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

Ninja Jae-Kuk Ryu's Cardinals!

A nice night for the Golden Boy last night as he throws 5.2 shutout innings against the fading Cardinals to further deter their playoffs hopes. Samardzija did give up six hits and four walks against just one strikeout, so he was constantly working out trouble, but he got 8 groundballs and two timely(as if they are never not timely for a pitcher) double plays by Pedro Feliz to help the cause.

Mike Quade and Geovany Soto came away impressed.

"To me -- and I haven't seen him since Spring Training -- he did a lot of damage with his soft game," Quade said. "He threw some good splits, some good sliders. ... He did a good job against a nice club. It's a real good start."

"He looks more aggressive, throws with more conviction and isn't afraid to baby it in the zone," Soto said.

Ninja says he worked on his offspeed pitches while down in Iowa and mastered picking up groupies for a hopeful 2011 run around Wrigleyville.

"Being down there all year, you get a lot of opportunities to throw [offspeed pitches]," he said. "It's not live or die situations all the time. Not only that but [catcher Geovany Soto] calling pitches [Monday], he showed confidence in me to throw those pitches. A lot of times that's what it takes -- throw it two or three times in a row and that gets it going for the rest of the game."

He'll throw again Saturday against the Marlns and the Cubs say Ninja will be considered for a starting spot no matter how he fares the rest of the season.

In draft pick news, the Cubs slightly improved play has them at the 8th spot right now and in danger of catching the Brewers for the 9th spot as they're just 3.5 behind them with 18 to play.

10 pts for catching the title reference.

Comments

Like Samardzija, Ryu was a bird killer, but he kills ospreys, not cardinals, while Jeff kills cardinals but not Memphis redbirds.

as good as the results looked, the guy is gonna struggle to put in 5-6ip the way he was throwing last night. at least he doesn't get all emotional on the mound (positive or negative). he sure as hell doesn't take anything for granted on plays and busts his ass. if he falls out of the bigs thanks to his skills it sure isn't going to be from lack of effort or caring.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

the math of non-quantitative situations...awesome. wonder when they'll call felix in SEA for the CY Young then wonder why he didn't win. actually, they can't be that ignorant to the push/pull of voting to call felix without suspecting it's going to cc.sab or similar anyway.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

you're confusing a statistical argument over who deserves the MVP or Cy Young, which you could have made for Mauer in 2008 or for Felix this year versus an MVP predictor or cy young predictor which are designed to try and guess what the voters like to vote for in their candidates. The Cy Young predictor has Felix at #10 now because of his 11-11 record, although his VORP or WAR are all just as good as Price or Sabathia.

[ ]

In reply to by Sweet Lou

the intro is awesome and to the point...hehe when you don't have a washed out season with competitors it's hard to give it to a guy with 11-13 wins (or whereever he settles) while also taking 11-13 losses...no matter how awesome his numbers are while doing it. beyond all that the voting is about as scientific as asking a bunch of people who work in ice cream shops what their favorite flavor is and declaring it king of the moment.

Had to tell you guys I talked with Quade at the rooftop bar of one of the nice hotels in Milwaukee where the team stayed this weekend (no, I did not go up for any games). I did not have the balls to ask him why he is not have Colvin playing first, or many pertinent baseball questions. I did ask him if he was enjoying himself, and he said, "I am having a blast!" He was obviously enjoying himself with a cocktail after a nice win. And, he was nice enough to spend a few minutes with myself and my wife.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Indeed. Beautiful place. Sometimes over the last several years we go up there as it is a nice weekend "away", and compared to Chi, the cost of everything is 25% less. EZ. It is easy to get everywhere. Nice restaurants. Lakefront. REAL frozen custard, Decent live music. I also chatted with Santo in the more "stuffy" lobby bar for a couple minutes on Friday. Short and sweet. Enjoyable for me - went back to my wife at our table who could have cared less about Ron Santo (I had to explain how he was their best 3rd baseman ever). Basically, just said hi and wished him well - he was relaxing with I think the "team road manager", whom I excused myself to. Right after that, a typical boorish "fan- couple", drunk, made asses out of themselves forcing the dude to pose for a photo, and spouting off about players loudly. I kinda bad for him. It was 12:30 am, and he just wanted to have his diet Coke or whatever he drinks, and relax with a friend. But he did not get angry or bitch-slap the woman (who deserved it). I could tell it ruined his time there as he took it as a cue to call it a night.

[ ]

In reply to by Charlie

Thanks. I never really collected autographs or anything like that. People would get them for me (I had a Bears football signed by the 1968 team, and I used it for pick-up games), but at a certain point, for the most part I just let "celebs" be. Or - I will just say "hi" or "enjoy your work", etc . If they engage in any meaningful conversation and want to continue, I am happy to oblige, though.

blooping Adam Wainwright to death at the moment

Tenn Smokies lead in bottom of 6th, 5-0 rbi + run scored, double for Brett Jackson 3 run HR, Chirinos solo HR, Guyer Pitching: Captain Archer, 6ip, 4 H, 0 R/ER, 1BB, 8K...does our pitcher really resemble Scott Bakula?

Smiley Caridad's arm may be back, pitched the 9th for the Smokies hitting 96 according to the radio broadcaster. Struck out the first two with a grounder to end the game. Final Tenn Smokies 5, Jacksonville Suns 0. (Game one in a best of five game series) Oddly they play Go Cubs Go...Hey Chicago whaddya say... after the third out. Chris Archer interviewed after the game. Q: "How big is it to take a one run lead (in the series)?" A: "It's Huge". "We gotta take it one game at a time." the team musta just watched Bull Durham to prepare for the playoffs!

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 09/14/2010 - 7:44pm. Smiley Caridad's arm may be back, pitched the 9th for the Smokies hitting 96 according to the radio broadcaster. Struck out the first two with a grounder to end the game. ======================================= CUBSTER: Esmailin Caridad's 30-day minor league rehab assignment conveniently (for Tennessee) expires on Saturday, so expect to see him in Chicago next Tuesday when the Cubs start their final homestand. Most likely to get dropped from Cubs 40-man roster when Cardidad is reactivated from the 60-day DL?... Jeff Gray

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

because it's pointless. hoff isn't the 1st of the future and nady isn't a distraction. nady's trying to prove himself to someone for 2011. even if it's not the cubs (which it may be if they dump $$ into pitching) it's only a few weeks left and not worth the future headaches dealing with potential "on the cheap" risk signings who's agents would be skiddish about a GM dumping a guy with a few weeks left of play. oakland can't sign all of them.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 10:36am. because it's pointless. hoff isn't the 1st of the future and nady isn't a distraction. nady's trying to prove himself to someone for 2011. even if it's not the cubs (which it may be if they dump $$ into pitching) it's only a few weeks left and not worth the future headaches dealing with potential "on the cheap" risk signings who's agents would be skiddish about a GM dumping a guy with a few weeks left of play. oakland can't sign all of them. =========================================== CRUNCH: Using the excuse that they wanted Tyler Colvin, Micah Hoffpauir, and Jeff Baker to play 1B the rest of the 2010 season, and even if none of the contenders had an interest in making a trade for him at the end of August, the "nice guy" Cubs could have released Xavier Nady prior to the 8/31 post-season roster deadline just so he could be free to sign at least a minor league contract with a contender (any player on an organization's minor league roster as of midnight 8/31 are eligible to play in the post-season, as long as the club has a post-season DL roster exemption available). That would have been a plausible excuse to justify releasing Nady, and would have saved the Cubs at least $225K (or possibly as much as $475K) in 2010 payroll that they will be spending if Nady earns some of his attainable perfomance bonuses. It's not like Nady will be classified as a Type "A" or Type "B" FA post-2010, either (not that it would matter even if he was, because the Cubs wouldn't offer him salary arbitration anyway), so what's the point in blowing $225K-$475K when the team is out of contention and isn't going anywhere? Of course, it's very possible that Nady made it clear to Hendry that he values the money he can make in reaching some of his performance bonuses by getting regular playing time with the Cubs in September more than having an opportunity to play in the post-season by getting released prior to the 8/31 roster deadline and signing a minor league deal with a contender, so that if he had been released prior to the end of August he would have made a big deal out of the Cubs releasing him just to avoid having to give him a chance to earn some of his performance bonuses. And as I've said before, Hendry isn't averse to having players make more money by earning performance bonuses, even if it means increasing the payroll on a team that isn't going anywhere.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 11:39am. So its better to release a young pitcher with some upside, over risking Xavier Nady having his feelings hurt? Very Hendry-esque ============================= DR AARON B: As far as releasing Xavier Nady instead of outrighting Jeff Gray (or any other player on the 40-man roster) to make room for Esmailin Caridad, it really isn't about keeping Gray or Nady, because both will be off the 40-man roster by the end of November. Whether Nady is released now and Gray (or another player) gets outrighted later, or Gray (or another player) gets outrighted now and Nady files for free-agency after the World Series, really isn't the point. Rather, it's much more about the Cubs keeping Nady around through to the end of the season and risk having to pay him as much as $225K-$475K in performance bonuses when the team isn't going anywhere, when they could have released Nady prior to 8/31 (it would look REALLY bad to do it now) with the stated explanation that they wanted to give playing time to Colvin, Hoffpauir, and/or Baker at 1B, and that they wanted to do the "right thing" by giving Nady a chance to sign at least a minor league contract with a contender so that he might have a chance to play in the post-season (even though Nady obviously doesn't care). The bigger question (I think) is what Ricketts thinks about all of this (presuming he does think about it). Because $225K-$475K is a sizable chunk 'o change.

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In reply to by Arizona Phil

probably more about keeping Nady's agent happy and getting word out that Hendry looks out for the players he signs. I don't know Nady's agent is, but I assume he has other clients and Hendry might be looking at them. Also, Nady I believe allegedly took less guaranteed money to sign with Cubs (could be misremembering that), just a little payback for that since Cubs saved some on Lee, Lilly and Theriot. DeRosa, Byrd, Ramirez (at the time) didn't come cheap by accident. Hell, even if Fukudome allegedly took less to sign with Cubs and I'm sure there are other examples. /cue Hendry bashing

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In reply to by Dr. aaron b

Xavier Nady's BOWLING FOR DOLLARS update: 10 more PA and he gets $125K 10 more GAMES STARTED and he gets $100K And if he can get to 350 PA (that would mean he would need to accrue 60 PA over the final 16 games, an average of 3.75 PA per game), he gets $250K more. $475K is about 50% more than what Nady would have received if he had been traded to a contender on 8/31, hit off the bench in September, and then played in the post-season on the team that eventually won the 2010 World Series. If Nady doesn't get to 350 PA but does get $250K for reaching 300 PA and 70 GS, that is about equivalent to what he would have received if he had been traded on 8/31 to the MLB club that eventually was the losing team in the World Series.

According to WGN Freddie Gonzalez has decline to interview for Cubs. Cubs 2011 schedule hilites- At Fenway may 20-22 (first time since Ruth pitched) Yanks at wrigley in June

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...