GM: Jim Hendry
2003: made playoffs · 88–74. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Prior | 22 | pre-arb | 32 | 8.4 | 1.4 | +13.5 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 22 | pre-arb | 32 | 5.4 | 0.3 | +9.3 |
| Kerry Wood | 26 | arb | 32 | 4.3 | 6.2 | +1.5 |
| Moises Alou | 36 | FA-elig | 151 | 3.4 | 9.5 | -3.4 |
| Matt Clement | 28 | arb | 32 | 2.8 | 4.0 | +1.0 |
| Sammy Sosa | 34 | FA-elig | 137 | 2.8 | 16.0 | -11.0 |
| Corey Patterson | 23 | arb | 83 | 2.5 | 0.4 | +4.0 |
| Mark Grudzielanek | 33 | FA-elig | 121 | 2.3 | 5.5 | -1.4 |
| Kenny Lofton↔ PIT | 36 | FA-elig | 56 | 2.1 | 0.4 | +3.2 |
| Joe Borowski | 32 | FA-elig | 68 | 1.8 | 0.4 | +2.8 |
| Alex Gonzalez | 30 | FA-elig | 152 | 1.6 | 5.8 | -2.9 |
| Kyle Farnsworth | 27 | arb | 77 | 1.2 | 0.6 | +1.5 |
| Hee-Seop Choi | 24 | pre-arb | 80 | 1.0 | 0.3 | +1.5 |
| Damian Miller | 33 | FA-elig | 114 | 0.9 | 2.7 | -1.1 |
| Juan Cruz | 24 | pre-arb | 25 | 0.9 | 0.3 | +1.2 |
| Shawn Estes | 30 | FA-elig | 30 | 0.8 | 3.0 | -1.6 |
| Aramis Ramirez↔ PIT | 25 | arb | 63 | 0.7 | 1.2 | +0.1 |
| Paul Bako | 31 | arb | 70 | 0.4 | 0.8 | -0.0 |
| Dave Veres | 36 | FA-elig | 31 | 0.4 | 2.0 | -1.3 |
| Randall Simon↔ PIT | 28 | FA-elig | 33 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +0.3 |
| Tom Goodwin | 34 | FA-elig | 87 | 0.3 | 0.6 | -0.1 |
| Antonio Alfonseca | 31 | FA-elig | 60 | 0.3 | 4.0 | -3.5 |
| Mike Remlinger | 37 | FA-elig | 73 | 0.1 | 2.6 | -2.4 |
| Alan Benes↔ TEX | 31 | – | 3 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Sergio Mitre | 22 | – | 3 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Tony Womack↔ ARI | 33 | FA-elig | 21 | 0.0 | 1.2 | -1.2 |
| Trenidad Hubbard | 39 | – | 10 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Phil Norton↔ CIN | 27 | – | 4 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Bobby Hill↔ PIT | 25 | – | 5 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Todd Wellemeyer | 24 | – | 15 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Felix Sanchez | 21 | – | 3 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Mark Bellhorn↔ COL | 28 | FA-elig | 51 | -0.2 | 0.2 | -0.5 |
| David Kelton | 23 | – | 10 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Josh Paul↔ CHW | 28 | arb | 3 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| Augie Ojeda | 28 | – | 12 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Doug Glanville↔ TEX | 32 | FA-elig | 28 | -0.2 | 0.3 | -0.8 |
| Troy O'Leary | 33 | FA-elig | 93 | -0.3 | 0.8 | -1.3 |
| José Hernández↔ COL | 33 | FA-elig | 23 | -0.3 | 0.2 | -0.8 |
| Ramon Martinez | 30 | arb | 108 | -0.4 | 0.8 | -1.6 |
| Mark Guthrie | 37 | FA-elig | 65 | -0.4 | 1.6 | -2.4 |
| Eric Karros | 35 | FA-elig | 114 | -0.5 | 8.4 | -9.2 |
| Lenny Harris↔ MIA | 38 | FA-elig | 75 | -0.9 | 0.7 | -2.3 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Mark Grudzielanek | 2.3 |
| Kenny Lofton | 2.1 |
| Damian Miller | 0.9 |
| Shawn Estes | 0.8 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 0.7 |
| Paul Bako | 0.4 |
| Player | 2002 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Jon Lieber | 3.1 |
| Fred McGriff | 2.4 |
| Bill Mueller | 2.3 |
| Jason Bere | 0.7 |
| Darren Lewis | 0.6 |
| Robert Machado | 0.5 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2003, 2003–2009. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.
| Player | Age | Svc | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Sosa | 34 | 14.000 | $16.0M | $16.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Moises Alou | 36 | 13.000 | $9.5M | $9.5M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Eric Karros | 35 | 12.000 | $8.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Alex Gonzalez | 30 | 9.000 | $5.8M | $2.6M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Mark Grudzielanek | 33 | 8.000 | $5.5M | $2.5M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Antonio Alfonseca | 31 | 6.000 | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Shawn Estes | 30 | 8.000 | $3.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Damian Miller | 33 | 6.000 | $2.7M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mike Remlinger | 37 | 12.000 | $2.6M | $4.0M | $3.4M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Dave Veres | 36 | 9.000 | $2.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark Guthrie | 37 | 14.000 | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Tony Womack | 33 | 10.000 | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | $1.4M | ||||
| Troy O'Leary | 33 | 10.000 | $750k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Lenny Harris | 38 | 15.000 | $682k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Tom Goodwin | 34 | 12.000 | $635k | $650k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Joe Borowski | 32 | 8.000 | $410k | $2.0M | $1.7M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Kenny Lofton | 36 | 12.000 | $410k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Randall Simon | 28 | 6.000 | $393k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Doug Glanville | 32 | 7.000 | $350k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark Bellhorn | 28 | 6.000 | $240k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| José Hernández | 33 | 12.000 | $153k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Alan Benes | 31 | 8.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Trenidad Hubbard | 39 | 9.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerry Wood | 26 | 5.000 | $6.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Matt Clement | 28 | 5.000 | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Aramis Ramirez | 25 | 5.000 | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ramon Martinez | 30 | 5.000 | $800k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Paul Bako | 31 | 5.000 | $750k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Kyle Farnsworth | 27 | 4.000 | $600k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Corey Patterson | 23 | 3.000 | $365k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Josh Paul | 28 | 4.000 | $61k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Phil Norton | 27 | 3.000 | — | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Augie Ojeda | 28 | 3.000 | — | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Prior | 22 | 1.000 | $1.4M | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Juan Cruz | 24 | 2.000 | $340k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Carlos Zambrano | 22 | 2.000 | $340k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Hee-Seop Choi | 24 | 1.000 | $305k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| David Kelton | 23 | – | — | ||||||
| Bobby Hill | 25 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Felix Sanchez | 21 | – | — | ||||||
| Todd Wellemeyer | 24 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Sergio Mitre | 22 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 2003; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
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