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

Bad News/Good News - Peter's Been Robbed/Paul's Been Paid

Paul Sullivan had a piece in the Tribune on the Fourth of July that noted the heavy lifting being done in Chicago by players who started the season in Iowa. It got me to thinking...

Pending any roster impact that Geovany Soto's obliqueness might have, over half of the Cubs' current 25 man roster came to the NL Central via the PCL American North. Granted, not all of the baker's dozen were original signees of the organization, but each of the 13 have logged significant time in Des Moines on their ways up.

Collectively, you'd have to say that they've contributed more than their fair share to this point of a teeter-totter season. Put another way, the Cubs are getting more than their money's worth from this bunch. If the same could be said for the rest of the bloated payroll, well...

Please stand when I call your name. Hold your applause until the whole group has been recognized:

1. Jake Fox - A poor man's Jim Thome?

2. Micah Hoffpauir - A poorer man's Jake Fox?

3. Ryan Theriot - Left Des Moines a few years ago and never looked back.

4. Andres Blanco - A small-baller who might be more appreciated and less of a luxury on a team where the big guns were firing properly.

5. Mike Fontenot - Are his best days in the big leagues already behind him?

6. Carlos Marmol - Wish he'd stop racking up starter's pitch counts in short relief.

7. Angel Guzman - Seems finally to be carving a niche. Could it be the Greggles he sports?

8. Jeff Samardzija - Stretch and shrink, stretch and shrink - if it's not good for fabrics...

9. Kevin Hart - Every good team's gotta have one, right?

10. Sean Marshall - Actually has only logged brief time here & that as a rehabber, but he did come through the system.

11. Randy Wells - As many wins as the $18 million dollar man-child without the seizures.

12.Koyie Hill - Stats compare favorably with MB's, unfortunately.

13.Geovany Soto - Not exactly a contender for sophomore of the year, but starting to come around. Fingers crossed on the "mild strain".

HONORABLE MENTION: Bobby Scales, Jose Ascanio and Sam Fuld.

In the last couple of years the Cubs have gotten damn good mileage out of their Triple A callups. Last year the "made guys" in the majors also did their jobs, at least in the regularly scheduled portion of the season. There's half a year remaining for them to kick in their share in '09. If they don't, well, Piniella won't have to worry about snapping [or extending] his October winlessness...MW

Comments

Gotta say I like the point about Samja stretching and shrinking. At this point I think you just need to accept him for what he is. Put him in short relief and let him be. Better to have a good reliever than a bad/injured starter/reliever. IMHO

Simple question, maybe the answer is not so simple: If the Cubs released Milton Bradley tomorrow, would they be off the hook for 2011? The $4 million signing bonus has been spent already. They would pay $11.5 million for the rest of this year and next year, but save $12 million the following year. Bradley's role would be assumed by three cheapies, Fox, Hoffpauir and Fuld. Unpleasant experience, but how you deal with a malignancy.

Is Samardzija a bad starter? 5-3, 3.72 ERA, 53K/20BB at Iowa in 13 games, 12 starts. I mean, for this season, sure he's gonna be a bullpen guy, but can they rule out him getting in the rotation? Maybe the future closer?

You know how sometimes you buy something, say a new wardrobe piece, and later realize it's just not you, but you're too proud to admit it so you keep trying to fit it in & you end up walking around looking like somebody you're not? At first people snicker behind your back & then they start booing! The Cubs have spent themselves into the corner of having to keep wearing nasty looking outfits like AS & MB...fashion is too trendy for long-term contracts

Also not to mention Casey McGehee's work in Milwaukee, Ronnie Cedeno's roster-filling in Seattle, Felix the Cat's late-inning defensiveness and/or Rich Hill's capriciousness [or the former I-Cub media relations director's front office work] in Baltimore...

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 9:20am.
Simple question, maybe the answer is not so simple:

If the Cubs released Milton Bradley tomorrow, would they be off the hook for 2011?

The $4 million signing bonus has been spent already. They would pay $11.5 million for the rest of this year and next year, but save $12 million the following year.

Bradley's role would be assumed by three cheapies, Fox, Hoffpauir and Fuld.

Unpleasant experience, but how you deal with a malignancy.

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

COUSIN: If the Cubs were to release Milton Bradley now, they would be on the hook for the balance of Bradley's contract at least through 2010 minus the MLB minimum salary (pro-rated in 2009, then $400K in 2010) that would be paid by whatever team signs him after he gets released.

However, the 2011 vesting option becomes guaranteed as soon as Bradley plays in 75 MLB games in 2009 (and he's played in 68 games so far, so seven more games played and the 2011 option will vest), regardless of whether all 75 are played with the Cubs or a combination of the Cubs and some other team after he gets released, so meeting the 2011 vesting option is almost a given unless he suffers a season-ending injury in the next few days before he has a chance to play in 75 games.

So if the Cubs were to release Bradley now, and he signs with another club and plays in 75 games in 2009 (thereby causing the 2011 option to vest), the Cubs would APPEAR to save about $1M through 2011 (about $200K in 2009, then $400K in 2010 and $400K in 2011), except Bradley's slot on the 25-man roster would be taken by another player making at least the MLB minimum salary (or a bit more) like Jake Fox or Micah Hoffpauir, so the Cubs actually wouldn't save anything by releasing Bradley. And if he were to decide to not play in 2010 and 2011, the Cubs would owe 100% of his salary in both of those seasons PLUS the salary of whatever player ends up replacing him on the 25-man roster.

Therefore, the most-likely way the Cubs will move Bradley (if they do) would be via trade, probably to an A. L. club like Texas, Seattle or Detroit where he can DH, with the Cubs either taking back some equally unatractive high-end contract (like Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis from DET or Carlos Silva from SEA), or else with the Cubs paying a significant portion of Bradley's remaining salary in 2009-11.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • 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...