For much of this winter, one of the storylines around the Chicago Cubs was the sheer lack of bodies. They spent several weeks with eight or nine open spots on their 40-man roster. Even during the offseason, that’s extremely unusual. With the signing of Alex Bregman and the pickups of outfielder Justin Dean and left-handed reliever Ryan Rolison on waivers in the last fistful of days, though, the team is now up to 39 players on their 40-man roster. They’ve filled the slate, with a combination of trades, several small signings, and the Bregman deal, which feels like a capstone to a great offseason.
As we know, though, the offseason isn’t over. The team is weighing its options with Matt Shaw and Nico Hoerner in the wake of signing Bregman, who gives them a crowded infield to go with their crowded starting rotation and a bullpen that (if not quite overloaded) is a bit short on flexibility. Let’s run through the roster, reaching beyond the 40-man, even, to understand what the team has, what it needs, and what lies ahead for them.
Locked-in Regulars
This category includes only the players who have an ironclad role on the team for the coming season. We know not only that they will be on the team come Opening Day, but roughly what they’ll be doing. They’re expected to be trusted members of the core all year, if they’re healthy enough for that.
Position Players
Starting Pitchers
Relief Pitchers
This is a large group, given that it’s only the middle of January. Trading for Edward Cabrera and signing Bregman clarified the plan for Moisés Ballesteros to serve as the regular designated hitter, pushing Seiya Suzuki to right field. The big moves created uncertainty for some individuals, as we’ll discuss next, but they brought the vision of a playoff-caliber team into focus.
The Displaced
Five incumbent Cubs players are left with more questions than they had before, after adding Bregman and Cabrera to the mix but losing Owen Caissie. At least two have become prominent trade chips; at least one probably just got a step closer to his dreams.
Nico Hoerner – Like it or not, the team has had serious discussions about trading Hoerner in three of the last four major transaction windows (offseasons and the run-up to the July trade deadline). That doesn’t mean they’ve ever been especially close to dealing him, or that they’ll do so now, but they’ve had chances to quash any such talk and head off rumors, and they’ve never really taken them. Because of Hoerner’s limitations as a player (especially his lack of power at the plate), they’ve always understood his to be one place in their lineup where an upgrade was possible, even though they’ve also always loved him for what he does on the field and who he is in the dugout and the clubhouse. All of that remains true.
Matt Shaw – Bregman directly knocked Shaw out of his comfortable nest at third base. He could be left to drift and figure things out on the fly, backing up both Hoerner and Bregman, or he could be installed as the second baseman in the wake of a Hoerner trade. He could also be traded, to any of a handful of interested teams, if the price is right.
Kevin Alcántara – COVID and injuries conspired to give the Cubs a fourth option year on Alcántara, who is really starting to feel wasted in Triple A. That doesn’t mean he’ll be a star in the majors, though, and indeed, there’s plenty of doubt both inside the Cubs organization and throughout the industry that he’ll ever harness his tools well enough to be a regular. That might finally break in his favor this year. With Caissie off the roster, there’s a more open path to a bench role for Alcántara, platooning with Pete Crow-Armstrong and (indirectly) with Ballesteros. Given that he looks increasingly like a fourth outfielder, anyway, the Cubs might feel it’s the right time to give him some opportunities in the majors and not to prioritize him playing every day in Iowa. Then again, they could prefer to keep him in a rhythm, in case an injury forces them to turn to him full-time for any stretch.
Colin Rea – When he signed an extension with the Cubs, Rea probably thought he had a firmer grasp on a rotation spot than he’d had when he signed with them for 2025. No such luck. After Shota Imanaga accepted the qualifying offer and the team dealt for Cabrera, Rea is now on the bubble. He’ll only pitch in the rotation if someone gets hurt or the team elects to use six starters. It’s more likely that he’ll fill a swingman role all year, starting when needed and working in flexible, medium-leverage relief.
Javier Assad – Still able to be optioned to the minors, Assad could spend much of his age-28 season in Des Moines. That’s not really fair to him, but the injuries that sidelined him throughout last season put him out of sight and out of mind when the team drew up its plans. He’s their seventh starter entering camp, and even if attrition renders him their fifth for a while, Justin Steele is slated to return during the summer and Jaxon Wiggins will start knocking loudly on the door by the trade deadline.
Optionable Big-League Depth
To their credit, the Cubs have accumulated quite a few plausibly useful big-leaguers (especially pitchers) whom they can send to the minors to maintain roster flexibility all year.
Position Players
Justin Dean – Picked up on waivers from the Giants, after they’d picked him up on waivers from the Dodgers, Dean is a great story. He scrapped for a decade, often playing independent ball and in the Mexican League, before getting to the majors for the first time last year—with the World Series-winning Dodgers. He’s already set to receive a championship ring. The Cubs snagged him with an eye on his good speed and defense; he’s extremely light-hitting. As a righty batter behind a fairly left-handed collection of outfielders, though, he could spend some time on the big-league roster as a fifth outfielder. He can be optioned and stashed, which makes him useful on a team light on outfield depth.
Pedro RamÃrez – Both Triantos and RamÃrez were added to the 40-man in November to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. They’re the current depth options, should the Cubs trade either Hoerner or Shaw, but it’s most likely that even if Hoyer moves one of his would-be starters, he’d bring in someone to fill that bench role, leaving these two to ready themselves for the majors in Triple A.
Pitchers
Ben Brown – It’s not going to work as a starter. The Cubs essentially acknowledged that much by the end of last season. Yet, Brown could begin the season as a starter in Iowa, stretched out to forestall calamity. By midsummer, if the depth in the rotation appears likely to hold, he should be converted to short relief, permanently.
Porter Hodge – On one hand, the Cubs would love if Hodge asserted himself as a legitimate setup man again. On the other hand, he’d then become a de facto locked-in guy, like Palencia, where the availability of an option doesn’t actually help. They need flexibility, to survive the heavy usage every bullpen runs into at some point in the long season. Hodge, the up-and-down guy, at least comes with some pedigree and upside when it’s his turn to rotate through the final reliever slot.
Ryan Rolison
Jordan Wicks – Useful because he can deliver long relief or make a spot start, Wicks is nonetheless disappointing. A first-round pick taken for his high floor, he’s turning out to have a floor of being the 11th-best starter in a contending depth chart and the eighth-best lefty reliever in that mix.
Not on the 40-Man, But Could Be
Minor-league signings shield a team from both injuries in camp or early in the season and the thorny roster rules that make it so hard to rotate enough solid relievers through the bullpen. The Cubs have made five important ones, and one that probably won’t matter.
Position Players
Christian Bethancourt – With Ballesteros as the only third catcher on the 40-man, it’s vital to have a trustworthy veteran backstop you can keep around in Triple A in case of an injury. Reese McGuire proved the value of this role last summer, though Bethancourt is not as good as McGuire was.
Scott Kingery – This is the one that shouldn’t matter. Unless the team trades one of Shaw and Hoerner and doesn’t do anything to replace them, he’s just filler, keeping spots warm in Des Moines and being ready in case of emergency.
Pitchers
Collin Snider – None of these four have minor-league options, so once they go onto the 40-man, they have to stay with the big-league team. That makes it most desirable that at least one pitches well this spring, doesn’t make the roster, but agrees to go to Iowa and wait for a shot. At least three of these four have the right to opt out of their deal if not added to the 40-man by a certain date, so expect them to compete for the final spot in the pen.
The Cubs can still make other additions this winter, but they might need to come with subtractions. Picking up Rolison (the sixth lefty reliever on the 40-man, counting Wicks) leaves them teeming with fringy arms, any one of whom they can cut if the need arises and an opportunity to improve presents itself, but this group has a lot of utility. If the season started tomorrow, the Cubs would be ready.