Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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

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

Last updated 4-18-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Miles Mastrobuoni, INF
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Seiya Suzuki, OF

15-DAY IL: 
* Justin Steele, P   

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

I-Cubs Schedule Play Dates With New Playmates

Submitted by Mike Wellman on

So the Iowa Cub schedule released this week and it’s, well, different. Different opponents, different format, different duration. But the difference that matters most is that there will be a season this season.

No more Pacific Coast League for the ultra landlocked I-Cubs. As charter members of the newly conceived Triple A East League/Midwest Division, they’re slated to play 142 games, all of them against intradivisional foes Louisville Bats (Cincy), St. Paul Saints (Twins), Columbus Clippers (MLB team to be renamed later that’s at home in Cleveland), Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit), Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh’s partners; team, city and state to be renamed later?) and the same old, same old Omaha Storm Chasers, née Royals, longtime cousins of the big club in Kansas City.

Get this: 42 games with Omaha and 36 versus St. Paul, Iowa's next door neighbors in the comparatively close knit divisional cul de sac, make up more than half of the schedule. All series will be Tuesday through Sunday, six-game arrangements. Everybody gets Mondays off and all travel between cities will be by bus to reduce both possible COVID exposure in airports and on commercial flights and operating expenses. The far flung PCL consortium required lots of flying time. This first year of the reorganized MiLB with the pandemic still a major factor throughout the minors will present an opportunity for new rivalries to spring up quickly as teams get sick of seeing each other six days in a row. Iowa’s first two series, on the road at Louisville and at home facing Toledo, will be like blind dates arranged by the MLB matchmakers who orchestrated the fruit basket upset of the bush leagues that lopped off 40 town teams on the lowest rungs.

Also, a season that’s traditionally ended on Labor Day will extend through September 19 this year, thereby curtailing next winter by a couple of weeks.

I’m curious about the new league’s new ball. In 2019, for the first time, Triple A used the exact same ball as MLB, only with a different monogram. The big leagues announced they’re tweaking their model (again) in ‘21 and I suppose the ones they ship here will be stamped what, Triple A East? No ring to it, but I’m sure there’ll be the proverbial “CRACK!” when a bat hits it. I can almost hear it now. 

Tags
Iowa Cubs

Comments

Submitted by Hagsag on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 02:50 pm

Living in the Quad Cities area, I look forward to hopefully coming to Des Moines to see the I Cubs a few times this summer.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 02:59 pm

welcome to the "big time" st paul saints...they built a nice park, the fans showed up, and they go from indies to AAA (with a bit of $ help from the twins for part ownership).

billy murray is a part owner of the group that owns the saints, btw.

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 02:53 pm

alcantara passes through waivers and is assigned to AAA.

marisnick contract final, phllip ervin (OF) DFA'd

Submitted by Sonicwind75 on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 02:13 pm

As a midwest kid now living in Texas, new scheduling is a bummer.  Only get a chance to drive and see Cubs once every 3 years with interleague.  Really looked forward to those games in Round Rock and the one season in San Antonio.  I understand it makes more sense in the big picture, just selfishly disappointed.

Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 02:18 pm

Ervin claimed by Braves. So we lose a potential future (and also current) asset in exchange for one year of a very mediocre Jake Marisnick.

This team has no direction at the moment.

Submitted by Mike Wellman on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 02:50 pm

I get you, SW. Here in Des Moines, Cardinal fans flocked to I-Cub games when Memphis Redbirds were in town. That won't happen in '21 and even if it does in '22 & beyond it won't be as frequent as when they were in the same division. Not that I'll miss seeing Cardinal gear @ our ballpark...

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 02/23/2021 - 02:50 am

AAA leagues really need to play through the month of September, because with September rosters being limited to 28 instead of 40, players will need to be moved back & forth between MLB and AAA throughout the month of September instead of just through the month of August. 

In years past it was not necessary to option a player to the minors in September to make room for another player (like a player being reinstated from the IL or a player being recalled from the minors). In fact, by rule, an MLB club cannot option a player to a minor league affiliate whose season has concluded. (With the 28-man roster limit in effect in September I expect this restriction will have to be eliiminated, which it probably would have been in 2020 if the MLB season had not been interrupted by CoViD-19).

MLB clubs were allowed to option players to their Alternate Training Site up through the last day of the MLB regular season in 2020, although (as has always been the case) all players on Optional Assignment had to be recalled no,later than the day after the conclusion of the MLB regular season. 

So I'm not surprised that the AAA season will extend past Labor Day and end on September 19th, although it would make even more sense for the AAA schedule to run even a week longer than that so that players can be optioned to the minors over the last two weeks of the MLB regular season as well instead of just through September 19th.   

Conversely, it is not really necessary for the AAA regular season to start at the same time as the MLB regular season, because AAA clubs could have their Spring Training in April (in Arizona and Florida) after the MLB clubs have left town and then start their regular season on or about May 1st, and MLB clubs could just option and recall players from Minor League Camp during the month of April. 

Recent comments

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil:
    Rookie ball (ACL) starts on May 4th. Do yo think Ramon and Rosario (maybe Delgado) stay in Mesa for the month of May, then go to MB if all goes "solid"?
     

  • crunch (view)

    masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around.  i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.

    That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.

    Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa

    Taillon and Wisdom up

    Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.

  • crunch (view)

    cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.

    taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight.  who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.

    p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury.  good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention".  Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."

     

    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

Click HERE for the last 50 comments