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

Archer and Guyer Earn Top Minor League Honors

Submitted by Rob G. on

The Cubs named outfielder Brandon Guyer their 2010 Minor League Player of the Year and Chris Archer was named the pitcher of the year.

Guyer and Archer are still competing for the Tennessee Smokies in the Southern League champioship that begins tomorrow against the Jackson Suns.

In 410 PA's during the regular season, Guyer hit 13 over the fence with a slash line of 344/398/588. He topped the Southern League in slugging percentage and finished 2nd in batting average. He was a 5th round pick by the Cubs in 2007.

Archer was one-third of the package received for dealing Mark DeRosa to the Indians before the 2009 season. The 21-year old put up a 2.34 ERA between AA and Hi-A in 28 games (27 of them starts). That includes an 8-2 record and 1.80 ERA at AA in 70 IP with 67 K's and 39 BB's. Overall, he ended up 15-3 with that 2.34 ERA in 142.1 IP with 149 K's, 65 BB's and just 6 HR's allowed and a 1.173 WHIP.

For as full of a list as I have been able to compile at this point of minor league players of the year, check out Wiklifield. Guyer and Archer have joined the esteemed ranks of Brian Dopirak, Kevin Hart, Eric Patterson, Micah Hoffpauir, Kyler Burke, Sean Gallagher, Rich Hill and so on (Geovany Soto at least earned one in 2007). If you can assist in filling out any missing info on that page or any other, feel free to drop me a line or throw it in the comments.

Tags
Brandon Guyer
Cubs Minor Leaguers
Chris Archer

Comments

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:14 pm

silva...right elbow tendonitis according to gordo witty...no elbow "strain" he could be back by this coming weekend. thrilling. c.m. says he's rejoining the team tuesday and they'll figure it out from there. also, 2b baker, ss castro, cf byrd, 3b ramy, 1b nady, c soto, lf sori, rf colvin, p samardzija

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:12 pm

Submitted by The Real Neal on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 5:58pm. Well, Gaub and Stevens have been pretty useless. I really thought Gaub would do something this year, but he just can't seem to throw strikes and not get lit up. ===================================== REAL NEAL: John Gaub spent most of the past two months at Fitch Park trying to overcome "Steve Blass Disease." He pitched in one AZL game at the end of July and it was pretty sad. Along with Brian Schlitter and Jeff Stevens, Gaub is a good candidate to get outrighted to make room on the 40-man roster for Chris Archer, Brandon Guyer, and Marquez Smith on 11/20. However, none of the three (Gaub, Schlitter, or Stevens) would be eligible to be a minor league free-agent if outrighted to the minors. On the other hand, because each is eligible to be a Rule 55 minor league free-agent if not on a 40-man roster by the 4th day following the conclusion of the World Series, Mitch Atkins, James Adduci, Jeff Gray, and Bobby Scales (the four others likely to get removed from the Cubs 40-man roster post-2010) will have to be outrighted sometime before that deadline, so look for the Cubs to outright three or four guys in October (probably sometime before the conclusion of the World Series), and another two or three in November (on or just before 11/20). Another roster slot will open up when Xavier Nady becomes a FA.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:56 am

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 7:08am. Are you sure there weren't arm issues with Gaub? They seem to pop up every year. He went on Iowa inactive on 7/9, and threw one third of an inning in Arizona after that, in which he walked two batters. ==================================== VA PHIL: Gaub has had medical issues related to his shoulder in the past, but not this year. I was at the game he pitched at HoHoKam in July, and he was three balls on every hitter, walking two of them. That was the one and only game action he has had in the last two months. BTW, the Cubs now employ a sports psychologist at Fitch Park who works with players having problems with various issues.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:28 pm

Submitted by chuck on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 5:35pm. Remember when a lot of people on this site wanted to hang Hendry when he made the Derosa for Archer, Stevens and Gaub trade? Not looking too bad at thes point. ======================================== CHUCK: I know I was opposed to the DeRosa trade because I believed then (and still believe now) that trading Mark DeRosa and signing Milton Bradley and Aaron Miles made the Cubs (which had the best record in the N. L. in 2008) a worse team in 2009. It's a nice consolation prize that Chris Archer has developed into the Cubs #1 pitching prospect in 2010 and kudos to the Cubs scouting department for projecting Archer to be that good, but I still believe the Cubs (unintentionally) sold-out the 2009 season by trading DeRosa and signing Bradley and Miles.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:38 pm

ROB G: 3B Gary Scott was the Cubs "Minor League Player of the Year" in 1990, 3B Pedro Castellano in 1991, RHP Steve Trachsel in 1992, and OF Eddie Zambrano in 1993 (Eddie Z. was also American Association MVP in '93). I don't know if there was a Cubs Minor League POY in 1989, but there wasn't one in '87 or '88, so it started either in 1989 or 1990. I'll try and get 1997 for you if I can find the doc, but I seem to remember that Kerry Wood was POY in both 1996 and 1997, or else it was Wood in '96 and LHP Phil Norton in '97 (can't confirm at this time). Rich Hill was the Iowa Cubs "Pitcher of the Year" in 2005, and Scott Moore was West Tenn Diamond Jaxx "Player of the Year" in 2006 (and he probably should have been the Cubs Minor League Player of the Year, too, except for some reason they gave "Minor League Player of the Year" to Rich Hill and Donnie Veal).

Submitted by Charlie on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:03 pm

It'd be nice if Samardzija had one secondary pitch he could control at all. He is all over the place with both the changeup and the slider. (I know, his fastball isn't exactly pinpoint, either.)

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:38 pm

soto bats 9th the rest of the season... it's not like i expect him to hit 3rd or 4th, though i wouldn't bitch about it...but he seems like an obvious #5 hitter at worst...hell, he's not a traditional #3 hitter, but he probably wouldn't stink it up there.

Submitted by JoePepitone on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:56 pm

Sergio Meat Tray relives Chad Gaudin in the bottom of the 11th and promptly gives up a lead-off, walk-off HR to the Rays' Reid Brignac. 1-0 Rays over Yankees in 11 innings. Rays climb into 1st over the Yanks by a 1/2 game. Yankees pitched 3 ex-Cubs in the game (K. Wood, Gaudin & Meat Tray).

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:59 pm

the good: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 8 GB - 4FB the not-so-good 4 BB - 1 K nice effort, even if against a struggling team

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 09:44 pm

Xavier Nady has $2M in potential performance bonuses in his contract, and he isn't going to reach very many of them, but two he can reach fairly easily are $100K for 70 GS (he has started 59), and $125K for 300 PA (he has 285 after tonight). So there is a good chance Nady will make another $225K on top of his $3.3M base salary. Even though it costs them money in added payroll, the Cubs usually try (if possible) to help their guys get to their bonuses. For instance, last year John Grabow was used the last weekend of the season so that he could get to 75 Games (Appearances), when if he hadn't been used, the Cubs would have saved $25,000.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:21 am

Submitted by John Beasley on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 5:05am. Isn't there a difference between $25K for a guy one wants to bring back (and they did) and $225K for a guy who likely will be gone in a few weeks? I'm not necessarily saying they should bench Nady and deny him his money, especially if the org feels he's been a good troop this year. But at first glance these would appear to be quite varying situations. ============================================ JOHN B: If they wanted to make it look like they weren't trying to avoid paying him any part of his bonus, the Cubs could have just released Nady on September 1st once it became clear that no other MLB clubs were interested in acquiring him in a trade, and then announce that they were releasing Nady to give Micah Hoffpauir a chance to play everyday or that they were going to move Tyler Colvin to 1B immediately. Or they even could have released him prior to August 31st so that he could have made his own deal with a contender prior to the 8/31 roster deadline, and then the Cubs would have saved both one month of pro-rated MLB minimum salary (about $65K) while also not having any liability for his performance bonus. I just think Hendry wants to always do what's best for the player, even if it costs the Cubs more money. That's probably why Hendry is so popular with player agents. He's even friends with Scott Boras! Which then begs the question, "Why didn't Nady ask for his release at the end of August so that he could at least sign a minor league deal with a contender prior to the 8/31 deadline?" Maybe Nady is one of those guys who just doesn't care much about whether he plays in the post-season or not, he just wants to play somewhere where he can be more sure of reaching at least a part of his performance bonus (which apparently will be the case with the Cubs, at least about $225K of it).

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:14 am

If you set an age limit of 24, and you didn't reward work done in low-A ball, you would have a better list of minor league players/pitchers of the year since 2004: Guyer, Archer, Coleman, Atkins, Soto, Hart, Pinto. Burke, Patterson (both Pattersons, actually), Gallagher and Dopirak earned their awards in low A ball. Veale's season was split between low and high A. Hill was 26 when he had that big year at Iowa. Hoffpauir was 28. Brad Snyder is 28 this year, and didn't win the award, which is good. AA players are better bets.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:03 am

Submitted by Charlie on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 4:42am. That kind of assumes that Minor League Player of the Year is meant to indicate who is the best prospect. Maybe it's meant as an award to hold up a guy who has improved drastically, done what the organization/coaches asked of him, and worked his ass off? ============================================ CHARLIE: The Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year and Minor League Player of the Year are awarded to the Cubs minor league pitcher & player who had the best years. It is not the Cubs Best Prospect Award, or Best Tools, or Most Likely to Succeed. Those eligible for the awards include older players at AAA (even a 4-A minor league free-agents at Iowa could win the award), although I suspect the Cubs give greater weight to younger prospects who are still progressing up through the system (especially those who "Get with the Program"), but the awards do not exclude older guys. There is also apparently an element of "Good Citizen" (Lady Bing) implied in the awards, though it's mainly based on performance on the field.

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:45 am

I am sure glad to see Archer develop nicely, hope it translates to higher levels. At the time of the Derosa trade, I sure thought Gaub would be the most useful of the three, a lefty reliever that can get lefties out, Cubs really haven't had one since Will Ohman. Wasn't Archer hurt when the Cubs got him from Cleveland? The other thing I notice with Cubs prospects reports is, it is approaching the time that we call Josh Vitters a bust, another wasted #3 pick by the Cubs. I know Vitters is still young, but he has yet to post an impressive line at any level above A ball, and he seems to get hurt every year. Add in his lousy defense and from what I've read, questions about his dedication, and he sure looks to have bust written all over him at this point. Living in Kansas City, I am painfully aware that the HS player and 3B taken right before Vitters (Mike Moustakas) has absolutely dominated minor league ball all the way up to the AAA level, he could be the overall minor league player of the year for 2010. He'll be in KC for 2011. Of course, David Price (#1), Matt Wieters (#5) and Jason Heyward (#14) are in the big leagues now and performing well. Is Vitters even one of the top three Cubs hitting prospects at this point? Ugh.

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:06 pm

If I wanted to defend Vitters, I would point out that he had a nice AFL season last year and then started this spring at Daytona hitting a quiet .290, which was an improvement over last year at Daytona. Then something possessed the Cubs to promote him to Tennessee. You might recall the inanities about putting him in an environment where he would be challenged. He certainly was challenged at AA. At the time, I thought that the Cubs were pushing Vitters in order to help their poker hand with Ramirez, who was expected to declare free agency at the end of the season, or at least threaten free agency while driving a hard bargain with the Cubs. Funny how things turn out. Vitters' season went to hell, and the Cubs can't get rid of Ramirez.

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 09:14 pm

No problem going from AA in 2011 to the majors in 2012. Colvin and Castro both skipped AAA. It's why I thought the timing of Vitters' promotion to AA was peculiar. They seemed in a hurry to get Vitters ready for 2011--not necessarily to use him in 2011, but to be able to say to Ramirez this fall, "We're comfortable at third. Don't bother threatening us, we're not sweetening your deal." Vitters would be fine--maybe Samardzija as well--if the Cubs just forgot about where they drafted him and how much they paid, and said what they say to everyone else: Earn your promotions!

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Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Thu, 09/16/2010 - 09:34 pm

He should get a walk every ten at-bats or so, to be in line with the better hitters in the Southern League. He's more like a walk every 16 ABs. But those 7 HBPs are interesting, and maybe they tell a story. He must be crowding the plate, trying to pull outside pitches. Give him a couple of years to figure out how to orient himself at the plate. Maybe he'll get some ball-calls on inside pitches and also learn to lay off the outside ones. His positioning at the plate might also be the reason he has trouble staying healthy. Hasn't Vitters had a couple of season-ending HBPs?

Submitted by jacos on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:10 am

cubs interviewing bob melvin according to espn 1000

Submitted by chuck on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:17 am

Haven't seen any mention of this here but----Baseball America" posted their "all Prospect teams" comprised of 8 position players, a DH, 5 Starting pitchers and 1 relief pitcher. Archer was a first team choice and Jackson and McNutt were second team choices. Could Archer help us next year? Howa far behind are Jackson and McNutt? And I saw Carpenter in Des Moines registering a lot of 95's on the speed gun....which is thought to be 2-3 mph slow. Could we have the possibility of some real #1 starters in the offing?

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 09:32 am

Submitted by chuck on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 10:17am. Haven't seen any mention of this here but----Baseball America" posted their "all Prospect teams" comprised of 8 position players, a DH, 5 Starting pitchers and 1 relief pitcher. Archer was a first team choice and Jackson and McNutt were second team choices. Could Archer help us next year? Howa far behind are Jackson and McNutt? And I saw Carpenter in Des Moines registering a lot of 95's on the speed gun....which is thought to be 2-3 mph slow. Could we have the possibility of some real #1 starters in the offing? ======================================== CHUCK: Chris Archer, Jay Jackson, Trey McNutt, and Chris Carpenter are all Cubs Top Ten Prospects right now (actually probably Top 7, with only Brett Jackson, Hak-Ju Lee, and Josh Vitters in the mix among position-players), and Chris Rusin is probably a borderline Top 10, and Casey Coleman is a Top 15. And Jay Jackson is one of the best-hitting pitchers in minor league baseball (possibly a future Silver Slugger candidate), and that would add to his value as a starting pitcher in the National League. All six pitchers are starting pitcher prospects, and all six could conceivably be ready in 2011. (Well, I guess Casey Coleman is apparently ready right now, but he's only 6th-best among the Cubs top starting pitcher prospects). The Cubs are loaded with starting pitcher prospects right now, with Archer and McNutt potential #1's, J. Jackson and Carpenter both probably a #2 or #3, Rusin a #4, and Coleman a legitimate #5 starter... IF THEY STAY HEALTHY!!!!

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

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