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 @ Pirates: Series Thread (Games 157-159)

Having suffered a disastrous and heart-rending sweep at the hands of the Cardinals over the week, the Cubs remaining shot at the postseason is frighteningly improbable. Still, if they are to retain any hope at a Wild Card spot, the Cubs will have to take at least two out of three from the Pirates in Pittsburgh. At the same time, Nationals and/or Brewers losses to the Phillies and Reds will also be necessary. On the bright side, the Pirates have been absolutely dismal lately, combining poor baseball outcomes with horrible off-the-field news. See below for the match-ups in Western PA.Game 157, Tuesday, September 24, 6:05pmCDT
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-9, 3.37 ERA)
PIT: RHP Mitch Keller (1-5, 7.74 ERA)

Hendricks was so-so in his last start, getting a no-decision on four earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched. He had six strikeouts but also allowed eight hits. Before that, he defeated the Pittsburgh, allowing one earned run over six innings at Wrigley.

Mitch Keller last earned a victory on August 12, and he's gone 0-4 in six starts since then. He wasn't bad in his last start, a loss to Seattle in which he struck out seven and allowed two earned runs. The Cubs served him a loss at home on August 18, scoring six on seven hits, including a pair of homeruns.


Game 158, Wednesday, September 25, 6:05pmCDT
CHC: LHP Jon Lester (13-10, 4.51 ERA)
PIT: RHP Dario Agrazal (4-5, 5.08 ERA)

Lester last went five innings and allowed one earned run in a no-decision to Cincinnati. Before that he earned a win against the Pirates in a very offense friendly day at Wrigley despite allowing seven runs, four earned, along the way.

Dario Agrazal will be making his first start against the Cubs and 14th overall start in the majors. It's been a bit of a struggle for him so far, as he has neither struck out many batters nor coaxed a high groundball rate. Last time out, the Mariners scored four off of him in five innings and handed him his fifth loss.


Game 159, Thursday, September 26, 6:05pmCDT
CHC: TBD but probably LHP José Quintana (13-8, 4.55 ERA)
PIT: RHP Joe Musgrove (10-12, 4.49 ERA)

Quintana has a string of three no decisions despite allowing 14 earned runs in just 8.1 innings over that stretch. He hasn't gone past the fourth in any of those starts. He had won every start against the Pirates until the most recent, a no-decision in which he went only 2.1 and allowed five earned runs on eight hits.

Musgrove last went five against the Mariners and allowed four runs, two earned, in a no-decision. His strikeout rate has been up a bit lately, including in an August 16th start in which he struck out nine Cubs over 7.1 innings. The Cubs are 0-1 in three of his starts this year, having scored nine runs (only two earned) in his 16.1 innings pitched against them.


The Cubs will have do their work without Bryant now, as he suffered an ankle injury in Sunday's game.

Comments

m.keller 1-5 with a 7.74era...so i guess we can expect something like 7ip 1h 1bb 14ks, 0 runs

rizzo / cast / zobrist / schwarb / contreras / happ(3rd) / hey / hoe / hendricks

javy tried to do some fielding today and he's still unable to catch/field without pain so he's still out indefinately.  bryant with a "moderate" ankle strain so no idea when he'll return.

*crickets*

*tumbleweeds*

the 7th inning of this game is everything wrong with the 2019 cubs on the field, only no one's gotten injured yet to pile up on top of it.

I turned the tv on to start watching the game at the bottom of the seventh seemingly an hour ago. Cubs were leading 1-0 with Hendricks on the mound. Now the Pirates are up 7-1 and only one out (but two Cubs errors so far this inning increasing their total to 5 errors in the game)

Clearly Dr Evil has stolen the Cubs mojo!!!

MIL wins.

CHC lose their 7th in a row.

it's not like they were ever dominating large, but this was a hell of a collapse.  i mean, even going well into september i think most cubs fans felt like a wild card spot was nearly a given even if they didn't win the division.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Trying to bright side this... if we lose out we have a good chance of moving up from 20th draft pick to 17th. So we’ve got that going for us. Which is nice.

This is reminding me of my childhood in Chicago: it's late September and the Cubs are going down faster than a crack whore for a sawbuck. 

rizzo / cast / zobrist / schwarber / contreras / happ / heyward / hoe / lester

did david bote kick maddon's dog or something?

MIL scores 6 runs in the top 1st.

yeah, let's crush the limited scope of the cubs sticking in this thing before they get a chance to finish batting in the 1st

as MIL's lead settles in at 8-1 after 3 innings, rizzo is out and caratini is in at 1st.

gotta get that ankle 2020 ready...

Among other things, one thing I hope the cubs have learned this year is “Bury Milwaukee before Sept”

it's been mostly fun.

it's not been fun lately.

an unrelenting MIL surge paired with a slew of losses in a row for CHC is a hell of a way to go out even if it's been a "quick death."  the amount of 1-run losses in that stretch has been a hell of a way to do it, too.

David Phelps made his 40th appearance of the 2019 season Tuesday night, which automatically escalates his 2020 club option salary from $3M to $5M (plus another $3M+ in potential performance bonuses). There is no buy-out required if the club option is declined. 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

i like phelps, but i dunno if he's worth $5m+ of like.

he didn't do himself any favors tonight.

i dunno what their plan is considering they gave up t.hatch to get him...that's the kind of trade you make if you plan on keeping the guy around unless they lost all faith in hatch before trading him.

[ ]

In reply to by bradsbeard

I agree with you on all points. I’m sure Phelps will be a solid reliever next year, wherever he plays. I think it’s more that I’d rather see the team invest 5 mil elsewhere and see if some of the young guys can come through next year. Maybe try and get some reclamation projects or guys who slip through the FA cracks with NRIs. Or minor trades for guys in similar situations to Rowan Wick this past offseason.

Trading for middle relievers at the deadline won’t hurt the system too much, and in fact is usually a good way to utilize the guys who are rule 5 eligible that the team won’t have room for on 40 man (like Hatch).

kemp(LF) / happ(RF) / garcia(2nd) / caratini(1st) / lucroy(C) / bote(3rd) / russell(SS) / almora(CF) / Q

i feel bad for people who bought tickets to this weird spring training game.

The B team is gonna win tonight!  The pressure‘s off,  so they'll hit he ball all over the stadium. Don’t miss it!

Hey AZPhil, could you explain why a team would wait until the non-tender date to cut a player loose rather than just outright release him in the interim?

[ ]

In reply to by jdrnym

jdmym: Unless a club prefers the $50,000 waiver price more than retaining an outrighted player on a minor league roster, the best way to remove a player from an MLB 40-man roster is by non-tender. 

1. NON-TENDER IS BETTER THAN OUTRIGHT RELEASE: If a club releases a player during the period of time extending from September 1st up until MLB Opening Day, the club cannot re-sign the player to a major league contract and add the player back to the club's MLB 40-man roster until May 15th. There is no such restriction if a player is non-tendered. 

2. A NON-TENDER IS - USUALLY - BETTER THAN AN OUTRIGHT ASSIGNMENT TO THE MINORS. If a player is removed from a club's MLB 40-man by Outright Assignment to the minors, Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured before the player can be sent outright to the minors and there is always the possibility that the player could get claimed off waivers. Of course sometimes a club actually would prefer to receive the $50,000 waiver price than retain the player on a minor league roster, but if the club does want to retain the player (just not on the MLB 40-man roster), waivers are not required if a player is non-tendered.and then subsequently signs a minor league league contract with the same club.  

The problem is that the MLB contract tender date is just one day -- December 2nd (or December 1st if 12/2 falls on a Saturday or November 30th if 12/2 falls on a Sunday)  -- and it's not always feasible to wait until 12/2 to remove a player from the club's MLB 40-man roster when that player 40-man roster slot is needed for another player.

For example, minor league players eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft cannot be added to the 40 any later than November 20th, and a minor league player eligible to be a minor league MLB Rule 55 free-agent must be added to the 40 no later than 5 PM Eastern on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series, so if roster slots are needed for those types of players, it's just not possible to wait until December 2nd to non-tender somebody.  

Another practical reason for using the non-tender is when a club wants to remove a Draft-Excluded Player from the 40. While Draft-Excluded players can be traded, non-tendered, or released without restriction, a Draft Excluded Player cannot be sent outright to the minors unless Outright Assignment Waivers are requested no later than the 5th day after the last game of the World Series (and even if secured the waivers expire after seven days or by the end of the waiver period, whichever comes first) and then the player cannot be sent outright to the minors until 20 days prior to MLB Opening Day. (A Draft-Excluded Player is a player on a minor league reserve list who has less than three years of MLB Service Time and who is eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft but who is added to an MLB 40-man roster after August 15th). EXAMPLE: Danny Hultzen

Also, a club will sometimes non-tender an arbitration-eligible player if the club cannot sign the player to a contract for the next season by December 2nd, because once the player is tendered a contract the player can potentially take the club to arbitration, and if that happens there is no way to know in advance how an arbitration panel might rule.

In addition, sometimes a club might want to cut the salary (especially the minor l;eague split salary) of an auto-renewal (pre-arbitration) player by more than the maximum allowable 20%, but the club is bound by the 20% max cut rule if the player is tendered a contract. For example, a player's minor league split salary must be at least 80% of what the player was actually paid during the previous season (which for many auto-renewal players who rode the MLB-AAA shuttle could be as much as $200K), but if the player is non-tendered the player can then be subsequently re-signed to a major league contract for the MLB minimum salary (including the minimum minor league split salary, which is only about $90,000). 

The main problem with non-tendering a player is that the player does not have to re-sign with the same club after being non-tendered, and if a player is non-tendered and then signs with a different club, the player's former club receives no compenstion (like the $50,000 waiver price a club would receive if a player is claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers). That's why clubs will often have a deal in place in advance with a player prior to non-tendering the player. 

The best technique for removing a player from the 40 and then retaining the player on a minor league roster is to non-tender the player on 12/2 (so there is no risk of losing the player off waivers), and then wait until after the conclusion of the Rule 5 Draft to sign the player to a minor league contract (so that he can't be selected in the Rule 5 Draft). But to do that the player's 40-man roster slot cannot be needed sometime earlier than 12/2 for a Rule 5 Draft eligible player or for a player eligible to be a minor league FA, and the player must agree in advance to the arrangement (which usually means he must be offered an NRI to Spring Training - AND - at least as much money or maybe even more money than he would have received if he had remained on the 40). And of course the player can just refuse the offer and tell the club to take a hike. 

if this team is gonna carry 2-3 guys next year who can start 30+ games a year and only throw 170-180 innings doing it, the pen is gonna need a few multi-inning guys.

Q isn't going out on top with this game.  not a great "see you in 2020" look.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Looks like around 30 pitchers will have 180+ innings pitched this year. A lot of teams better have multi-inning relievers. Welcome, 26th player.

Sidenote: Skimming stats just now from years past. Remember when Jon Lieber led the majors in IP with 251 and had an ERA over 4 while doing it? Maddux had a paltry 249.1 innings pitched for Atlanta that year (2000).

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Don't forget Steve Traschel, the eater of innings. Weird to go from post-2016 "SUN WILL NEVER SET ON THE CUBS EMPIRE" to whistfully thinking about Lieber & Traschel.  Trax averaged 197 IP with a 4.23 ERA over NINE seasons (w/CHC & NYM)... not sure what to make of my thinking "yeah, we could use somebody like that".

On a similar note, there should be a "Hall of Not Bad" to recognize players who were freakishly average for long periods of time. We could name it after Jamie Moyer (17 seasons from ages 30-46, averaging 188 innings per season with an ERA of 4.12).  

[ ]

In reply to by First.Pitch.120

bill mueller...not great, but not bad at all D...good ob%, didn't K much, not much pop, not much speed...he'll end up on 1st and go station to station a good amount of the time...and he did it steady from rookie til retirement.  you knew what you were getting.

he'd totally make my HoNB list.

i was gonna throw around some names like mark grace and john olerud, but they're too good to be not bad.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Todd Walker and Mark Bellhorn, both guys I enjoyed watching as Cubs, belong on a lower tier from the others. Maybe Hall of Not Particularly Good? They were slightly better than Ryan Theriot over their careers.

If Starlin Castro can wring 6 more years of 1-win per-year value from his career, he'll be in the Hall of Not Bad category.

[ ]

In reply to by Dolorous Jon Lester

All of these "not bad" nominees have their moments, or unique strengths.  Bill Mueller apparently didn't find a high-90's cutter all that difficult to hit.  Check out his career stats against Mariano Rivera, including the Boston Red Sox's most important single in the 21st century.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

CHARLIE: The new 26th player in 2020 must be a position-player, and there can be a maximum of 13 pitchers on a club's MLB active list roster prior to September 1st and then a maximum of 14 pitchers in September when active list rosters expand to 28.

Also, the "26th man" for doubleheaders will become the "27th man" in 2020 and he can be a pitcher, and the minimum MLB injured list stint for a pitcher will be increased from ten days to 15 days. 

ham getting the saturday start...darvish and hendricks are officially done for the season...mills tomorrow, unknown sunday starter...

i have low expectations for a full roster of b-team bats, but pitching giving up 9 runs through 6ip to f'n PIT is some kind of special.

Phil, what do you think Caratini would bring in a trade? I like bringing back Lucroy as a backup, if the price is right.

[ ]

In reply to by Hagsag

HAGSAG: If the Cubs decide to trade Victor Caratini this coming off-season they could probably get a good young MLB (or MLB-ready) position-player at just about any position or a young MLB (or MLB-ready) SP. 

While I don't think the Cubs will keep both Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini until they both hit free-agency (Contreras is under club control through 2022 while Caratini is under club control through 2023), the Cubs really need to wait to trade Caratini until they can determine whether or not Contreras is willing to sign a long-term deal (at least through 2024) before making Caratini available in a trade, because if Contreras is not inclined to sign a long-term deal before becoming a free-agent the Cubs will need to consider trading Contreras and keeping Caratini as the primary catcher until #1 prospect Miguel Amaya is ready (ETA 2022-23).   

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

They will have until a day or two after the World Series to decide this, but if Yu Darvish does not opt-out and returns to the Cubs in 2020, the Cubs might choose to decline Jose Quintana's $10.5M 2020 club option and pay the $1M buy-out and then look to acquire young MLB-ready (or near-MLB ready) SP candidates in trades this coming off-season (with Kendall Graveman, Alec Mills, and Adbert Alzolay already expected to contend in 2020 Spring Training for what has been the Cole Hamels #5 rotation slot). 

Or if they find that there is a market for one year of Quintana at $10.5M, the Cubs could trade him, either prior to declining his 2020 option (which they would have to do immediately after the World Series), or sometime during the off-season if the Cubs do exercise his 2020 club option. 

Also keep in mind that Jason Heyward can opt-out out of his contract after this season (and it's his last chance to do it until he becomes a FA again post-2023), and while everybody knows that isn't going to happen (he is owed 4/$86M in salary through 2023 but that's only if he doesn't opt-out), he can be traded anytime up until he becomes a "10/5" player next September, so if the Cubs do want to move him (and they would have to eat some of his remaining salary and/or take-back another "albatross contract" for it to happen), this coming off-season (rather than during the 2020 season) would probably be the time to do it. Otherwise the Cubs are stuck with Heyward through 2023. 

i hate the diluting of the amount of teams in the playoffs (10 teams), but i love the absolute brutality of the 1-game elimination to win the wild card slot.

i didn't think i'd like the change from 8 to 10 teams as much as i have so far.

[ ]

In reply to by Dolorous Jon Lester

Guess I'm a Braves fan.  Really its whoever is playing the Cardinals at this point.  Personally find the Nats are way more likable without Bryce and Dusty.  Sidenote, has Rendon reached the point where everybody talking about how underrated he is that his underatedness is becoming overated? 

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    bruce bochy is hobbling rather badly for a guy who's had 2 hip replacements.  his gait is extremely wonky taking the lineup card to the ump.

  • 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.