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

Cubs in Baseball America Top 100 Prospects

The Baseball America Top 100 prospects list for 2010 is out. Here is where the Cubs placed:

Starlin Castro - 16th
Josh Vitters - 70th
Brett Jackson - 74th
Andrew Cashner - 95th
Jay Jackson - 98th

Once again, Baseball America flips some prospects on their top 100 list from their top 10 organization lists. In this case, they had Brett Jackson #2 and Vitters #3 on the Cubs list, but ranked Jackson below Vitters on their top 100 list. It's happened a few times in the past as well.

The five Cubs are the most placed on the top 100 since 2008. Castro at 16th is the highest Cubs ranking since Mark Prior and Juan Cruz were 2nd and 6th in all of baseball in 2002. It's the highest position ranking since Corey Patterson landed 3rd and 2nd in 2000 and 2001. You can always view past lists at Wiklifield.

Comments

rated as his best tool, got a 75 grade (out of 80). others on the list: Jackson: Fastball, 60 Vitters: Power, 65 Jackson: Power, 65 Castro: Bat, 65

Most of the players on the list crapped out. Is that a reflection of the Cubs ability to develope talent or BB America's ability to put list together. I suspect a bit of both. I wonder how other organizations would measure up on prospects developing.

[ ]

In reply to by DavidP

zambrano and a slew of other pitchers, too. i would count mark prior, but mark prior didn't need a second of coaching. he was ready to go the minute he was signed and his stint in the minors was practically a "can you? well, damn you can." formality

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

From a layperson point of view, it appears the Cubs need some new batting coaches in the minor leagues. It's a reductionist point of view, I know, but only because I don't know how the process of developing a prospect into a major league hitter works. To support this theory we have Geovanny Soto saying he didn't start hitting well until he stopped listening to Cubs coaching. We've seen prospect after prospect fail in the Cubs organization. I would say the Cubs have done an above average job with pitchers.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I recall Soto saying he just simply started swinging harder and some stuff about simplfying things. Not sure if there was anything as dramatic as ignoring all previous coaching...but maybe there are some quotes out there.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

The quote below is from USAT but Soto is also on record with SI with the same information. Soto said that when he came up with the Cubs the other catchers all were driving the ball harder than he was capable of and he couldn't compete so they had him Therioting the ball to right field just trying to get base hits. He also said that when he went to the plate he was trying to remember all the various tips the hitting coaches gave him and it made him timid and stiff. Jorge L. Ortiz, USA Today, 7-8-2008
As he approached the 2007 season, his third on the 40-man roster, he felt it was time to swing freely. "I let go of my timidity and would go to the plate more loose," says Soto, who has struck out 78 times but also owns a .373 on-base percentage. "I took it like this was my last chance and I would enjoy the game, play without pressure and let the chips fall where they may."
FWIW other reporters have Von Joshua telling him to start swinging more freely.

Just saw one of the best and original baseball shows in a long time. On MLB network Bob Costas interviewed three retired MLB umps- Bruce Froemming, Palone, and the guy who blew the call against Cards in 85 WS. If you can find it watch it, very interesting perspective and one rarely heard. Called Studio 42 with Bob Costas. Best story- Ump was behind plate in late 70's and Yanks were blowing out a team. Lou was at bat, pitch came over ump just yelled strike. Lou steps out and asks "Do you know where that pitch was at?" Ump-"Lou, you know your not suppose to end a sentence with a preposition?" Lou was stunned, step back in batters box. As pitcher wound up, Lou steps out and calls time. Lou says "Do you know where that pitch was at...a$$hole?"

mcdonald was pretty damn popular with baseball card collectors, but he didn't have a sullivan award, a victory over cuba, or a chunk of the hype of abbott.
McDonald had way more hype than Abbott. He was basically Mark Prior when he was drafted, an absolute sure thing.
the sullivan award is given to the best amateur athlete in the country and it's not a "softball" type of award.
it's also not for being a great baseball player... ...the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments and honors those who have shown strong moral character. and
i think you underestimate the sullivan award and the buzz it gave him...along with all the buzz before he won it.
Charlie Ward, JJ Reddick are some other past winners...think you might be overestimating a bit there. Actually I'm feel pretty safe in saying your full of shit on this one.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

i have no idea how anyone missed the abbott buzz if they were around to have it shoved in their face. it was a national thing, not a local thing. the guy didn't spend a minute in the minors for a reason. he deserved his sullivan award, too. for the wards and reddicks there's plenty...WAY WAY more on-target marks on their award. this isn't considered a softball award by anyone last time i checked. sure, the guy is a feel-good story, but he was not easy at all to hit on the amateur level and he had a nice olympics to go with his final few college years. teams thought he was MLB-ready out of the box and the one that gave him a chance pretty much confirmed it. just because the guy didn't roll in to get a cy young doesn't mean he wasn't a legit talent. guys just don't waltz into the majors and stick.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

but to pretend abbott wasn't a huge deal or a legit straight-from-college-to-majors talent...i dunno at all about that.
Abbott had tons of hype, never said otherwise, but it wasn't just for his talent...people were intrigued by his story just as much. I'll also add he would have never gone straight to the majors if not for the Olympics. He was drafted in '88, played the Olympics and then had spring training to earn his spot on the team. Had there been no Olympics, he would have undoubtedly played some in the minors in '88. McDonald was the guy everyone thought was going to be the next perpetual Cy Young winner. I remember his first start in '90 being a huge deal, although the O's already had him in the their pen after just 2 outings in the minors in '89. But the O's were still working off the Earl Weaver model of letting pitchers get acclimated in the majors through the pen.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

story or no story you don't get to come to the majors and stay if you don't have "the shit." and seriously...the sullivan is a very legit award. i just count the hype over abbott and his eventual drafting/playing as more similar to the hype for prior...going from "really?" to "really!" before the dude even starts his last year. sure, part of abbott's appeal to the media/fans was his freak show thing, but the guy earned his hype. he was not a side-show when he went straight from draft to the major leagues without a minute in the minors.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

either way it's a decent idea to let lou get in his head if he's an option in fontenot. i'd love to have the luxury of blanco off the bench because his 2nd and SS are both excellent, but i also fear this would just be an excuse to rush castro, too. i'd hope they'd at least use this chance to keep tracy or another power bat around on the bench rather than that, though. from what lou/hendry has said about castro...and the new vet invited pickups...it might work out that way. way too early to say, though. woo spring.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

''Oh, no,'' the manager said, ''We're not going to ask him to do that. We're going to stick with it this way. We're going to keep him in an RBI spot.'' awesome. now all we need is soto to get his bat together. worried about theriot keeping his worth...both running and with his ob%...he relies a lot on smacking singles around. fuku i'm not worried about in the #1 or #2 slot, though it seems he'd be a better #2 hitter, ideally (not whole roster ideally...real use, ideally).

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Soriano is now Cedeno dumb. Look, you have no legs and no batting eye. You are not a leadoff hitter!!! (five more years) You know what you should work on??? (FIVE MORE YEARS) Flailing at breaking pitches 5 feet out of the zone!!!!!!!!!! (FIVE MORE F'NING YEARS) ~deep breath~ First step, when you see the catcher out of the corner of your eye sitting behind the left hand hitters box, be guessing breaking pitch away. Next step, DON'T SWING!!

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

wrong. ...and fail. if you don't have talent to begin with no one cares how nice you are. what part of straight-to-majors-without-minors-or-going-back is lost on you? is your list of 100s of those guys too long to parse? he earned it...get over it.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

with proof? let's see...a packed house in anaheim...media circus...many teams who would be willing to start him straight out of college...international wins over cuba (first in 2+ decades) and japan in pan am and olympics...2 major amateur sports awards... is it worth mentioning a mid-90s fastball or his other stuff? how about his spring training quotes about whether he can make the jump when questioned by others who don't like how he's used 1 arm his whole life? yes, there were multiple teams who thought he could start as-is. i don't run these teams, btw. just to clear that up... it's not bullshit. it's in print for those that missed it. it's that stuff i referenced. i didn't write it. the guy was destined to start right out of being drafted...and he did...and he stuck. you'd think this guy was a freak show with no skills rather than a freak show who had high skills. if this was going on RIGHT NOW none of you would be talking about him like he's a charity case. want me to paste more proof? link more proof? this isn't coming out of thin air.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

let's see...a packed house in anaheim...media circus.. imagine that, the story of a one-armed pitcher in the major leagues receiving media attention many teams who would be willing to start him straight out of college but 7 unwilling to draft him... is it worth mentioning a mid-90s fastball or his other stuff? not really, clearly he could pitch or he wouldn't have made the majors or been drafted 8th overall you'd think this guy was a freak show with no skills rather than a freak show who had high skills. nobody said that want me to paste more proof? link more proof? this isn't coming out of thin air. yes please, post the quotes saying because he won the Sullivan award he was the consensus top pick in the 1988 draft and the only reason he was passed by in the draft was because of his one arm. Also the quotes saying the Sullivan award was just for his on-field contributions. As well as the quotes saying that he would have started right in the majors in 1988 if there were no Olympics and wouldn't have gone to the minors. I didn't say the guy wasn't a talented pitcher or massively hyped, one-armed pitchers with major league talent tend to get that. your contentions though that his talent(not his story) was more hyped than Ben McDonald, that anyone cared about the Sullivan award when trying to project his major league performance or that him making the majors without any minor league games didn't have something to do with playing in the '88 Olympics and having spring training to make the team are bullshit.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

you act like jim abbott didn't have the buzz unless it was about him being a freak. you seem to think he didn't earn his golden spike or his sullivan. you also seem to think the sullivan isn't a major award, but some other sideshow. how many guys do you hear scouts and teams saying "this guy is mlb-ready" and REALLY mean it. seriously? for all the 1-arm stuff, the guy had STUFF. it was legit stuff. the 1-arm crap is a nice story, but if he didn't have legit stuff to go along with it... well... 1- you don't get major awards for it 2- you don't get to start in 2 major international competitions and get to start vs. the hardest teams 3- you don't have teams saying you're ready to go right out of college 4- you don't have the guy in question fielding questions by reporters asking him why some teams think he may not be ready 5- you sure as hell don't stick around if they try you out and you're not ready he's not little timmy from the special olympics or some dude with autism who's really good at shooting free throws. we heard about this dude for 2 years...he won a golden spike as a f'n sophomore. he dominated international competition back when college kids made up team USA and they played against other country's pros. guy had a 95mph fastball and a HARD slider...also a curve. All 3 were refined and everyone knew it. THAT is why he was moved so fast...because he was MLB-ready out of the box. You don't just stumble into that. ...and i never EVER said or hinted "he won the Sullivan award he was the consensus top pick in the 1988 draft" ...and if you think you don't have to have an athletic base to even be considered for the sullivan it must be new award territory for you.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

you act like jim abbott didn't have the buzz unless it was about him being a freak. no I didn't, clearly he pitched well in the Olympics and international competition and was good enough to be drafted 8th overall. But his "freak" status did make him a lot more interesting to the general public. You think he carried the US Flag in the Olympics while playing for a demonstration sport just because of his talent? you seem to think he didn't earn his golden spike or his sullivan. you also seem to think the sullivan isn't a major award, but some other sideshow. I never once mentioned the golden spike award, now you're just making stuff up. I think the sullivan award is a major award given for talent and leadership and overcoming obstacles. But if he had 2 arms, he wouldn't have won it. how many guys do you hear scouts and teams saying "this guy is mlb-ready" and REALLY mean it. seriously? I hear it all the time. How do you know they REALLY meant it with Abbott? and mlb-ready doesn't necessarily mean he's the most talented or best player fwiw, it's just that his skills are ready for the majors and don't need much refining. for all the 1-arm stuff, the guy had STUFF. it was legit stuff. the 1-arm crap is a nice story, but if he didn't have legit stuff to go along with it... never argued that, not sure why you keep coming back to it. He had good stuff on top of a fascinating story. But there were pitchers who were considered more talented and with higher upsides...like Ben McDonald. ...and i never EVER said or hinted "he won the Sullivan award he was the consensus top pick in the 1988 draft" you did say: i think you underestimate the sullivan award and the buzz it gave him and funny thing is if it wasn't for having 1 hand abbott would have easily been the #1 overall. ...and if you think you don't have to have an athletic base to even be considered for the sullivan it must be new award territory for you. I didn't think they gave it to ballerinas. You seem to think he won it almost exclusively because of his baseball accomplishments and that major league teams gave much of a crap when considering drafting him.

Crunch posting at 3:10 am. Where's my coffee? You know what's a shame? Mordecai "3 fingers" Brown never won the Sullivan Award. There's an injustice. Is Koyie Hill still eligible?

offtopic.... I'm moving to Milwaukee in August. (just found out) I want tickets but the ticket icon on the cubs site isn't available. (for games in september) Does that really mean they are already sold out?

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In reply to by The Real Neal

middle infielders seemed appropriate to me, that's what Castro is afterall and Smith was curious was other 20-yr old middle infielders did with their careers if brought up that early. That was the question he asked and he answered it for the most part with the 2nd half of it coming tomorrow. He already seemed to acknowledge that he thought Castro would be better than Templeton and fwiw, Tony Fernandez ended up with 39.4 total WAR for his career. But maybe Castro finds some power and maybe he finds second base as well. I'd be thrilled if he turns into Roberto Alomar myself. anyway, no use in me defending someone else's article, he has comments open over there if you have questions or concerns. I just found it interesting, not some holy grail, in the end it's all pretty disposable.

In other news. I need to get resmarted. I just realized I can view new comments merely by reloading the page. I didn't know it'd behave like the 'new comments' button. Now I know. ...and knowing is half the battle.

Boy, that 2004 list doesn't give you much faith in BA's evaluation, does it? Angel Guzman - 26th Justin Jones - 56th Ryan Harvey - 65th Andrew Sisco - 77th Felix Pie - 85th Bobby Brownlie - 92nd

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In reply to by Rob G.

His stats just weren't that good, and there was always talk of him moving to the bullpen. He was 68th the previous year, according to Wickifield. You know what would be interesting, is to review the list for guys who are on it 2+ times. My gut instinct is that if you're on it 3 times, you should be moving up it, not down, and your chances of being a significant ML'er are pretty good.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...

  • crunch (view)

    pablo sandoval played 3rd and got a couple ABs (strikeout, single!) in the OAK@SF "exhibition"

    mlb officially authenticated the ball of the single he hit.  nice.

    he's in surprisingly good shape considering his poor body condition in his last playing seasons.  he's not lean, but he looks healthier.  good for him.