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

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

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.