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

Cubs Trade Ruggiano

The Cubs cleared some 40-man roster space and made room for a "clubhouse dude" by sending OF Justin Ruggiano to the Seattle Mariners for 25-year old relief pitcher Matt Brazis. Ruggiano was acquired from the Marlins last offseason for Brian Bogusevic and put up an 111 OPS+ with an .846 OPS versus lefties in limited, albeit effective action. He can also handle all 3 OF positions which is a nice added benefit. For whatever reasons that do not particularly interest me, the Cubs seem to want a veteran "clubhouse dude" as Maddon calls them and Johnny Gomes or someone similar seems to be the target. Eh, whatever.

As for Brazis, his career minor league numbers look like this: 2.89 ERA in 158.2 IP, 1.109 WHIP, 7.1 H/9, 2.8 BB/9, 10.9 K/9, 0.5 HR/9...so quite spectacular across the board, although he's probably been a bit old for his leagues. I can't seem to find any worthy scouting reports, but guessing by those K totals, he features a good fastball/slider combo. He touched AA last season, so it's not inconceivable that he'll see the majors this year.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob Richardson

Does it have to be Gomes? Everyone assumes it's a clubhouse guy but could it be a Myers type? Are there any young good outfielders available? The Padres have about 2,000 outfielders. Are any of them worth taking a look at? Obviously, I'm not a fantasy baseball guy.

FROM BASEBALL AMERICA

Brazos can run his fastball up to 92-93 with a three-quarters slot that adds some deception, and he also uses a slider that he has a tendency to fall in love with and overuse, according to scouts. His delivery is clean but he reaches max velocity with some effort. He projects as a middle reliever. 

I saw him pitch once in the AFL and in my notes I wrote that he threw slider after slider.  

2014 AFL: 
10 G, 12.1 IP, 14 H, 8 R (7 ER), 0 HR, 5 BB, 11 K, 5.11 ERA, .298 OppBA,  

NEWPORT: Korean RHRP Chang-Yong Lim was the last true sidearmer the Cubs had, but he wasn't around very long. 

 

Rob Bradford @bradfo · David Ross' decision coming down to Red Sox, Cubs, Padres -- So what can Castillo fetch in a trade?

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

So what can Castillo fetch in a trade?

No less than Mike Trout!!!

Teams that could maybe use a catcher: Rays, Rockies, D'Backs, Rangers, maybe Marlins to platoon with Saltalamacchia

Phillies could get younger there, but Ruiz is still under contract through 2016, hasn't been many rumors about him.

Not sure how many teams could consider Welington a considerable upgrade though.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

What do they have now? Jaso, Vogt and Phegley? Maybe, Beane does love his platoons.

2 years ago Coco Crisp would be interesting, current Crisp you'd hope they'd throw in a few bucks. Not sure what else they have as a CF option either, Beane's not one to punt a season. Could go after Rasmus or Aokii I suppose.

Padres ain't 'effin around...

Marc Topkin ‏@TBTimes_Rays Either way, #Rays said to give up Myers, Hanigan and 2 low minor-lgrs, and get back Rivera, B.Smith, Bauers from #Padres. Then ....

Marc Topkin ‏@TBTimes_Rays  If #Nats are in, #Rays under these scenarios to get Souza and A-ball LHP. If #Nats out, #Rays said get J. Ross, Trea Turner from #Padres

Some rumor that Kemp trade not happening though because of physical

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Trea Turner was signed after being selected in the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft (Rule 4 Draft), so he can't be traded until the first anniversary of signing his contract (June 13, 2015). 

He could remain a PTBNL and continue to play in the minors with SD until then, but would either club risk him getting hurt in the meantime? Or would they just tell him to stay home and avoid dangerous activities until June 13th? 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Looks like we'll find out

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal has the breakdown of who's heading where: Padres shortstop prospect Trea Turner and pitching prospect Joe Ross will go to the Nationals. Myers, Ryan Hanigan, and minor league pitcher Jose Castillo will go to the Padres. Steven Souza, Travis Ott, Rene Rivera, Burch Smith, and Jake Bauers will go to the Rays (with Souza and Ott coming from the Nats). All the players involved need to pass physicals before the trade can be made official. Dec 17 - 5:33 PM

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

though they're both good, i still can't believe t.turner lasted so long in the draft (13th pick)...and somewhat that nick gordon went before t.turner (but i don't know a lot about nick gordon). turner's a rather special hitter with some nice D at SS to match. he doesn't have blazing speed like gordon, but he's not slow at all. turner is "baseball smart" as all hell. he's a guy you can really trust that he will do everything it takes to adjust if/when he becomes exposed. heck, his SB numbers are deceptive because it's more than speed that earns him his high SB numbers.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

With the approval of the MLB Commissioner, a club may assign (loan) a player signed to a minor league contract to the Active List of a minor league club in another organization. However, the player must be returned no later than September 30th. 

So I'm not sure the Padres would be able to loan Trea Turner to the Nationals next season if he isn't returned to SD prior to 9/30. I suppose the Padres could "loan" Turner to Washington's AA affiliate on minor league Opening Day 2015, and then the Nats could "return" (wink, wink) Turner to SD on 6/13, and then the Padres could immediately send Turner to Washington as the PTBNL, but the Commissioner might not permit that.  

NOTE: This is covered in MLB Rule 11 and it was changed a few years ago, requiring the player to be returned by 9/30. 

Loaning players was fairly common back in the day, but it almost never happens now. A club would sometimes "loan" a minor league player to another organization if (for example) two players played the same position and both needed regular playing time at the same classification level (like Dan Vogelbach and Rock Shoulders the last couple of seasons). Sometimes a club would loan a minor league player to another organization to give the other organization a chance to get a first-hand close-up look at a guy they might want to acquire in a trade. It also could be used to get a PTBNL to another organization when it wasn't possible to complete the trade.

It was also used back in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's for minor league players on the Military List, so that the player (usually a pitcher) could play for a minor league club close to his military base, even if the minor league club was in another organization. 

The most-common "loan" you see today is when a minor league player is loaned to a club in the Mexican League (which is the only "independent" league in Minor League Baseball) when the player needs playing time or a pitcher needs innings. The Cubs have loaned several minor league players to clubs in the Mexican League over the past few seasons, most recently RHP Frank Batista, RHP Yoanner Negrin, and catcher Sergio Burruel. 

Heh, Bears starting Jimmy Clausen on Sunday vs. Lions.

Option 1) Trestman in desperate attempt to save job, prays Clausen plays well and pins season on Cutler

Option 2) They've already decided that they'd cut Cutler

Option 3) Might as well play for the draft pick

I doubt it's #2 as you'd like to try and trade Cutler, even for a 5th or 6th round pick and not take the cap hit and benching doesn't help that in any way. I'm going with #1.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I would argue that no matter who the QB is out there, the offensive linemen will be running into each other at the line of scrimmage, the receivers will keep running bad routes and having false starts, the special teams coach still can't count, and the defense will give up points on most nearly every play. So good luck on number 1, although it is likely the reason. Can't blame Trestman for trying the hail mary pass but if it works and they keep Trestman I'll be doing something other than watching football next winter on Sundays. And Monday nights. And Thursday nights.

ex-Cub Aaron Kurcz traded from Red Sox to Braves, the other player Red Sox got for Theo Epstein besides Chris Carpenter.

Padres get Matt Kemp. Was hoping the Cubs could have pulled the trigger on that. Dogers get Grandal, et. al. + plus kick in $39mm

speaking of the Kemp deal, arthritic hips on Kemp, deal in jeopardy which would put Rollins deal in jeopardy and possibly the Wil Myers deal since Padres were getting Ryan Hanigan in that deal to replace Grandal, although it may not.

Dodgers seem annoyed info got leaked since it not only blows up deal but could affect them dealing Kemp to another team, but not like other team wouldn't fucking find out why deal blew up in the first place. Padres seem to still want to do deal, they're either trying to get a better insurance coverage on it or have Dodgers cover it.

Red Sox in talks with mystery team on Allen Craig....be nice if it was Craig instead of Gomes, but I doubt it.

@Adams_Steve Source: RHP Anthony Carter has agreed to terms with #Cubs on minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

Think he pitched in Japan last year, previously with Red Sox and Padres

Peavy to SF. 2/24, backloaded. $4M signing bonus, $7M in 2015, $13M in 2016. bullet dodged fairly easily.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • 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...