Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

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


28 players are on the MLB ACTIVE LIST, plus seven are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two are on the 10-DAY IL, and three are on the 15-DAY IL


Last updated 9-22-20239
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 14
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 6
Nico Hoerner
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom
* Jared Young

OUTFIELDERS: 6
* Cody Bellinger
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

OPTIONED: 7
Keven Alcantara, OF 
Ben Brown, P  
Brennen Davis, OF 
Jeremiah Estrada, P
Caleb Kilian, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Michael Rucker, P

10-DAY IL: 2
Jeimer Candelario, 1B
Nick Madrigal, INF

15-DAY IL: 3
Adbert Alzolay, P
Brad Boxberger, P 
Michael Fulmer, P 

60-DAY IL: 4
Nick Burdi, P
Codi Heuer, P
* Brandon Hughes, P
Ethan Roberts, P
 

Minor League Rosters

Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

2021 Cubs Arizona Instructional League Roster

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/20/2021 - 09:25 am

The Arizona Instructional League (known informally as "Instructs") has been in continuous existence for well over 60 years.

This year, Cubs AZ Instructs will begin on September 20th and conclude on October 16th.

Typically, clubs will assign players from the immediately-preceding draft class and players with experience below Hi-A to Instructs, although occasionally a more-experienced player will be assigned to work on one particular phase of his game or to rehab from an injury. Minor league players acquired in mid-season trades are sometimes assigned to Instructs to help them become familar with the Cubs Nike Performance Center and learn to do things "The Cub Way."  

Clubs with Spring Training homes in Arizona are not required to operate a team in the AZIL, and MLB clubs that do operate an "instructs" team are not required to schedule games against teams from other organizations.

The Cubs have 19 AZIL games scheduled versus the Angels, A's, and Rockies (only) in 2021. (The Brewers, Diamondbacks, Giants, and Mariners are not fielding an AZIL team this year).  
 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2021 CUBS AZ INSTRUCTIONAL LEAGUE ROSTER (last updated 9-19-2021):

* bats or throws left 
# bats both 

60 PLAYERS 

PITCHERS: 28
Yovanny Cabrera
* Burl Carraway
Dakota Chalmers
Chris Clarke
Bradford Deppermann 
Luis Devers 
Angel Gonzalez-Martinez 
* Drew Gray 
Dominic Hambley 
Porter Hodge 
* Bailey Horn 
* Luke Little 
Michael McAvene 
Koen Moreno 
Eduarniel Nunez 
Nicholas Padilla 
Daniel Palencia 
Eury Ramos 
Sheldon Reed 
Benjamin Rodriguez
Erian Rodriguez 
* Luis Angel Rodriguez 
Frankie Scalzo Jr 
Tyler Schlaffer 
Dauris Valdez 
* Didier Vargas 
Alexander Vizcaino 
* Chase Watkins

CATCHERS: 7 
Pablo Aliendo 
* Moises Ballesteros
* Miguel Fabrizio 
* Ethan Hearn 
# Casey Opitz 
# Malcom Quintero 
* Ronnier Quintero 

INFIELDERS: 15 
* Bryce Ball 
Cristian Hernandez 
Ed Howard IV 
Kevin Made 
* Matt Mervis 
Rafael Morel 
# B. J. Murray 
Christian Olivo 
Miguel Pabon 
# Reggie Preciado
# Pedro Ramirez  
Yeison Santana 
Liam Spence 
James Triantos Jr 
Luis Verdugo 

OUTFIELDERS: 10 
Kevin Alcantara 
* Owen Caissie 
Alexander Canario 
* Parker Chavers 
Christian Franklin 
Frank Hernandez
Peter Matt 
* Ismael Mena 
* Ezequiel Pagan 
Felix Stevens 


INSTRUCTS COORDINATOR: 
Jeremy Farrell 

GAME MANAGER: 
Michael Ryan 

HITTING COORDINATOR: 
Dustin Kelly  

ASSISTANT HITTING COORDINATOR: 
Tom Beyers 

HITTING INSTRUCTORS: 
D'Angelo Jimenez
Don Puente 
Rachel Folden  

INFIELD COORDINATOR: 
Jonathan Mota 

INFIELD INSTRUCTOR: 
Jhonny Bethencourt 

OUTFIELD & BASERUNNING COORDINATOR: 
Doug Dascenzo 

CATCHING INSTRUCTOR:  
Will Remillard  

PITCHING DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR: 
Casey Jacobson 

ASSISTANT PITCHING DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR:  
Carlos Chantres 
Mike Mason

REHAB PITCHING COORDINATOR
Josh Zeid 

PITCHING INSTRUCTORS: 
Tony Cougoule
Armando Gabino 
Danny Hultzen
Clay Mortensen
Doug Willey  

MENTAL SKILLS: 
David DaSilva 
Javier Guerero 

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COORDINATOR: 
Cory Kennedy 

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACHES: 
Cory Chapp 
John Abbott 
Austin Smith 

ATHLETIC TRAINERS: 
Matt Hussey 
Seth Clapp 
Nick Roberts 

Tags
AZ Instructional League
Cubs Minor Leagues

Comments

Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Sun, 09/19/2021 - 09:04 pm

Dakota Chalmers... interesting. He's scheduled to be a MILB FA, correct? Would this be a good sign he has signed a successor deal?

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 09/19/2021 - 09:21 pm

DJL: No. Signing a 2022 minor league successor contract would only matter with regard to a player in the Arizona Fall League, because the AFL schedule goes past the date when minor leaguers are declared free-agents. 

AZ Instructs ends on October 16th, which is about two or three weeks before minor league free-agency, so the three guys at Cubs Instructs who are eligible to be free-agehts after the World Series (Dakota Chalmers. Nicholas Padilla, and Eury Ramos) do not need to sign successor contracts in order to play in AZIL games. 

Padilla is rehabbing, but in the case of Chalmers and Ramos the Cubs may be attempting to gather more info before deciding whether to add them to the 40 on 11/19, in case one or both decline to sign a successor contract.   

Along with Luis Lugo and Bryan Hudson, Chalmers and Ramos are probably the post-2021 MLB Rule 9 minor league free-agents the Cubs most do not want to lose if it can be avoided.  

One way a club can induce a player to sign minor league successor contract is by offering the player an NRI to Spring Training and more money than he would have received if he had been on the MLB 40-man roster. The player would also know that he would be eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft.

That's actually how the Cubs ended up with Hector Rondon. He was eligible to be a minor league 6YFA post-2012, but signed a 2013 minor league successor contract with the Indians prior to being declared a FA. And then the Cubs selected him in the Rule 5 Draft.   

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 09/19/2021 - 09:01 pm

The Cubs will very likely be splitting the AZIL position players into two 14-man squads (like they did last year), with each squad playng in every other-game, and with the other squad having a Camp Day instructional work-out on a back-field when that squad is not playing in a game. There will also be five combined Camp Days during the course of the four weeks for all players from both squads.  

The pitchers will probably be split into two squads as far as PFPs and other drills are concerned, but each pitcher will pitch in a game or throw a bullpen or a "live" BP whenever the pitcher is scheduled to pitch. So a particular pitcher might pitch in an AZIL game with one squad one time, and then with the other squad the next time. Or he might pitch with the same squad both times.   

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/20/2021 - 09:41 am

The top four DSL Cubs position player prospects (SS Cristian Hernandez, C Moises Ballesteros, INF Pedro Ramirez, and OF Frank Hernandez) have been added to the Cubs AZIL roster (see updated roster in post above). 

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/20/2021 - 09:59 pm

TIM: They are still assigned to the International Reserve List, even if they are attending AZ Instructs. (That also applies to Minor League Camp and to Extended Spring Training). They can be moved to the Domestic Reserve List if the Cubs need slots on the IRL for international free-agents, but once a player is moved from the IRL to the DRL, the player cannot be moved back to the IRL (and play in the DSL) without consent of the MLB Commissioner. Also, a player cannot remain on the IRL (and play in the DSL) for more than four seasons.

At present, the Cubs 70-man International Reserve List is full, and the 180-man Domestic Reserve List has nine openings. However, the 29 players who are presently on a minor league 60-day IL must be reinstated at 5 PM (Eastern) on the 5th day after the final game of the World Series (players cannot be carried on the 60-day IL during the off-season), which will increase the number of players on the DRL to 200 (171+29). But... at that exact same moment in time, the DRL limit expands from 180 to 190 players (and will remain 190 until 2022 minor league "full season" Opening Day), and also at that exact same moment in time, all unsigned minor league players eligible to be an MLB Rule 9 6YFA or second contract FA post-2021 are automatically declared free-agents (they don't have to file, it's automatic). And the Cubs have a LOT of minor leaguers eligible to be free-agents.  

One other thing to keep in mind is that there are no longer separate reserve lists for each domestic minor league affiliate. The players are all combined into one pot (known as the "Domestic Reserve List"). However, on 11/19 clubs can assign up to 38 Rule 5 Draft-eligible players to the temporary AAA reserve list, and those players can be selected only in the Major League Phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Then as soon as the Rule 5 Draft is over, the AAA reserve list goes away and players who were temporarily assigned to the AAA reserve list for the Rule 5 Draft go back into the DRL pot.  

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 09/22/2021 - 09:16 pm

The Cubs have added Bryan Serra to their Instructs roster. Serra was signed as a 19-year old infielder out of Venezuela in August 2020, and began the catcher conversion program at Minor League Camp this past April. He will be continuing the process at Instructs.   

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 10/01/2021 - 10:47 pm

LHSP Luis Angel Rodriguez, RHRP Dauris Valdez, RHRP Sheldon Reed, LHRP Didier Vargas, C Casey Opitz, INF Liam Spence, 1B Matt Mervis, and OF Peter Matt were moved-up to AAA Iowa from Instructs after Wednesday's intrasquad game. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sat, 10/02/2021 - 10:27 am

RHSP Ryan Jensen has been added to the Cubs AZ Instructional League roster. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 10/04/2021 - 10:45 pm

The Cubs have added INF-OF Brayan Altuve to their AZ Instructs roster.

Altuve signed with the Cubs as a 16-year old IFA catcher out of Venezuela in 2019 ($1M bonus announced in July, contract not finalized until October), but he has not caught an inning in pro ball.

He is, however, an athletic player with plus-speed and plus-power, and so he has moved back & forth between the corner infield and the outfield in search of a position. 

Because the finalizing of his contract was delayed three months (July to October 2019), he will not be Rule 5 Draft eligible until post-2024, instead of post-2023 (if the contract had been signed & filed when it was originally announced in July 2019).  

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:02 pm (view)

    The deadline for trading players on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) and players who were outrighted to the minors after signing a 2023 MLB contract was August 1st, but trades involving players on a minor league reserve list are prohibited beginning at 12 PM (Eastern) on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the 2023 MLB regular season (Sunday 9/24) through the last day of the MLB regular season (including a day on which a regular season game is played after the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season).   
     

  • Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:58 pm (view)

    jdrnym: 

    As you know, the abbreviation "DFA" stands for "Designated for Assignment." 

    There are three types of assignments: 

    1. Trade Assignment (when a player is traded from one MLB club to another)
    2. Outright Assignment (when a player is sent to the club's minor league Domestic Reserve List after Outright Assignment Waivers have been secured).
    3. Optional Assignment (when a player is optioned to the minors, subject to being recalled at a later time). 

    So when a player is Designated for Assignment, the player can either be traded, outrighted to the minors, or optioned to the minors. 

    Normally a player is not Designated for Assignment and then optioned to the minors, because the club could just option the player to the minors immediately without a DFA.

    Back in the day It was not that unusual for a player to be Designated for Assignment so that Optional Assignment Waivers could be secured (Optional Assignment Waivers were required before certain players could be optioned to the minors, and just like the old Trade Assignment Waivers, Optional Assignment Waivers were revocable if a player was claimed). Optional Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2016 and Trade Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2021, so all revocable waivers have been eliminated. What's left are Outright Assignment Waivers and Outright Release Waivers, and both are irrevocable once requested.  

    With the new five option limit whereby a player can (with a couple of exceptions) be optioned to the minors no more than five times in a given season before Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured (and it - IS - Outright Assignment Waivers that must be secured, even though it is for the purpose of an Optional Assignment), it now might be necessary for a club to DFA a player to clear a spot on the MLB 26-man roster (MLB 28-man roster in September) for another player and to allow for the two days (actually 47 hours) required to run a player through waivers. After the two day Waiver Claiming Period concludes (and presuming the player isn't claimed), the player can be returned to the MLB 40-man roster and optioned to the minors (even after being Designated for Assignment). But for that to happen, the player can - NOT - be replaced on the MLB 40-man roster by another player after being Designated for Assignment.  

    However, in the case of Jordan Luplow, he had - NOT - been optioned to the minors five times in the 2023 season prior to be optioned to AAA St. Paul on 9/18, so the Twins did not need to DFA Luplow in order to secure Outright Assignment Waivers so that he could be optioned to the minors a sixth time. But because he was Designated for Assignment and not replaced on the 40 by another player after the DFA, the Twins could option him to the minors (and return him to the 40) even after he was Designated for Assignment, because an Optional Assignment is one of the three types of assignments.

    So Luplow was Designated for Assignment even though he didn't need to be, and then the Twins returned him to their MLB 40-man roster and optioned him to the minors a couple of days later (which they can do, since Luplow wasn't replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment). What the Twins did (DFA Luplow and then option him to the minors a couple of days later) was within the rules. It's just very odd and doesn't make a lot of sense. 

    So I will offer the most logical reason I can think of to explain why the Twins did this:  

    The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they intended to reinstate Chris Paddack from the 60-day IL, but then Carlos Correa suddenly needed to go on the 10-day IL and so they decided they wanted to keep Luplow on the 40-man roster (and on Optional Assignment to AAA) and didn't want to risk losing him off waivers or by him electing free-agency after being outrighted. Luplow has Article XX-D rights (he has been outrighted to the minors previously in his career), so he would had the right to elect free-agency after he was outrighted. There was also the possibility that he would have been claimed of waivers, and obviously the Twins felt they might need his RH bat after losing Correa and with Royce Lewis having left a game with a hamstring injury that led to an IL assignment. 

    Also, if Luplow was outrighted instead of being optioned, he would no longer be automatically eligible to play in the post-season (except as a possible injury replacement).

    Not only did Carlos Correa go on the IL, Royce Lewis went on the IL, too, two days after Correa went on the IL and two days after Luplow was optioned to AAA, so the Twins did in fact end up needing Luplow after all, and recalled him just a couple of days after he was optioned to replace Lewis on the MLB 28-man roster. 

    So that all I've got. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they had intended to replace him on the 40 with another player (probably Paddack) and hoped that they would be able to run him through waivers and that he wouldn't get claimed and that he would accept an Outright Assignment, but then they suddenly changed their minds because of the injury to Correa and the possibility that Lewis might also have to go on the IL (which did, in fact, happen the next day).

    So the Twins were able to return Luplow to the 40 because he hadn't been replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment, then they optioned him to St. Paul, and then they recalled him after Royce Lewis was placed on the 10-day IL (the minimum 10-day optional assignment being waived because Luplow replaced a player (Royce Lewis) who was placed on an MLB IL. 

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:00 pm (view)

    CIN out here blowing a 9-0 lead they built through 3 innings.  9-9 tie in the 7th.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:05 pm (view)

    boxburger 10d IL, k.thompson back up.  it's his right forearm (again).

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:12 pm (view)

    merryweather got out of it, but he loaded the bases with 1 out.  of course ross got cuas up in the pen...thankfully he didn't need to come in.

    looks like cuas gets the 9th.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:46 pm (view)

    4ip 2h 0bb 6k, 49 pitches.  no idea why they're giving the pen the last 2 innings when he's out there dealing like this and only threw 49 pitches.  he was supposed to pitch tomorrow and he's fresh.

  • crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)

    ...and assad is now a pen arm, evidently...odd move given recent success.  i guess wicks starts tomorrow?

  • crunch 09/22/2023 - 09:16 pm (view)

    ARZ, MIA, and CIN all lose.  nice.

  • crunch 09/22/2023 - 09:54 pm (view)

    stroman is now the saturday starter...okay, then.

  • jdrnym 09/22/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)

    Phil,

    Jordan Luplow was DFA'd by the Twins on Monday and was ultimately optioned and then recalled today. I didn't think that was possible since optional waivers were eliminated years ago. How did that work for the Twins?

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