Updated Cubs Rosters
With the Cubs most-recent roster cuts, there have been an accompanying series of roster moves at Minor League Camp at Fitch Park:
Among the more noteworthy are:
1. Cubs 2007 1st round pick Josh Vitters lost the battle for the 3B job at Peoria to Jovan Rosa (2006 22nd round draft pick signed as a DNF for 5th round money last May), and has been assigned to Boise/Mesa (Extended Spring Training group). Most likely path for Vitters in 2008 will be EXST (Fitch Park) in April-May, then he'll go to Boise (Northwest League) in June-July-August, and then he'll return to Fitch Park for the AZ Instructional League in Sept-Oct.
2. With the arrival of Casey McGehee at AAA Iowa, there were a series of demotions involving third-basemen, as Kyle Reynolds was demoted from Iowa to AA Tennessee, Josh Lansford was demoted from Tennessee to Daytona, and Marquez Smith was demoted from Daytona to Peoria and was moved from 3B to 2B (although he will play some 3B, too). Also SS Joe Simokaitis has been demoted from Iowa to Tennessee, and infielders Carlos Rojas and Issmael Salas were promoted to Iowa from Tennessee (although one or both could get released or demoted back to AA before Opening Day).
3. Dylan Johnston was demoted from Daytona to Peoria and has been moved from SS to LF. This move appears permanent and is similar to what the Cubs did with Luis Montanez a few years ago, when his defensive (throwing) problems at SS got into his head at the plate. By moving Johnston to LF, the Cubs are apparently trying to let him get a clear mind to where he can concentrate on his hitting.
4. As far as the catchers are concerned, with Koyie Hill coming down from big league camp to the Iowa group, Alan Rick was released, defensive whiz Jake Muyco was demoted from Iowa to Tennessee (where he will apparently be the back-up to Chris Robinson), hotshot prospect Welington Castillo and converted INFSteve Clevenger have been demoted to Daytona from Tennessee, Mario Mercedes and Blake Lalli have been demoted to Peoria from Daytona, and Carlos Perez and Cuban defector Roberto Sabates (ex-Industriales) have been assigned to Boise/Mesa (EXST) from Peoria.
5. Among the young pitching prospects, LHP Edward Campusano and RHP Justin Berg have been demoted from AAA Iowa to AA Tennessee, RHPs Jose Ceda, Esmailin Caridad, Alessandro Maestri, and Marcos Mateo (Juan's cousin), and LHPs Casey Lambert and Jermemy Papelbon have been demoted to Daytona from AA Tennessee, and RHPs Robert Hernandez and Alberto Alburquerque have been demoted to Peoria from Daytona.
6. Among the outfielders, Matt Camp has been demoted from AAA Iowa to AA Tennessee, Yusuf Carter has disappeared (probably either quit after he got demoted to Daytona or else he got released), Jonathan Wyatt and James Adduci have been demoted from AA Tennessee to Daytona, Kyler Burke and Leon Johnson have been demoted from Daytona to Peoria, and Drew Rundle has been demoted from Peoria to Boise/Mesa (Extended Spring Training). And 2B-OF Jeffrey Rea has disappeared from the Peoria group and was replaced by 2B-CF Jose Made (promoted to Peoria from Boise/Mesa).
So here are the most up-to-date latest Cubs Major League and Minor League rosters
CUBS SPRING TRAINING ROSTER - MAJOR LEAGUE CAMP
* bats or throws left
# bats both
31 players (includes two NRI)
16 pitchers (includes one NRI)
2 catchers
8 infielders (includes one NRI)
5 outfielders
ROSTERED PITCHERS (15):
Ryan Dempster
* Scott Eyre (likely will go on 15-day DL)
Kevin Hart
* Rich Hill
Bob Howry
Tim Lahey (Cubs will likely try to get Lahey through waivers and if they can he'll probably be PTBNL in Craig Monroe deal with MIN)
Jon Lieber
* Ted Lilly
Carlos Marmol
* Sean Marshall (either Marshall or Pignatiello will get optioned to Iowa)
Jason Marquis
* Carmen Pignatiello (either Tiggy or Marshall will get optioned to Iowa)
Kerry Wood
Michael Wuertz
Carlos Zambrano
NON-ROSTER PITCHER (1)
Chad Fox (likely will get released)
=======================
ROSTERED CATCHERS (2):
Henry Blanco
Geovany Soto (out of minor league options)
==========================
ROSTERED INFIELDERS (7):
Ronny Cedeno (out of minor league options)
Mark DeRosa
* Mike Fontenot (probably will be optioned to Iowa)
Derrek Lee
Aramis Ramirez
Ryan Theriot
* Daryle Ward
NON-ROSTER INFIELDER (1)
# Alex Cintron (probably was promised his release if he doesn't make Cubs Opening Day 25-man roster)
========================
ROSTERED OUTFIELDERS (5):
* Kosuke Fukudome
Reed Johnson
Matt Murton
* Felix Pie
Alfonso Soriano
===========================
DISABLED LIST (1)
Angel Guzman (60-day - TJ surgery rehab)
=============================
OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT (10):
IOWA (AAA):
Jose Ascanio, RHP
* Neal Cotts, LHP
Jake Fox, OF
* Sam Fuld, OF
Sean Gallagher, RHP
Juan Mateo, RHP
* Eric Patterson, OF-2B
Billy Petrick, RHP
TENNESSEE (AA):
Adam Harben, RHP
Jeff Samardzija, RHP
==========================
MINOR LEAGUE CAMP ROSTERS
* Bats or throws left
# Bats both
PITCHERS
IOWA:
Jose Ascanio
Matt Avery
Cory Bailey
* Neal Cotts
* Derrick Ellison
Jesse Estrada
Sean Gallagher
Jim Henderson (limited physical activity - unknown-type injury)
Mark Holliman
* Geoff Jones
Juan Mateo
* J. R. Mathes
* Ryan O’Malley
Billy Petrick
Rocky Roquet
* Les Walrond
TENNESSEE:
Mitch Atkins
Justin Berg
* Edward Campusano
Michael Cooper (limited physical activity – injury rehab torn rotator cuff surgery)
* Darin Downs
Adam Harben
Grant Johnson
Gregory Reinhard
* Jayson Ruhlman
Jeff Samardzija
* Chris Shaver
* Donald Veal
Tanner Watson
DAYTONA:
Todd Blackford
Esmailin Caridad
Jose Ceda
Marco Carrillo
Dumas Garcia
* Arik Hempy
* Casey Lambert
Alessandro Maestri
Marcos Mateo
Ryan Meyers
Billy Muldowney
* Jeremy Papelbon
Mike Phelps
* James Russell
Joel Santo
* Chris Siegfried
Stephen Vento
PEORIA:
Ryan Acosta
Alberto Alburquerque
* Zach Ashwood
Alberto Cabrera
Marcus Hatley
Robert Hernandez
Chris Huseby
Jordan Latham
Matt Maradeo
Scott Meyer
Craig Muschko
Blake Parker
* Mark Pawelek
Cedric Redmond
Dae-Eun Rhee
* Dustin Sasser
BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING):
Francisco Acosta
* Jeffry Antigua
* Luis Astorga
Rogelino Carmona
Rafael Dolis (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Eduardo Figueroa
Yohan Gonzalez
Kitt Kopach (limited physical activity – shoulder injury rehab)
Kevin Kreier
Oswaldo Martinez (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Jon Mueller (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Julio Pena
Jose Pina (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Hernan Ramos
Carlos E. Rojas
Audy Santana
Ryan Searle
Jose Severino
Miguel Sierra
Larry Suarez (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
Scott Taylor (serving 50-game illegal substance suspension)
Harol Tolentino
==================
CATCHERS
IOWA:
# J. D. Closser
# Koyie Hill
Tony Richie
TENNESSEE:
Jake Muyco
Chris Robinson
DAYTONA:
Welington Castillo
* Steve Clevenger (C-1B)
* Mark Reed
PEORIA:
Josh Donaldson
* Blake Lalli (C-1B)
Mario Mercedes
BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING)
Carlos Guevara
Carlos Perez
Roberto Sabates
* Alvaro Sosa
=================
INFIELDERS
IOWA:
# Andres Blanco (SS)
# Matt Craig (1B)
# Luis Figueroa (2B-SS-3B)
* Micah Hoffpauir (1B)
Casey McGehee (3B-1B-C)
Carlos Rojas (SS-2B)
# Bobby Scales (2B-3B-OF)
Issmael Salas (3B)
TENNESSEE:
Robinson Chirinos (2B-SS)
Brian Dopirak (1B)
# Matt Matulia (SS-2B)
* Kyle Reynolds (3B)
Joe Simokaitis (SS)
* Nate Spears (2B)
DAYTONA:
Darwin Barney (SS)
Russ Canzler (1B)
Josh Lansford (3B)
* Ryne Malone (2B-3B)
Jonathan Mota (2B-SS)
Tony Thomas (2B)
PEORIA:
Luis Bautista (1B)
# Marwin Gonzalez (SS)
# Jose Made (2B-CF)
Jovan Rosa (3B)
Nathan Samson (2B-SS)
Marquez Smith (2B-3B)
BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING):
Starlin Castro (SS)
John Contreras (3B)
Gian Guzman (SS)
# Dwayne Kemp (2B)
* Bryan Jost (1B - limited physical activity - knee surgery rehab)
Junior Lake (SS)
Elvis Lara (2B)
* Drew Rundle (1B)
Josh Vitters (3B)
===========================
OUTFIELDERS
IOWA:
Jake Fox
* Sam Fuld
* Josh Kroeger
* Eric Patterson
# Andres Torres
TENNESSEE
* Matt Camp
* Corey Coles
* Tyler Colvin
Ryan Harvey
DAYTONA:
* James Adduci
* Jeff Culpepper (limited physical activity – knee injury rehab)
Ty Wright
* Jonathan Wyatt
PEORIA:
* Cliff Andersen
* Kyler Burke
Brandon Guyer (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
* Leon Johnson
* Dylan Johnston (ex-SS)
BOISE/MESA (EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING):
# Andres Quezada
* Nelson Perez
Kevin Soto
* Luke Sommer
Jesus Reyes (limited physical activity – injury rehab)
WHEREBOUTS UNKNOWN (to me):
* Michael Bunton, P (was with PEORIA group)
Yusuf Carter, OF (was with TENNESSEE group)
Hung-Wen Chen, P (did not report - might still be in Taiwan)
Rafael Cova, P (did not report)
* Clark Hardman, OF (was with PEORIA group)
John Muller, P (was with PEORIA group)
* Jeffrey Rea, 2B (was with PEORIA group)
* Marc Sawyer, 1B (did not report - could be finishing senior year at Yale)
Chi-Hsiang Wen, OF (did not report - might still be in Taiwan)
NOTE: Bunton, Carter, Hardman, Rea, and Muller have turned up MIA in just the last couple of days. Most-likely reason for a player's sudden disappearance this time of year are:
1. Player got released.
2. Player got discouraged with lack of progress and quit.
3. Player suffered an injury of such severity that participation in even limited activity on the field is not possible.
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