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, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* 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
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* 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 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

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




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

25 Cubs Minor Leaguers Have Been Declared Rule 9 Minor League Free-Agents

Submitted by Arizona Phil on

25 Cubs minor leaguers were declared post-2022 MLB Rule 9 minor league free agents at 5 PM (Eastern) on Thursday 11/10.

CUBS POST-2022 MLB RULE 9 MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENTS:

SIX-YEAR MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENTS (24) 
Jose Albertos, RHP 
James Bourque, RHP
Steven Brault, LHP 
Kervin Castro, RHP 
Erick Castillo, C 
Narciso Crook, OF 
Donnie Dewees, OF 
Anderson Espinoza, RHP  
Trent Giambrone, INF 
John Hicks, C-1B 
Jonathan Holder, RHP 
Bryan Hudson, LHP 
Dakota Mekkes, RHP 
Alec Mills, RHP 
Tyler Payne, C 
C. D. Pelham, LHP 
Franmil Reyes, OF 
Carlos Sepulveda, INF
Wyatt Short, LHP 
Jonathan Sierra, OF 
Matt Swarmer, RHP
Dauris Valdez, RHP 
Brad Wieck, LHP 
Delvin Zinn, INF  

SECOND CONTRACT MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENTS (1)
Harrison Wenson, C (previously released by LAA) 


Only one of the nine Cubs 2022 MLB Rule 9 second-contract minor league players (Harrison Wenson) was declared a free-agent, which means the other eight are signed for 2023. 

Also, OF Zach Davis, LHP Stephen Gonsalves, and OF Yonathan Perlaza were eligible to be Rule 9 free-agents post-2022, but they apparently have signed 2023 minor league successor contracts because they were not declared free-agents with the other 25. As such, they will now be eligible for selection in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, if not added to the MLB 40-man roster by next Tuesday (11/15).

In addition, LHP Andres Bonalde, RHP Craig Brooks, and RHP Jesus Camargo came into the 2022 season eligible to be 6YFA post-2022, but because they spent the entire season on the Restricted List they did not accrue the additional season they need to be a Rule 9 6YFA.   

Nothing will prevent any of the 25 minor leaguers who were declared free agents today to re-sign with the Cubs at a later point in time, but as of today they are no longer under club control and  so they free to sign with any club.   

Tags
Cubs Minor Leagues

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 11/10/2022 - 11:58 pm

cubs rumor machine is all-in on tons of names coming from high-end media sources as guys they're talking to...almost too many to mention, and lots of bats.

looks like 2023 is going to be a legit run unless this turns into something like the trade deadline non-event fiasco and nothing gets done.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Thu, 11/10/2022 - 11:38 pm

The Cubs minor league Domestic Reserve List roster limit expanded from 180 to 190 at 5 PM (Eastern) today.

22 Cubs domestic minor league players were reinstated from the 60-day IL at 5 PM (Eastern), 25 domestic minor leaguers were declared Rule 9 minor league free agents at 5 PM (Eastern), and two domestic players were released earlier in the day, leaving 169 players on the Cubs minor league DRL (21 slots are open)

The Cubs 70-man International Reserve List (IRL) is full. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 11/20/2022 - 11:17 pm

Something to keep in mind as the Cubs head into the depths of the off-season is that Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez were both signed by the Red Sox when Theo & Jed were running the team, so Hoyer might still view those two as "his guys" (all things being equal...). 

Submitted by fullykräusened on Tue, 11/22/2022 - 11:57 pm

I have a question for Arizona Phil:

When MLB collapsed the two-level Rookie Leagues into the complex leagues, how did that affect player development, in your view? It would seem to me that the youngest players, who would have been in the old "lower" rookie league, would be overshadowed by the slightly-older players (college draftees, etc.) who would have been in the "higher" rookie league before. And does the new system speed up the movement of the more advanced complex-league players into low A? Your thoughts would be appreciated, no hurry! 

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 11/25/2022 - 11:29 pm

fullykrausened: 

The elimination of the SS-A (short season - advanced) level has mainly affected the development of teenaged international free-agents and HS draft picks.

Most college draft picks and NDFA are not adversely affected by going immediately to Lo-A (with maybe a week or so at ACL/FCL before moving up), because Lo-A is kind of like D-1 college baseball. But the development of teenaged prospects really requires that extra SS-A level that has been eliminated. 

What ended up happening was some players were promoted to Lo-A before they were ready for that level, mainly because they had mastered SS-R (short season - rookie). Or in some cases a player would be held back at SS-R when he should have been promoted to SS-A (if it was still there).  

You can see that with several Cubs prospects who skipped the old SS-A level and went directly from SS-R to Lo-A, most notably position players like Ed Howard, Reggie Preciado, Ethan Hearn, and Ezequiel Pagan, and pitchers up from the DSL who were too advanced for SS-R but not  really ready for Lo-A.

The SS-A level was eliminated because the in-season Domestic Reserve List was set at 180, and it would be very difficult for organizations to operate six domestic affiliates (four full season and two short season) with that roster limitation. There would probably be enough position players to operate six teams, but teams would run short of pitchers such that the number of games would have to be significantly reduced at all levels. 

One idea that has been floated is to separate the FCL / ACL (complex) level into two sub-levels, rookie & advanced. Players at the complex would be divided into two groups, one advanced and one rookie. Because there aren't enough pitchers available for two complex squads, the number of games would be cut such that the SS-A and SS-R complex groups would each play three games per week (so a total  of six games played by the two squads each week), with a day off in between each game that would be used for instruction for that group. That hasn't happened (yet), but it might, because it would not require DRL roster expansion. 

Another idea that almost happened when the SS-A level  was eliminated was for the SS-R level (complex) to operate like Extended Spring Training & instructs for the ENTIRE season, with no "official" games or "official" stats. That was shot down, however, because the majority of MLB organizations (but NOT all of them) felt that was just too radical of a change. It still could happen, though, because it might be a better way to do player development, especially for younger players not yet ready for Lo-A, as well as for injured players who are rehabbing. 

[ ]

Submitted by fullykräusened on Sat, 11/26/2022 - 11:25 pm

Thanks, Phil.  Very thorough and informative post, as usual. 

You confirmed my suspicion that the HS draftees and young international players wouldn't be well served by this new format. It will be interesting to see whether the tweaks you mentioned will be adopted. Wonder whether the new format will affect teams' draft practices; maybe they'll shy away from US-resident high schoolers and let them develop in college, to be drafted after that...

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 12/02/2022 - 12:15 pm

the chris martin that was traded for zach mckinstry signs with BOS for 2/17.5m

that was a very profitable 2 months in LA for him.

Submitted by crunch on Fri, 12/02/2022 - 12:37 pm

rylan bannon didn't make it through waivers...astros claim him.  cubs picked him up a couple weeks ago from ATL.

Submitted by Alexander Dimm on Sat, 12/03/2022 - 12:00 pm

Wait!  Why are the Cubs trying to sneak him through waivers now?  They need roster space?  Planning for a big week?

Also, if the Pirates trade Bryan Reynolds, how would he look in a Cubs uniform?  

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 12/03/2022 - 12:33 pm

it would be nice.  winter meetings start tomorrow (ends wednesday).

hopefully there will be at least 1 addition this week.  ian happ might be traded, too.

cubs and the rule5 should be interesting.  heard nothing, but i imagine they're buyers.  gotta imagine they may be considering jake mangum if someone doesn't get to him before them.  great CF and lefty hitting gamble, even if he ends up on the bench.  cubs need all of that.

[ ]

Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Sun, 12/04/2022 - 12:27 pm

I’d like to see the Cubs be buyers in rule 5 too. Agreed Mangum is a name to watch. Personally I’d rather see them take a position player than a pitcher given that relievers seem to be where the system has generated enough guys close to MLB readiness and AZ Phil’s assessment that with a max of 8 RP and SP innings minimized the way they’ve been, it’s harder to hide a RP. Not to mention the ton of holes on the positional side of things at the MLB level.

Submitted by DavidP on Sun, 12/04/2022 - 12:21 pm

Mangum would be my first choice in the draft, but I expect that if anything, it will be a reliever.  I just hope that it is a reliever as good as the guys they might lose, such as Thompson or Correa.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

  • Eric S (view)

    Definitely needs a 10 day stint for the hangnail - have to nip those things in the bud or suffer the consequences (ie, more opponent home run derby, etc)

  • Eric S (view)

    Thanks for checking and yeah, that’s a double ouch

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    Believe you are correct, checked and appears Cubs have a $2.51 million obligation to Barnhart this season per Cot's Contracts.  Also paying Trey Mancini $7mil this season.  Ouch.  

  • crunch (view)

    m.busch had 0hr and 2 doubles when he was last at wrigley.

    we'll probably see a few more of his jerseys in the seats when they return tomorrow.

    wonder who will go down for taillon.  hey hendricks, you got a hangnail or something?

  • Eric S (view)

    Nice work by Wesneski with some solid defense behind him and the late tack on runs were welcome. Gladly take a 5-4 West Coast swing, particularly down two key starting pitchers … Now just don’t get swept by the Marlins for Pete’s sake. 

  • crunch (view)

    dansby takes the team lead in SB today after a SB with 2 SB total.  the team has 3.  madrigal has the other one.

    cubs also have 7 triples, 7 players each.

  • crunch (view)

    sure am ready for p.wisdom and m.masterboney to swap roster spots.

  • Eric S (view)

    The fifth inning has not been kind to Wicks this season. Giving up leadoff doubles to Tucker Barnhart is also not good for business. IIRC, the Cubs are on the hook for the majority of Barnhart’s salary this season to add insult to injury (could definitely be wrong here). 

  • Cubster (view)

    Kris Bryant to IL with low back strain. He’s keeping the Rockies docs busy.

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