Cubs MLB Roster

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37 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (three slots are open)

Last updated 11-17-2023
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 20
Adbert Alzolay 
Michael Arias
Javier Assad
Ben Brown
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
Porter Hodge
* Bailey Horn
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Daniel Palencia
Michael Rucker
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 8
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
* Matt Mervis
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Luis Vazquez
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 7
Kevin Alcantara
Alexander Canario
* Pete Crow-Armstrong
Brennen Davis
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman

 


Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
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Cubs @ White Sox: Series Thread (Games 100 and 101)

Submitted by Charlie on

The Cubs have won the last three games to improve to 48-51, clinging to third in the division and pushing the Cardinals further back in fourth place. They enter this series seven games out of first and with only seven games between them and the trade deadline. Hot streaks and cold streaks would have to coincide for Bellinger and Stroman to remain Cubs in August--but that remains with the realm of the possible for now. See below for matchups against the White Sox.

Game 100, Tuesday, July 25, 7:05 pm central
CHC: RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 3.38 ERA)
CHW: RHP Michael Kopech (4-8, 4.29 ERA)

Game 101, Wednesday, July 26, 7:05 pm central
CHC: RHP Marcus Stroman (10-7, 3.09 ERA)
CHW: RHP Lance Lynn (6-9, 6.18 ERA)

Tags
2023 Series Thread

Comments

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 07:22 pm

Tyler Duffey and Shane Greene have too much professional service time to be on the ACL Cubs roster. 

They both are on the AAA Iowa Development List and they have been in Mesa at the Cubs Pitch Lab. Greene had not pitched all year, so this is essentially Spring Training for him. 

The only way they can pitch in the ACL after July 1st is if they are transferred from the Development List to the 7-day IL, and then they could pitch in the ACL as part of a 30-day rehab assignment.  

I don't know if Duffey and/or Greene have an opt out. 

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 07:33 am

Yo, Adrian Sampson came off the 60 day IL yesterday, was directly put thru waivers and is now assigned to Iowa. No takers on the waiver wire.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 07:30 pm

Veteran utility INF Sergio Alcantara was released to make room for Adrian Sampson on the Iowa active list. (Sampson had been pitching at Iowa on an MLB Article XIX-C Minor League Rehab Assignment prior to being outrighted).   

Sampson has 48 hours to decide whether to accept the Outright Assignment and defer free-agency until after the conclusion of the MLB regular season (if he isn't selected back to the MLB 40-man roster in he meantime), or elect free-agency now and forfeit what remains of his $1.9M salary (about $700K remains).  

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 07:04 pm

are the cubs gonna go for it in 2023?  it's going to be a tough rugpull on a sell-off if this keeps up the next few days.  a trade sell-off makes sense, but if they want to be serious about going in on 2023 they'll probably need to give up some stuff to shore up the effort.

cubs playing well right now isn't making jed and company's decisions either way they go with it...

Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 07:55 pm

Adbert, wow. The difference in watching how he carries himself vs Fulmer to close out a game is enormous. Just pure confidence vs a lack thereof. Adbert is legit.

Submitted by JoePepitone on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 07:58 pm

Fun to beat the Sox. It used to be even more fun to beat them when Hawk was still working and I would watch the Sox broadcast. Angry Hawk just cracked me up!

Submitted by cubbies.4ever on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:18 am

I love beating the Cards and Sox, but at the same time it comes at a bad time.  I want the Cubs to sell.  They are not a world series team, they need to look in the mirror and realize that and that adding some MLB or close to ready MLB prospects is what they need to get for 2024 for Bellinger and Stroman.  It's not worth risking it to end up with a qualifying offer and nothing.  Plus toss in a few low level high upside prospects for the secondary pieces to trade.  They are not a RP and a left handed bat away from contending.  They still need a C (sorry Gomes), 3B (or finally somebody step up and play it out of the handful they have), 1B or CF depending where you play Bellinger, outside Stroman/Steele can you trust Hendricks/Smyly/Taillon?, and outside Leiter who gets the ball to Alzolay?  That's not the shopping list of a contending team.

Submitted by Cubster on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:29 am

Theo always said “every season is sacred.” I say get an upgrade for 3B or 1B and the bullpen. I hate it when August gets thrown away. They need to get to .500 before I would go in but they are really doing a tease here. Regarding the playoffs, remember the Phillies last year were the 2nd WC and barely made the postseason.

[ ]

Submitted by Sonicwind75 on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:15 am

The scheduling gods did Jed no favors in regards to making a deadline decision.  Getting to beat up on two of baseballs most disappointing teams in the Cards and White Sox (it sure was fun to type that btw) makes it difficult decision to go against recency bias and short term momentum.

 

Cubs are 49-51 with 62 games to go.  Phillies made playoffs last year with 87 wins.  Cubs would need to play +.600 ball and go 38-24 to reach 87 wins. That might still not be enough. Is it possible yes, is it likely, mmmm????

 

In the end, this was a team projected at around 79 wins.  For most of the season they've played like a 79 win team.  Their current wining % is a 79 win team. More than likely they end up being a 79 win team.  Pains me to say it but the smart decision is to sell. 

[ ]

Submitted by bradsbeard on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:35 am

I disagree. The Cubs are 27-21 since the start of the Rays series (a 91 win pace). In that time they’ve won series against the Rays, Giants, Orioles, and Yankees (and split with the Padres and Brewers on the road). Their schedule is doing them favors now to catch up after a pretty tough early schedule, and it generally stays soft the rest of the season with 24 games left against the Pirates, Mets, White Sox, Royals, and Tigers after July. But they also have head to heads remaining with teams ahead of them (Reds, Brewers, Giants, D-Backs).


This is a team that stumbled in May, but has otherwise been above .500 every other month. They have the 4th best run differential in the NL, and by far the best in their division. They have 2 all star starting pitchers and Kyle Hendricks pitching like vintage Kyle Hendricks again. They are also in the prime years for Swanson, Nico, Seiya, and Happ. And they have a former MVP in Bellinger playing like an MVP again. I think all of that is something to take advantage of while you have it. 

 

There is an opportunity to go on a run here and snag a wild card even if they don’t catch the Brewers for the division. They should be able to make some modest upgrades (a good bench bat to replace Mancini, another solid reliever) and increase their chances of earning a playoff spot. And at the least, we’ll get to enjoy the Cubs hanging around the race into September for the first time in a while. 

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Submitted by Dolorous Jon Lester on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:54 am

I’m with you on this. Buy some guys who can help now and ideally will be back next year. Find some guys who don’t fit on their current team or are blocked, and use some of that prospect depth we hear so much about to address some of the holes on this team that would project as holes on next year’s team too.

[ ]

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:47 pm

So - IF - the Cubs do decide to be buyers, they could (just for example) acquire two players in the same deal, with one being a rental and the other with control beyond 2023. 

Ideally it would be a trade with a team in rebuild mode where they would accept a "CARE package," so-called because it is more mid-tier quantity than top-of-the-system quality.  

Like when the Cubs traded Yu Darvish to the Padres for four prospects in the # 10-20 prospect range (Caissie, Preciado, Mena, and Santana), instead of one top 5 prospect or two Top 10 prospects. 

So maybe something like 3B-1B Jeimer Candelario (free-agent post-2023 but someone the Cubs might possibly offer an extension) and RHRP Kyle Finnegan (under club control via arbitration thru 2025) from Washington for (let's say) three long-term prospects and one or maybe even two MLB-ready guys outside the Cubs Top 10 (which right now would probably be PCA, B. Brown, Horton, Wicks, Mervis, Caissie, Ferris, K. Alcantara, Palencia, and M. Arias).

BTW, I am including Palencia as a prospect but not Wesneski, because I suspect Wesneski will be called up this weekend to replace Smyly in the rotation, and then Smyly goes to the bullpen and Palencia will be optioned back to AAA. 

In other words, the Top 10 prospects and guys on the MLB 26-man roster are off-limits, but anybody else is available.

At least four or maybe even five prospects outside the Cubs Top 10 would be available (perhaps two or three from among Triantos, Herz, Franklin, L. Little, Hodge, Murray, McGeary, Ballesteros, J. Rojas, C. Hernandez, Gray, and/or Pagan, plus one or two MLB-ready or near-ready guys like Canario, Velazquez, Kilian, K. Thompson, R. Thompson, Horn, Estrada, Jensen, B. Davis, Strumpf, C. Sanders, and/or Perlaza).

Again, 100% Nats choice. They can pick two or three from group one (the ones further away from MLB), and one or two from the second group (MLB-ready or near-ready).   

Then Candelario could play 3B and hit 4th or 5th (at least for the balance of this season if an extension doesn't happen), and Finnegan would be the back-up closer (available to close when Alzolay is not available) for the rest of 2023 and then also in 2024-25. 

IMO, the biggest needs the Cubs have - IF - they are  buyers are:  

1. a 3B bat with slug; 
2. a legit back-up closer for when Alzolay isn't available;
3. a high-leverage LHRP for when Leiter isn't available.

And one thing the Cubs do have is a deep mid-tier group of prospects.  

[ ]

Submitted by Cubster on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:54 pm

i’m completely on board with this trade conceptually AZ Phil. I was hoping you thought Jeimer would be a good fit.  The Nats did well by signing Candelario on the hopes of a rebound (as did the Cubs with a more expensive Bellinger). Candelario’s 1B-3B versatility helps and gives them two switch hitters with Happ. Anything that moves  Fulmer away from the last 2 innings will be a good thing too.

Can Smyly become the high leverage lefty if Wesneski goes into the rotation? That certainly is possible at least for a short stretch since Kay is the only other option right now. 

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:44 am

stroman vs lynn tonight...both guys that could be starting their last games for their teams.  hell, lynn may not stay with the wsox long enough to start tonight.

Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:38 pm

i wanna see morel charge the mound after a HBP.  he'd probably forget why he's angry on the way to the mound and try to hug the pitcher.

Submitted by Eric S on Fri, 07/28/2023 - 07:00 pm

And I know people want Mervis up and I’m sure it’s frustrating. But the team is better with starting Tauchman and Bellinger. 

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    thomas hatch is going to fight ham in japan.  he was on PIT's 40-man.

  • crunch (view)

    morel played somewhere besides 3rd and SS...he got 8 innings in CF, 2 putouts and an assist.

  • crunch (view)

    ryan flaherty new cubs bench coach.

  • crunch (view)

    bellinger wins comeback player of the year.  the AL winner was liam hendricks and his 5ip before he got tommy john...setting himself up for a 2025 shot at the award.

  • Bill (view)

    I hope that Perlaza goes on to have a successful career.  On most Cubs teams prior to the current administration, he would have been one of their more highly ranked prospects.  As far as the others are concerned, one or more may well go on to be much better than expected, but unfortunately there is no way to tell which one at the present time.  You can't keep everyone.

  • crunch (view)

    s.gray signs with the cards...3/75m

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Another one of the nine Cubs post-2023 Rule 9 minor league 6YFA has signed, as RHP Carlos Guzman (acquired from the Tigers for Zack McKinstry at the end of Spring Training) signed a 2024 minor league contract with the Mets. 

     

    So RHRP Yovanny Cruz (SD), C-INF P. J. Higgins (CIN), and now Carlos Guzman (NYM) have already signed 2024 minor league contracts with new MLB organizations, and OF Yonathan Perlaza is headed for Korea (Hanhwa Eagles).

  • crunch (view)

    ...and back to 3rd for another game.  at this point i'm gonna hang back and when/if he actually plays 1st then i'll find it notable.  i am glad he's playing a good amount of 3rd, though...give the club one more good look at him there.  shrug

  • crunch (view)

    morel played SS last night (no errors)...hit a homer and a double.  he's got 2 of both in 19PA.

  • crunch (view)

    e.escobar was throwing 95-97mph on his fastball in 2023.

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