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

Independent Living

The Cubs purchased the contract of RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx from the Victoria Seals of the Golden Baseball League last week. Bibens-Dirkx is a former member of the Seattle Mariners organization (16th round pick in 2006 out of the University of Portland), who was released by the Mariners at the end of Minor League Camp this past April. He will be assigned to the Cubs Peoria affliate in the Midwest League, where he will probably work out of the bullpen.

The Cubs acquire players from independent leagues from time-to-time, and Bibens-Dirkx is just one of many players who have received a second chance to continue their professional baseball career in recent years by playing independent ball. A typical salary for a player on an independent team is $1,000 a month, so a fellow really has to love the game to spend his summer playing indy ball.

Independent leagues are located all over North America, from Canada to Mexico, and from New England to California. Ex-major leaguers like Jacque Jones, Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, Felix Jose, Willie Banks, Keith Foulke, Pat Mahomes, and Jose Lima dot the rosters, as do a number of former Cubs minor leaguers

 

EX-CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS PLAYING IN INDEPENDENT LEAGUES

 

FRONTIER LEAGUE:

Florence Freedom:
3B Billy Mottram

Kalamazoo Kings:
RHP Tommy Mejia

Traverse City Beach Bums:
1B Sean Hoorelbeke

Rockford RiverCats:
RHP John Muller

Windy City Thunderbolts:
RHP Billy Petrick

 

ATLANTIC LEAGUE:

Bridgeport Bluefish:
OF Adam Greenberg
1B Brandon Sing

Long Island Ducks:
INF Kyle Reynolds

Camden RiverHawks:
LHP Chris Shaver
OF Chris Walker

 

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION:

Sioux City Express:
1B Luis Bautista

Ft. Worth Cats:
LHP Taylor Parker

 

NORTHERN LEAGUE:

Gary Southshore RailCats:
RHP Grant Johnson

Schaumburg Flyers:
LHP Carmen Pignatiello

Fargo-Morehead RedHawks:
OF Nic Jackson
LHP Scott Koerber
C Alan Rick

Winnipeg GoldEyes:
RHP Bear Bay

 

Among the ex-Cub minor leaguers playing indy ball, Billy Mottram (selected by the Cubs in the 36th round of the 2007 draft out of Dowling College before getting released in 2008) leads the Frontier League in home runs and John Muller (signed as a NDFA 5th year senior out of St. Thomas Acquinas College in May 2007) is 2nd in the FL in saves, Adam Greenberg (hit in the helmet with a pitch in his one and only MLB AB on July 9, 2005) and Chris Walker are 3-4 in the Atlantic League in stolen bases, while Brandon Sing is 2nd in the AL in OBP, 3rd in SLG and RBI, 4th in HR, and 8th in BA, and Nic Jackson (2000 3rd round pick out of the U. of Richmond and perennial BA Cubs Top 10 Prospect who was hampered by injuries throughout his seven seasons in the Cubs organization) is 1st in doubles and runs scored, 4th in hits, 5th in stolen bases, and 10th in BA in the Northern League.

RHP Bobby Brownlie (selected by the Cubs in the 1st round of the 2002 draft out of Rutgers and then later released in 2007) was probably one of the two best pitchers in the Atlantic League in May and June while pitching for the Newark Bears, before being acquired by the Atlanta Braves about a week ago. Brownlie is currently in the starting rotation at the Braves AAA International League affiliate in Gwinnett County, GA. (The Braves also acquired the other top starting pitcher from the Atlantic League last week, ex-MLB LHP John Halama from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs).

And Cubs 2005 #1 pick LHP Mark Pawelek (released by the Cubs the last week of Spring Training) signed with the St. George Roadrunners of the Golden Baseball League in April before being acquired by the Cincinnati Reds in May, and he is presently working out of the bullpen for the Reds Sarasota affiliate in the Florida State League.

Comments

Phil, any rumors regarding DJ Lemahiew signing a contract soon? Thanks.

I saw Bobby Hill play for Newark before he signed with the Cubs. Jersey Transit stops a block from the park. I was living in NYC at the time and it was fun to take a ten minute ride from Penn Station to see some cheap baseball in a nice little ballpark.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx Isn't he the little alien bad guy Superman has to get to say his own name to get him back into his own universe?

Austin Bibens-Dirkx Easily makes up in nomenclature what we lost in Albuquerque.

So Pawelek goes from Boise doghouse to Daytona equivalent by way of release in 2 Months? Chances he makes the majors at this point? 20%

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

ESPN: "Their starting pitching is a lot better than ours," Braun said. "They threw the ball a lot better than our starters did. They certainly swung the bats better than we did. Clearly they were the better team. It's nice to get the one win but they clearly outplayed us and outperformed us all series." Wwwwwwwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? A pitching staff featuring Jeff Suppan as the opening day starter is only a mediocre pitching staff? F'real? Oh, and I hate the guy anyways, but to hear him blame the team and front office for not being better is bad form and vindicates my feelings on this douchebag. jacos: Hey get off our ledge!! lol :)

AZ Phil, with your post I was thinking about Independent League signings that panned out for us. I thought of Joe Borowski as one right away, any others that I am missing? Are there any prospects we have that look pretty good that were Independent League signings? Amazing thing about Borowski, he wasn't exactly tearing up Newark when we signed him, had a 5.50 ERA and 1.617 WHIP; guess our scouts saw something there.

But the Brewers staff has one thing ours does not - it's called an ace & theirs is named Gallardo; closest thing we got was named to the AS squad yesterday...and to think he was slotted #4 in last year's playoffs

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Boy, I'm with you there. They need something other than a radar gun to evaluate a guy's fastball--like the way a hitter's eyes widen in the on-deck circle. In Samardzija's second inning Saturday they were taking BP. Even Kendall couldn't resist trying to hit one out. (His shot made it to the warning track.) I like Tim Wilken and worry about his reputation, which has two stains right now, Samardzija and Colvin. Colvin may have begun to wipe away one stain; but I'd also like to believe that Samardzija was entirely Hendry's call and not Wilken's. Not that Samardzija wasn't a decent 5th-round pick, but there are rumors that Wilken was very high on him. When I google Wilken and Samardzija all I see is tepid praise. Can anybody point me to a quote where Wilken is saying that Samardzija was a top pick if people knew he would play baseball? Otherwise, it's just Hendry throwing away money again.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil


DL: Samardzija has less pitching experience than most college signs, while Huseby has had Tommy John surgery. In recent drafts, projectable former position players with fresh arms have been taken by other teams. Are we seeing the start of any trends here?

TW: It’s probably more cyclic than anything. We didn’t really do it by design, as we thought those guys were our best options, talent-wise, when we picked--in the case of Samardzija, one of the best in the whole draft.

and...

“He’s got a chance to be a front-line pitcher and top-of-the-order guy. He’s got a very free and easy arm action; a very fast arm and a very coordinated delivery. He has a chance to have a solid to average slider, if not better. There’s a lot of untapped promise there. He’s very competitive and has a chance to be a power pitcher that could be a top of the rotation guy.” 

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

"One of the best in the whole draft" is a strong statement. Thanks for that. The rest, I think, is consistent with what you might say about a fifth-round pick, including that he could be front-line and top-of-the-order. "We thought those guys were our best options, talent-wise, when we picked." "He has a chance to have a solid to average slider, if not better. There's a lot of untapped promise there." "He’s very competitive and has a chance to be a power pitcher that could be a top of the rotation guy.” There's a double hedge in there--"has a chance to be a power pitcher that could be a top of the rotation guy"--but maybe it's just a professional scout being low-key. When Wilken talks about a real first rounder, he's more specific:
“He’s got a four-seam fastball and has pretty good control and command of his fastball," Wilken said of Cashner. “I liken his breaking ball ... this is about as close to a power curve as you’re going to see in baseball. This is one of the reasons why we drafted him, because he’s got two put-away pitches for us and he’s also shown some feel for a changeup. “He’s very athletic (and) he gets off the mound extremely well. He’s flexible and holds runners pretty good. He’s about as good a package as what you might see out there.”

what will they be??? Aramis, Johnson and Guzman back with Hart and Fuld going down, 3rd spot??

follows up 2 near no-hitters by giving up 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning of work...

thanks for the update AZ Phil...

[ ]

In reply to by 10man

Thanks 10-Man. We'll have to see. I would not bet on any Hendry firing scenario in the short-term. Rickets and Hendry "go back". In any case, I wonder how contracts move forward with new owners? Would a contract entered into by the Tribune Corp., be honored/moved forward by a new entity? I suppose there is a "buyout clause" in these situations? Just wondering out loud.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I wonder how contracts move forward with new owners? Would a contract entered into by the Tribune Corp., be honored/moved forward by a new entity? A new owner assumes any contracts that the previous owner entered into. Not sure if there are buyout clauses for these situations, but I would doubt it.

[ ]

In reply to by 10man

Hendry: Sale is done. Ricketts taking over. More Money! First priority: contract extensions for Soriano, Bradley and Samardzija.

AZ Phil, maybe you know the answer. I found this on the Boise website, regarding minor leaguers' long summers away from home: http://boise.hawks.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090701&content_id=56… Outfielder Jae-Hoon Ha thinks about his family every day that he suits up for the Hawks. "I really miss my parents, my brother and my friends," said Ha. "I talk to them every day on the phone." But Ha knows that his time in Boise will pay off in the long run. "I have a plan," said Ha. "I will do my best this season and next season I will go home and play in Korea because my family is there." Ha won't return as soon as his minor league season is over, however. After the season ends, he will head to Mesa for running camp for about a month. He won't make it back home until late October. So Jae-Hoon Ha plans to play a season at Boise then go back to Korea for a year? Or is he referring to winter league ball in Korea (if there is such a thing)?

Winters in South Korea are pretty much like winters in Illinois. Darn cold in the northern part, a little bit milder in the southern part. But I doubt that there is much winter ball played there. Sounds like a homesick kid talking off the cuff.

If Ha doesn't report to training camp nex't spring will they put him on the reserved list? Will they release him and ask for his signing bonus to be returned? I thought they "own" a players' rights for 7 years. Does he have the freedom to play in Korea without paying a huge price?

Submitted by Q-Ball on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 9:20am.
AZ Phil, with your post I was thinking about Independent League signings that panned out for us. I thought of Joe Borowski as one right away, any others that I am missing?

Are there any prospects we have that look pretty good that were Independent League signings?

Amazing thing about Borowski, he wasn't exactly tearing up Newark when we signed him, had a 5.50 ERA and 1.617 WHIP; guess our scouts saw something there.

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

Q-BALL: The Cubs have acquired probably about a dozen guys out of indy ball over the past few years, including RHP Joe Borowski, RHP Jermaine Van Buren, INF Aaron Sisk, LHP Issac Pavlik, RHP Ryan Bicondoa, INF Jake Whitesides, 1B Jesse Hoorelbeke, INF Andrew Lane, SS Albenis Machado, RHP Dumas Garcia, RHP Tanner Watson, RHP Vince Perkins, and C Shawn McGill, and now RHP AuStin Biebens-Dirkx. The best one was Borowski, but Van Buren pitched in the big leagues, too.

[ ]

In reply to by Arizona Phil

Perkins has had himself a decent year out of the pen for us. A nice signing, and one I really liked, considering how highly touted he was coming up with the Blue Jays. Still has the same control issues, but the stuff seems like it hasn't really regressed. Only 28, I think he could perhaps still see the bigs in a middle relief role, although with our plethora of righty middle relief types, I'd venture it'd be with someone else.

Living in Philly, the Camden (New Jersey) Riversharks play just across the river and are fun to watch. They've had a number of ex-Cubs (as well as Jose Lima, who played with them last year) and I got to see former not-really prospect Chris Walker play earlier this summer. I knew these dudes weren't paid that well but...$ 1,000 a month? Dang.

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.