Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten 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 4-12-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 3
Julian Merryweather, P
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 


Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Maddon Era ends, Grandpa Rossy Era resumes

The news broke today that the Cubs have concluded their managerial search and hired David Ross to a three-year contract with a club option on the fourth year. Thus concludes what should be one of the least interesting events of the offseason--and all before the postseason has even concluded! I invite you to share your thoughts on the hiring, the Astros-Nats World Series, and other late October baseball goings-on as you see fit.

Comments

can ross speak spanish?

he's a long-time career catcher so i assume he at least speaks "baseball spanish."

So, since Borzello didn't land the mgr. gig, will he be retained in role to which he's become accustomed?

[ ]

In reply to by Craig A.

i wonder what d.ross's idea of lineup construction look like...where does he lean on defense vs bat production...will he continue to put strong hitters with power in the 2/3 slot rather than a more traditional 3/4 (which is thankfully becoming less traditional)?

old cubs friend john mallee (hitting coach, 2015-17) is joining maddon in LAA as an assistant hitting coach.  mallee's one of those "launch angle" gurus...player favorite for being accessable and likeable.

they're getting the band back together...

It will also be interesting to see if any "Maddon Cubs" end up in Anaheim this off-season, like maybe Cole Hamels, Ben Zobrist, Steve Cishek, and/or Pedro Strop, or even Yu Darvish (if he opts-out)? 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

LAA is expected to raise payroll for 2020 according to their owner, but it's not expected to be extreme amounts.  either way, they're ready to throw a little money out in the FA market even with some arbitration payroll hits.

fwiw, g.cole is from orange county and heavily linked to LAD/LAA interest (and NYY, like everyone ever who's a FA).

Mike Olt officially called it quits as of Oct. 25. I have always wondered if his vision issues following his concussion never fully went away.

Mark Feinsand at MLB.com lead with Nick Casellanos in his profiles of "divisive" free agents. An anonymous GM comped his free agency to JD Martinez with the idea that it could be late in the off-season before he signs: https://www.mlb.com/news/divisive-mlb-free-agents

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

cast has very little reason to not hold out as long as possible.  getting a strong 5+ year deal is probably going to be a high priority for someone who doesn't turn 28 until spring training.

he's not much of a RF'r, but he's not inept enough to consider him a DH.

as much as some cubs fans would love to see him return, i dunno if this team can thrive on an OF corner of cast/schwarb even with the plate production they provide.  heyward in CF isn't bad, but it wasn't ideal trying to cover for that corner setup.

Carrie Muskat @CarrieMuskat
#Cubs Theo on whether Ross will be his own man: "if you're a front office and want to hire a puppet, you don't hire David Ross"

mlbtr has per Heyman on MLB Network that Mark Pryor is going to be Dodgers pitching coach as Rick Honeycutt is retiring.

2003 seems like a foggy dream but I can still see #22 with the high fastball strikeout pitch that was unhittable (at least until Pudge's 8th inning at bat).

darvish confirms he's going to remain a cub.  he "likes chicago" and the cubs have 4/81m remaining on his deal.  btw, he had a second half of 2.79era + 0.81whip.

hendricks - lester - darvish - Q - graveman/mills/chatwood (pending traded and additions)

The recent mass quitting at Deadspin is a bummer--or rather the cause of the mass exodus is the bummer. I hope they all get good work elsewhere.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Cubs club options and player opt-out options still pending (deadline is 5 PM Eastern on Monday):

Tony Barnette ($3M club option - no buy-out required)
Jason Heyward: (player opt-out - would receive $20M on April 1st if he opts-out) 
Brandon Morrow ($12M club option or else $3M buy-out)
David Phelps ($5M club option plus $3.5M in potential performance bonuses - no buy-out required)
Anthony Rizzo ($16.5M club option or else $2M buy-out)

Also, Kendall Graveman (who is - NOT - eligible to be an Article XX-B MLB FA) has a $3M club option with $500K in potential performance bonuses and Cubs cannot tender Graveman a 2020 contract if club option is declined. 

as expected (mostly), strasburg will opt out of his final 4/100m and become a free agent.

with cole likely ending up in LAD/LAA/SD, stras and the yanks will probably be linked in rumors from now until he second he signs with someone...like the yankees.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

The Angels actually could sign both Gerrit Cole - AND - Stephen Strasburg and still be just under (or right at) the 2020 CBT threshold.

Mike Trout: $35.5M AAV
Albert Pujols: $24M AAV
Justin Upton: 21.2M AAV
Zack Cozart: $12.67M AAV 
Andrelton Simmons: $8.28M  AAV 
Andrew Heaney: $5M (arb est)
Hansel Robles: $4M (arb est) 
Tommy LaStella: $3M (arb est)  
Cam Bedrosian: $3M (arb est) 
Luis Garcia: $2.5M (arb est) 
Kevan Smith: $1.5M (arb est)
Noe Ramirez: $1M (arb est) 
Kole Calhoun: $1M (club option buy-out)
MLB PRE-ARBITRATION 40-MAN: $7M (est)
40-MAN MINOR LEAGUE SPLIT SALARIES: $1M (est) 
2020 TOTAL PAYROLL AAV: $130M 
2020 MLB PLAYER BENEFIT COSTS: $14M (counts against AAV)
2020 TOTAL AAV: $144M (est) 

2020 CBT threshold is $208M  

So if Cole were to sign (let's say) for 8/$280 ($35M AAV) and if Strasburg were to sign (let's say) for 6/$180 ($30M AAV), the Angels would be right about exactly at the 2020 CBT threshold, and they could even sign both Cole and Strasburg and come in under the 2020 CBT threshold it if they can move Andelton Simmons and/or Zack Cozart in a trade or trades.  

Otherwise, the Cozart and Simmons contracts ($22M AAV combined) come off the books after 2020, and the Pujols contract ($24M AAV) is done post-2021, so even if the Angels were to go slightly over the CBT threshold in 2020 in order to sign both Cole and Strasburg they could easily get down under it again in 2021 and even moreso after 2021. 

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

that's just awesome.

meanwhile, i'm over here wondering if the cubs offseason includes signing kyle barraclough as a reclaimation project.

seriously, though...i would figure the team is in for some "realignment" of talent as we know it.  the core of guys we're used to the past few years might be missing 1 or 2 guys with some new immediate impact addition(s) when it's all said and done.  at least, it seems that's where the offseason buzz is moving for the cubs.  they're yet to be linked to anyone worth metioning in the FA market rumor mill.

the addition of craig kimbrel was supposed to be a surprise late addition carrying over into this season as an impact player.  unfortunately, that not only doesn't seem like an addition going into 2020, it seems like dead weight at 16m a year for the next 2 seasons.  i'm hoping for better because doing worse is almost impossible.

rizzo wins NL GG (1st)

n.arenado wins his 7th consecutive GG (3rd) in his 7th MLB season.  domination.

It's good to see Rizzo get recognition for his defense. Although the Cubs certainly needed more offense than Almora provided, the moving of Heyward to CF when Castellanos was acquired hurt the defensive strength and made it mediocre, which affects the pitching. Stability at 2B would be nice Especially on defense. 

phelps, morrow, graveman, barnette options declined.

surprised about gravemen not being picked up.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I'm as shocked as I could be about a player I've never seen in a Cubs uniform, which sounds way more sarcastic than I mean it to sound! Unless they know he's not fully healthy, or they are absolutely convinced they will add two or more decent starting pitchers to the roster, I don't get it.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

if maddon didn't try to get him into every single game to pitch to just 1-2 guys he might have stuck around at a lower price.  2 fewer appearances and he's $2m less ($3m vs $5m).

when he got to the cubs he was turned into some weird workhorse specialist rather than an inning-guy.  with the new 2020 pitching rules, having phelps around as a legit full-inning guy would have been nice.

it's no sure thing he would have been retained even at $3m, but at $5m that decision to cut him loose got easier.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    matt shaw (AA) has a .381/.552/.905 line through 7 games...3 homers and a triple.  6 games at 3rd, 1 game DH (5 PO, 7 A, 0 E).

    that's somewhat fun news.

  • crunch (view)

    i was blown away confused/pissed when it was announced the cubs were trading for y.almonte.

    i was thrilled when m.busch was announced as part of the trade.

    it's really weird to have the "you gotta take this payroll guy, too" (1.9m) part of the trade leak before the main piece.

    the cubs didn't get a deal given what they gave up, but i was very happy to have a guy like busch in the fold with so much club control.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Have to admit I was initially disappointed the Cubs traded away the upside of Jackson Ferris but Busch is making a believer out of me.  If I still lived in midwest guessing we would have invented some drink special named a Busch Bomb at the local drinking establishment to celebrate his homers.  

  • Cubster (view)

    per Tribune: Suzuki MRI results pending from yesterday so we should get a timetable for return later today.

  • crunch (view)

    suzuki says he injured his oblique running to 1st, not swinging.  okay.  it's gonna be that kind of 2024 cubs year, huh?

    i would say that's good news compared to screwing it up swinging, but i'm not familiar with the recovery time of people screwing up their oblique by running.

    right side is at least different from his left side oblique injury last year.

  • crunch (view)

    5 IN A ROW!

    hack wilson, ryne sandberg, sammy sosa, christopher morel, and michael busch.

  • Cubster (view)

    A bit more Jewish take on one of my favorite Cubs, Kenny Holtzman. His 9-0 season while serving in the National Guard and being available to pitch on weekends was one of my coolest teen recollections. 

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388554

  • Cubster (view)

    Suzuki out with oblique strain. Canario indeed is called up. No word on Morel so that might be a red herring (or a red digit).

    AZ lineup is posted but Counsell is always late to post his lineup.

  • crunch (view)

    You have to C it! (tm)

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Best hitter: IL with oblique strain

    Second best hitter: hasn’t looked the same since jamming his right hand during a swing

    Third best hitter: playing through a sore hammy

    Best pitcher: IL after one start 

    Second best RP: IL after 1.5 weeks

    Noice