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

Feel the Chill

3/18 UPDATE:

The Kansas City Royals have signed recently-released RHRP Justin Grimm to a major league contract ($1.25M base salary with another $300K in potential performance bonuses).

But because Grimm was signed to a non-guaranteed contract and was released by the Cubs prior to MLB Opening Day, there is no salary offset for the Cubs. The $530K termination pay Grimm got from the Cubs is - NOT - offset by the $1.25M Grimm gets from the Royals. They are considered two unrelated deals, so Grimm ultimately could make upwards of $2M+ in 2018 (close to the $2.2M he was scheduled to make if he had not been released) if he reaches all of the performance bonuses (the $530K termination pay he got from the Cubs + the $1.25M base salary he gets from the Royals + the $300K in potential performance bonuses).

If Grimm had been released by the Cubs after MLB Opening Day, he would have received the entire $2.2M salary he got from the arbitration panel as termination pay, and then the Royals could have signed him for just the MLB minimum salary ($555K) and the Cubs would have been on the hook for the remaining $1.645M.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

3/15 UPDATE:

The Cubs have released veteran RHRP Justin Grimm.

Because he was released 15 or fewer days prior to MLB Opening Day, Grimm will get 45 days salary as termination pay (which is about $530K of the $2.2M 2018 salary that he was awarded by an arbitration panel last month). Note that the Cubs would have saved themselves about $180K if they had released Grimm prior to yesterday (Wednesday), because players with non-guaranteed contracts receive only 30 days salary as termination pay if released more than 15 days prior to MLB Opening Day.

So the Cubs MLB Reserve List now stands at 39 (one slot is open), and 39 players are assigned to the Cubs Spring Training Active List (including ten NRI).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


3/11 ORIGINAL POST:

A player on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released more than 15 days prior to Opening Day receives 30 days salary as termination pay (paid at the "minor league rate" if the player is signed to a "split contract"), and a player on an MLB Reserve List signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released 15 or fewer days prior to Opening Day receives 45 days salary as termination pay (all players paid at the "Major League rate"). A player on an MLB Reserve List signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released during the MLB regular season receives 100% of his salary as termination pay (paid at the "minor league rate" for players on Optional Assignment to the minors). An unsigned player on an MLB Reserve List released during the off-season receives no termination pay.

So this coming Tuesday (3/13) is the last day a club can release a player on its MLB 40-man roster who is signed to a non-guaranteed contract and pay the player only 30 days salary (which is about 1/6 of the player's salary) as termination pay - AND - at the "minor league rate" if the player is signed to a split contract (meaning the player's salary varies depending on whether the player is on the club's MLB 25-man roster or is on Optional Assignment to the minors). 
What this means is that if (for example) RHRP Shae Simmons (who has had shoulder issues recently and a long history of arm problems throughout his career) is signed to a non-guaranteed contract and then is released by this coming Tuesday, the Cubs would only have to pay him about $20,000 (30 days pay based on his minor league split salary of $120K) as termination pay. If the Cubs were to wait until after Tuesday but still release Simmons prior to MLB Opening Day, he would get 45 days pay based on his major league salary (1/4 of $750K, or about $187,500, a difference of about $165K). What the Cubs CANNOT do is send Simmons to the minors by optional or outright assignment while he is injured, because a club (in most cases) cannot option a player to the minors while he is injured and also cannot place a player on Outright Assignment Waivers unless and until a player is able to immediately render service to whatever club might claim him.

If Simmons has a shoulder injury and the Cubs do not release him prior to MLB Opening Day, the only other choice the Cubs would have would be to place him on the club's MLB 10-day (or 60-day) DL by MLB Opening Day and owe him the full $750K but with the possibility that he might be able to pitch later in the season, or possibly release him a a later date (but still owe him 100% of his 2018 salary as termination pay).

These two release deadlines (30 days salary -- with a variance if the player is signed to a "split" contract" -- as termination pay if the player is released more than 15 days prior to MLB Opening Day, and 45 days salary -- paid at the "major league rate" for players signed to a "split contract" -- as termination pay if the player is released 15 days or fewer prior to MLB Opening Day) apply to all players on a club's MLB 40-man roster who are signed to non-guaranteed contracts, which would include ALL pre-arbitration (auto-renewal) players as well as any player who is awarded a contract by an arbitration panel (even if the player loses in the hearing), which would include RHRP Justin Grimm.

So look for the Cubs to possibly release one or more players currently on their MLB 40-man roster prior to MLB Opening Day, perhaps even by this coming Tuesday.

Comments

j.grimm owes d.maples lunch for taking a little pressure off him.  they're going head to head in sucking.

The Phillies have reportedly agreed to a contract with ex-Cubs RHSP Jake Arrieta. Because they extended a Qualifying Offer to Arrieta after he became a free-agent, the Cubs will get a compensation draft pick between the 2nd & 3rd rounds of the 2018 draft. (They also got a comp pick between the 2nd & 3rd rounds after fellow Qualified Player Wade Davis signed with the Rockies). The two Cubs comp picks will be slotted after the conclusion of Competitive Balance Round "B," in the vicinity of picks #77-78-79 (exact slots still TBD, depending on when & if Alex Cobb signs). 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

I am psyched he's not a Brewer. I like him too much to want him to be terrible, and obviously I can't wish him success with a division rival. Glad to have him here in Philly where he can do minimal damage to the Cubs. I am surprised it's a multi-year deal. I would've thought if he signed with the Phillies he'd be looking to recoop his value and test the market again.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Ditto -- very glad he's not in the division, or in LA or WASH.  $75 million is nothing to sneeze at, but it's likely his last big deal.  In 3 years, he'll be 35 years old.

I always felt the "aces get seven years" quote would come back to haunt him.  Hubris, and all that.  Looking forward to some interesting sound bites from Mr. Boras.  His clients have come in miles below expectations.

 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

given the current market the phillies got f'n raked over the coals...or darvish needs a new agent.

"Arrieta will earn $30 million in 2018, $25 million in 2019 and $20 million in 2020. The right-hander has the option to opt-out after the 2019 season, but the contract also allows the Phillies to void that potential opt-out clause in the form of a two-year extension for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In that event, Arrieta would earn $20 million per season for those two years, with incentives that could drive it up to $25 million per season. All told, the final deal could wind up being for five years and between $125 and $135 million."

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Agree. Given the bargains happening, see Lance Lynn,  this seems like an overpay.  Tthe Phils wanted a shorter term deal and Boras somehow figured out a way to use that as leverage as spring training is halfway completed. As others have said, just glad Jake didn't end up with Cards, Brewers, Nats or Dodgers.  Thank you for your service Jake, it was an amazing ride. 

"Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday that Javier Baez (hamstring) could return to Cactus League action "by the end of the week.""

that goalpost keeps getting moved.

happ hits HR #5...russell finally hits his 1st...both off bumgarner.

chatwood is making the regulars-heavy giants lineup look like he's playing a college exhibition game (5ip 1h 2bb 9k, 0 r/er).

also, v.caratini had a.jackson collide with him on an attempted steal of home (C to 2nd to C with men on the corners).  caratini held onto the ball and got the out.  he stayed in the game, but might be sore later.

heyward hit his 1st homer...off a nice lefty, too (r.r.ay).

hendricks went 6ip 3h 0bb 7k, 1 r/er

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

CHARLIE: Kyle Hendricks had all of his pitches working yesterday. Vintage Hendricks. He was masterful. He had more than one of the D'backs hitters so messed-up they walked back to the bench shaking their heads after striking out. I mean, how can you swing late on an 86-MPH FB? How can you take a 72-MPH curve for strike-three?

so now grimm is out of the picture, maples has 2 weeks to turn a full 180 on the crap he's been throwing, and it's still questionable whether montgomery will break the season with the team without being traded.

[ ]

In reply to by bradsbeard

he's been vocal about how he would like to be a starter rather than hang out in the pen. it's not gotten to the point of "start me or trade me" but if the cubs could accommodate it while getting a useful return, it may happen. i wouldn't count on it being a sure thing, but it's floating out there.

The Kansas City Royals have signed recently-released RHRP Justin Grimm to a major league contract ($1.25M base salary with another $300K in potential performance bonuses). But Because Grimm was signed to a non-guaranteed contract and was released by the Cubs prior to MLB Opening Day, there is no salary offset for the Cubs. The $530K termination pay Grimm got from the Cubs is - NOT - offset by the $1.25M Grimm gets from the Royals. They are considered two unrelated deals, so Grimm ultimately could make upwards of $2M+ in 2018 (close to the $2.2M he was scheduled to make if he had not been released) if he reaches all of the performance bonuses (the $530K termination pay he got from the Cubs + the $1.25M base salary he gets from the Royals + the $300K in potential performance bonuses). If Grimm had been released by the Cubs after MLB Opening Day, he would have received the entire $2.2M salary he got from the arbitration panel as termination pay, and then the Royals could have signed him for just the MLB minimum salary ($555K) and the Cubs would have been on the hook for the remaining $1.645M.

2 games televised (cubs split squad), same start time, vs CLE and vs KC...chatwood vs KC, Z vs CLE

d.maples...wtf has happened to you?

geez...

straight up one of the nastiest off-speed pitches around...the break on the slider is so nasty. but...wow...this spring has been outing after outing of ineffective play.

"Jorge Polanco received an 80-game suspension, without pay, for testing positive for performance -enhancing drugs."

uh oh.  that's MIN's starting SS.

nick gordon, you ready to play in the bigs?

harsh suspension for a team that's trying to compete this year.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Makes me wonder how many players were actually juicing back in the day. Probably much higher than I would like to believe. We always point to the bulked up sluggers as obvious examples, but so many of the guys getting caught these days are speed guys (Polanco/Dee Gordon/Starling Marte) or pitchers (Jenrry Meija 3x/Ervin Santana/David Paulino). Hell, even Neifi Perez has failed drugs tests, although for amphetamines, not steroids.

Justin Wison doing Justin Wilson (while with the Cubs) things ... 0 IP 3 H 3 ER 1 BB 0 K 1 HR 7.50 ERA. It's spring an 'at, but dayum would help if the bullpen does not suck out of the gate. 

[ ]

In reply to by Eric S

he looked terrible today...so did montgomery...so did maples... also, contreras's throws from behind the plate haven't exactly been as surgically precise as we're used to and he showed it again today. hopefully that's just spring cobwebs. also also, it seems alberto baldonado needs to have an eye kept on him even if he's probably starting the year in AAA.

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...