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 Select Parisi in Rule 5 Draft, Lose Sierra

The Cubs selected RHP Mike Parisi from the St Loiuis Cardinals AAA Memphis club in the Major League Phase of today's Rule 5 Draft. 

The Cubs lost no players in the Major League Phase, but RHP Miguel Sierra was selected off the AA Tennessee Smokies Reserve List by the Tampa Bay Rays in the AAA Phase. 

The 26-year old 6'3 215 Parisi was selected by the Cardinals in the 7th round of the 2004 Rule 4 Draft out of Manhattan College, and received a $60,000 bonus. The native New Yorker moved steadily up through the Cards system, and was added to the Redbirds 40-man roster post-2007.

He was a rotation starter at AAA Mamphis in both 2007 and 2008, and went 8-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.35 WHIP (82 hits allowed and 33/58 BB/K in 84 IP) for Memphis in '08.

He had three ineffective stints (two starts) in the big leagues with the Cardinals in 2008 (8.22 ERA and 2.28 WHIP in 12 games, 37 hits allowed and 15/13 BB/K in 23 IP) before getting optioned back to AAA and eventually undergoing season-ending Tommy John Surgery.

Parisi missed most of the 2009 season rehabbing from the TJS at the Cardinals minor league complex in Jupiter, FL, before getting a bit of game at Palm Beach (FSL) late in the season.

The Cardinals assigned Parisi to the Surprise Rafters in the Arizona Fall League post-2009, and he pitched very well in the AFL. (He and RHP Ian Kennedy were the Rafters top two starters). Parisi made seven appearances (six starts) for Surprise, going 3-2 with a 4.44 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 26.1 IP (6/15 BB/K, only one HR). He made all of his assigned starts, and threw five innings (maximum allowed in the AFL) twice.

When healthy, Parisi is a rotation starter with a full-array of pitches, including a 91-93 MPH four-seam fastball. a high-80's sinker, a mid-80's cutter, a straight-change, and a slow curve. Coming off a solid performance in the AFL, Parisi will likely be given an opportunity to compete for the Cubs 5th starter gig in Spring Training.  

Because he has been outrighted previously in his career (post-2008), he can refuse a return to the Cardinals (Memphis) and become a free-agent should he not make the Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster (and presuming he is not claimed off Outright Waivers).

21-year oid 6'5 RHP Miguel Sierra was signed by the Cubs as a 16-year old out of the Dominican Republic during the International Signing Period in July 2005. He spent two seasons pitching in the Dominican Summer League (DSL Cubs) in 2006-07, before being invited to Fitch Park for Minor League Camp in March 2008.

Sierra was one of the top pitching prospects at Extended Spring Training in '08, but he had a disappointing debut season in the AZL, going 2-4 with a 5.28 (57 hits allowed and 13/25 BB/K in 44.1 IP) for the AZL Cubs.

He was back at Extended Spring Training again in 2009 and was not as effective as he had been the previous year. He did get assigned to Boise in June, however, but he struggled there and was sent back to the AZL Cubs (Mesa) in July. He threw better once he was back in Arizona, but the fact that he failed at Boise probably caused the Cubs to sour on him a bit.  

Being selected in the AAA Phase of the Rule 5 Draft means Sierra will not be offered back to the Cubs. The Rays have to assign him to their AAA Durham club in Minor League Camp (Spring Training), but he can be sent to any Rays minor league affiliate once the 2010 regular season starts. Given his limited experience and lack of success above Rookie ball, Sierra will likely begin the 2010 season at Bowling Green in the South Atlantic League (SAL).

Comments

Submitted by Hagsag on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 11:49am. Phil, any guesses yet on who will be the non-rostered invities to S.T.? ======================== HAGSAG: In addition to minor league free-agents TBA, I would say: PITCHERS: Andrew Cashner, Thomas Diamond, Jay Jackson, Scott Maine, J. R. Mathes, Vince Perkins, and James Russell. CATCHERS: Robinson Chirinos, Steve Clevenger, and Chris Robinson INFIELDERS: Darwin Barney, Matt Camp, Starlin Castro, and Josh Vitters. OUTFIELDERS: Brett Jackson

Miles says: The Cubs also are indirectly involved with a player the White Sox lost in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5. The Sox lost righty Arismendy Mota to the Washington organization. The Cubs are expected to make a trade with the Nationals to acquire Mota.

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 1:51pm. Well, this guy looks like he was in the minor league phase, so wouldn't have to be kept on the major league roster. Maybe Phil can fill us in on the specific restrictions (if any) the minor league draftees come with. Maybe also he knows something of Mota and has an idea of where he would be placed in the system. ======================== WISCGRAD: Players selected in the AAA and AA phases of the Rule 5 Draft are not placed on an MLB 40-man roster. Players selected in the AAA Phase (as is the case with Arismendy Mota) are automatically placed on the AAA Reserve List of the drafting club (or the club that acquires the player in a trade). A player selected in the AAA Phase of the Rule 5 Draft must be assigned to the AAA club at Minor League Camp, but he can be sent to any of the organization's affiliates on Opening Day. In the case of Mota, he signed with the White Sox in 2005, and then spent four years (2006-09) pitching for the Sox DSL club (DSL White Sox). He has yet to pitch in the U. S. If the Cubs acquire him in a trade, he remains a Rule 5 Minor League Player and must (by rule) be given an opportunity to make the Iowa roster, although Extended Spring Training and then either the AZL Cubs or Boise are his more-likely 2010 destinations. BTW, the 22-year old Mota put up some decent numbers in the DSL in 2009 (7-2, 1.81 ERA, and a 0.91 WHIP, allowing 67 hits and 19/80 BB/K in 89.2 IP). He is a rotation starter. However, the big question is why has he spent four seasons in the DSL. It's not like he signed as a 16-year old (he was 18), and he hasn't been injured. Visa problems? Muy misterioso.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

well, if he didn't get it done yesterday it's a failure offseason. we NEED to get rid of m.bradley ASAP in order to sign a lesser or equal player to replace him or 2010 is sunk. sure, we got 3 middle order power hitters, a 140m payroll, 3-4 legit starters, and damn you dusty *shakes fist*...but milton bradley is good for at least 10-12 losses last year and is at least good for 15+ losses next year. DOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hendry was on XM radio early this morning and gave the Bradley is still a Cub spiel... A very small part of me wouldn't mind seeing the fireworks if Lou had to deal with Bradley for another season and Lou taking shots at Hendry and Ricketts all year.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

nice to know where the cutter came from. it was a kinda "woah, what's that there" pitch that people took notice of this fall in AFL.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

So what's the reason the Cards left him off they're 40 man? I think I saw the other day they had one of the lower roster numbers. Something like 35. Surely they could have made room if they'd wanted.

passed his physical somehow...maybe he slipped a $100K to the doctor :)

to Rays for Jesse Chavez...essentially Rafael Soriano for Akinori Iwamura.

"I'm not very smart projecting how economics affect every little move for every club," Hendry said. "I see free agents who wait longer. Their expectations are high. There was a period in our game where a lot of people got paid a lot of money. The great players still will. "But there will be a lot of the next tier down [free agents], and I think their expectations are higher. When reality sets in and they realize some clubs are going with their own guys and young kids coming up -- it just goes in cycles. Right now, it seems like a lot more free agents are getting signed in January, and this year seems to be one of them." http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091210&content_id=7794086&vke…

[ ]

In reply to by John Beasley

"I'm not very smart projecting how economics affect every little move for every club," Understatement of the year? Here's a fucking idea, Jim. Hire someone who is! People from outside the industry (i.e. with no knowledge of the inner workings of MLB payrolls) can do a better job predicting salaries on the back of napkins than you can - imagine what would happen if you hire some smart account at $50K to do that for you.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Is this new?
He'll get a chance to make the rotation, with Ted Lilly (shoulder) expected to spend the first month of the season on the disabled list.
I thought he was supposed to be more or less back by Opening Day. If they're saying the first month on the DL now, it'll probably be two months by ST or OD. Any sentiments that our rotation is fine or set are pretty preliminary, I think. You got Z and Dempster and several question marks.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Seems like Cameron and Byrd are the two main options for the starting CF job, with Ankiel more as an option for the 4th OF role. However, depending on how few crumbs are left from the Bradley dump, Ankiel may be all that we can afford. Other than Putz, I have no names of potential bullpen FA signings, although Hendry supposedly met with the agents for several relievers this week. Interesting that Bradley and Byrd share the same agent. Thus, the agent would have a vested interest in helping the Cubs move Bradley (and possibly even re-working some contract issues) in order to help place another client (Byrd) with the Cubs. Talk about an inherent conflict of interest. Cameron is Lou's guy, while Byrd is Jaramillo's guy. Ankiel fits the budget. I bet Hendry lives on Tylenol.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Are you really gonna bag on Aubrey Huff who has more productive seasons than your man crush Milton Bradley will ever have in his career? Huff's career puts Bradleys to shame. Atleast Huff knows what its like to play a full season and put up a full seasons worth of stats. Will Bradley ever play 150 games?

[ ]

In reply to by Dusty Baylor

Saying that Huff "is not a good RF" is vastly overstating his skill as a right fielder. "Huff would be the worst right fielder to attempt the position on a regular basis since all outfielders had two hands" would be a fair representation.

Signs with White Sox according to ESPN radio Chicago.

[ ]

In reply to by QuietMan

For $3 million according to whatever link I saw at mlbtraderumors. Not a bad deal, but the Cubs can probably spend their money in better places.

it seems the 2 main suitors are philly and stl...kinda hope STL snags him. philly is getting a little too scary.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

If Philly does get him, I'll take Victorino or Werth.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

think you're confused about halladay and holliday... I can't imagine why Phillies would be in on Holliday with Werth, Victorino and Ibanez, they are in on Halladay though. Cards made an offer for Holliday recently, haven't heard anything linking them to Halladay though and think they spent their farm chips on Holliday last year unless they want to move Rasmus.

Recent comments

  • 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...

  • 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.