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

No Peavy Deal for Cubs

As reported in multiple places, including here, the Cubs are baling out on the Jake Peavy trade talks. Writes Ken Rosenthal:

The Cubs were frustrated by the Padres' attempts to seek five or six players for Peavy with one team executive saying, "They're looking for a Herschel Walker-type deal."

Comments

Good. The cost was just outrageous. How can the Pads expect such a huge return and have the other team pick up the entire $85 million? That's not how baseball has worked in recent years. Hopefully this means we keep Derosa. Can we package Theriot and Dempster to the Siberian Professional League for Miss Uglugchuk?

i would guess peavy is not to happy the price may come down when towers realizes he has a disgruntled player also wonder what owner thinks about still having that contract. lets move on to right field i want ibanez

Does that mean we still can't trade Marquis! I think he'd still look better in another uniform!

I would rather have Randy Johnson, Josh Vitters, Sean Marshall and the trade pieces of Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno over Peavy anyway. I wonder if Jimbo now hits the trade market for a RF and use the FA money for Bradley or Ibanez to get Johnson and Trevor Hoffman. I wonder if the O's would do Pie for Scott? Given the volume allegeldly for Dero, Jimbo should put him on the block and see what he can get.

Would it have been amazing to have the rotation of Peavy, Z, Dempster, Harden and TL? Of course. Does not trading away everyone and their Johann's mother for this deal and pursuing Randy Johnson make more sense. Yes, I think it does. On another note, I'm wondering when the last person posts a 3/44 "Peavy deal is off" post.

Maybe Hendry was surprised by the interest that DeRosa generated and he realized he could improve the team even more. So instead of Hoffman, how about a leadoff man joining Bradley and Johnson?

[ ]

In reply to by Timmer

I wrote this in another thread, but just a thought...

a Chone Figgins for Mark DeRosa trade would make a lot of sense...

I'd rather keep DeRosa probably, but if the goal is more LH bats and a little more "athletic", not to mention a potential leadoff hitter, it's not too bad.

Angels were said to be wanting more power from the third base spot, although they should just give the job to Brandon Wood then. I also think they'd want more than just DeRosa. I think last year they said they would want Aramis Ramirez for Figgins, so yeah, they're a bit delusional.

 

[ ]

In reply to by Timmer

After watching Marmol crap out in June, I want more protection than Kevin Gregg if that happens again if he is the closer. Plus we have a leadoff guy on this team already that Lou wont hit there and two if Fontenot is upgraded to an everyday player if they trade Dero.

[ ]

In reply to by Chifan

in what type of baseball is Mike Fontenot considered a leadoff hitter?

I am still curious on why Lou thinks Theriot isn't one...the only things I can think of is his tendency to swing at the first pitch and/or he got fed up with him getting caught stealing last year.

Ibanez talks heating up and likely going to the Phils as per ESPN? Let's get Abreu or Bradley! Wonder what the contract will be for? 2-18?

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Wow, A Clement sighting. I wondered where he was. He ain't been right since he got clonked on the head with a line drive. When the Dads started asking for DeRo, I felt this trade was degenerating into the ridiculous. Peavy wanted to come here. Shoulda woulda coulda. Towers is the clown here. He should hook up with Baltimore's owner.

We haven't heard the last of this story this Winter, I bet. I think that with Sabathia and Burnett deals being wrapped up, the market for pitchers will start to clear pretty soon. That may cause both sides to reassess...and more likely Towers, because he is the one that needs to cut payroll. I wasn't too happy with the idea of helping out the Phillies by trading DeRosa to them. While not in the same division, they are a strong NL team and we didn't need to be making them a better and deeper one. Is it possible to sign Randy Johnson and then only pitch him on days when the wind is blowing in?

signs with Reds...

so with the Brewers falling apart (and they should really just trade Fielder and Hardy by this point for a boatload of prospects), who's the Cubs top competition next year?

Cardinals "should" have a mostly healthy Carpenter and Wainwright back, plus looking to add a Fuentes or another closer. Greene is actually an improvement over someone, so I'm thinking they should be the big contender. Kind of depends what they do with Ankiel and Ludwick.

Reds pitching has the potential to be pretty damn good as well. Enough young hitters where you don't know if they'll all click together like the Brewers did in 2007 and make a run.

Unless the Astros find 2 starting pitchers, I don't see them doing much. Pirates are, well, the Pirates.

a cold winter blast no peavy, but not too peaved let's play two today (It's the wrong day of the week; just couldn't help it.)

Hendry today, reported by Sullivan/Rogers:
"I see Marshall being a huge, valuable guy," Hendry said. "We knew exactly what we were getting into with Rich Harden. ... The adaptability Marshall had [last season] was very admirable. You have to be mentally strong [to be a spot starter]." Hendry said he was looking beyond the 2009 team when he decided not to do a Peavy trade. He sees Vitters as a key part of the future, as he is expected to be ready to take over at third base if Aramis Ramirez opts not to exercise his player option for 2011 or the club doesn't exercise its option for '12. "The Chicago Cubs are a big-market club," Hendry said. "But still, you have to have a flow of talent coming to allow you to operate the way you need to operate."

I was the biggest Peavy-trade supporter here, so I'll chime in. I'm disappointed that it sounds like Peavy won't be here. I think he would have given us the best rotation in baseball (even over the Yankees' forecasted rotation) and a great improvement over last year's club.I understood that it was going to cost something to get him though and so I never saw the trade as a sure bet, even when it seemed to be. I'd much rather have Peavy for the next 5 years at $70 mil or so than Dempster for the next 4 at $52 mil. It's too bad that Hendry apparently couldn't wait long enough to do a Peavy deal before re-signing Demp. Part of me still wonders whether the Cubs will monitor the situation and see what happens in the next month or so. It seem clear now that Towers is about as big of a delusional fuck-up that MacPhail was last year who played the media just as badly first with the Braves and then with the Cubs. No doubt someone got to him and told him to raise the stakes on the Cubs. I knew that things had changed from their end when DeRosa's name started getting tossed around, and when Towers had suddenly discovered a third or fourth team to deal with. Towers is likely to have a very pissed player, a pissed fanbase, and perhaps a pissed owner to deal with in the coming weeks, so chances are that Peavy's name will remain in trade rumors. However, perhaps not with the Cubs. Hendry's comments as reported above by VirginiaPhil (via Sullivan/Rogers) seem like he's made up his mind. Unless the price drops drastically, I don't see the Cubs revisiting this topic.

[ ]

In reply to by Andrew

my own wild-ass-guess based on recent hendry talk to the media seems to lead to chc/sd looking for a "big name" SD wanted to rope this whole trade together without chc shifting marshall/vitters in any way. seems the task was harder than it might have seemed... just a guess, though.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

albeit the need to move Jason Marquis wouldn't have been there. Exactly, which I think did impact matters in the end. I agree with crunch's assessment of the situation, with the addition of a tight payroll for the Cubs. It seems like the insurmountable obstacles to me were, in no order: 1) Padres wanting too much 2) Cubs not wanting to give up Vitters/Marshall (who else do we have???) 3) Cubs tight payroll (probably tighter than expected from the Demp signing -- I don't think Hendry thought it'd be that high)

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

If they hadn't re-signed Demp, than Towers would have had the upper hand in the negotiations. As is, signing Demp allows Hendry to walk away knowing that even without Peavy the rotation is good enough to get the cubs to the postseason. IMHO adding RJ on a one year deal and signing Bradley to the less than 4 years he is looking for (Perotto on BP said he was looking for 4 year $40 mil) would give the cubs a good offense and allow them to have some bargaining chips come july for whatever the biggest need is. I also like the inquiries into Figgins, though adding him and Bradley is 2 big injury risks.

I heard Hendry's comments on WSCR this afternoon, and he came as close as Hendry ever comes to saying, in effect, that he's done with dealing with Towers. Very polite, but the context was the important part of his response. Shades of the McFail fiasco last year.

The Cubs were frustrated by the Padres' attempts to seek five or six players for Peavy ...Yeah, because clearly it's easier to find Peavy-caliber players than it is Marshall-caliber players. *sigh* Whatever.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=257494 "It was just one of those rare occasions that we thought it was worth trying to go in and kick the tires and see if it was possible," Hendry said. "Or, how can we make it work if we can do it? As the week progressed, the volume of the depth we had to give up became the sticking point for me. "Out of respect to the player, he was worth looking into." sounds more respectful of Towers in the print version what Dmac got from the radio, not that I doubt Dmac's account (comment #47).

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/12/11/SPC014MF… "Randy's really interested," one of his agents, Barry Meister, said Thursday, the final day of the winter meetings. "We made a check list of everything that's important, and San Francisco checks off on every box. They're in the National League. They'll be competitive. They train in Arizona. "San Francisco has a lot of appeal." so is there another team in San Francisco that I forgot about? one that doesn't count Randy Winn as their best offensive player.

This whole thing has been a big distraction from getting done what they need to accomplish this off season, although there is still time. A LH RBI bat is needed, but only because FUKUDOME was / is a $14 million bust. Why is no one talking about this? If you sign someone for $10 million to play RF, and FUKU is in center, your outfield will cost $42 million next year! You could have afforded Manny in LF and whatever you want in RF with Johnson/Pie in center for that price! I know there would be no takers, but if there was any possible way to move FUKU they should be doing it. I hate the Sox, but look, they have moved Swisher and Vasquez so far. That is moving out the overpaid deadwood, and good management. The FUKU contract at this point is much worse than Marquis. I admit I was happy we got him last year, but the deal has not worked out by any measure, and now we essentially have to fill the same hole via expensive FA two years in a row. Am I the only one who would like one more solid arm in the bullpen, preferably LH? Just think, if FUKU could hit we could have kept Wood.

From Rotoworld (via SI): The Mets and Cubs are reportedly talking about a Jason Marquis deal. There was talk about Aaron Heilman for Marquis as recently as yesterday, but it's believed the Mets turned down that deal weeks ago. Scott Schoeneweis for Marquis would make a lot more sense. Both are entering their contract years. Schoeneweis is owed $3.6 million, while Marquis is due $9.875 million.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

My fault. I did a quick search of the comments for "Mets" and nothing relevant came up. Speaking of 3/44, don't these winter meetings represent the two-year anniversary of the beginning of "3/44"? Still going strong.....

Listening to Bruce Levine today, he stated that Towers was looking fo "...6 or 7 players from the Cubs." IF that's the case, that is just fucking nuts. I love Peavy, but its not like all of the names bandied about were completely useless Todd Hundleys. Again, if there was no pitching talent on the team already, then I'd understand a bit more. But on paper, it is now the strongest starting core in the Division. If the owner, in the throws of his divorce, really needs to slash payroll, the price will come down. You can bet on it. Hendry did the right thing in this case.

[ ]

In reply to by Rob G.

It's really Hendry's bad luck that 2 players who could really help the Cubs (B. Roberts & Peavy) have GM's who are baseball-retarded. If Roberts doesn't accept the 'long-term' contract offer from the O's, Andy McFail will be lucky to get an offer for him better than Cedeno, Colvin, and Marquis + $4.5 million or any comparable talent from any other team. Peavy's value will be lucky to be half of what Towers asked for today when July 31st comes around, especially if getting his NTC waived involves taking on his $23 Million option for 2013. My wish list remains (in this order): (1) Leadoff hitter (Furcal or B. Roberts); (2) LH RF (Bradley or Abreu); (3) Randy Johnson only if Marquis can be traded with absorbing little (< $2.0 million)of his salary.

Sorry to do this, but, Rashid Davis is not a professional football player. Go back to the Arena League, dude. You suck.

Ibanez apparently signs with Phillies for 3/30 and Marquis-Mets is on the backburner according to Mets sources.

Will he take Burrell's position, then? 'Cause he ain't gonna take over for Vittorino or Werth. Well, good, and bad for the Cubs. Good in that he will not be on the north side patrolling RF. Bad, in that Bradley will want a similar deal, I'm sure.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

2009 will work if they can trade away Marquis without gaining another big salary. Heileman or Schoeneweise make sense to me. 2011 could work considering Ted Lilly will be a free agent (if the Cubs don't then need to get some starting pitching). 2010 might be a stretch. I guess DeRo is coming off of the books in 2010, but that isn't exactly going to pay for Bradley, plus depending on how Cedeno, Theriot, and Fontenot play, we might need to get a second baseman and/or a SS. I think, though, that if Hendry can make it fit in 2009, he'll get the deal done and leave future payrolls for future consideration, as he's done with all the backloaded NTC clause contracts he's been signing lately. I still think there are better fits, but they come via trade rather than free agency, and that appears to be pretty complicated this year. Luke Scott makes sense to me.

If your paying attention to the NFL, once an asshole always an asshole. Terrell Owens bitching and complaining again and sabotaging another NFL franchise. How many days till he calls Romo a racist? Just keep that in mind if Milton Bradley becomes a Cub. He is of the same mind set of Terrell Owens. A me first type of guy where everyone is always conspiring against them to bring them down. Mix in a little uncontrollable rage and you got a fine human being.

- sigh - you're probably right MIKE C. Lou is paid, in part, to handle players like this. He has a LOT of experience doing this. Possibly, they would be with the team for the same amount of time.

If Paul Bako is the Cubs first FA signing, I will puke. Oh, I forgot about Chad Fox already getting resigned.

Rotoworld sez Reds will make an offer for Burrell. Because Baker and Adam Dunn worked out so well...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/1327539,CST-SPT-deluca12.article Towers kept putting left-hander Sean Marshall on the table. Never did the Cubs give a nod of approval to Marshall being part of the package. Then the Cubs' brain trust considered all of the money they would be taking on in a Peavy deal. Financially, they could make the right-hander fit in 2009. Even 2011 and beyond. But 2010 was a real sticking point. The Cubs' payroll will be supersized in 2010 without Peavy. Adding him creates a lot of stress

Jason Marquis ($9.875M), Rich Harden ($7M) and Mark DeRosa ($5.5M) come off the books after the 2009 season, plus Reed Johnson (who will probably get somewhere around $2.5M in 2009) and Kevin Gregg (who should get something like $4.5M in 2009). So that's about $28M off the books going into 2010, with Carlos Marmol, Ryan Theriot, Sean Marshall, Rich Hill (if he's still around), and Mike Fontenot (who is a virtual lock to be a "Super Two") becoming first-time salary arbitration eligible post-2009 additional to the others who are already eligible for salary-arbitration (Gaudin, Cotts, Wuertz, and Cedeno, presuming they are still on the team).

Why not just go with Marquis the first half of the season and then unload him mid-season when you might be able to get someone to pick up his remaining salary? He's got a career 4.25 ERA, 49-33 record, and averages 6.2 IP per start the first half. That's awesome for a fifth starter. Keep him.

Navigator: The longer the Cubs hang onto Marqus, the more likely somebody will take back his entire contract. Once it gets to Spring Training and some of the FA losers realize just how lousy their starting rotationa are, a guy like Jason Marquis (one year for $9.875M) will suddenly look like a bargain.

Agreed. Hendry was at a real disadvantage trying to move Marquis at this stage of the off-season. His market value will increase once all of the FA's are off the board and teams start realizing they need someone (anybody) to throw 200 innings next year. The fact that Hendry was willing to shop Marquis now (and eat a sizeable part of his salary) shows how much he likes Peavy. (And perhaps how much Piniella dislikes Marquis).

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...