The Chicago Cubs today announced 25 non-roster guests for their 2021 spring training.
These are the guys who are participating in the 40-man participation in the big league spring training at the beginning:
⇒ Righties Joe Biagini, James Bourque, Juan Gámez, Jake Jewell, Trevor Megill, Shelby Miller, Tommy Nance and Michael Rucker.
⇒ Lefties Rex Brothers, Brendon Little, Adam Morgan, DJ Snelten and Jerry Vasto.
⇒ Infielders Abiatal Avelino, Matt Duffy, Trent Giambrone, Alfonso Rivas and Patrick Wisdom.
Outfielders Michael Hermosillo, Nick Martini, Ian Miller and Rafael Ortega.
⇒ Catchers Taylor Gushue, PJ Higgins and José Lobatón.
In fact, it’s all we’ve seen as minor league signings, as well as a very limited number of internal guys. Any of the pitchers there have a legitimate chance of winning a bulls task, because that’s how the Cubs build the group. Nice to see that Brendon Little picked up the former first round – Bryan recently spoke about the work Little did during the standstill. The talent has always been there, and it was always expected that the development would take a little longer. It would be a crazy story if he showed up at Spring Training and just got a job.
Meanwhile, each of the non-catcher positional guys is fighting for perhaps the last bench seat. Rivas is more of a prospect as he has barely played above High-A, but the bat is considered advanced. The three catchers are deep behind the two suspected guys who make the rankings (Willson Contreras and Austin Romine).
There may be other additions ahead of the official start of spring training next week, and we do expect the Cubs to add at least one more starting pot.
Due to the pandemic, this year the teams are limited to 75 participants in the Spring League of the big league, although the Cubs are still ten names that make the figure ashamed if you add these 25 to the 40s. Doesn’t look like the restriction is going to be a problem, even if the Cubs add a little more from here.