Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

42 players are at MLB Spring Training 

31 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE at MLB Spring Training, and nine players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 
11 players are MLB Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

Last updated 3-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 17
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
Daniel Palencia
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

NRI PITCHERS: 5 
Colten Brewer 
Carl Edwards Jr 
* Edwin Escobar 
* Richard Lovelady 
* Thomas Pannone 

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 2  
Jorge Alfaro 
Joe Hudson 

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

NRI INFIELDERS: 3 
David Bote 
Garrett Cooper
* Dominic Smith

OUTFIELDERS: 5
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1 
* David Peralta

OPTIONED:
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, RHP 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, RHP 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

 



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Cubs Send Some Talent to Arizona Fall League

According to a Paul Sullivan tweet, the Cubs will send Andrew Cashner, Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt, Chris Carpenter, D.J. LeMahieu and Junior Lake to play for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Bruce Miles adds that P Jeffrey Beliveau will be added to the taxi squad meaing he's only eligible to play on Wednesdays and Saturdays. That seems to be one of the better crews of talent they've sent to Arizona over the years.

This is the second year in a row that Jackson and Carpenter were sent out to play. It's also Cashner's second go-round, although not in successive years, his first visit being after the 2009 season.

You can check historical Arizona Fall League rosters over at Wiklifieid.

While not set in stone, I assume this means Brett Jackson will not get a September call-up and I'll tell you why I'm okay with that after the jump.

First, calling Jackson up means putting him on the 40-man roster, which in and of itself is no big deal because there's plenty of dead weight there. On the other hand, there's some good reason not to do it if you don't have to quite yet and Jackson does not need to be protected this offseason from the Rule 5 draft. On the other hand, there are plenty that do and the new gonna-be-totally-awesome-GM-that-does-everything-I-want-them-to-do might appreciate the roster flexibility with the Rule 5 and possibly signing some free agents.

If that were the only reason, I'd certainly be saying fuck it, let's see what Jackson can do over a month against some major league pitchers. But, we all know Q-Ball is managing to save his job or at least set himself up for another job and that means there's no way he'd trot Jackson out there every day or close to every day. Maybe he'd do it at the expense of Colvin, but certainly not at the expense of the precious veterans that he owes his job too.

Finally, there's some considerations about starting his service time clock for arbitration and free agency. It's not as a big a concern for the Cubs deep pockets, compared to let's say the Rays, but something to consider. Jackson will be playing his age 23 season next year and normal aging patterns say his best years are gonna be 26-30 (different studies, different bell curves, but 26-32 is about a big a stretch as you want to go). So if you're under the predisposition that the Cubs will suck next season(I am not one of those people) and are probably 2-3 years away from being a serious contender, isn't it smart to ensure that one of the better prospects on the team is gonna be around for those years and at the most advantageous cost to the team? Which means Jackson's call-up really shouldn't be any sooner than May or June of next year, presuming he's still hitting the crap out of the ball next season. I don't think the Cubs will learn much about Jackson those first two months that they won't learn the last four.

Food for thought...

Also a good time to bring up my thoughts on Bryan LaHair. He'll most certainly get called up once the AAA season ends and he's named PCL MVP. There's seems to be a swell of support to let him play 1b and bench Pena (or preferably trade him when they had the chance). And if they had moved Pena, that certainly would be my preference. But they didn't, and now I have to think that letting Pena play and likely maintain Type B status on the free agent market may be more valuable. Last time MLBTR put out their reverse-engineered Elias rankings, Pena was near the bottom of Type B status and he'll need to finish out the season at his current levels in all iikelihood to stay there.  I don't know if the aforementioned gonna-be-totally-awesome-GM-that-does-everything-I-want-them-to-do will actually offer Pena arbitration, but I assume he or she wouldn't mind having the option. Sucks for LaHair and I'll eat a healthy plate of crow if he ever amounts to anything in the majors, but that probably is the best option for the Cubs organization going forward.

Comments

award arguments starting, should be a fun last month... NL: Kemp, Fielder, Braun, Upton with Votto, Berkman, Tulo and Pujols on the fringe AL: Bautista, Granderson, Pedroia, Ellsbury with Teixeira, A. Gonzalez, Cabrera on the fringe AL Cy: Verlander NL Cy: Kershaw, Halladay, Lee, maybe Kennedy NL ROY: Freeman, Kimbrel, Worley AL ROY: Walden, Trumbo

#Cubs lineup @ #SFGiants (8/30): Castro SS, Barney 2B, Ramirez 3B, Pena 1B, Soriano LF, Byrd CF, Colvin RF, Soto C, Garza P vs. Torres cf, Keppinger 2b, Beltran rf, Sandoval 3b, Huff 1b, Belt lf, Fontenot ss, Stewart c, Vogelsong p Boise is allegedly on Milb.tv today if anyone wants to see Baez play

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 5:03pm. interesting roster...so who's the experiment player at 3rd in the mix? dozier? i haven't heard anything about j.lake being shifted or experimenting at 3rd. =================================== CRUNCH: The Orioles and Pirates still have one more position player to assign to the AFL (BAL C Brian Ward is on the Taxi Squad), so the primary Solar Sox 3B could be somebody like BAL AA 3B Brandon Waring or 2011 2nd round pick Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt), or Pirates AA 3B Jeremy Farrell. Otherwise I suspect both Junior Lake and D. J. LeMahieu will get some PT at 3B. Lake probably profiles best at 3B ratherv than SS (or even more-likely as an offense-first super-sub IF-OF), and LeMahieu would probably move there if he ever develops HR power, or he would need to be able to play there if he eventually ends up a Jeff Baker-type 3B-2B-1B.

I really don't care about Pena's type B status. I just want to be sure the Cubs don't have another Casey McGehee situation.

Looks like the clock struck 12 on Nick's rise through the minors. 5.37 ERA in AAA after getting knocked around last night, and no where close to a K/inning. Vitters and Ha combined for five hits at the top of the order for TN (no walks, 2 K's, surprising). Taipei Easterling had three singles and caught stealing for Peoria. DeVoss got two more hits playing center field, and Hoilman(16) and Golden(5) homered for Boise. Organizational hierarchy, you would have to figure DeVoss is ticketed to skip Peoria next year. It will be interesting to see what kind of snowball effect Brett Jackson's team has on the rest of the center fielders next year.

castro 6, johnson 9, ramy 5, baker 3, sori 7, byrd 8, soto 2, barney 4, lopez 1 vs. Bumgarner

Is Phil Rogers suggesting Jim Hendry could be re-hired by the Cubs as an asst to Rick Hahn, if Hahn gets the job? That seems to be how it reads, because before that he suggests the White Sox could hire him. "...Hendry could turn into an asset for the White Sox, not as a GM replacement for Williams but as a special assistant...a job with the White Sox could be appealing to Hendry because it would allow him to maintain his two-time zone lifestyle, fathering his children in Chicago while spending parts of the year at a home in Arizona, and Hendry has strong relationships both with Williams and Rick Hahn, the assistant GM who could replace him (and possibly be in the market for another set of baseball eyes)." http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-your-morning… If he's saying Hendry could be hired by the Sox if Hahn leaves, it makes no sense to say he has a good relationship with Hahn, "Who could replace him (and possibly be in the market for another set of baseball eyes)." Ugh.

Rowand and Tejada DFA'd, Barry Zito must not be answering his phone. great line by craig calcaterra Brian Sabean is safely at his nephew's baptism as all of this bloodshed is goin' down, isn't he.

With Welington Castillo back on the Iowa Cubs DL with a recurrence of the hamstring injury that sidelined him a month ago, Steve Clevenger could get the September call-up as the Cubs #3 catcher. (Clevenger was already a likely post-2011 addition to the 40-man roster). Clevenger is the #1 catcher at Tennessee and the Smokies will be playing in the Southern League playoffs, but that has never stopped the Cubs from calling up a player before. The Cubs could just move Michael Brenly up to Tennessee from Daytona, and Micah Gibbs up to Daytona from Peoria (since Peoria will not be participating in the post-season, and since Gibbs should have the defensive chops to handle Advanced-A). The Cubs would not have to worry much about finding 40-man roster slots for Clevenger, Bryan LaHair, and Robert Coello (who is pitching lights-out at Iowa since getting moved back to the bullpen), even with Andrew Cashner likely to come off the 60-day DL after he finishes his minor league rehab this weekend, and even if the Cubs have to reinstate Carlos Zambrano from the Disqualified List. That's because Marcos Mateo can be transferred to the 60-day DL, and Kyle Smit is a likely outright candidate. (Justin Berg and Esmailin Caridad are likely outright candidates, too, but they can't be outrighted to the minors until after the MLB regular season if they finish the minor league season on the DL).

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

Submitted by The E-Man on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 12:21pm. AZ PHIL: Re Clevenger, is he right now, at least, the equal of Koyie Hill? How does he handle pitchers? I know you have mentioned in the past that he would perhaps be in-line for a coaching job with the organization, but with Castillo's injury history and Clev's bat, do you think he'd get the 2012 back-up shot? ====================================================== E-MAN: When I mentioned Clevenger in connection with coaching/managing, I only meant he was the type who would probably eventually end up being a manager or coach once his playing days are over. As for how Clevenger would compare to Koyie Hill, at the plate Clevenger has a short-stroke and can rifle line-drives all over the yard. He doesn't strike out much. He can play other positions, too (he was a SS in college and 2B his first season in the Cubs organization, and while he doesn't play 2B or SS anymore, he has played a bit of 1B and occasionally 3B in recent years). Defensively, his arm and receiving skills are just average, but he is very well-liked by pitchers (at least the ones I talked to) because he thinks like a hitter and knows how to call a game, how to work umpires, and how to cheat to get called strikes. He is sort of a baseball version of a basketball gym rat. He flunked out of the U. of Texas (that's how he ended-up at Chipola JC), but he has a high baseball IQ. I remember last year (2010) when he was assigned to Tennessee (again) at the end of Minor League Camp only because the Cubs wanted him to get regular playing time (he actually had earned a spot at Iowa with his play on the field, but the Cubs wanted both Welington Castillo and Clevenger to be #1 catchers), it didn't bother him, he was cool with it, and even thought it was kind of funny (he mentioned something about maybe going to Boise with mentor Jody Davis for the summer if things didn't work out at Tennessee).

From Baseball America's chat: Navin (Pasadena, CA): Would all four of Baez, Vogelbach, Dunston Jr and Maples slot into the Cubs top 10 prospects? Thank you! Jim Callis: I do our Cubs Top 10, and haven't really thought about it. Baez will be near the top, along with Jackson, Szczur and McNutt (who gets a mulligan for 2011). Maples will make it, Vogelbach has a good chance and Dunston won't. We weren't nearly as high on Dunston as the Cubs were. itto (PR): Starlin Castro or Javier Baez (if he reaches his potential)? Jim Callis: Castro, because he's a shortstop and Baez will be a third baseman. Baez would have more power, but Castro will be a better all-around player. I'm not saying Castro will be THIS good, but he could become the next Derek Jeter. http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1314803751

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In reply to by Rob G.

Really? Marshall makes it a point every year to tell the media he'd like to be a starter. I guess Sullivan doesn't read the paper. This year it was Q-ball saying that Marshall was "too valuable" in the pen to make him a starter when he needed two quick replacements. He liked Russell and Samardzija better. The rest is history. Here's what Marshall said last year, "They know I like starting; I hope they know that," he said. "I try to tell them here and there, 'I'll be the guy for you."

I guess I have to remind the LaHair band wagon people that he is pushing 29 years of age and is a man playing in a kids league at this point. He isn't a "good" prospect by any means. There is a very clear reason why he hasn't had a shot in the majors since 2008. I don't mind finding out if he can do something in the majors but that should have been done starting July 31st and then gone from there. But in typical Cub fashion if they let Pena walk and really want to see LaHair, then they are pinning their next season hopes and dreams, and passing on considerable FA talent, to take a look at a 29 year old journeyman 1b man.

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In reply to by MikeC

I wouldn't consider myself on a LaHair bandwagon I just think it's dumb not to see what he can do up on the big league level. I'm aware of his age, and I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who has come up that late and been an impact player of any kind, other than maybe Roy Hobbs. I've never seen the guy swing the bat -- maybe he's just awful, or he's got a Pat Bourque* type of hitch in his swing. But the kind of numbers he is putting up warrant a look. *Bourque was a first baseman minor league "prospect" for the Cubs back in the 70s who came up to the bigs and quickly demonstrated a horrific hitch in his swing that taught thousands of kids in the Chicago area how NOT to hit.

http://www.csnchicago.com/08/31/11/Kaplan-Ricketts-gathering-intel-on-G… GM talk The timetable for naming Hendry’s successor appears to be on track for mid-October but if one of the big name general managers appears to be in play the search process could drag into November when the World Series is concluded. One thing is for certain, money does not appear to be a stumbling block to landing the best GM as it appears Ricketts is prepared to pay handsomely to land his dream candidate. The big question is: Will the dream candidate want the job?

Jay Jackson goes 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 11 K, 2 BB 37.2 IP, 2.86 ERA for August 29 K, 18 BB Szczur moved to 7th in lineup, hits HR and goes 2/3 in first game of DH, 1/1 so far in 2nd game A. Kirk shelled again in Peoria 3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 2 HR

really really quiet waiver trade deadline. oakland is still holding onto a ton of 1-year rentals...so are a lot of teams. the "big" trade so far today is jack wilson to ATL for ptbn.

Local idiot Mike Quade with one last thought- from Trib "The Cubs are without two of their original starters with Carlos Zambrano on the disqualified list and Andrew Cashner rehabbing at Triple-A Iowa. The team They began the day ranked last in starting pitching in the National League with a 4.97 earned-run average. "We might not have a Cy Young winner, but we're pretty good one to five," manager Mike Quade said

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In reply to by jacos

"We might not have a Cy Young winner, but we're pretty good one to five," manager Mike Quade said.
Quade didn't say that. Here is what he said. He was quoted by Carrie Muskat yesterday. It's still in cubs.com.
"We've played a little better," Cubs manager Mike Quade said, "but if you look at [Tuesday] night [against the Giants], and we hit a couple home runs and did some things that we need to do to win baseball games. We got good pitching, which I think coming out of Spring Training we thought we might not have a Cy Young winner, but we're pretty good one to five and we should compete."
If anybody involved with the Cubs is an idiot, it's the Trib writer who edited Quade's words to make him appear to be talking about today rather than opening day.

Recent comments

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    That’s a fantastic deal for SF

  • crunch (view)

    SF snags b.snell...2/62m

  • Cubster (view)

    AZ Phil: THAT is an awesome report worth multiple thanks. I’m sure it will be worth reposting in an “I told you so” in about 2-3 years.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The actual deadline to select a post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agent signed to 2024 minor league contract (Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta) to the MLB 40-man roster is not MLB Opening Day, it is 12 PM (Eastern) this coming Sunday (3/24). 

    However, the Cubs could notify the player prior to the deadline that the player is not going to get added to the 40 on Sunday, which would allow the player to opt out early. Otherwise the player can opt out anytime after the Sunday deadline (if he was not added to the 40 by that time). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?