Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Garrett Cooper
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Game #72 Preview: Cubs (31-40) @ Mariners (30-41)

Submitted by Cubnut on

In the time it took John Isner to beat Nicolas Mahut, the Cubs scored once, lost twice, fanned 17 times while walking three times, dropped nine games behind the NL Central-leading Cardinals, fell a season-worst nine games below .500, and went 1-for-16 with RISP. Oh, yeah—that one hit was a double by Alfonso Soriano which came with Geovany Soto on second base but only got Soto as far as third.

Ted Lilly starts today in place of Carlos Silva (tight hamstring) as the Cubs try to avoid being party to the longest Mariners winning streak (7 games) since July of '07. Lilly, who got tatooed last time out by the Angels, is opposed by King Felix Hernandez, who is 10-4, 2.89 in 18 lifetime starts against NL clubs and has given up two runs or fewer in four of his last five starts.

In other words, just what the doctor didn't order.

Here's the Cubs lineup vs. Hernandez (5-5, 3.39; first-ever appearance vs. Cubs): Fukudome 9, Theriot 4, Byrd DH, Lee 3, Colvin 8, Nady 7, Fontenot 6, Tracy 5, Hill 2.

Finally, if you didn't get a chance to see the excruciating way the Dodgers lost to the Angels last night, take a look right here, and check out FanGraphs' analysis right here. Pretty Cubbery stuff, down to the fact that former Cub Reed Johnson played a central role.

Tags
Cubs Game Preview

Comments

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Submitted by MikeC on Fri, 06/25/2010 - 06:57 am

No i think that was me, Manny was a diehard Hendry lover for years. He only recently converted. Though Hendry wasn't GM till 2002. The not liking Hendry came from the way McPhail ran the team. Making Jim Hendry the GM changed nothing in the organization. It was a Starlin Castro lets make a move to make it look like we are doing something. It was meant to seem like the organization was heading in a new direction after MacPhail's failed promise of winning a WS in 5 years. And like lemmings people were like lets give Jim some time to see what he can do. It was just to buy time. Player development still sucked, drafting sucked, the same scouts still sucked, the same coaches and player development people still sucked, free agent negotiation was still horrible, contract negotiation was still horrible. Everything Jim Hendry learned about running a franchise he learned from MacPhail and MacPhail got all of his success by winning some WS with some other guys players in Minn. Think about this for a moment, Jim Hendry was director of player development from 1995 to 2002 and GM since then. The guy has had about 15 years in the thick of the Cubs organization in getting and developing his type of players and the entire system along with the major league club is a fucking train wreck. The only thing that saved his ass was Sam Zell wanting to spend like a drunken sailor to improve the sale price of the franchise. Jim Hendry wasn't a good GM because he learned from Andy MacPhail and was nothing more than a front man for doing the same thing that MacPhail was doing. I mean geez look what Andy is doing in Baltimore, he is picking up all of Hendry's little projects because Hendry was his brightest pupil and best talent evaluator. They are both idiots.

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Fri, 06/25/2010 - 06:06 am

There is a lot of gray area in the world, feel free to come on over, there is plenty of room. Not everything is either awesome or sucks. Jeez. Just to make one point. Drafting and player development "suck" - but yet Soto, Theriot, Castro, McGehee, Colvin, Marmol, Zambrano, Wells, Cashner, Marshall, etc. are all homegrown and have made contributions to the major league team over the past few years. Not to mention the 40-50 prospects (e.g. Bobby Hill, Choi, Gallagher) traded by Hendry over the last 7 years that netted the Cubs a number of key major league players. You can see those, along with all of the other transactions Hendry has made, on the Wiklifield page I created here: http://wiklifield.thecubreporter.com/Jim_Hendry_Transactions Are they the best franchise in the majors in drafting and developing players? No, I would say not. But are they the worst? No, not by far. And it has improved a lot in the past 5 years.

[ ]

Submitted by navigator on Thu, 06/24/2010 - 06:17 pm

This is what P.K. Ricketts told Al Yellon,
so we (Ricketts) went in saying we have a proven track record here (the last few years) that despite a weak showing last year, we’re going to keep going with the guys we have. Since we’ve gotten in, I spent a week in the team meetings and spent a week down in the Dominican, spent time with not only Jim but all of his staff. I’ve been very impressed and I think that they have, that Jim has a very good organization, and you probably know better than anyone that they’re some of the best in the business. And I’ve also been sitting in on the organizational meetings where you see the coaches and the scouts discuss players, which on some teams doesn’t happen. And I think Jim runs a good organization, I really do. And I was very impressed with the Dominican organization. Oneri down there with those guys that cover that market, I think they’re doing a good job.
I can only conclude that Ricketts is delusional. When you buy the Cubs you are buying a bad, incredibly bad, organization. That is a given. And anyone who thinks Jim Hendry and crew are some of the best in the business doesn't know a damn thing about business. Maybe he'll figure this out eventually..., but meanwhile...we're doomed.

Submitted by navigator on Thu, 06/24/2010 - 06:32 pm

I thought you had a great idea. Just eat all of Fukudome's contract for 2010 and maybe someone would take him off our hands. but...
The Cubs already are shopping benched outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and the $20 million-plus left on his contract. A National League scout said Wednesday night that even if the Cubs ate this year's remaining $7 million or so, plus half of next year's $13.5 million, it's probably not enough for a lot of teams. ''He might not be worth $4 [million],'' he said.
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/2427904,CST-SPT-csep24.art…

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 06/24/2010 - 06:29 pm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2012196620_mets_twin… in regards to Twins being front-runner for Cliff Lee, but don't count out the Mets.
But the Mets have some pretty good young players of their own. Not catchers, mind you, but if the rumors coming out of New York are true, the M's might have to ship Lee off to the Big Apple.
That's because the rumors -- and they are only rumors, but with some logic -- say the Mets might offer top pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia (photo above) and current major league outfielder Angel Pagan in a Lee swap. Wow, that one would be tough to decline.

Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 06/24/2010 - 06:21 pm

A weird thing is happening in this game. I can only assume it is because Lou is more comfortable managing without worrying about the pitcher coming to the plate, but he is using his bullpen intelligently. I figured for sure he was just going to pitch Cashner for one inning, and that he was going to save Marmol for a save. I know it's just a brief moment, but it's nice to see he's making some lucid decisions for a change.

Submitted by Old and Blue on Fri, 06/25/2010 - 06:23 am

wow what a depressing bunch of comments. But everyone who visits this site predicted this crap if I remember right. I guess one surprise is Aram and DLee totally tanking, especially Aram, but this wasn't a very good team from the beginning and if the owner thinks it was he needs to read more in quality baseball forums. My hunch, though, is that Hendry is primed to leave, and Ricketts is just doing what owners do -- false vote of confidence.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

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