Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Connecting Dots

Before recently throwing in with Super Agent Scott Boras, Super Free Agent Carlos Correa was represented by the mega-agency that’s been buying up MiLB teams, including the Iowa Cubs. The former sub-rivalry with the Memphis Redbirds will now be a sib-rivalry since the teams share the same owner. Strange bedfellows. But that’s beside my primary point of interest. The I-Cubs’ ownership had been local for decades, most recently under the community-spirited auspices of a man whose resume includes a Pulitzer Prize in journalism. He’s in his 80s and plans to remain a fan who’ll be seen at the ballpark. Still, he’ll be missed. Not only did he keep the team’s staff on the payroll throughout the 2020 season that wasn’t, but he divvied the proceeds of the team’s sale amongst all of the full-timers @ $2K per year of service. One long-term, mid-level vet reaped a $70K bonus when the soon-to-be ex-boss gathered everyone for a holiday surprise party. All of which I mention while wondering if/when the latest round of CBA jousting at the MLB level will resolve. UFC is another monogram that comes to mind to describe the “negotiations” about how to carve the billionberry pie. UFC? The new I-Cub owner also owns that brand. Not quite the same cache for some of us as a Pulitzer Prize.

Comments

Thank you for sharing Mike.  Sounds like the former owner was a high character human being and should be celebrated.  Haven't had a chance to attend a game there since I moved away from Des Moines in 2007 but recall it being a great ballpark experience.  Has there been any word of the new owners making any major changes?

cubs sign 31 year old eric yardley to a minor league deal.

he's a 31 year old righty that throws sub-90mph junk.

sammy sosa off the HOF ballot after 10 years.  he finishes up with a 18.5% vote, highest in any year.

gene clines has died.

he was with the organization on/off for a notable amount of time as both a player and coach.

cubs linked to being a finalist for seiya suzuki (japan).

strong-armed, power hitting corner OF'r (suited for RF)...27 years old.

cubs removing the santo + williams statues from the corner of sheffield/addison.

it's a temporary move so they can build their 2 story betting sportsbook.

Baseball America ranks the Cubs minor league system 15th in baseball - an improvement from last year's 22nd.

MLB will not make a counter-proposal to the player's latest offer and has requested a federal mediator.

yeesh.

they are extremely far apart on the economic stuff.

spring training delayed until march 5th at the earliest.

multiple meetings between owners/players next week.

meh.

players/owners met for the 3rd straight day.  they're supposedly still far apart on numerous economic issues.  they're meeting again tomorrow.

if there's no agreement by Feb 28, regular season games will start to be cancelled.  players will not be paid for missed games.

spring games through march 7th cancelled.

"some progress" made friday.

if there's not an agreement by monday more spring games will be cancelled.

March 7th leaves 3 weeks and 3 days until the scheduled opener (3/31). Hmmmm. If the season opens on time, which is doubtful with any further delays, I see a lot of bullpen expanded rosters.

"Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Major League Baseball Players Association "backed significantly off" Super 2 and their revenue sharing asks in their latest proposal to Major League Baseball on Saturday.

The players also tweaked their offer regarding the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT). The good news, is that the two sides are now back at the table for a second session on Saturday after the owners met separately to discuss the proposal."

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

well, so much for that momentum...

"According to Evan Drellich of The Athletic, the second meeting between the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball did not go well on Saturday.

The players presented a "comprehensive offer" after the first meeting of the day, which the owners contingent caucused on for two hours before sitting back down at the table with the players. MLB reacted badly to the proposal though, which in turn outraged the MLBPA."

----------

"Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post reports that the Major League Baseball Players Association is so furious with how Saturday's negotiations with Major League Baseball went that they're considering walking away from the table."

players/owners will meet tomorrow afternoon (sunday) for the 7th day in a row.

sunday meetings over.  they will meet again tomorrow.

if they can't get an agreement tomorrow, regular season games will be cancelled.

deadline to avoid game cancellation moved to 5pm tuesday.

they put in over 15 hours on monday.  there is positive movement and even some things agreed to...

playoffs to be 12 teams and some luxury tax issues agreed upon.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

yeesh...

so, MLB announced their "best offer" would be made before 5pm today...MLBPA has already unanimously said "naw."

the MLBPA hasn't come out and said it, but the earlier "good news" seems to be a leak from owners to the press and the 2 sides are not anywhere near close as it was assumed to be.  MLBPA has pointed to how far apart (very) they are on both pre-arb bonus pools and CBT thresholds.

looks like we're in for a shortened season.

everyone is going home.  all that's left for today is press conferences/statements from both sides telling us how the other side sucks.

MLB announces the "first 2 series" of the regular season are *poof* gone.

they're going to try again on thursday.

This translates to a cancellation of the opening road series and the home series vs Cardinals. Opening game moves to a 4-7 opening Thursday night vs Brewers at Wrigley.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Losing a few cold-weather games out of a long season isn't too big a deal. But it is a bummer to push the opening of the season. I guess I'll have to find some other way to note the passage of time. I hope the union manages to spite a few billionaires, if nothing else.

reminder, minor league games will continue as normal.

if you live in an area with minor league baseball, it's generally cheap fun and if you haven't been in a while a lot of newer minor league stadiums are rather comfortable (tall crew reporting in).

Is everyone keeping in shape at their own alternate training sites? I've been slacking, myself. Maybe I will add a bratwurst and beer to my shopping list this weekend.

mlbpa and mlb met for 90m today.

this was an expected "pre-game" to set up a timeline for future negotiations.  looks like we're in for extended time off from baseball.

"Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the MLBPA has approached MLB with an offer to re-open talks about a 14-team postseason."

this is f'n trash.

why even play a season?  let's just play a playoff and let everyone in.

this isn't football.  they play enough games to separate those who deserve it from those who don't.

[ ]

In reply to by Craig A.

the absolute brutality of the 1-game wildcard playoff i didn't mind.  it made it a sudden-death playoff "series" and the teams had to choose what pitcher they're going to burn for an all-or-nothing knowing he wouldn't be ready to pitch game 1 of the next round.  that was a playoff expansion i didn't see coming, but was acceptable how it worked out.

this seems to be something different that's going to be hard to be seen as anything other than a money grab.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Nor is it basketball, where it has always seemed to me that the NBA plays a grueling 81-game schedule just to determine seeding for the "real" season, the playoffs. But in the NBA, the really good teams are far superior to the mediocre ones, and it's rare for a high seed to get knocked out in an early round. (Not a serious NBA follower, but that's my impression.) In baseball, the teams are more evenly matched, and, as Craig said above, it's no shock when a lower seed can win a playoff round against a higher one. Which of course makes spending salary money to get incrementally better is nearly pointless with expanded playoffs. The whole point of the owners' position, as anybody with a lick of sense knows...

Don't the small market teams understand that the solution to competitive imbalance is revenue sharing?  With a really punishing CBT, no teams pay it, and nobody gets any revenue shared.  The status quo that the owners seem to be protecting is  bad for both small market teams and players.

MLB Spring Training games will not begin until at least March 18, per the mlb website. Exhibition play had previously been scrapped through March 11. Clearly the season start is unlikely for the current date of April 7th and another week should get nixed soon.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

nice about the exit velocity.  that's the scary knock on nick madrigal...really low exit velocity for a guy that relies on his bat to get on base.  part of that low exit velocity average is that he'll swing (and make contact) on pretty much anything you throw him.  also, happy 25th birthday madrigal.

meeting today was short, sweet, and non-productive.

MLB has declared the matter 'deadlocked' after today's proposal from the MLBPA and even said things are going backwards.

no follow-up meetings have been scheduled.

starting to look more and more like a may opening day (at best).

in cubs related news, they've blocked off the sidewalks to start construction on the multi-story betting sportsbook attached to wrigley field.

the extra income it generates should lead to some great cubs-related things, like a few more digital ad scoreboards or maybe a second TV sports network.

"Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report that MLB presented multiple CBA proposals for the MLBPA to consider on Monday.

Drellich adds that it was relayed from MLB to the MLBPA that the league views Tuesday as a deadline for an agreement if there is to be a 162-game season and players receive full pay and full service time"

codi heuer had surgery recently on his right elbow.  he may not pitch in 2022.  neat.

Matt Szczur announced his retirement. Making way for the next generation of scrappy 5th outfielders.

real compromise with both sides leaking to the press parts of discussions and agreements (without anger/backlash) have been flowing the past day and a half.

they could get this done this week, maybe even before the weekend.

we are still in the window to have a 162 game season happen (with a slight extension of playing days in the season), but things have to come together in the next few days.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

the owners are really hung up on the international draft, but that's been a non-starter for the players.  some owners want to die on that hill, but the players seem to be ready to hand them a knife if that's their wish.  you can't bargain for something 1 side doesn't even want to consider...

they're pushing either/or options to the players and some involve the international draft.

it's not happening tonight (wednesday).

games have been cancelled and opening day is April 14th at the earliest.

Therefore, they open on the road in Colorado. These cancellations translate to the Wrigley home opener vs Rays, Monday 6:40pm on 4-18. That 3 game series is followed by 4 with the Pirates at Wrigley through the weekend.

big movement on the international draft stuff...they seem to be pushing that part aside with an agreement to have active discussions until july.

draft pick compensation removal (player ask) in exchange for an international draft (owner ask) seems to be the tradeoff that's in scope of the discussions going through july.

if they can sort it all out a deal could get done soon.  these 2 major sticking points are most of what's holding everything up...the rest of the stuff is believed to be close to settled.

we may have an agreement in principle by the end of today or the weekend.

also, MLB has said yesterday's game "cancelation" statement was misunderstood and they could still get 162 games in if an agreement is made very soon.  i dunno how that math works out, but that's the updated statement.

no rule 5 draft in 2022 because of lockout weirdness.

it should return in 2023 (unchanged rules).

9-inning double headers and no ghost runners on 2nd in extra innings is back on the menu.

nice.

"Travis Sawchik of The Score reports that the new Wild-Card format will feature best-of-three rounds before the League Divisional Series.

In the case of MLB and the MLBPA: They are, in fact, afraid of ghosts. With 12 teams now making the postseason -- up from 10 under the old format -- the Wild-card round will see the top two teams getting a bye, and the four teams that play will see a best-of-three format to advance to the LDS. Because of the new format, there will be no more tie-breaking games. If two teams tie with the same record, the berth will be determined by formulas similar to the NFL or NBA."

owners vote 30-0 to ratify.  IT'S ON.

put the cold ass stove under a blast furnace.

a few minutes from now (7pm EST) we're back to 100% open for business.

I still think the owners gave the players the ol' screwjob in all of this and blame the owners for the lockout, but on the other hand...WHEEEEE baseball is back, let's do this!  I'm just excited to see Cubs baseball again.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).