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

Cubs Trade Ronny Cedeno; Get Living, Breathing Pitcher in Return

The Cubs moved yet another once-upon-a-time prospect in Ronny Cedeno today, along with left-handed pitcher Garrett Olson to the Seattle Mariners for Aaron Heilman. You'll remember Olson as the pitcher the Cubs received along with Hank Williamson for Felix Pie about a week and a half ago. That makes the net trade:

Cubs get: Hank Williamson, Aaron Heilman

Cubs lose: Ronny Cedeno, Felix Pie

Cedeno's fate was likely sealed when the Cubs acquired Aaron Miles and I'll shed no tears on this loss. Cedeno might be more talented than Ryan Theriot, but he's shown all the baseball intelligence of a junior high dropout. I also find it a bit amusing that the one rookie that Dusty Baker ever gave much of a legitimate shot of playing time to - besides maybe Matt Murton - was Cedeno in 2006. Dusty Baker's eye for talent strikes yet again.

Heilman has been on the Cubs radar for awhile, always known to be a Hendry favorite. The Notre Dame alum had a brutal 2008 season, with a 5.21 ERA for the Mets and was part of the three-team deal for J.J. Putz earlier this offseason. His K/9 rate went up to a nice 9.47 last year, but it went along with a skyrocketing BB/9 rate of 5.45. Fangraphs (using Pitch F/x data) says he throws mostly a fastball and change-up with the occassional slider, while Sportsnet says it's a splitter and fastball with the occasional fastball and change. He has also made it clear on many occasions that he would prefer to be a starter, which is probably why he got shipped out of New York.

Heilman signed a one year, $1.625M deal to avoid arbitration with the Mariners and  is set to be a free agent after the 2010 season and the deal cleared a spot on the 40-man roster.

I assume many are worried that moving Garrett Olson means the end of the Jake Peavy sweepstakes for the Cubs, as the Padres made it clear he was a pitcher they desired. I, of course, have no idea if that is true or not. To play devil's advocate, it could mean the Cubs are now willing to move Sean Marshall and covet Aaron Heilman more for that swing-man role. I think that's less likely of a scenario, but it is possible.

In the end, the Cubs moved a useless part (Cedeno) and a promising player with no roster flexibility (Pie) for a pitcher I think is a pretty good bet to bounce back next season. From 2005-2007, Heilman put up ERA's of 3.17, 3.62, and 3.03 with anywhere from 76 to 108 IP. Considering the volatility of relief pitchers, there's certainly a good chance that he can rebound to those levels.

Comments

He seems like Jason Marquis with a lower salary and acquired for relatively useless parts. Gives more depth to the starting rotation which is always needed, esp with Harden. I choose not to look at it versus a possible Peavy trade because we don't know, but suspect that it was going to be an arm and a leg to get him.

It's been my dream for awhile to be the first commenter on one of these posts. It seems, somehow, unfulfilling now. Kinda like the Cubs' offseason moves so far.

As was mentioned in the previous thread, Heilman was putting up with some tendonitis problems in his knee last season which may have been why he struggled. If I can dig up some more info later today I'll add to this. To get traded (twice) somebody must have been reviewing these medical records and signing off on them.

Ok..who Juan Uribe? And add that to the pile of $$ the Cubs are spending. What would that cost? Rich Aurillia?? Yikes...

dug this up from the NY Daily News, circa 9-11-08 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/09/10/2008-09-10_j… ------------------------ Jerry Manuel: Knee problem has hampered Aaron Heilman all year BY Adam Rubin DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Thursday, September 11th 2008, 4:00 AM Jerry Manuel offered an alibi for Aaron Heilman's miserable string of outings. The interim manager revealed, and Heilman confirmed, the righty has been dealing with left knee tendinitis since spring training. Manuel said the problem affects Heilman's landing during his delivery and therefore his location. Heilman surrendered a game-tying two-run homer to Cristian Guzman in the sixth Wednesday night in a 13-10 win over the Nationals. For his part, Heilman tried to minimize how much it has accounted for his 5.38 ERA. "There were probably a handful of games where I felt it affected me," said Heilman, who has appeared in just two games this month.

[ ]

In reply to by Cubster

Isn't tendinitis a recurring problem that never really goes away? And did we really just pick up another injured pitcher? This would be a fine strategy if MLB made an exception and allowed the Cubs to carry another 10 pitchers without it counting towards the 25 man roster limit.

http://mets.scout.com/2/47903.html Repertoire. 4-seam fastball (FB), slider (SL) and split-fingered fastball (spl FB). Heilman also throws a circle change (CU) and curveball (CB). The Mets will allow Heilman to work on whatever he likes at the instructional league and hopefully Bobby Ojeda will have an opportunity to work with him. Scouting Report: Pitcher, Aaron HeilmanFastball. Heilman's fastball sat at 92-93 mph which was better than the expected 90-92 mph. He showed an ability to occasionally reach 94-95 mph. He is not expected to add much if any velocity to his fastball. Heilman's fastball has excellent movement that he can make move left, right and sink. His fastball is in general very difficult to elevate. Other pitches: Heilman threw what was regarded as one of the top 5 sliders in college baseball in 2001. Heilman taught himself his spl. FB in January 2001 and it was a very effective pitch for him that he was able to throw for strikes. Pitching: Heilman is extremely durable and understands how to pitch. The only concern regarding Heilman is his ability to get left-handed hitters. He really only needs to better utilize the lateral movement of his fastball and add a quality change up to get lefties out. Projection: Heilman projects to a #1 or #2 starter. He has the make up of an ace. ETA: 2003. If he adds a quality 4th pitch, Heilman could be ready before the end of 2002. didn't quite work out that way...

also saw this history on Heilman from 2006: Mets | Heilman has elbow operation Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:56:21 -0700 The Associated Press reports New York Mets SP Aaron Heilman (elbow) had surgery Oct. 23 for tennis elbow on his throwing arm. The KFFL link has a boatload of stuff on Heilman with years of him being involved in trade rumors, one dates back to him being possibly acquired to compete vs Wade Miller for the Cubs 5th starter spot. Also, it looks like he was getting the LaTroy Hawkins treatment from Met fans last year http://www.kffl.com/player/6812/MLB

Heilman was getting racist letters too? --- No, anti-Dome hate mail. Most were booing LaTroy just because he sucked as a Cub. The racist stuff was coming from the beyond, probably Commish Kenesaw Mountain Landis' grave.

in case that was missed 1yr deal with a mutual option...$6-$8M range

There was lots of angry in the last thread about this, but thanks to Rob for summing it up. Those of us who want Peavy want to be upset because of Olson's name being linked to that trade. Understandable. But I highly doubt Garrett Olson will or won't be the deciding factor in whether or not we get Peavy. Having said that, did we pay a semi-high price for Heilman? Probably. But again, Jim's running out of time and (literally) options. I wanted badly to see Cedeno succeed, and it never happened, and wasn't going to. Good riddance.

[ ]

In reply to by Tony S.

I don't even know that the price is that high, when you aren't taking Peavy into account. Assuming he gets over the tendonitis, Heilman's a decent pitcher, and Cedeno probably wasn't ever going to get much in return. Olson, well... NOOOO! COME BACK, JAKE! Another thing that's important is to avoid thinking of this as Pie and Cedeno for Heilman, because then the wrists start bleeding and that's just too messy.

I just keep envisioning Hendry on the deck of the Starship Enterprise being suffocated by some devious Klingon weapon..crawling to the command console...just reaching up to press the life saving button..."Must spend money on middle relievers..." I would have preferred a prospect and Olson. Seattle got a starting spot for Ronny?

I've said this several times - but in the fall of 2006, I was THRILLED that Dusty played this speedy, strong-armed, SS with some pop. "We FINALLY have a shortstop!" Then 2007 came - he was given the gig - and blew it. Like Rob, and the Dr. Aaron said, we got a living, breathing body for him. I'm fine with it. Who knows what will happen with Garrett Olson. There are quite a few "If's" on the Cubs 2009 version - add Heilman to the mix. Just wish he was a lefty. Lou kept the wrong one.

I do worry that Jim has really thinned this roster out quite a bit. I know its a stretch, but imagine if something along the lines of -Bradley injury -Harden injury -Soriano injury -Aramis injury -Theriot/Miles/Fontenot either Don't repeat career year/Continue to suck/Doesn't turn into Micky Morandini 2.0? I don't know that we have the depth to recover like we've had before. Backloaded deals almost always come home to roost. And Jim's aversion to confrontation may end up being his undoing.

[ ]

In reply to by The E-Man

I'd say more than 50% of that list is a foregone conclusion, E-Man It harkens back to the good old days of peciling in Wood and Prior at the front of the rotation. I can't wait until the "When Milton Bradley comes off the DL. It will be like making a deadline trade" routine. As of today, without Peavy. This club could be anywhere from a 92-75 win Club.

[ ]

In reply to by The Real Neal

I am starting to agree with this point of view. For the money, and cost in talent, I don't think Peavy improves us enough to justify the 5 useful bodies it would take, particularly Vitters and Castillo. Two way catchers are too hard to come by, and while you can debate the Cubs dubious record on developing front end talent, we really have not had a prospect like Vitters since I don't know when. And we won't be drafting #3 again any time soon. Marshall is a good #5, and cheap, and left handed, so has a lot of value. But there are no teams in competition with us to land him, due to his no trade clause. They are stuck with him unless we agree to a trade. Hendry should apply the full leverage of this negotiating position if a deal is to be struck.

found this ironic tidbit in a Will Carroll (Baseball Prospectus) column from 7/30/06: The Mets haven't made the most of Aaron Heilman. Once expected to be a rotation fixture, the pitcher has instead found a home in the bullpen. He could find a home closer to his midwest roots if the information I got from a Mets official pans out. I'm told that the Mets are discussing shipping Heilman to the Cardinals in return for free-agent-to-be Jason Marquis.

Unfortunately I can't find anything more specific on Heilman's tendonitis other than it was his left knee. http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2008/09/new_york_mets_limiting_heilman… Tendonitis means inflammation of a tendon and there are several around the knee. The largest two are the quadriceps tendon (which inserts into the patella/kneecap) and the patellar tendon (which goes from the patella to the tibia below the knee) both are common. There are also hamstrings (medial or lateral) and even the gastrocnemius which is more of a calf muscle but the tendons go behind and above the knee attaching to the femur. My guess is it was a patellar tendonitis as it's probably the most common of these conditions. In a pitcher, this would a significant problem for both push off and landing from a mound. Heilman played through it most of the season meaning it was nagging but not incapacitating . It wasn't disclosed to the press until the 2nd week in September where there are multiple articles (see the link above for one of these) explaining why they hadn't used him as much in early September. Of course blowing 5 of 8 save opportunities might just be a better excuse to skip calling him from the pen. I'm sure they had MRI imaging on him as that would be useful to rule additional conditions inside the knee that might make the tendonitis a secondary problem (like a torn meniscus). The treatment is the usual rest and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, better shock absorption in shoes. Therapy includes stretching and controlled exercises also various heat modalities to the inflammed area. In a pitcher it's unlikely to resolve until enough rest can occur, which means the off-season. He didn't have this in 2007 so I'd expect him to be OK in 2009. I saw that he did have right (his pitching elbow) tennis elbow surgery immediately after the season on 10-23-06 by Dr. David Altchek (he's quite famous in Sports Ortho, who did similar surgery on Carlos Delgado that same week) and although it's obviously unrelated to his knee issues it is an example of a chronic tendonitis that rarely needs surgery but ultimately he needed it (and presumably got better from the surgery). His stats in 2006 (74 games, 3.62 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) were better than 2008 (78G, 5.21 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) so I guess it was the same nagging thing but he put up with it pretty well. He probably had a bunch of therapy, ultrasound/deep heat rxs and a few cortisone shots for it before the elbow surgery. Patellar tendonitis can be chronic (which isn't all that common) and then the tendon can be surgically explored or consideration to ultrasonic shockwave rx, which is more often used to treat resistant plantar fascitis (arch inflammation). A variant on such an example of surgical treatment of a chronic tendonitis was the chronic achilles tendonitis in Cliff Floyd who had surgery (also at the same hospital/same week that Heilman had surgery, but a different surgeon) on it the offseason before he signed with the Cubs. Of course if you have HMO insurance like Neal, they just tell you to change shoes. http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/blog/2006/10/under_the_…

Does anyone feel that Orlando Hudson would significantly improve our middle inf? Miles/Theriot/Fontenot just doesnt do it for me. Theriot played well everyday last year, but we could use more D and Offense out of that spot. And Miles and Fonty have never played everyday. At this point Hudson is getting screwed with the #1 Pick compensation which I cringe at giving up, but it is pick 29. Its possible Hudson could be had for 6m/yr? Switch hitter, gold glove D? Our farm system is so thin, I just don't see any other options.

I'm satisfied with Pie + Cedeno for Heilman, because I don't think anything of Ron Ce. Heilman has a track record of ML success, he had a bad year, looks like the Cubs buy low on someone for once. A 4th OF (Pie) with no plate discipline for a better version of Jason Marquis? I'll take that. Now if Hendry can just eat a million bucks and dump Vizcaino off on someone, he'll be doing much better here. We have more pitching depth than just about any team in baseball. I like the talk about Orlando Hudson BTW, push Fonty into a reserve role with Miles, that would make the bench look a lot better. And Hudson could leadoff, no? A slightly inferior version of Brian Roberts at the cost of a single draft choice and 8 million bucks? Do it.

Recent comments

  • 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.

  • crunch (view)

    dbacks are signing j.montgomery to a 1/25m with a vesting 20m player option.

    i dunno when the ink officially dries, but i believe if he signs once the season begins he can't be offered a QO...and i'm not sure if that thing with SD/LAD in korea was the season beginning, either.

  • crunch (view)

    sut says imanaga getting the home opener at wrigley (game 4 of the season).

  • crunch (view)

    cubs rolling out the who's who of "who the hell is this guy?" in the last spring game.

  • videographer (view)

    AZ Phil, speaking of Jordan Wicks having better command when he tires a bit, I remember reading about Dennis Lamp 40 years ago and his sinker that was better after 3 or 4 innings when he would tire a bit and get more sink with a little less speed on the pitch.  The key for Lamp was getting to the 4th inning.