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

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

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    LHP Blake Weiman appears to have been the last cut from the AAA Iowa roster. He is with the Tennessee group at Minor League Camp.

     

  • 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.