Article: Cubs 26-Man Roster Starting To Take Shape As Dominic Smith and Carl Edwards Jr Opt-Out

[Josh Illes]

With Opening Day a mere five days away, the Cubs are starting to make the final touches to reduce the roster to 26 players. Yesterday, we learned that Dominic Smith chose to opt out of his minor league contract, making him a free agent. Today, it is Carl Edwards Jr. who is choosing free agency rather than accepting a role in the minors.

Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

The Cubs invited Dominic Smith to attend Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, and it certainly seemed like he was making the most of it, hitting .346 with a .909 OPS and one home run. He was brought in before the Cubs re-signed Cody Bellinger, so there was always that lingering feeling that he was probably brought on board more as an insurance policy in case a deal was not reached between Bellinger and the team. Bellinger signed about a week after Smith was brought in, but that didn’t deter Smith from producing at the plate. If he had shown a little more power, it could have forced the Cubs' hand, but unfortunately, that lack of pop has plagued him his entire career. 

This one is more of a melancholy happy trails, and maybe a little more of a surprise. There were reports just this morning that Carl Edwards Jr. would likely make the roster. Just speculating on the timing of the move, it seems like there could be one of two reasons behind it. Either they can’t make it work from a 40-man roster perspective now that they’ve committed to keeping Garrett Cooper on the roster, or they are more worried about Justin Steele getting hit in the knee with a comebacker than they (well, technically he) are letting on, and want to use that last bullpen spot for a long reliever if they choose to move Drew Smyly into the rotation for a bit. Of those two scenarios, I think (and hope) it’s the former. Cooper was just announced yesterday as having made the team, so the timing lines up right, especially if the team is trying to be as transparent with these players as possible, which you certainly hope they would be, especially with a former World Series Champion.

That leaves the Cubs with just a few decisions to make to get the roster down to 26. It seems like they’ve committed to 11 position players and 12 pitchers, leaving just two more bats to add and one more arm. Here is a quick breakdown of who is likely already on the team:

Hitters:

• Miguel Amaya
• Cody Bellinger
• Michael Busch
• Garrett Cooper
• Yan Gomes
• Ian Happ
• Nico Hoerner
• Christopher Morel
• Seiya Suzuki
• Dansby Swanson
• Mike Tauchman

The last two spots probably belong to Nick Madrigal and Patrick Wisdom. Still, they are both assumed to begin the season on the injured list, which means one of those spots is almost assuredly going to Miles Mastrobuoni, and the other spot will come down to either Alexander Canario or David Peralta.

Pitchers:

Rotation:

• Justin Steele
• Shota Imanaga
• Kyle Hendricks
• Jordan Wicks
• Javier Assad

Bullpen:

• Adbert Alzolay
• Hector Neris
• Justin Merryweather
• Mark Leiter Jr.
• Yency Almonte
• Jose Cuas
• Drew Smyly

The last spot seems like Luke Little’s to lose at this point. However, I could also see them looking at Wesneski as someone who could eat innings. I could also see them going outside the organization to see who will opt out of minor league spring training deals with other teams as the roster crunch hits everyone. Maybe someone like Naoyuki Uwasawa has been very impressive with the Rays this spring but could opt out of his deal with them if he doesn’t break camp with the big-league club. Ultimately, though, I do expect Little to get that spot.

We are getting very close to some real live regular-season baseball. Just a couple more decisions, just some loose ends, and Chicago Cubs baseball will be on the air before you know it. I cannot wait.

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[Matthew Trueblood]

One potential reason to let CEJ opt out could be the impending addition of a pitcher who's not currently in the organization........... 

That's where my head is at the moment. I wonder if they try to bring Edwards back on the other side of what could be a rocky 40-man reorganization just after Opening Day. We'll see.