Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

39 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (one slot is open), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL and one player has been DESIGNATED FOR ASSIGNMENT (DFA)   

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, three players are on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-23-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
Christopher Morel
* Matt Mervis
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 9 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 3
Kyle Hendricks, P 
* Drew Smyly, P 
* Justin Steele, P   

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P

DFA: 1 
Garrett Cooper, 1B 
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

What's a Hot Stove without rumors?

Submitted by CubbyBlue on

Comments

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Submitted by crunch on Tue, 12/25/2018 - 12:40 pm

nice stuff.

my favorite rumor train so far involves chatwood+heyward+???? for some hardcore salary relief or high end hitter/pitcher.  it's like some cubs fans got crack for christmas.  they could at least sweeten the deal by throwing in duensing.

at least the harper rumors have some basis in reality.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 12/25/2018 - 12:00 pm

A trade that should happen: Ian Happ for Nick Senzel. 

Happ went to college at the U. of Cincinnati and hits like Rogers Horsnby on steroids at Great American ballpark, he can play CF (the one position the Reds have open after their post-season moves), he is one of the fastest runners (based on basepath sprint speed) in MLB, and he can hit anywhere in the batting order. 

Senzel is a year younger and a better hitter than Happ with plus-power/hard-contact, he is a natural third-baseman (albeit blocked by Eugenio Suarez at the moment) and is a better defender at 3B than Kris Bryant (allowing the Cubs to move Bryant to RF), and is a year younger than Happ.  

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Submitted by bradsbeard on Sat, 12/29/2018 - 12:45 am

Since you mentioned freeing up Bryant to play OF, do you have any reason to believe the Cubs want to transition Bryant away from 3B, or is that just an idea to get another bat in the lineup?

Relatedly, do you think Contreras could handle 3B on an occasional basis if they asked him to play it? 

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 12/29/2018 - 12:35 pm

while bryant isn't a defensive liability he seems to have used up his better days there.  he's probably on borrowed time at 3rd...not as quick as he was in past seasons.

the fact he put in 3+ good years there is a lot better than many people assumed he would do in the first place.  a lot of people believed he was OF bound when he was drafted.

that said, he's probably solidly penciled in to play at 3rd next season...maybe longer.  it's not like he's fallen off a cliff defensively.

[ ]

Submitted by bradsbeard on Sat, 12/29/2018 - 12:45 pm

I pretty much agree with this. I don’t see Bryant moving permanently any time soon, though i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s playing his next contract as an OF. For what it’s worth, he looked pretty uncomfortable to me in the OF this season. But I think he has the ability to be a solid OF. 

I am thinking that the Cubs need to find a way to limit Contreras’ innings behind the plate though, and if Contreras could spot at 3B when the Cubs are facing an LHP, you could shift Bryant to LF (where I think he’s more comfortable for whatever reason than RF). 

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 12/31/2018 - 12:23 pm

BRADSBEARD: It isn't so much that Kris Bryant can't play 3B or that he absolutely, positively must be moved to RF (or LF if Kyle Schwarber was traded), but rather if the Cubs can exchange a toolsy, athletic player who is versatile but a bit flawed (Happ) for a younger but unproven near MLB-ready player who can (hopefully) eventually be part of the current Cubs "window" as well as post-2021 (Senzel), that would be a good thing. If he were tio be acquired by the Cubs, Senzel might even spend most of 2019 at AAA (Happ's spot on the 25 could be filled for a year by somebody like Jon Jay), and then maybe the Cubs would even look to trade Bryant post-2019 for a haul of young unproven (but near MLB-ready) players similar to Senzel to keep the line moving beyond 2021.

Senzel is an upgrade defensively over Bryant at 3B right now, and if acquired, Senzel would be a first step toward the Cubs making the transition from the current presumed contention window (through 2021) to whatever follows without having to start another rebuild in 2022. Signing Rizzo, Baez, Hendricks, and Contreras (and maybe Schwarber) to contract extensions would be another step (figuring they are the most-likely members of the Cubs' "core" to agree to extensions, since Bryant, Almora, and Russell are Boras clients and therefore very unlikely to agree to a contract extension prior to hitting free-agency).  

I'm not saying this trade has been discussed between the two clubs, but I mention Senzel as a Cubs trade target only because of the rather obvious fit for both clubs. Happ has been absolutely other-worldly/unstoppable at Great American Ballpark, he was a star college baseball player at the U. of Cincinnati, and he can play a serviceable CF for the Reds in 2019 and then (if necessary) easily move to a corner OF spot or even 2B in 2020 after Puig, Kemp, and Gennett hit free-agency. Conversely, Senzel is a natural third-baseman blocked in Cincinnati by Eugenio Suarez (who isn't going anywhere) and so the Reds are already looking to move Senzel to another position (which will reduce his defensive value). 

One of the somewhat unanticipated things that happened with the Cubs 2016-17 was the perceived need and therefore understandable desire to "cement" the MLB 25-man roster by sacrificing their top two position-player prospects (Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jimenez) and their top pitching prospect (Dylan Cease) for Aroldis Chapman (in 2016) and Jose Quintana (in 2017). Torres, Jimenez, and Cease would have provided the Cubs with a pathway to sustained (perhaps even seamless) success beyond 2021 by allowing the Cubs to move some of the 2015-21 core (most especially Kris Bryant) earlier than necessary to replentish the farm system, but the inability to develop pitchers 2012-17 the same way they developed position players during that period of time unfortunately put the Cubs in a difficult spot. The Cubs could take a step toward reversing this if they were to acquire a player like Senzel, not that Senzel would totally make up for losing Torres and Jimenez, but it would be a good first step. 

Submitted by videographer on Sat, 12/29/2018 - 12:28 am

I have heard that the Cubs brass has a great deal of interest in Nolan Arenado of Colorado.  He is a free agent after next season and I can the Cubs pursuing him and moving Bryant to the outfield in 2020.  Also, signing Arenado would give the Cubs a star player to building around should Bryant leave in free agency.  An arguement can be made the Arenado is a better player than Bryant.  Also, I imagine that Arenado would cost less than Bryant.

I cannot see the Cubs signing Harper AND re-signing Bryant AND having enough payroll to afford play-off pitching in the comming years.   I think the smart move is signing Arenado next year and re-tooling the rotation as contracts expire and players leave in free agency.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 01/02/2019 - 01:02 pm

Josh Lifrak has been Cubs Mental Skills Program Director since 2014, and under him are the Mental Skills Program Coordinator, the Latin American Mental Skills Coordinator, and the Mental Skills Coordinator. The Mental Skills Program is part of the Player Development Dept. It's unclear if Tewksbury is replacing Darnell McDonald as Mental Skills Program Coordinator or John Baker as Mental Skills Coordinator.

"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical" - Yogi Berra 

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 01/03/2019 - 01:07 pm

BRADSBEARD: Ken Ravizza was a part-time consultant and worked directly with the MLB Cubs. The "Mental Skills Coordinator" is a full-time position n the Player Development Dept and works with minor leaguers. So Tewksbury is replacing either Darnell McDonald (Mental Skills Program Coordinator) or John Baker (Mental Skills Coordinator). It's possible that Baker got a new assignment in the organaziation, possibly minor league catching coordinator or maybe a minor league manger gig. 

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Things I've been wrong about:

    -Tauchman is fine as a 4th OF. I knew that. I just want a better LH DH option and he was really the DH for us until Seiya got hurt. I'm glad Mervis is getting a chance at it. Caissie is coming for that job for sure. But Tauchman continues to be highly useful as a 4th OF with Seiya being hurt

    -I wanted Yency to go to get guys at Iowa a chance. Guys like Palencia and Sanders or RileyT. Maybe even Hodge! But Yency has been better the last two plus weeks. He did hit 96 the other day. He was 93 in Texas to open the season.

    -Leiter has his split working enough. It just needs to stay there

    -I was surprised Jed picked Wisdom over Cooper. I wonder if this happens if Seiya wasn't hurt. Wisdom has more power. Cooper is the better hitter. Jed picked Wisdom and Wisdom had an option left as well.

    -Palencia just doesn't miss enough bats. Similar to ManRod, just two yrs younger. ManRod is killing AAA for TB right now!

    Things I got right so far:

    -Hendricks. Sorry Kyle. You got paid though!

    Jed, you missed there.

    -Smyly. If Jed could've traded him before or during ST, then he should have and saved some cash.

    -Mastro.  Not a LH DH. Pinch runner. Defensive utility. Maybe he's better than Madrigal but didn't get a legit chance to prove it.

    -Luke Little is good. He's had one bad outing. That's it. Needs to get better entering with guys on base. But he needs to stay in MLB.

    -Oh yeah....Morel is doing fine at 3B! He'll get better as well!!

  • crunch (view)

    bellinger "right rib contusion"

  • Childersb3 (view)

    South Bend just lost the lead in the bottom of the 9th on the weirdest scenario, ever.

    It's absolutely pouring rain....men on 1st and 2nd, 1out....JPatterson asks for a new ball, but no time out was called....he throws the old ball toward the dugout (not sure if it rolled out of play).....the ump declares the runners get two bases each so one run scores. Then a single up the middle ties the game.

    The rain was coming down in buckets at this point.

    Just weird

  • crunch (view)

    ...and bellinger is gone in the 7th because of that 2nd blown chance and the wall he bounced off of...

    hopefully his rib cage/shoulder feels better tomorrow, we just got happ back.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil,

    Any thoughts on Y. Rojas' stuff and Y. Melendez's game (I believe I've asked about him before, sorry)?

  • crunch (view)

    wow, things are moving fast.  hopefully it continues.

  • crunch (view)

    morel with 4 clean plays in 4 innings...showed off his 100000000mph arm a couple times.

    cody bellinger not having a good 4th, though...5 run leads are handy when your CF is making your pitcher have a 5-out inning.  2nd blown chance was ruled a hit even though it went in/out of his glove...1st was lost in the lights, also ruled a hit.

  • crunch (view)

    welcome back happ!  double off the wall 1st PA back.

  • crunch (view)

    oh yeah, totally, i was just chiming about why i fan like i fan.

    i would like nothing more than hendricks to keep on hendricks'ing.  guys with his stuff can throw for a long, long time as long as it works.

    he velocity is actually up a minor amount this year.  it's really "damn" when a guy like him not only has gas in the tank, but it's looking like it was years ago.  he added a curve a few years ago and it helped a little bit, but he's throwing it less and less while the fb/change combo are less effective.

  • Alexander Dimm (view)

    CRUNCH—There is no one person in this community I’m talking about.  My remarks were not directed at you or anyone, but at a tone I’ve noticed lately. 

    You have a great, dry sense of humor and there is thought behind your comments.   You and I don’t always agree but I always understand your position.  

    Lastly, and I’ll be quiet, I agree with you on Hendricks.  We can dislike the recent performance but still love the guy.  Lots of questions about his future.
     

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