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

Saturday Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up

Rosenthal says the Braves are growing impatient...

The Padres are still weighing offers for right-hander Jake Peavy, and on Friday discussed the possibility of keeping the pitcher if they fail to receive a satisfactory proposal, according to a major league source. The Braves, after weeks of discussions, are growing impatient, another source said, and soon might push for a resolution. The Braves and Cubs remain the front-runners, with the Yankees and Dodgers on the backburner. ...

That has to be good for the Cubs, Hendry has no problem waiting it out.

- Jeff Passan returns with his tail between his legs.

They had hoped for the Cubs to include pitcher Jeff Samardzija as part of a deal that could include outfielder Felix Pie, pitcher Sean Marshall and infielder Ronny Cedeno, but Samardzija has a full no-trade clause that he has no intent on giving up, said his agent, Mark Rodgers.

“Under no circumstances are we going to waive the no-trade provisions,” Rodgers said Friday.

The Cubs are tinkering with other players – pitcher Kevin Hart, minor-league pitcher Donnie Veal and, according to various reports, perhaps top hitting prospect Josh Vitters and minor leaguers Mitch Atkins, Wellington Castillo and Jose Ceda.

Chris DeLuca hints that the Padres certainly would certainly love Samardzija, but it would be a deal-breaker for the Cubs.

- Supposedly Kevin Towers was on the radio with Bruce Levine and talked about how well respected Jim Hendry is among other GM's and that it may give the Cubs the leg up in the Peavy sweepstakes.

- The rest of the NL Central is still open for business and Rosenthal says the Cards are offering Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick and  RHP Mitchell Boggs and possibly more for the Matt Holliday. The Brewers are awaiting a counter-offer from C.C. Sabathia's camp.

Comments

For the Braves, why the rush? You'd think the Cubs would be the ones to be anxious to get a deal done with Dempster's contract demands.

Looking at the list of Free-Agent Eligible and Arbitration Eligible, I see 4 maybe 5 guys that it is imperative to take care of. Kerry Wood, not only because he was better than I expected as a closer, but also because he is and should forever be a Cub. Ryan Dempster proved that he can do anything asked of him, and he can do it above average. He was a stabilizing factor in the rotation when the others were hot-and-cold. Michael Wuertz just gets the job done any time he is brought in and should be a high priority (sign him before arbitration for a slight discount). Reed Johnson... If only because I really like his day-in, day-out effort (I was at the game in Washington when he dove into the wall to make that catch). That effort saved Dempster at least 2 runs and the game. Also, for the "maybe" guy... Jimmy Edmonds. His contribution throughout the season as a lefty to be contended with cannot be measured by numbers. Without him, we'll have to spend a lot more money to replace him.

[ ]

In reply to by 10man

Well said. I think some people don't give Wuertz as much credit as he deserves. He's very good for the price, right now, and can be lights out at times (he can be really awful at times, too, when he's wild). I'm beginning to wonder who is behind him throwing almost exclusively the slider, though, Wuertz or Rothschild? He can get away with throwing lots of them, but he's going to need to throw the fastball too.

With the exception of Soto and Marmol, there isn't any player without a 'no trade' clause that I wouldn't trade for Peavy. That includes Vitters, W. Castillo, and any other 'prospect' in the Cubs minor league system. Zambrano, Peavy, Harden, and Lilly is a helluva rotation with or without Dempster. If they can afford Dempster and Peavy, then the can afford to re-sign Wood or Fuentes to be the closer and let Dempster go elsewhere. Save the rest of that money to trade for Brian Roberts, or better yet, sign Furcal to play SS. Then finally move Theriot to 2B to platoon with Fontenot. Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome, and DeRosa can play OF.

I'm really shocked that the Cubs are interested in Peavy, I wasn't counting on starting pitching as something they were going to try to work on, I pretty much penciled in losing Dempster and having to go from there. I don't care about Dempster if they are able to get Peavy. The priorities for the off season for me are still bullpen, center field and right field. Peavy is just some kind of great gravy.

Yeah, of course, Samardjiza would be a deal-breaker because he just maybe... might be... awesome in 5 years. Totally worth it to junk a trade for Jake Freaking Peavy for that reason.

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2008/11/cubsrumors11808.php Towers calls Hendry the easiest to work with of the teams in discussions and might give them the edge. Hendry asked D-Lee after season if he would consider waiving his NTC and it isn't happening. Cubs asked about McClouth at deadline, but cost was a big power arm, i.e. Samardzija Cubs talked with Marlins at GM meetings for Hermida and Olsen but will revisit after Peavy situation is resolved. Don't consider Hermida an everyday player... Cubs had a deal in place for Brian Giles before trade deadline last season but he nixed it Cubs have heavy interest in Furcal Hendry talked to the agent of Ibanez and Bradley (same agent).

[ ]

In reply to by big_lowitzki

it is the point, it was for 2-3 months and Giles had a team option going into the offseason. Padres have picked it up, but he didn't know that when the trades were being done. He could have been playing for a ring.  Lee has 2 yrs on his deal and no idea where he was going...big difference. Now I agree, maybe Lee should wait until he finds out what team he could possibly going to...but then I'd argue that Hendry should probably have waited to ask him until he had a better idea of what teams or cities.

of course, maybe Hendry did do that....

but I don't know how you pass up playing for a pennant....

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

What Rob said. But also, hypocrisies sometimes arise in that my player likes and dislikes are not always dictated by reason but I like to pretend they are. I do, however, approve of Lee's likely reasons for wanting to stay in Chicago, especially since the Cubs are likely to be good again next year. I can't understand staying on an awful Padres team when you could play for a team that had the best record in the NL and you'd really only have to stay there until they were eliminated from the playoffs or won a World Series. But, you're right, Giles had the right to refuse a trade and he did so. I mostly just dislike him for completely irrational reasons, though I'd love his OBP skills in the lineup (but not at much expense). I think when he was a free agent he reportedly didn't really want to sign with Chicago because he didn't like the city, the ballpark, the fans, or some such thing.

[ ]

In reply to by Chad

I doubt the Cubs went to Lee and said we need to go a different direction, probably just asked if his name came up would he consider waiving it. Lee still has 2 years left on his deal, so I see it a lot differently than Giles's situation. Not to mention the only reason they'd trade Lee is to sign Teixeira and that's hardly a slam dunk that the Cubs could do that.

Giles had an option for '09, if he was worried about it not getting picked up, he could have asked to get it guaranteed before agreeing for it. If he didn't want to stay with Chicago or Boston, he could have made them guarantee the buyout and search for a new job his offseason. Something that he was at risk of anyway if the Padres didn't pick up his option.

The padres have picked up his option since then, but that certainly was guaranteed 3 months ago. Basically Brian Giles wanted to play for a loser for the last 2 months of the season. I'm sure his family would have understood if he went for a ring the last couple of months of 2008.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

there's more people playing baseball that don't really care for the glitz and glamor of the ring than people would suspect (though they work hard and stay in playing shape). hell, some could care less they actually play baseball...they just do because they're good at it even though they work hard to play the game in proper shape. adam dunn would probably trade 1/2 his $$ worth to play football for a last place team if given the chance to play everyday. that said...i got no idea what could be giles's issues aside from his heavy community, family, and friendships in the area. honestly, it's probably more about 2009 than it was about the last 2 months of 08. the guy came a long way for a near AAAA type player who finally got a callup to do platoon work. took til age 28 before he became an everyday player even though it probably should have happened around age 25/26.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Its an either or sitution at this point. If we dont get Peavy, a Hermdia and Olsen deal becomes the the main priority. I think I had rather have Hermaida and Olsen over Peavy though. Olsen is starting to become a decent no.2 MLB starter and Hermadia could be a 25-30 HR guy in Wrigley. Also I imagine both of combined would cost us less money in the next 3 years compared to Peavy. I imagine our RF if we get Peavy will be Ryan Church. It seems Minaya wants to unload him and god knows they need pen arms. I could see something like Church for Wuertz.

has peavy made a statement at all about his wishes? it doesn't surprise me that he's limited his choices to 3 teams (LAD/ATL/CHC), but while i can understand why LAD/ATL...CHC confuses me a bit. according to a sun-times story yesterday no other teams will be considered and that's peavy's "list". wonder why CHC gets the nod...wonder what their team reputation was around the league last season as far as a place to work.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

when the rumor started 3 weeks ago, his agent came out with 5 teams he'd be willing to play for. Mostly he wanted to stay in the NL and play for a contender. The 5 teams were Houston, St. Louis, L.A., Chicago and Atlanta.

Giants suck, Rockies and Arizona aren't fun places to pitch

Milwaukee, Cincy, Pitt, well who would want to spend half the season in those cities

no one wants to play for Florida or Nats right now

Philly isn't fun a place to pitch and maybe he just doesn't like New York

Atlanta was his childhood team and he still lives near there

Oswalt is one of his best buddies

LA obviously for proximity

I'm guessing he just liked St. Louis and Chicago...or heard good things from guys who played there.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Reportedly, he's always enjoyed pitching at Wrigley and likes the city and the fans. He's apparently recently talked with such people as Sutcliffe, Gracey, and others who have told him who great it is to play everyday as a Cub. The whole bit about not wanting to hurt the other team too much in a trade, and Towers' reported compliments of Hendry, also make a Chicago deal seem feasible. Here's hoping they like the quality (but more likely the quantity) of our prospects more than Atlanta's.

this guy http://prospectinsider.com/ who actually was pretty good at info with the Bedard trade, supposedly emailed this to someone at NSBB http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=2021424#p2021424 I heard this morning that a Peavy-to-ATL deal is getting pretty darn close. Sounds like the two sides may haggle for awhile, but the Cardinals, Astros and Cubs can't match the Braves' offer, or even get remotely close to it. ATL is trying to play that into giving up less, but Towers and company would rather keep Peavy until mid-season than get less than value for him. The Braves are about to steal Peavy, one of the game's top five or six starting pitchers, from the Padres for a package that grades out half as good as the Bedard deal, and maybe as good as the Santana deal, when Minnesota had no leverage. If I were SD, I'd wait. It's very possible that during the year, Peavy's NTC becomes less of a factor as he watches interested teams hover in first place, and if any of those teams were LAD, NYY, LAA or even Detroit, SD would likely get better offers. Jason

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

Detroit? LAD has better players to offer now than what Atlanta is purportedly trying to get him for. It could be that the Padres front office is of the same mind about Peavy that I am, and that's why they want to trade him during the off-season, rather than have to hope he doesn't have another DL trip by July 31.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

How are the Braves "stealing" Peavy, but the Cards or Cubs cant match it? If ATL is offering something like Hanson, Escobar, Schaffer and Morton, then yes nobody is going to match that, But the guy makes it sound likes it a Harden-type deal, so why couldnt someonematch it.

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/entries/200… Folks, barring some surprising late push from a team that simply overwhelms the Padres with a new offer, it’s going to be the Braves or Cubs who land the 2007 Cy Young Award winner. And since the few other teams Peavy would agree to be traded to seemingly don’t have the package of prospects that they are willing to part with and would satisfy what Padres GM Kevin Towers is looking for, I’m fairly certain it’ll be the Braves or Cubs. And since the various possible offers from the Cubs that have been reported thus far seem to fall short of the Braves’ likely offer of Yunel Escobar, Gorkys Hernandez or Jordan Schafer, and one or two pitching prospects from a group that might include Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, or one of the younger guys (not named Hanson), I’m still of the belief that the Braves are favored over the Cubs to get Peavy. But I also know that some others think the Cubs moved ahead, for whatever reason. So we’ll see. I do think it’ll happen well before the December 7-11 Winter Meetings in Vegas, and probably before Thanksgiving. But whether it’ll be in the next week, I’m not as certain. But there’s a decent chance. also says Braves are growing impatient and want it done ASAP so they can move on to other issues and see what prospects they have left. So hopefully Towers drags this out and the Braves drop out :)

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

This is similar to that time when the Cubs were so close to signing Furcal, and the Dodgers just swooped in and took him away. Of course, that contract didn't work so well for LA. So who will outswoop whom for Peavy?

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.