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

AccuScore Predicts 2009 Season to Look A Lot Like 2008 Season

Another prediction system out there has gone and pegged the Cubs as the class of the NL Central....Yawn! The fun part is that AccuScore - the leader in sports forecasting - has run over "10,000 simulations" to come up with the revelation that everything will end up exactly like 2008...technology at its finest. The same three division winners and the Brewers win the Wild Card with the only discrepancies from 2008 being the Dodgers having the best record in the NL over the Cubs by a game and the San Francisco Giants move up to second from fourth in the NL West pushing the Diamondbacks and Rockies down a spot each.

I did a quick search for past Accuscore predictions and you know, they're pretty good. In 2008 they correctly predicted the Cubs would win the NL Central again.  From 1992-2005 they nailed the Braves NL East division titles. In 1996 and 2004, they had Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both getting re-elected. In 1999 and 2000 they were right about the Yankees repeating as World Series champions and every Monday to Friday they're right that I drive into work.

Cubs vs. Yankees in the final tuneup is under way....

Comments

Soriano solo HR...Theriot thrown out stealing second. Harden throwing in the mid to high 80's.

 

I finally figured out how to handle mlb.tv at work. Strangely, I can adjust the quality of the picture, but this doesn't change the size of the screen, which is annoying. But, the window can be shrunk if you do the picture in picture option. Just load up the game, go to picture in picture and swap the big screen with the blank screen. Sweet. For a slightly bigger screen, there's the equal size windows option. This is going to be perfect...the window is so small I'll be able to watch while still working in photoshop. Also, Harden looks like shit. Time for a DL trip. Heilman to the rotation. Keep Guzman. Furthermore, I fucking hate the Yankees, their announcers, their fans, and, well, their city. Nice stadium, though.

looks very hittable...

works quickly, but three hard hit balls to start, two ended up outs though. Slider has a good break though.

Thanks for the MLB.tv tip, Joe...

The highlight button is nice, plays in a small box in the upper right.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Yeah, I'm just hoping he's getting his butterflies out...Yankee stadium and all. He looks a little nervous. Yeah, I'm liking the new MLB.tv interface. Yahoo tracking is a pretty sweet feature too (I imagine, since it's not available yet). The only problem with player tracker is A) you can't use it with the picture in picture viewing and B) it covers the video screen so you wouldn't want to leave it up permanently...so, um, what's the point? I'll just keep my Yahoo stattracker window open too. Also, it'd be cool if we could score some runs.

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

"I'm putting together a special team...with special powers."

 

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

At the risk of being ex-communicated from the Cubs fan fraternity, I wouldn't mind seeing Wrigley Field replaced. /ducks while rotten vegetables are thrown/ In most things having to do with baseball, I am a traditionalist. But Wrigley Field is a bit of a dump and my guess is that it would cost as much or more to upgrade and retrofit Wrigley as it would to build a new stadium. The history is great, but I vote for a new stadium.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

As a person who lives nearly a thousand miles from Chicago and watches baseball almost exclusively on TV, I would hate to see Wrigley replaced. It'd be great if the training facilities were more up to date, but I'm not exactly feeling for Carlos Zambrano when he gets jealous over the Yankee's club house. Just how bad is the Cubs home club house? Is it affecting their performance on the field? If not, I don't care, since management still seems perfectly able to attract high quality players.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

I love Wrigley very much. I really do. It's probably my favorite thing on the whole planet - other than asian porn, of course. But, as much as I love it, I recognize that it's a shithole. To me, the only things I really love are the ivy, the bleachers, the scoreboard, the brick wall behind home plate, the weird OF dimensions, and the flags that fly from both foul poles. Why can't those things be in a new stadium?

[ ]

In reply to by Wes

well, the location is probably pretty important too...

while I'm sure it would be a major pain in the ass and they'd have to play somewhere else for a year or two, seems like they could knock the place to the ground besides the bleachers and outfield wall and start from scratch. Add their luxury boxes and a better clubhouse....might need to add a third level to the grandstands to accomplish it, but it seems possible.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Man, it would be tough to let go. When they first started playing games at Wrigley, parking wasn't a problem because cars hadn't been invented yet. Think about that for a minute. I realize the facilities might very well be a problem and may in fact affect on-field performance. And I'm not saying it isn't time. I'm just saying it would be hard to let go.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

There are essentially three problems with the facility: - The upper deck is falling apart - The concourse and amenities areas are severely outdated - The player facilities are severely outdated So fix those things is what I say. Working October x1 to April x3, I think it could be done. So really you're just talking about one year they'd have to move. Too bad Detroit already brought down most of Tiger Stadium. But I'm sure there's another park to accommodate - probably Milwaukee, maybe the Metrodome, possibly even the Cell.

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

Fancy concourse not needed. If by "amenities" you mean the trough urinals in the mens bathrooms... agreed... ditch those stupid things. Nothing nostalgic about whipping out your wiener in front of other men.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Having worked there for parts of 2 summers, I can attest to this, from testimony of stand managers. The plumbing dates from the '40s and is so convoluted and stuck behind brick walls and cemented in here and there that parts of the infrastructure would have to be rebuilt to accommodate re-piping. People working concessions on the concourse are allowed to drink water as they work, and I noticed the managers would hesitate drinking from the faucets. I asked why a couple times and was told "stuff comes out sometimes, because the pipes are so old and corroded".

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

"- The concourse and amenities areas are severely outdated" Have to agree with Ryno here. The Cubs keep selling more and more tickets--so from a business perspective the stadium does not need to be more attractive to fans. All that needs to be considered is maintenance/safety and the effect of facilities on the players performance on the field. That's it, at least until people stop buying tickets.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Personally, I don't want all the new concourse amenities other parks have. I don't go to a ballgame to see a shopping mall or some other such bullshit. I love the minimalist approach. Sometimes I get so pissed when people say Cubs fans don't care about the game. What about the fans at other stadiums who need to be entertained while they're walking to the bathroom? Or want a restaurante in the outfield? The one thing I would LOVE to see updated is the TV situation under the awning. Those things are like 30 years old. When you're sitting in those seats and you can't see flyballs as it is, it would be really nice (and really very inexpensive for the Cubs) to have some 50" HDTVs rather than 25" CRT's from 1980. And if the players need better training facilities or whatever, there's always the space right outside the stadium by the players' parking lot where they were planning on building a giant parking garage/museum or something (what happened to those plans?).

[ ]

In reply to by Doug Dascenzo

As a pro-new park guy, I will say that a new Cubs park will have to stick with that minimalist approach. I don't want deep-dish races, or any of that crap. I want the old-school baseball. But yes, please to God can we get TVs that we can actually see? The current ones depending on what time of day it is will never be visible during an entire game. Some flat screens please.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Okay, I better correct this before I get flamed: the automobile was invented, but Ford had just started doing his thing around 1914. Point is, nearly no one had a car to drive to the ball game at the time.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

I've been saying for a couple years now that it's time for Wrigley to be replaced. Do it the same way they did Yankee Stadium (although having seen the new park on TV it does seem very, very boring), but update it with a 3rd deck in the concourse, state-of-the-art suites, AND SOME GOOD FOOD! I hate going to Wrigley because the food their sucks, and when I quench my hunger with 15 or so beers, I have to wait 5 minutes to use the crowded bathroom. That said, outside of maybe using Soldier Field or Comisky, I don't know how it would ever get done. Whoever brought up using Tiger Stadium or Milwaukee stadium must have had their head up their ass been drunk. I'm sorry, but those are two terrible ideas that would never work.

[ ]

In reply to by Ryno

Yeah, Wrigley is great. Well, ok, it's not really great. It's kind of a shithole. I love Wrigley because it's Wrigley. I'd hate it if they were to remove the Ivy/bricks, scoreboard and bathroom troughs. Other than that, I don't give a shit. It's a pain in the ass to walk through especially before and after a game. It's so small. It's Wrigley, but, let's face it, it's not exactly a good luck charm. Keep the field and it's dimensions, the wall, and the scoreboard...tear down the rest; I'd be ok with brand new troughs. Don't know how, with streets surrounding it, but find a way to expand or at least de-shittify it. Maybe they could build inton stilts? Build something like the Space Needle here in Seattle with a rotating stadium on the top? Yes, they're still attracting FA's, but this issue seems to be coming up more and more lately and it seems like it IS going to be an issue. True we've landed FA's, but who knows who we didn't get because of the facilities?

[ ]

In reply to by The Joe

I've seen over 200+ games in Wrigley. Sat in every type of section available (100, 200, 400, 500, bleachers, etc.). Once I get there (through traffic, buses, L, etc.), I love the park. All that being said, it took one trip north last summer to see Lambeau Field and a game in July at Miller Park to realize what needs to happen to Wrigley Field........essentially 200 shaped charges of C4 and 2000 loads in 40 yd 'Bomber' trucks to take away the debris. You can build the marquis billboard, scoreboard, brick walls, and ivy in park that's easier to get to, easier to park your car, better food, better restaurants, better concessions, better seats, more seats, more skyboxes, and the freedom to play as many night games as they want. And there's lots of open available land in NW Lake, western DuPage, and NW Cook/Kane county. The only way to do something similar at Clark/Addison is to buy up the whole block on Addison from the sports store to Addison/Sheffield and Clark street from north of the Cubby Bear to Waveland. You would have to close of Clark and Addision, and build the new 'Park' around the existing field. Traffic would have to be re-routed around Clark, Addison, Waveland, and Sheffield -- oh, and the fire station on Waveland would have to relocate. Good luck with all that. And again, I love Wrigley Field and seeing a game there, but please, it's time.

[ ]

In reply to by George Altman

Wrigley is the best place in the world to watch a game. It's a bad place to go downstairs and get something to eat or drink, a bad place to hit the head, and a bad place to go souvenir shopping. When they drew 5,000 - 12,000 a game it was fine, but those days are long long gone. I don't think these pitfalls can be addressed in any practical way with a rehab, which would require severing the upper deck anyway and would certainly close them down for one season.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If the Cubs want to kick the bullpen decision down the road for a couple of weeks, they can option both Jeff Samardzija AND Sean Marshall to Iowa, and then recall Marshall when a 5th starter is needed for the 1st time on 4/19. By then it should be more clear whether David Patton is ready for Prime Time or not, and whether Gaudin and/or Guzman can get into a positive groove. And that way, Marshall can get a start or two at Iowa to stay stretched out as a starter for when he will be needed in the rotation in a couple of weeks. (As long as Marshall spends less than 20 days on Optional Assignment to the minors in 2009, he'll still get credit for a full year of MLB Service Time).

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

I think they're going to DL Harden and option Samardzija (I hate the Shark like you do Rob) unless they can trade Gaudin. Then Gaudin goes and Harden is still sent to the DL.

I was passed along the Smokies roster...not from Inside the Ivy either..so hopefully it will go better than the Latham story.

Matt Camp, James Russell, Todd Blackford, Casey Lambert, Alex Maestri, Richie Robnett, Jay Jackson, John Gaub, Casey Coleman, Wellington Castillo, Hung-Wen Chen, Blake Parker, Jayson Ruhlman, Jeremy Papelbon, Tony Thomas, Brandon Guyer, Jonathan Mota, James Adducci, Darwin Barney, Ty Wright, Kyle Reynolds, Blake Lalli, Steven Clevenger. 

I'm told 2 more players will be added.

Submitted by Rob G. on Sun, 04/05/2009 - 11:19am.
as I said, 2 names are missing, one supposedly is joining the team on the road after their exhibition game Tuesday, the other is a mystery.

============================================

ROB G: RHPs Brian Schlitter and Vince Perkins were sent from Iowa to Tennessee. However, one more pitcher at Tenn needs to be dropped because AA and AAA teams have 24-man rosters.

Also, Iowa roster looked like this as of Saturday night (one over the limit, but Matulia will probably be deactivated and be a ready-reserve player-coach), with two more to be cut when Chad Fox and Jeff Samardzija join the I-Cubs at Round Rock:

IOWA CUBS

PITCHERS:
Jose Ascanio
Mitch Atkins
Justin Berg
Esmailin Caridad
Jesse Estrada
Dumas Garcia
Kevin Hart
* J. R. Mathes
Gregory Reinhard
Jeff Stevens
* Jason Waddell
Randy Wells

CATCHERS:
* Mark Johnson
Chris Robinson

INFIELDERS:
# Andres Blanco
Jake Fox
# Matt Matulia
Luis Rivas
# Bobby Scales
* Nate Spears

OUTFIELDERS:
* Doug Deeds
Jason Dubois
* Sam Fuld
* Brad Snyder
So Taguchi

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.