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

Anthony Varvaro Waiver Claim Voided

The Cubs waiver claim of RHP Anthony Varvaro has been voided by the MLB Commissioner and he has been returned to the Boston Red Sox, where he will be placed on the BoSox MLB 60-day DL. Varvaro will undergo surgery to repair a torn elbow flexor tendon later this week.

Varvaro was Designated for Assignment by the Red Sox on April 23rd, and was claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers by the Cubs on May 3rd. The Cubs almost immediately placed Varvaro back onto waivers, and the Cubs sent him outright to AAA Iowa on May 8th after Outright Assignment Waivers were secured.

The elbow injury was detected after Varvaro threw a bullpen side-session, at which point the Cubs requested through the MLB Commissioner's office that their waiver claim be voided and that Vavaro be returned to the Red Sox, because he had a pre-existing injury and therefore should not have been placed on Outright Assignmmt Waivers. Varvaro remained inactive on the Iowa Reserve List for two weeks while the matter was under review by MLB.

This is similar to what happened with RHRP Brian Schlitter a few years ago, when the Yankees claimed Schlitter off waivers from the Cubs in January 2011, and then the Phillies subsequently claimed Schlitter off waivers from the Yankees in February 2011, only to find out in Spring Training that Schlitter had a pre-existing elbow injury and needed a UCL elbow ligament transplant (TJS).

The Phillies then contacted the MLB Commissioner and requested that Schlitter be returned to the Cubs, with all previous waiver claims voided. And Schlitter was indeed returned to the Cubs at the end of Spring Training, underwent TJS on the Cubs dime, and spent the balance of the 2011 season on the Cubs MLB 60-day DL. The Cubs also had to return the $50,000 waiver fee they received from the Yankees (although the refund actually was channeled to the Phillies, since the Yankees got their money back in February when Schlitter was claimed off waivers by the Phils).  

The Cubs faced a similar-type situation earlier this month, when they wanted to remove RHRP Blake Parker from their MLB 40-man roster to open up a slot for LHRP James Russell. Because Parker was on the AAA Iowa Cubs 7-day DL with right elbow inflammation and was not physically healthy enough to play, he could not be placed on Outright Assignment Waivers at that time. So in order to remove Parker from the MLB 40-man roster, the Cubs had to either recall Parker from his minor league Optional Assignment and place him on their MLB 60-day DL (and pay him a big league salary for at least two months), or release him and then try and re-sign him to a minor league contract (for his minor league split salary). The Cubs chose the latter (although of course Parker had to agree to go along with it), and Parker is now rehabbing his elbow injury at Extended Spring Training in Mesa.  

 

Comments

Herrera in for Russell today. Sunday is usually a day that backups get into the lineup. i.e. Mike Olt gets to take the lineup card to home plate.

Javy cranking up -- 2 HRs (so far) today, now hitting .326 with OPS of .949. But. what's up with all the errors (11 in 22 games)?

HR: Alcantara, A (6, 1st inning off Gaviglio, 0 on, 0 out), Baez, J 2 (5, 1st inning off Gaviglio, 0 on, 1 out; 5th inning off Gaviglio, 0 on, 0 out). ...and Christian Villaneuva 3-3 with a double. 7-2, I Cubs in the 5th. What are the chances CV becomes a MLB 3rd baseman? He seems to have improved offensively. From a third baseman perspective, on a marginally-related note, Casey McGehee was DFA'd by Giants.

I think they should move Castro to LF, Russell to SS, and bring up Baez to play 2B. Castro is making too many errors at SS and Russell is not super comfortable at 2B. I am getting tired of waiting for Castro to grow into this. At some point he has to develop or they have to move on.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Don't think Castro has the bat to play LF. LF needs to be an impact offensive position. Castro is a good offensive player for a middle infielder -- not so much a corner IF or OF. I agree on Starlin -- Castro is on place for a 30+ error season. Still seems to be a guy who relies on talent and makes little effort to learn the game.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Well, Castro had a .777 OPS in 2014, which would have placed him 10th in MLB among left fielders. His 14 HRs would have been 13th. His 33 doubles 12th. Now he had the second-best OPS among short stops (behind only Peralta) so moving him to LF would certainly be a step down. He'd go from a top offensive talent to middle of the pack. But if Baez can produce at an above average level at 2B then some of that would even out. And if team defense would be improved a lot, and the bench strengthened by making Coghlan the first bat off, it might be worth it. Though I am certain Castro would pout, not hit well because of it, and probably make some blunders in LF, so perhaps it's a bad idea.

Looking all of the comps on BR and digging into it a bit more, it just seems like to me that Castro is a worse fielding version of Edgar Renteria. He'll get 2,000+ hits, 400-500 doubles, 150 HR, put up an OPS in the mid-700s, and be worth 30-ish WAR for his career. He'll have a great career. But he'll be solidly in that second tier seet of short stops. I'm running out of hope that he is going to turn the corner and turn into an excellent defender, improve his batting eye and walk more, or start hitting for more power. Any of that could still happen, of course, he's only 25. But we said that at 22, 23, and 24 as well, and at some point we won't be able to say that anymore.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Castro overall is a perfectly fine, average to above average middle infielder lineup slot who should probably be batting 6th on a team with a George Soler who ultimately starts to hit like I think he will. People make too much out of Castro's errors and gloss over his good fielding. He's had 9 errors this year so far, which is about 5 too many at this stage in his career, and they're still related in my mind to a lack of concentration. Ritalin isn't allowed in the MLB but they should try an exception for him. That late inning error the other day cost him a few fans who may have been on the fence about him. I even turned on him that night on comments here, and I usually am a defender. Castro has progressed some on the fielding front, but most people don't notice it because he's not making some of the errors he used to make. He's charging the ball more on easy grounders than he has in the past. That saves errors. He's getting the ball out of the glove quickly and turning the dp pretty well with an inexperienced second baseman. Easy stuff to gloss over since it doesn't produce a stat. All in all, he sure gets a lot of hate for a 25 year old with 894 hits. Moving him to left field is no answer. He'll be a middling player there on a team bursting at the seams with young talent. TheoCorp is playing this right. Until Russell and/or Baez can push him out of the lineup, or unless someone can offer up decent value - not easy when guys like Bob Brenly and Valentine are berating him and building up his legend as a bad player, he's probably not going anywhere. Ultimately I see Russell at short and Baez at second, especially if Baez keeps showing some progress, but I don't think anything can happen until Baez comes up and can show he won't swing at everything coming within 50 feet of the strike zone. Improvement in the minors is a positive, but it's not the same as facing these MLB pitchers with ridiculous breaking stuff. I'd be very wary of pushing out a 25 year old ball player who has gotten 894 hits against modern pitching staffs. He drives me crazy sometimes, too, but not a lot of players are perfect. The ones that are are superstars. Barring injury, Castro is going to be the shortstop for the rest of the year, so may as well get used to it.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

Unfortunately, his OPS this year is down to .646 (10th among NL SS), which makes his batting clean-up even more problematic and seems to have amplified his weaknesses as a hitter. And, through yesterday's game, he was the only "qualified" NL SS with a negative WAR, for what that's worth. If he were hitting 6th or 7th, his bat would be a bonus on a good team -- right now, he is counted on to do too much.

scrubs lose. hell of a fun series to watch...except for the cubs coming out on the wrong side of the W/L.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

"That's the key for Javy. What he's done the most lately is not overswinging. He's not trying to hit 800-foot home runs any more. He's just trying to hit 350- to 400-foot home runs, that's all. He's working really hard at calming things down." if that's true (and it's working for him) then he is basically down there successfully re-inventing himself. calming down his violent swing while retaining most of the power is ideal for everyone involved. can't wait to see it in person. hope it's legit and it sticks.

AZ PHIL - Regarding the Valvaro situation. How many CURRENT Cubs and Cubs prospects have under gone Theos Tommy John Surgery collection? - Jason Motte, Tsuyoshi Wada, Hector Rondon, Brian Sclitter, Dallas Beeler, Chris Denorfia, Corey Black, Dylan Cease, Drake Britton, Daniel Schlereth, Ryan McNeil, Josh Conway, Austin Reed, Jose Rosario, Erling Moreno, Barrett Loux, Stephen Bruno, Taylor Teagarden, Will Remillard....am I missing any?? I think theo likes TJS players more than Boston players

84 pitches for wada today...removed with 0 on and 1 out. maybe he can pitch 86 the next outing...maybe make it to 100 pitches in a game by august.

Another daytime loss -- now 3 under during the day and 7 over at night. Time to set a curfew for the young guys.

Congrats, and welcome to the highly confusing world of having a boy and a girl. Very, very different creatures, right from the beginning. I completely agree with Phil -- the first time your son picks up a bat, make sure he swings it left-handed. It is such a huge advantage to be a lefty hitter. Watching my son deal with RH curveballs in high school has made me lament the fact that I didn't make him swing lefty when he was young....

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd.  it's madrigal, period.  for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.

    occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay.  going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.

    seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.

    He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • 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.