Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus one player is on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, one player is on the 15-DAY IL, and one player is on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 3-28-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
* 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: 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 

10-DAY IL: 1 
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 1 
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 1 
Caleb Kilian, P 

 



 

Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

A Look at a Decade of the MLB First Year Draft

Reader Real Neal breaks down the first round of the draft in a variety of ways to see if there's an optimal strategy and how have the Cubs done relative to their drafting position.


 

Two topics are always in hot debate this time of the year, when it comes to the MLB draft. How have the Cubs done, and who should they pick?


With that in mind, I am taking a look at 10 years worth of first round picks to try and help answer those questions. I am only looking at the top 30 picks each year (yeah I know the Cubs draft 31st), just to simplify things. The 10 year range I used was ’96 to ’05. It’s just too early to tell what is going to happen with highschoolers only drafted three years ago. I used WARP3, even though Baseball Prospectus has got something a bit wonky going on with their WARP3 scores for 2009, which seem exaggerated. I figured since the majority of these players are still playing, though, that the slight wobble could sort of build in a little projection.


To start off with, here is some general charts, which should be self explanatory.


Draftees By Level

Level

Pos

Total

C

1B

9

 

2B

2

 

3B

7

 

C

6

 

IF

5

 

OF

21

 

P

94

 

SS

13

C Total

 

157

H

1B

6

 

3B

9

 

C

7

 

IF

7

 

OF

35

 

P

64

 

SS

15

H Total

 

143

Grand Total

 

300


Nearly even on the HS vs. College players, but there’s a lot more college pitchers taken (60% of college players) than there are HS pitchers (45%). Maybe TINSTAAPP is starting to take hold around major league scouting departments.



ML Players by Draft Year


Total WARP3 by Year

Year

Total


Year

Total

1996

21


1996

172.3

1997

22


1997

263.1

1998

22


1998

246.8

1999

14


1999

152.4

2000

16


2000

82.1

2001

19


2001

151.3

2002

22


2002

213.7

2003

21


2003

127.3

2004

20


2004

42.4

2005

21


2005

99.2

Grand Total

198


Grand Total

1550.6


66.0%





Two out of every 3 first round picks get to the majors. That doesn’t always mean they’re useful major leaguers, though.




MLB's by College vs HS


WARP3 Coll vs HS

Level

Total


Level

Total

C

120


C

911

H

78


H

639.6

Grand Total

198


Grand Total

1550.6


About what you may expect, if you’ve been following things over the last 13 years.


When these charts are combined, you can start to see some suggestions about where drafting has been successful over that decade:


Draftees By Level

 

 

Level

Pos

Total

Success %

Avg W3

C

1B

9

67%

11.1

 

2B

2

100%

5.8

 

3B

7

86%

17.9

 

C

6

67%

0.0

 

IF

5

60%

10.8

 

OF

21

86%

8.8

 

P

94

72%

3.8

 

SS

13

100%

6.3

C Total

 

157

76%

5.8

H

1B

6

83%

8.8

 

3B

9

67%

7.6

 

C

7

43%

8.3

 

IF

7

43%

1.1

 

OF

35

60%

4.2

 

P

64

50%

4.2

 

SS

15

53%

2.3

H Total

 

143

55%

4.5

Grand Total

 

300

66%

5.2


College hitters, particularly infielders, but not catchers really stand out. HS corner men, and catchers have done well. Surprisingly HS pitchers have done better than college pitchers when it comes to WARP3, though only 50% of them make it to the bigs.


So, all other things equal, based on those 10 drafts, in the first round you should look for College infielders, College outfielders HS corner infielders and HS catchers in the first round. If you’re desperate for a pitcher, then the upside seems to be with the HS’s, but if you just want to get a guy to the majors, then go with a college arm (72% chance).


So, how have the Cubs, and other teams done?The first thing I did was looked at who should have been drafted where. These are the guys that should have been the #1’s by year. Determined solely by who has the most WARP3.

Year

Player

Position

Team

Level

WARP3

1996

Eric Chavez

3B

OAK

H

49.6

1997

Lance Berkman

1B

HOU

C

54.1

1998

C.C. Sabathia

P

CLE

H

46.7

1999

Barry Zito

P

OAK

C

39.8

2000

Chase Utley

IF

PHI

C

44.2

2001

Mark Teixeira

3B

TEX

C

39.9

2002

Matt Cain

P

SF

H

25.7

2003

Nick Markakis

OF

BAL

C

22.7

2004

Jered Weaver

P

ANA

C

18.9

2005

Ryan Zimmerman

3B

WAN

H

19.8


Two things that grabbed my attention here. There’s only one HS hitter, and one College Pitcher. There’s also no #1 overalls on the list, though Adrian Gonzales has a chance, I think to eventually rectify that.


I followed that up by asking, ‘Did a team make the optimum choice?”. Very simply if no one behind you did any better than you did, based on WARP3 of the player, then you made the correct decision. It doesn’t happen very often.


Team

Total

ANA

1

ARI

2

ATL

2

BAL

3

BOS

1

CHC

 

CHW

 

CIN

 

CLE

1

COL

1

DET

 

FLA

 

HOU

1

KC

1

LA

3

MIL

2

MIN

2

NYM

 

NYY

 

OAK

2

PHI

1

PIT

1

SD

 

SEA

2

SF

2

STL

3

TB

 

TEX

1

TOR

1

WAN

1

(blank)

 

Grand Total

34


Most teams did it (not the Cubs, of course), but no team was able to do it more than 3 times. That certainly lends evidence to the ‘draft is a crapshoot’ theory.


I went to take a little deeper look. How successful were teams at getting their first round picks to the Majors? How many wins did those players earn? And what’s the ‘value’ of those wins.


Picks Per Team

 

 

$ 2.63

Team

Total

MLB/Pick

WARP3/Pick

Value/Pick

ANA

8

88%

9.88

$ 26.02

ARI

9

78%

2.56

$ 6.73

ATL

8

75%

2.86

$ 7.54

BAL

14

50%

3.46

$ 9.13

BOS

8

63%

2.93

$ 7.71

CHC

9

44%

4.84

$ 12.76

CHW

11

82%

0.40

$ 1.05

CIN

10

60%

2.25

$ 5.93

CLE

11

55%

5.56

$ 14.66

COL

9

67%

5.70

$ 15.02

DET

10

70%

2.78

$ 7.33

FLA

11

64%

8.47

$ 22.32

HOU

7

57%

9.49

$ 24.99

KC

14

64%

2.01

$ 5.31

LA

8

88%

3.83

$ 10.08

MIL

10

60%

6.29

$ 16.57

MIN

12

58%

7.28

$ 19.17

NYM

9

78%

3.11

$ 8.20

NYY

9

44%

1.86

$ 4.89

OAK

16

63%

8.87

$ 23.37

PHI

8

100%

17.96

$ 47.33

PIT

10

60%

2.49

$ 6.56

SD

12

33%

1.38

$ 3.62

SEA

6

50%

4.70

$ 12.38

SF

11

91%

4.69

$ 12.36

STL

11

64%

8.54

$ 22.49

TB

8

75%

4.49

$ 11.82

TEX

10

80%

7.19

$ 18.95

TOR

11

91%

7.89

$ 20.79

WAN

10

50%

3.44

$ 9.06

Grand Total

300

66%

5.17

$ 13.62


This may need some explanation. The picks per team is the # of first round picks over the period, from 6 (Seattle) to 16 (Oakland). The MLB/Pick is the % of those picks who made the big leagues. The White Sox got a very good 82% of their picks to the Majors. The next is WARP3/Pick. Which is how many wins the average first round pick netted the team. The White Sox players were pretty crappy, you can see. It seems like if you’re a bad #1 pick but want a cup of coffee in the majors, the South Side of Chicago is where you want to go. Philly dominates this category by virtue of having drafted J.D. Drew, who they failed to sign, along with Utley, Burrell and Hamels. The final is just taking BP’s 2009 win value and multiplying it by the WARP3. This isn’t marginal value, for that you’d need to take out the player’s salaries, signing bonuses and other developmental costs.


The final thing I did was added in some weighting of the draft picks. If you’re always picking at the top, you should do better than perrenial playoff contenders. This to me is the best evaluation of how these first round picks have done over the time frame.



Weighted Warp3/Pick

Team

Draft Position

Wgt Pos

W3/P*Wgt

HOU

20

131%

12.4

PHI

10

67%

12.0

OAK

20

130%

11.5

STL

21

134%

11.4

ANA

14

90%

8.8

FLA

16

101%

8.5

TEX

16

103%

7.4

CLE

20

127%

7.1

SF

21

133%

6.2

TOR

12

79%

6.2

MIN

13

85%

6.2

LA

22

142%

5.4

SEA

18

113%

5.3

COL

14

90%

5.1

ATL

27

176%

5.0

BOS

20

129%

3.8

CHC

12

77%

3.8

BAL

16

102%

3.5

MIL

9

55%

3.5

ARI

20

127%

3.2

NYY

24

153%

2.8

NYM

13

81%

2.5

WAN

10

63%

2.2

CIN

14

90%

2.0

TB

7

44%

2.0

KC

13

86%

1.7

PIT

9

58%

1.4

SD

16

101%

1.4

DET

7

43%

1.2

CHW

16

102%

0.4



Average

5.1


Here we can see that Houston, who was in the playoff hunt for most of these years and Philly, who wasn’t did the best. The Cubs are pratically in a deadlock with the Red Sox, and are just about middle of the pack, though more than a win less than the average.

Comments

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Len and Bob say that Bradley just had a leg cramp yesterday, that's all, and it is completely unrelated to his getting a day off today. Sounds like Lou just wanted to rest him today.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

If by "just" you mean "Sounds like Lou [got sick of Bradley sucking and] wanted to rest him today".

drafted his son in Round 43 for the White Sox...bet he decides he's worth a $2m bonus.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator


“I think what they’re getting is a very solid baseball player,” Mainieri said. “He’s not going to wow you with his tools. He’s not going to run like the wind. He’s not going to hit balls 400 feet regularly. He’s not going to throw the ball a hundred miles an hour across the diamond. But what you’re getting is a very good baseball player. I think he’s going to get better in pro ball, too.”
Is there anything he can do?

Mainieri is close friends with Jim Hendry and invited the Cubs general manager to Baton Rouge earlier this season for a team practice at the Tigers’ complex.

Mainieri said LeMahieu’s swing caught Hendry’s eye right away.

“When Jim was back here in February for our opening banquet and came out and watched us practice, he whispered to me, ‘This kid is really going to hit in pro ball,’” Mainieri recalled. “‘You get him with the right hitting coach, they’re going to teach him how to pull the ball and I think he’s going to have power.’”

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

And anyone else find it odd that Hendry told LeMahieu's coach that LeMahieu just needed a better coach?

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Batting in college is different from in the Pros. What I think is odd is that a team notorious for not being able to develop hitting prospects selects two guys who are going to have to have their swings reworked with their first two picks of the draft.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

Batting in college is different from in the Pros. Really? I wasn't aware. Thanks for the brilliant insight.

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

Obviously you weren't aware since you compared being productive in college to being productive in the pros. There are things you can get away with, primarily 'fisting' the ball for hits, that you can't get away with in wooden bat leagues. Always glad to be of help.

Cubs drafted Walt Jocketty's kid...3b out of high school with their 47th round pick.

The Cubs 2009 draft featured 22 pitchers(16 right-handed, 6 left-handed), 16 infielders (5 shortstops, 2 second basemen, 4 third basemen, 4 first basemen), 7 outfielders (5 center fielders), and 5 catchers. They drafted 28 players out of college, 8 out of junior and community colleges and another 14 out of high school. http://wiklifield.thecubreporter.com/Cubs_2009_June_Amateur_Draft

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/06/w… Zambrano was diplomatic about the decisions, saying it was the right move because Piniella would've been blamed had he gone out and given up the winning run in the ninth. Informed of Zambrano's comment, Piniella said: "I don't care about the blame. I thought he had done his job, I thought he had pitched enough. Remember, he's only two starts removed from the DL, and we've got another 3 1/2 months of baseball here." Actually, Zambrano was making his fourth start since being removed from the disabled list on May 22, and he threw 114 pitches in his second game back against Pittsburgh.

Cards with interest in Miguel Tejada, WSox could look to move Dye, Jenks or Dotel if things don't turn around quickly. maybe they'll take Neal Cotts back for one of the relievers...

I can't fucking believe this fucking team and the offense! Fucking Russ Ortiz shuts them down too? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. The pitching is fantastic and we can't score runs? Unbelievable. I'm not optimistic they can pull this one out but you never know. 1 run since blanco's rbi double tuesday. And that was Soto's homer.

Recent comments

  • Charlie (view)

    I worry that Morel will lose starts at 3B as long as this roster lacks a compelling DH.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I think if you had ranked players by how much the team could ill afford to have them miss significant time, Steele would be right at the top of the list.

  • crunch (view)

    steele MRI on friday.  counsell expects an IL stint.

    no current plans for his rotation replacement.

  • hellfrozeover (view)

    I would say also in the bright side column is Busch looked pretty good overall at the plate. Alzolay…man, that hurts but most of the time he’s not giving up a homer to that guy. To me the worst was almonte hanging that pitch to Garcia. He hung another one to the next hitter too and got away with it on an 0-1. 

  • crunch (view)

    amaya blocked like 6-8 of smyly's pitches in the dirt very cleanly...not even an exaggeration, smyly threw a ton of pitches bouncing in tonight.

    neris looking like his old self was a relief (no pun), too.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    In looking for bright spots the defense was outstanding tonight. The “stars” are going to need to shine quite a bit brighter than they did tonight offensively though for this to be a successful season.

  • Eric S (view)

    Good baseball game. Hopefully Steele is pitching again in April (but I’m not counting on it). 

  • crunch (view)

    boo.

  • crunch (view)

    smyly to face the 2/3/4 hitters with a man on 2nd in extras.

    this doesn't seem like a 8 million dollar managerial decision.

  • crunch (view)

    i 100% agree with you, but i dunno how jed wants to run things.  the default is delay.  i would choose brown.

    like hellfrozeover says, could be smyly since he's technically fresh and stretched.

    anyway, on a pure talent basis....brown is the best option.