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 Add Three More Minor League Free-Agents to the Fold

SAT 1/10 UPDATE: Matt Eddy at BA is now reporting that the Cubs have also signed 27-year old RHRP Jorge DeLeon to a minor league contract. DeLeon was signed by the Houston Astros as a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic in 2006 and was converted to RHP post-2009. He was added to the Astros 40-man roster post-2010 and made his big league debut in August 2013. He was claimed off waivers by Oakland in October 2014 and then was released last month. DeLeon will almost certainly get an NRI to Spring Training, and then be bullpen depth at AAA Iowa.   

=====================================================

Baseball America reports the Cubs have signed three more minor league free-agents over the past few days, including veteran MLB catcher Taylor Teagarden, INF Chris Valaika, and RHP Andres Santiago. The trio join RHRP Anthony Carter, RHRP Fernando Cruz, OF Adron Chambers, and INF Jonathan Herrera, who were signed to minor league contracts earlier. All seven will likely receive an NRI to Spring Training.  

The 31-year old right-handed hitting Teagarden has accumulated 4+ years of MLB Service Time as a back-up catcher over the course of seven seasons with TEX, BAL, and NYM. He has plus-HR power and an above-average arm, hitting 202/262/382 with 21 HR and 26 doubles with 31% CS in 172 MLB games. He was the 3rd round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2005 out of the University of Texas, and has hit 265/376/493 with 74 HR in 399 career minor league games. While he will certainly receive a Spring Training invite (NRI) with the big club, he will probably end up sharing the Iowa catcher job with Rafael Lopez, and be available to be called up if anything happens to one of the catchers on the big league roster. 

Valaika has a career 238/282/351 slash-line in 99 MLB games (mostly with Cincinnati) 2010-14. The 29-year old was signed to a minor league contract by the Cubs this time last year, and spent Spring Training with the Cubs before being assigned to Iowa, where he hit 278/344/423 in 102 AAA games. He was called up in August after Emilio Bonifacio was traded to the Braves, and spent the last two months of the 2014 season with the Cubs, hitting 231/282/339 in 44 games and playing all over the infield (1B-2B-3B-SS), before being outrighted back to AAA in October. Valaika will compete in Spring Training with Jonathan Herrera and recently-outrighted Logan Watkins for one or maybe two MLB utility infield slots. 

Santiago had a fairly pedestrian eight-year minor league career with the Dodgers after being selected in the 16th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, but he threw a nine-inning no-hitter with 12 strikeouts against the Tennessee Smokies (the Cubs AA affiliate) in his last AA start last August. After turning 25 in October, Santiago pitched for Caguas in Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (the Puerto Rican Winter League) and put up a 0.96 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with a 4/12 BB/K and no HR allowed in 16 games (18.2 IP) as los Criollos primary set-up man. As such, he will probably be in the mix for a bullpen job at AAA Iowa in 2015.

Now 28, Anthony Carter was drafted out of a Georgia JC by the White Sox in 2005 and was signed as a "Draft & Follow" in 2006. He was converted to closer at AA in 2010, and pitched in 129 AAA games 2011-14. He was on the White Sox 40-man roster for two seasons but never got called up. He spent most of the 2014 season working as a middle reliever for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan (NPB), before returning to the U. S. and signing with the Cubs. He will provide bullpen depth at AAA Iowa in 2015, and could conceivably get a call-up at some point during the season.

Adron Chambers hit 216/289/295 (257/333/357 vs RHP) for the St. Louis Cardinals in 84 MLB games 2011-13, with a 277/364/394 slash-line in 740 minor league games (315/392/444 vs RHP at AAA in 2014). The 28-year old left-handed hitter can play al three outfield positions, and is probably destined to be at Iowa in 2015, although he could get the call if something happens to Chris Coghlan or Ryan Sweeney. Chambers mashes RHP, but his futility against LHP (even in the minors) would probably relegate him to platoon duty.   

Fernando Cruz was drafted as an infielder by the Kansas City Royals out of Puerto Rico in 2007. He was converted from a 3B to RHP in 2011, after a previous conversion to catcher failed. Cruz did not pitch in either 2013 or 2014 (he spent the entire 2013 season on the 60-day DL), and was released. But the 24-year old Cruz was one of the best relievers in the Puerto Rican Winter League post-2014, where he was a teammate of Javy Baez at Santurce. Cruz probably will be competing for a bullpen job at AA Tennessee.  

Of the seven free-agents signed by the Cubs to minor league contracts post-2014, 30-year old Jonathan Herrera probably has the best chance to claim a big league job in Spring Training. A switch-hitter who can play 2B-SS-3B, Herrera (like Taylor Teagarden) has 4+ years of MLB Service Time, hitting .263 in 417 career MLB games (mostly with the Colorado Rockies). Because of his age and MLB experience, Herrera might have an opt-out clause in his contract that will allow him to ask for and receive his release if he doesn't make the Cubs Opening Day MLB 25-man roster.   

 

Comments

"Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Athletics are close to acquiring Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar from the Rays." i was wondering what their plan for their middle IF was. they did a "sell off" this off-season, but they never did take care of 2nd/SS unless you're a marcus semien fan as a 2015 starter. daniel robertson most likely needs more time until he slots in. if this is legit, the A's might be out of the hector olivera (cuban) chase.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

giving up robertson would be weirdly interesting for 1-year of the key part of the trade and 2-3 seasons of y.escobar at market price. i don't know much about him except what's written and his stats, but both seem glowing. and yeah, any trade by another team that opens up a C position would be cool for the cubs. it's not so cool TOR is also trying to shop d.navarro right now, though. the market isn't exactly saturated, but there's not many left looking starter-quality C.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

When Oakland traded Addison Russell to the Cubs in the Samardzija deal, one of the reasons mentioned as to why Billy Beane would be willing to do that is that the A;s had fellow SS prospect Daniel Robertson coming up behind Russell.

Russell was the A's 1st round draft pick (#11 overall) in 2012 and received a $2.625M bonus, and Robertson was selected by the A's in the Supplemental 1st round (#34 overall) of the 2012 draft (compensation pick for losing Article XX-B FA OF Josh Willingham) and got a $1.5M bonus. They immediately became the A's #1 and #1-A hotshot shortstop prospects (I remember watching them in Instructs post-2012), and it's odd that just over two years later not just one but both have been traded.

BTW, both Russell and Robertson played SS for the Mesa Solar Sox post-2014. 

"YES Network's Jack Curry reports that the Yankees will hire Jeff Pentland as hitting coach and Alan Cockrell as assistant hitting coach." that's a blast from the past. i didn't even know pentland was still around the game. also, t.colvin signed a minor league deal with MIA.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that prior to Ben Zobrist being traded to the Athletics, the Rays, Mets and Nationals had discussed a blockbuster three-team trade.

In the proposed deal, Zobrist and Yunel Escobar would have gone to the Nationals, Ian Desmond would've gone to the Mets and the Mets would've sent top prospects to the Rays. The Mets ultimately felt the price of two top prospects was too steep to pay for Desmond, causing the deal to fall through. While nothing came of it, it shows that the Mets are still in the market for an upgrade at shortstop.

in reply to the twitter box item on Gary Kubiak: Brad Biggs/Tribune says Ravens announce OC Gary Kubiak is staying in Baltimore. Move on, nothing to see here...

Rex Ryan to Bills because who the hell needs a quarterback...(Rodgers, Luck, Brady and Wilson waive hi).

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

yes...I mean I don't want Kyle Orton noodle arm strength, but I haven't read anything that suggests Mariota can't make the sideline or deep throws. Most comps put him in Griffin/Kaepernick territory because of his legs. Reading defenses is one thing that is a concern, saying he doesn't go to his second, third options a lot, but they say he's gotten better and a lot has to do with their offense design where the first option is open a lot.

Also read that folks are worried he's a bit passive and almost too nice.

Befofe folks jump on the Griffin/Kaepernick comp, that's more about the physical tools (R. Wilson could be another) of which Griffin was a beast coming out of college and his first year until Shanahan sacrificed him on national television. They did say Mariota is real good at avoiding contact when running.

I have no clue and I highly doubt there's any situation where the Bears could get him. I could see Winston dropping, but I'd avoid that headache at all costs.

The FA class is...um....J. Locker, M. Vick, C. Ponder, M. Sanchez, R. Mallet, C. McCoy, J. Clausen and a whole slew of no names. Not sure who could be a salary cap hit.

 

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Diamondbacks are "in the mix" for James Shields.

Rosenthal thinks it's a "strong indication" Shields' market is not at $100 million, as the D'Backs are not willing to go that high for the righty. He also adds that Shields did indeed have a $110 million offer from someone, but the veteran didn't want to go to that team.

that seems unwise...

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

i keep imagining welly/olt packages being thrown around at GMs. it's going to be hard to have him do much more than play corner IF/OF and even then he's not expected to start regularly at any of those slots...plus he has to compete with an already crowded OF bench pool for playing time.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

That analysis is horse-cock. It actually illustrates part of my argument when it talked about how screwed up his mental approach became as captain happy chose positive matchups for him (ie had a quick hook and sat him a lot - got into his head which is rare bullshit to instill upon a rookie). I'm not gonna revisit months of argument other than to say wait until (arguably) another team has a little patience and he gets comfortable. He could very likely be a much better player than this analysis suggests.

Watching OSU manhandle the fancy-pants boys from Oregon once again proves the Mike Tyson adage: Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

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.