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

Cubs' Top 10 Prospects by Baseball America & Minor League Free Agents

Baseball America has listed their top 10 Cubs prospects....drumroll please...

  1. Starlin Castro
  2. Brett Jackson
  3. Josh Vitters
  4. Andrew Cashner
  5. Jay Jackson
  6. Hak-Ju Lee
  7. Logan Watkins
  8. Chris Carpenter
  9. Ryan Flaherty
  10. D.J. LeMehieu

I was expecting Kyler Burke to make the list, but apparently repeating A ball justifiably knocked him down. You can compare and contrast with Arizona Phil's Top 15 list from last week.  You can see past Baseball America top 10 lists for the Cubs over at Wiklifield.


Keeping with the minor league news, Arizona Phil has been keeping track of the Cubs minor league free agents on the right sidebar and there now appears to be an official list.

Chicago Cubs (11)

Pitchers: LHP Casey Fossum, RHP Vince Perkins, RHP Jose Pina

Catchers: Mark Johnson

Infielders: Matt Craig, Luis Rivas, Bobby Scales, Nate Spears

Outfielders: Doug Deeds, John-Ford Griffin, Brad Snyder

 

The only differences from Phil's list are C Robinson Chirinos and RHP Austin-Bibens-Dirx, so I assume they've already resigned with the Cubs. The 11 that have filed aren't goners yet though and can still resign with the Cubs. According to Phil's sidebar note, Cubs have exclusive negotiating rights until the MLB free agency filing period ends, which I believe is this Saturday.

 

A bit of nostalgia on the full list are some ex-Cubs including(and I'm sure I missed a few): Bobby Brownlie (Atlanta), Federico Baez (Cincinnati), Mark Bellhorn (Colorado), Ryan Harvey (Colorado), Lincoln Holdzkom (Pittsburgh), Juan Mateo (Pittsburgh), Rocky Cherry (San Diego), Shingo Takatsu (San Francisco), Jackson Melian (San Francisco), Josh Kroeger (Chicago White Sox), Michael Restovich (Chicago White Sox), Jason Waddell (Detroit), RIchie Robnett (NY Yankees), Jerome Williams (Oakland),  and Buck Coats (Toronto).


Don't forget to enter the TCR Free Agent Frenzy contest...

 

 

Comments

It makes you think that BA is contractually obliged to include your first round pick from that year in the top 3. Flaherty is the only surprise on there, to me. Anyone know when the print issue comes out for the NL Central?

In the Jim Callis chat, he dropped the additional info that OF Kyler Burke was BA's #11 Cubs prospect, and that RHPs Chris Archer, Rafael Dolis, and Dae-Eun Rhee are three of the remaining four in the Top 15.

Callis also predicted (and you read it here first last month) that if Dolis is not added to the Cubs 40-man roster by the 11/20 deadline, he WILL be selected in the Rule 5 Draft (Callis says he would be the #1 pick).

Baseball America also lists Robinson Chirinos as the "Best Defensive Catcher" in the system, and while Chirinos has made progress since learning to catch at Extended Spring Training in 2008, Michael Brenly absolutely, positively is the best receiver, and Welington Castillo definitely has the best arm.

The fact that Austin Bibens-Dirkx and Robinson Chirinos were not on the just-released list of Cubs Rule 55 minor league free-agents means they signed so-called "successor contracts" for 2010. This also means both will be eligible for selection in next month's Rule 5 Draft (it's too late to add them to the 40-man roster, the deadline for adding Rule 55 minor league FAs to the 40 being the 4th business day after the conclusion of the World Series). And as Rob G. mentioned, the Cubs do retain exclusive negotiating rights to their own Rule 55 minor league free-agents through Thursday, and they can sign them to 2010 minor league contracts even after that, it's just that other club's can make offers and sign them starting this Friday.

Just for clarification, there are two different types of post-season minor league free-agents:

1. Article XX-B minor league free-agents are players who were outrighted to the minors off the 40-man roster where the player had the right to be a free-agent immediately upon being outrighted by virtue of having accrued at least three years of MLB service time at the time he was outrighted, and/or by virtue of having been outrighted previously in his career, but where the player accepted the outright assignment and deferred the right to be a FA until after the the end of the season. This type of minor league FA can file for free-agency anytime starting on the day after the end of the MLB regular season up through October 15th, and once the player files and is granted free-agency (and this happens almost immediately), the player can sign with any club (including the player's former club) at any time.

However, if a player eligible to be an Article XX-B free-agent defers the right to be a FA until after the end of the MLB regular season, and then the player is added back to his club's MLB 40-man roster prior to the end of the season, the player is NOT eligible to be a FA. This type of free-agent also includes unsigned players with at least three years of MLB service time and/or players who have been outrighted previously in their career who are outrighted to the minors during the off-season. The Cubs had no Article XX-B minor league free-agents this year, and they didn't have any last year, either.

2. The other type of minor league FA is the Rule 55 type (so-called "Six-Year Minor League Free-Agent").

When a player signs his first contract with an MLB organization, it is a seven-year contract with six club options, and the contract follows the player around (it goes temoporarily inactive if the player is added to an MLB 40-man roster), even if the player gets traded. However, it is terminated if the player is released, UNLESS the player re-signs with the same organization within a year (this happened with Mario Mercedes last Spring Training).

After a player has spent all or part of at least seven seperate seasons on a minor league active list or DL (and this includes optional assignments if the player spends time on an MLB 40-man roster along the way), the player can be a FA after the conclusion of the 7th minor league season as long as the player is not on an MLB 40-man roster. Also, if a player is released prior to the conclusion of the contract, the player is eligible to be a Rule 55 minor league FA after every season, even if the player has not spent all or parts of seperate seasons on a minor league active list or DL.

However, even if a player qualifies to be a Rule 55 minor league FA, the player's parent organization has until the 4th business day after the conclusion of the World Series to add the player to its 40-man roster. This happened last week with ex-Cubs 1B Brian Dopirak, who was eligible to be Rule 55 minor league FA post-2009, but was added to the Blue Jays 40-man roster just before the deadline. (The Marlins added RHP Hayden Penn to their 40-man roster, the Brewers added 3B Adam Heether to their 40-man roster, and the Twins added RHP Juan Morillo to their 40-man roster, just before the deadline to add Rule 55 minor league free-agents, too).

BTW, there are several hundred Rule 55 minor league free-agents every year, and while the vast majority are career minor leaguers, every now & then a player takes an opportunity and runs with it.

Twins 1B Garrett Jones was a Rule 55 minor league FA after last season, and signed a minor league deal with the Pirates. He got an oppurtunity to play in Pittsburgh, had a fine season, and is a contender for N. L. Rookie of the Year.

The Cubs had three players on their 25-man roster in 2009 who were signed by the Cubs after becoming Rule 55 minor league free-agents, including C Koyie Hill, INF Andres Blanco, and IF-OF Bobby Scales.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

Kroeger stole 23 this year for the White Sox fwiw, Snyder had 10 after 74 games... that doesn't project to 30 and when you put him in the majors, that's gonna probably be cut down in half if not more.

but pretty sure you were talking up Kroeger last year when he had an .887 OPS in Iowa, Snyder had an .883 in his half season.

and I don't take Chirinos too seriously, he's done 4 partial tours of Hi-A by this point and was 25 last year and struggled once again in Double A. If he's a good catcher and it does sound like his on-field leadership skills are excellent, he may have a small chance as a backup catcher at some point. My guess is he goes the Casey Kopitzke route.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Snyder had 69 games at Iowa in 2009, 41 before the injury and 28 after. It looks like he ran more when he returned: 6 SBs in the final month. And in Venezuela he has 11 in 31 games, a little more than a month's worth. I don't know what that translates to in the majors. AZ Phil raved about Snyder's speed (on a triple, I think) last spring. Snyder's swing obviously was not there when he returned in August. He never got it going again, till winter ball. On May 18, his numbers were .317/.351/.669/1.024. In Aug/Sep he was .218/.309/.375/.684. In Mexico, he is .342/.443/.547/.990. Kroeger was a little tubby when the Cubs had him. When I saw him last spring on the Sox (playing the Cubs), he looked thinner, which seems to have paid off on the bases. Trust me, I stopped carrying the torch for Kroeger when he hit .263 after promotion to Iowa in 2007. Believe it or not, I do try to be selective when I tout a prospect. In 2008, I was watching--and talking up--Hoffpauir, not Kroeger. Chirinos got into 12 games at Tennessee, so I'm not sure he struggled at that level. He was backing up Castillo, whom the Cubs are serious about, in a pennant race. It's going to be tough for any catcher in the Cubs organization right now, but what intrigues me about this guy is that he's also an experienced middle infielder. Sometimes the Cubs can use a backup 2B or 3B or a #3 catcher.

[ ]

In reply to by VirginiaPhil

snyder's swing is why he's been in the minors so long...that and constant minor injuries. dude has a very compact and "finished" swing...but it STILL doesn't produce power or show up consistently. guy was supposed to be smacking 20-30+ HR by now along with finding his contact stroke. he hits the ball hard and it doesn't do much too much of the time...go figure. he's not done, but he's been looking like a lefty bench player for a few years now.

You know this is going to make Manny upset, but if you look at either of those top prospects lists we've seen so far - the Cubs system is starting to look pretty good. It's missing Patterson/Wood/Prior type of mega-prospect, though I think Lee has a chance to become that type of player and Brett Jackson probably has the physical tools to do so.

[ ]

In reply to by navigator

Theriot has an 86 OPS+ and on a good day, could be called an average defender.

Most of Fernandez's value did come with his glove, his bat was league average, but for a shortstop I imagine that put him in the top 5 for his position.

a quick look at Fangraphs, sorting by wOBA for shortstops and Fernandez was ranked 3rd in '85, 3rd in '86, 4th in '87, 6th in '88, 6th in '89, 5th in '90. The highest that Theriot ranked was 9th in the last 3 years.

looking at those leaderboards, poor Alan Trammell, guy was clearly the best offensive shortstop in his era, certainly played good defense, but overshadowed by Ripken and Smith and even Fernandez.

Here's something cheerful! The seven picks directly following Ryan Harvey in the 2003 draft: Nick Markakis Paul Maholm John Danks Ian Stewart Michael Aubrey Lastings Milledge Aaron Hill I'd list the whole 1st round, but with the days growing shorter I know the suicide rate is already climbing.

I know Phil has posted his list, but I can't remember... who are the guys the Cubs should consider keeping? Dolis, Maestri, Parker, Gaub, Clevenger, Camp and Castilo I assume are the top of the list? a little worried about Diamond myself, Cubs had him on the 40-man, outrighted him, but now he seems to be pitching well in Mexico

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 10:47am.
I know Phil has posted his list, but I can't remember...

who are the guys the Cubs should consider keeping?

Dolis, Maestri, Parker, Gaub, Clevenger, Camp and Castilo I assume are the top of the list?

a little worried about Diamond myself, Cubs had him on the 40-man, outrighted him, but now he seems to be pitching well in Mexico

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

ROB G: I believe the Cubs will probably add Welington Castillo, John Gaub, Blake Parker, Matt Camp, and Rafael Dolis to the 40-man roster by the 11/20 deadline, and outright Marcos Mateo (if he isn't claimed off waivers).

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 5:32pm.
thanks, you think Diamond is safe? I suppose anyone could have claimed him at the end of the season and wouldn't have had to waste a 25-man spot on him all year, but then maybe most didn't see him pitch much either.

I checked Maestri's walk totals, guess he's safe bet not to get chosen.

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

ROB G: I think Thomas Diamond is probably safe. It's possible a scout got wowed in Mexico, but I didn't hear that kind of talk among the scouts who saw him throw at Fitch Park last month.

Rafael Dolis is a different matter, though. He had an eye-popping last outing in front of about 20 MLB scouts at Instructs at Fitch Park and created quite a buzz.

Of course, that doesn't mean Hendry will add Dolis to the 40. After all (and repeat after me):

1."We can't protect everyone"
2."We expect to get him back"

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.

  • Eric S (view)

    With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳

  • crunch (view)

    madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.

    making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster.  if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.

    morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.

    madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game?  it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.

    this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone.  cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.

    anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season.  it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.

  • 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.