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 Re-sign Munenori Kawasaki

It was initially reported as a rumor by Japanese media earlier in the week, but Baseball America is now confiming that the Cubs have indeed re-signed INF Munenori Kawasaki to a 2017 minor league contract. He will almost certainly receive a NRI to Spring Training.

Now 35, Kawasaki spent twelve seasons in NPB (the Japanese major league) with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, hitting 294/345/378 with 267 SB in 1,145 NPB games 2000-11. He was an eight-time NPB All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner, he led the NPB in stolen bases once, and was a member of Team Japan in the WBC in 2006 and 2009. He was also a fan favorite, one of the most-popular players in Japan.

Kawasaki became an unrestricted free-agent after the 2011 season, and was signed by the Seattle Mariners in December 2011. Over the past five seasons with Seattle, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Cubs, Kawasaki has logged more Plate Appearances in AAA than he has in MLB, hitting a combined 237/320/289 in 276 MLB games (738 PA) and a combined 255/346/312 in 233 AAA games (815 PA). He hit 255/352/312 in 102 games at AAA Iowa in 2016, almost matching exactly his AAA numbers from the previous four seasons. He is what's known in baseball as a high-contact small-ball slap-hitter (no power, a good bunter, and tough to strike out). 

Although he is no longer the player he was in Japan, Kawasaki is still an outstanding defender at SS, 2B, and 3B, and he still runs very well, too. "Moonie" (as he is known) also is a very funny man, keeping his teammates and the media in stitches with his dancing, one-liners, and hilarious interviews. 

link

Kawasaki will likely serve as the utility infielder (SS-2B-3B) at AAA Iowa in 2017, and because he is an outstanding defensive shortstop, will probably get first-call if anything happens to Addison Russell or Javier Baez. However, Kawasaki is out of minor league options (he had a 4th mnor league option available in 2016, and it was spent), so if the Cubs add Kawasaki to the MLB 40-man roster at some point in 2017, he can't be sent back to the minors without first passing through waivers, and he can elect to be a free-agent if he is sent outright to the minors after being added to the 40. So it won't be quite as easy for the Cubs to move Kawasaki up from Des Moines to Chicago and then back again to Des Moines as it was last year. 

Also, Kawasaki is an Article XX-B player, so he will receive a $100K retention bonus if he isn't added to the MLB 40-man roster by Opening Day, and he will also receive an automattic June 1st opt-out if he isn't added to the 40 by 6/1. Last year, the Cubs got around that by releasing Kawasaki and two other Article XX-B players signed to minor league contracts (LHRP Manny Parra and OF Shane Victorino) five days prior to MLB Openng Day  and then re-signing each of them to another (different) 2016 minor league contract without the Article XX-B rights. (An Article XX-B player gets the $100K retention bonus and automatic 6/1 opt-out only if he signs a minor league contract at least ten days prior to MLB Opening Day, so by releasing Kawasaki, Parra, and Victorino and then re-signing them to a new 2016 minor league contract five days prior to Opening Day, the Article XX-B rights no longer applied).

Comments

Thanks PHIL. Man, the Packers have talent, and Rogers of course, but like the Cardinals they get every possible break in big games. Hail Marys, no calls, on and on.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I don't understand why teams only rush 3 in hail mary situations. It gives the receivers time to get downfield and get position (and offensive pass interference is never, ever called, which is ridiculous) and gives the QB time and room to step into a long throw. Blitz and rush 5 or 6 guys, particularly with the pass rushers the Giants have -- you still have at least 5 in coverage.

Cubs Up Likeablitlity Factor x1000

@MaryAnnAhernNBC Breaking: Confirmed! Cubs to White House Monday before #ObamaFarewell

Fuck off Trump!

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Ha! Lifelong Sox fan. Total class. Total opposite of the new guy coming in. What an interesting next 4 years it will be. I hope many of you have health insurance through your companies. If not now, try to apply to Starbucks, Trader Joes, or Ho Foods before the boom gets lowered.

[ ]

In reply to by Hagsag

I dread the last eight. So much for our fears. One thing I do know is that Obama has not been a Sox fan all his life. He lived in Hawaii till he was six, then in Jakarta till ten, then back to Hawaii for high school. He went to Occidental College in LA for college and finished at Columbia (NYC), then to Harvard Law. So far no Chicago, not till he taught for a while in the law school at U of C. Edit: actually he community-organized in Chicago on the south side beginning in 1985, when he was 24. This was before law school.

"Joe Maddon wrote down a lineup today for the first time. With a righty on the mound he had Kyle Schwarber leading off followed by Bryant, Rizzo and Zobrist. He emphasized it's a January lineup."

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

Schwarber, Heyward, Zobrist (LF, CF, RF)

Bryant, Russell, Baez, Rizzo (3B, SS, 2B, 1B)

Contreras (C)

That's my guess on the most common lineup, which with Maddon is maybe 60% of the time.  Bryant, Rizzo and Russell see 150+ games, Heyward maybe if he finds his groove. Zobrist sees a few more days off as he's getting older but still in the 140 range with Baez. Guessing Jay gets in around 110 games.

Guessing they'd really like some more SP soon or maybe they're counting on some of the Iowa guys to be ready by mid-season or spring training cuts. Guessing they'd like to see a few stints of a 6-man rotation to curb innings considering last year's playoffs and hopefully another run this year.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

on that note...Maddon just benched Baez :)

@CarrieMuskat Here's the rest of Maddon's January #Cubs lineup: Schwarber, Bryant, Rizzo, Zo, Russell, Heyward, Contreras, Jay or Almora, pitcher.

Maddon also said he's considering having the pitcher bat 8th again to help set up Schwarber with more RBI chances. #Cubs

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Rob G -- I think/hope the same thing, which is why I didn't really get signing Jay (for $8MM). If you assume 6 guys play most days -- Contreras, Rizzo, Addy, KB, Heyward and Zobrist -- that leaves 2 spots for Schwarber, Baez, Almora & Jay. I know which 2 get my vote. Almora can be the 4th OF, and Szczur can be the 5th. Really don't get the Jay signing, particularly since Maddon has given no indication that he considers him a leadoff candidate (and may bat him 9th). Maybe Jay is insurance for Schwarber's knee/JHey's rebound/Javy's inconsistency? All faith in Theo/Jed, but it just seems a weird move.

[ ]

In reply to by billybucks

Suppose with losing Fowler they wanted a left-handed bat...doubt Szczur is a Cub this year. Jay's a reasonable CF insurance with Almora if Heyward doesn't get it  going. Sounds like the plan is for Baez to be a bench guy to start season but I just doubt that lasts too long. 

Regardless, we know how quickly things can change and injuries and Maddon will use them all.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

You guys keep saying you wonder why they went after Jay since there's no room in the lineup. Why not assume that they got him for the lineup rather than a reserve role? Jay appears, after all, in the only lineup card that Maddon or anyone else "in the know" has revealed. Since Jay bats left, I assume that Jay/Almora will usually resolve to Jay. Also, I don't think this has been discussed here and it may spark a lively debate: in my opinion, Maddon does the batting order but Epstein and Hoyer decide who plays, not just who makes the roster. I'm not saying the front office weighs in every day but I'm sure they give Maddon guidance. They're his bosses. I can't imagine that they sign a player or trade for a player just so the manager can park him on the bench. In general, people attribute more juice to the manager than he possesses. Look at the org chart.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

You guys keep saying you wonder why they went after Jay since there's no room in the lineup.

I don't recall saying or thinking that. He makes sense as a CF some of the time, maybe a lot of the time depending on how things play out. I don't know if Heyward will bounce back and I don't know who will get injured. He's there, he'll play...exactly how much will be determined. He hasn't gotten over 100 games in 2 seasons and he's 32. 

more stuff from Maddon:

@CSNMooney At Dabo Swinney's request, Joe Maddon filmed a Try Not to Suck video message for Clemson's football team before title-game win over Alabama.

There was a quote from Clemson quarterback after yesterday on Twitter we should all be familiar with, : "Don't permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure of the moment."

Also,

Maddon brushed off post-World Series griping from Montero and Chapman: “It’s unfortunate that they felt they had to discuss it that way..." Maddon expects to address Montero's post-parade interview on @WaddleandSilvy at some point: “I’m sure we’ll talk. Miggy likes to talk.”

"Cubs and RHP Justin Grimm avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.825 million contract." "Cubs and RHP Hector Rondon avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $5.8 million contract."

I could understand a low base salary with mega-incentives for 2017 and a high-ticket club option with buy-out for 2018, but a reported one-year contract worth $6M guaranteed (plus incentives) and no second year club option for a pitcher coming off Thoracic Outlet surgery? Yikes!

Apparently starting pitching is really a "seller's market" right now. 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

teams have money to burn and he'll be subjected to a QO if he's good.  $6M is a set-up man in today's costs. Don't mind the Cubs passing up that offer, but it's not unreasonable for the upside it gets them.

That being said, not a lot of history of pitchers being themselves after Thoracic Outlet surgery so we'll see.

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...