Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents

Murton and Other Notes

Submitted by Rob G. on

Two quick notes from Gordon Wittenmeyer...

The Cubs are getting enough interest from other teams in outfielder Matt Murton that a deal might get done by the end of the weekend to keep the Cubs from having to send the .296 career hitter to the minors.

They're just making sure no injuries occur today and Murton will most likely be out of here.

The battle between lefties Sean Marshall and Carmen Pignatiello for Eyre's vacated spot is going down to the final day.

Manager Lou Piniella said before Friday's late game that each lefty would get an inning of work during the two-game set against Seattle.

It seems Lou really want to give Marshall every chance to win that spot, even though Pignatiello has easily outperformed him this spring.

Tags
Cubs rumors

Comments

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:15 am

from the Astros...

and an AZ Phil question...

If the Phillies decide to dump Lahey, does he go back through the whole waiver process or just starting from the teams that didn't get a chance to claim him? Can the Cubs put a claim in? 

If I recall this correctly, Phils were near the bottom of the order but it goes NL first, than AL? Are there a few teams below the Phils that could still grab him? 

Submitted by MikeC on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:33 pm

Some how i got linked to MLB Trade Rumors (which i refuse to ever visit) and picked up what some of the other blogs were saying about Murton. The gist....is an outstanding hitter, good power, excellent speed on the basepaths. You go to Cubs blogs and he isn't that good of a hitter, has no power, and can't run the bases. Basically he is worthless junk. I hope he finds a new home where he can play everyday.

Submitted by MikeC on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:35 pm

Ohh and the Astro's are going to pay Woody $6.5 million to not pitch for them. Smart move...

Submitted by Little Nate Lewis on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:52 pm

I agree that Murton is a nice player, but where does he fit in with the Cubs? Nowhere. I'm fine with trading him as long as we get something valuable in return.

Submitted by Charlie on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:58 pm

Trading Murton only makes sense if you think that Fukudome and Soriano are immune to injury or some other GM makes Hendry a very strong offer for Murton. I suspect we'll need a fill-in corner outfielder for at least a month of this season due to injuries, and I'm not yet convinced that Fukudome's game is going to translate into what Cubs fans are hoping for. With 600 plate appearances you can reasonably expect these things: an average around .300, an OBP over .360, 20ish homeruns, flashes of exciting opposite field power and a frustrating ground ball rate. You can also expect well above average defense in left field, according to The Hardball Times, and quickness out of the box if not a great speed on the base paths. Murt has great potential and is already a strong ball player. The Cubs' major mistake is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on two corner outfielders who will block a young, cheap, productive player. Murton may not outperform Soriano or Fukudome overall, but the difference between them may not add up to the improvement the team could have made spending those millions of dollars or something other than another outfielder. Then again, Murton may outperform Soriano in batting average and OBP, something you look for in a top of the order hitter, and likely will outperform Fukudome in average and power, something you look for in a number 5 hitter.

[ ]

Submitted by Paul Noce on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:28 pm

I think you're being overly optimistic about Fukudome. I've said this before in another thread, look at what Iwamura did in his final three seasons in Japan and then what he did in his first season with Tampa. His stats in Japan were extremely close to Fukudome's, and people projected him to hit somewhere near 20 homers last season. He hit 7. His slugging numbers dropped approx 150 points from his previous 3 years. Fukudome's line this year is probably going to be more like .285 or less, 8-10 hr's, and if he's hitting second 50'rbi's or less. His obp probably drops to .340ish. An ok number two hitter but not an impact bat. Unless he's been dogging it all spring on purpose, his power numbers in the majors will be way down. As for Murton, he's a poor fielder but I love his bat. A guy who has proven he can draw walks, hit around .300, hit a lot of doubles and a fair number of hr's. To trade him or send him to Iowa is a mistake. With the cold Wrigley weather and a ton of home games in April and May, Murton would get plenty of AB's, far more than Fontentot will. And Reed Johnson was a nice addition to platoon in CF but he's not a particularly good hitter vs rhp's. Murton is.

Submitted by navigator on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:22 pm

how little Murton is valued by teams trying to acquire him. Apparently the Padres were thinking something like $50,000 including tax out the door. At least that's what this story in the San Diego Union implies.
Attempting to fill a need for right-handed power off the bench and an emergency catcher, the Padres acquired corner outfielder/first baseman Justin Huber from the Royals and optioned utility man Luis Rodriguez to Triple-A. Huber hit 18 home runs in 286 Triple-A at-bats last year. The Australian has batted .204 in 38 major league games with four doubles. Manager Bud Black said Huber, a catcher early in his professional career, could make it more likely that Black would use either of his other catchers as a pinch hitter. Huber, 25, is out of minor league options. The Padres are to send $50,000 or a player to the Royals within 30 days. They preferred Cubs corner outfielder Matt Murton but were unwilling to give up a prospect for him.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 03:41 pm

Think it shows Hendry (at least for now) won't give up Murt for less than a prospect more than it does SD thinks he's worth 50K including tax... murt's pretty exclusively a LF'r who's not really flashy there. i'd rather see soriano in RF, murt in LF, and spend the loot elsewhere, but it wasnt and now this situation is here. it's pretty highly doubtful murt will spend much time in AAA this year for the cubs or whoever he may be traded to.

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Sun, 03/30/2008 - 03:35 pm

Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 03/29/2008 - 10:15am.

and an AZ Phil question... If the Phillies decide to dump Lahey, does he go back through the whole waiver process or just starting from the teams that didn't get a chance to claim him?

Can the Cubs put a claim in?

If I recall this correctly, Phils were near the bottom of the order but it goes NL first, than AL? Are there a few teams below the Phils that could still grab him?

================================

ROB G: If a club decides not to keep a player they acquired via waiver claim and places the player back on waivers, the waiver process starts all over again from scratch. The Cubs could put in a claim, but because Lahey is a Rule 5 player, if they are awarded the claim it would just put the Cubs back in the same position they were in before they placed him on waivers. That is, they would have to keep him on their 25-man roster for the entire 2008 regular season.

If more than one team claims a player off waivers, the club from the same league gets the claim, and if more than one club from the same league makes a claim, the club with the lowest winning percentage gets the claim.

The previous season's standings are used to determine waiver claim order through the end of the waiver period that extends through the 30th day of the regular season (this year that's April 28th), and then starting with the waiver period that commences with the 31st day of the regular season (April 29th in 2008), the current standings are used to determine waiver claim order.

Recent comments

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

  • crunch (view)

    he's a low-level cubs star in the modern history of the cubs (c.zambrano, k.wood, r.dempster, etc), but that star has dimmed...and has been dimming since 2021.

    2024 has been ugly the whole way and we're only in mid-april.  homers aside (even though there's been 7 in 17ip) he gave up 29 hits in 20 spring innings and 31 in 17 regular season innings.

    he's pretty much only got 2 pitches at this point in his career and the mix isn't fooling anyone.  he threw a noticable amount more curves in his last start to add to the mix and it didn't help his issues.  he don't have many moves left to break out.

Click HERE for the last 50 comments