBZ 5m5 minutes ago Cherington told us Sox players been talking to/probably still talking to Lester to sign. One player told me "he gave everything he had" #wbz Details Dan Roche ‏@RochieWBZ 9m9 minutes ago FWIW - asked a high ranking #redsox official if they were out on Lester? Got a simple "no comment" - #wbz

"Andy Martino of the New York Daily News was told by major league sources that the Cubs are in "strong position" to land Jon Lester. Martino cautions that the Cubs haven't been told they're getting Lester yet and the Red Sox have "remained in the mix."" ...it's 8:21 on the west coast

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

the market for scherzer is going to be extremely limited. he's looking 28+ million a year, easy. having lester set a bottom floor that's on the high end (probably 22-23m) might be the difference maker between him getting 28-30m a year rather than 26-28m a year.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Boras likes to wait it out and "set the market", probably wanted to see what Lester would go for first. But Lester's lack of draft pick comp probably makes him a little more desirable to most teams if you think the talent is close. Scherzer is the better pitcher and a little younger, but with high rate of arm injuries, is he that much better? Not really...

Plus by all accounts Lester is the clubhouse presence most teams want, haven't heard that about Scherzer.

everything out west seems to have slowed down to a crawl tonight...maybe something will get done tonight, but it's looking a lot like things are going to be picking up tomorrow morning.

Loxas rumoring that Cubs doing some talking with Rockies...maybe Carlos Gonzalez?

road numbers of course much weaker and injury history, but 29 and decent contract. Maybe that big bat that was talked about. Decent enough on-base skills, left-handed, power...no idea on return of course. Have to be pretty decent, although doesn't have to be great. Vogelbach sure would like it there. Maybe Vogelbach and Alcantara (as much as I'd hate to lose Alcantara)?

Don't forget that besides the Coors influence, the road number influence is Petco, Dodger Stadium and AT&T Park, so goes a bit both ways. Think he'd be solidly over an .800 OPS with 20/20 potential (depending on  the knee injury recovers of course).

Recent comments

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Use pitchers when you believe they're good. Don't plan their clock.

    I'm sorry. I'm simply anti-clock/contract management. Play guys when they show real MLB potential talent.

    If Brown hadn't been hurt with the Lat Strain he would've gotten the call, and not Wick.

    Give him a chance. 

    But Wesneski probably gets it

  • crunch (view)

    alzolay...bro...

  • crunch (view)

    wow.  what a blown call.  go cubs, i guess.