GM: Jim Hendry
2008: made playoffs · 97–64. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Dempster | 31 | FA-elig | 33 | 4.8 | 7.3 | +3.6 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 30 | FA-elig | 149 | 4.5 | 15.0 | -4.7 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 27 | FA-elig | 38 | 4.3 | 16.0 | -6.1 |
| Mark DeRosa | 33 | FA-elig | 149 | 4.2 | 4.8 | +4.7 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 32 | FA-elig | 109 | 3.8 | 14.0 | -5.3 |
| Mike Fontenot | 28 | arb | 119 | 3.1 | 0.4 | +6.7 |
| Ryan Theriot | 28 | arb | 149 | 3.0 | 0.4 | +6.4 |
| Ted Lilly | 32 | FA-elig | 34 | 3.0 | 8.0 | -1.3 |
| Geovany Soto | 25 | arb | 141 | 2.8 | 0.4 | +5.9 |
| Derrek Lee | 32 | FA-elig | 155 | 2.4 | 13.2 | -7.7 |
| Jason Marquis | 29 | FA-elig | 39 | 2.2 | 6.4 | -1.3 |
| Kerry Wood | 31 | FA-elig | 65 | 2.1 | 4.2 | +0.7 |
| Rich Harden↔ OAK | 26 | arb | 12 | 1.9 | 2.3 | +2.1 |
| Jim Edmonds↔ SDP | 38 | FA-elig | 85 | 1.5 | 6.1 | -2.7 |
| Reed Johnson | 31 | arb | 109 | 1.4 | 1.3 | +2.0 |
| Carlos Marmol | 25 | pre-arb | 82 | 1.4 | 0.4 | +2.8 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 31 | pre-arb | 150 | 1.4 | 7.0 | -3.8 |
| Sean Marshall | 25 | – | 34 | 0.9 | – | – |
| Sean Gallagher↔ OAK | 22 | – | 12 | 0.7 | – | – |
| Henry Blanco | 36 | FA-elig | 58 | 0.6 | 3.2 | -1.8 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 23 | pre-arb | 26 | 0.5 | 2.0 | -0.9 |
| Micah Hoffpauir | 28 | – | 33 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Bob Howry | 34 | FA-elig | 72 | 0.2 | 4.5 | -4.0 |
| Scott Eyre↔ PHI | 36 | FA-elig | 19 | 0.2 | 1.9 | -1.4 |
| Angel Guzman | 26 | pre-arb | 6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| Michael Wuertz | 29 | arb | 45 | 0.1 | 0.9 | -0.5 |
| Eric Patterson↔ OAK | 25 | – | 13 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Neal Cotts | 28 | – | 50 | 0.1 | 0.8 | -0.6 |
| Ronny Cedeno | 25 | arb | 99 | 0.0 | 0.4 | -0.3 |
| Randy Wells↔ TOR | 25 | – | 3 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Matt Murton↔ OAK | 26 | – | 19 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Chad Gaudin↔ OAK | 25 | arb | 24 | -0.0 | 0.9 | -0.9 |
| Rich Hill | 28 | arb | 5 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.6 |
| Kevin Hart | 25 | pre-arb | 21 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.6 |
| Carmen Pignatiello | 25 | pre-arb | 2 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.6 |
| Casey McGehee | 25 | – | 9 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jose Ascanio | 23 | – | 6 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jon Lieber | 38 | FA-elig | 26 | -0.1 | 3.5 | -3.8 |
| Felix Pie | 23 | pre-arb | 43 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.8 |
| Daryle Ward | 33 | FA-elig | 89 | -0.2 | 1.2 | -1.7 |
| Chad Fox | 37 | – | 3 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Koyie Hill | 29 | – | 10 | -0.5 | 0.5 | -1.6 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Rich Harden | 1.9 |
| Jim Edmonds | 1.5 |
| Reed Johnson | 1.4 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 1.4 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 0.5 |
| Micah Hoffpauir | 0.4 |
| Player | 2007 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Jacque Jones | 0.8 |
| Cliff Floyd | 0.7 |
| Will Ohman | 0.5 |
| Ángel Pagán | 0.5 |
| Michael Barrett | 0.3 |
| Rocky Cherry | 0.2 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2008, 2008–2014. 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 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Zambrano | 27 | 7.000 | $16.0M | $18.8M | $18.9M | $18.9M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Aramis Ramirez | 30 | 10.000 | $15.0M | $16.6M | $16.8M | $14.6M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Alfonso Soriano | 32 | 9.000 | $14.0M | $17.0M | $19.0M | $19.0M | $18.0M | $11.1M | FREE AGENT |
| Derrek Lee | 32 | 11.000 | $13.2M | $13.2M | $9.8M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ted Lilly | 32 | 9.000 | $8.0M | $13.0M | $7.8M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ryan Dempster | 31 | 10.000 | $7.3M | $9.0M | $13.5M | $13.5M | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | |
| Jason Marquis | 29 | 8.000 | $6.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jim Edmonds | 38 | 15.000 | $6.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark DeRosa | 33 | 10.000 | $4.8M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Bob Howry | 34 | 10.000 | $4.5M | FREE AGENT | $1.3M | ||||
| Kerry Wood | 31 | 10.000 | $4.2M | FREE AGENT | $1.5M | $3.0M | |||
| Jon Lieber | 38 | 14.000 | $3.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Henry Blanco | 36 | 11.000 | $3.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Scott Eyre | 36 | 11.000 | $1.9M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Daryle Ward | 33 | 10.000 | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chad Fox | 37 | 11.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Harden | 26 | 5.000 | $2.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Reed Johnson | 31 | 5.000 | $1.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Michael Wuertz | 29 | 4.000 | $860k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Chad Gaudin | 25 | 5.000 | $852k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Neal Cotts | 28 | 5.000 | $800k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Koyie Hill | 29 | 5.000 | $475k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Rich Hill | 28 | 3.000 | $445k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ryan Theriot | 28 | 3.000 | $428k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ronny Cedeno | 25 | 3.000 | $407k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Mike Fontenot | 28 | 3.000 | $405k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Geovany Soto | 25 | 3.000 | $401k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Matt Murton | 26 | 3.000 | — | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kosuke Fukudome | 31 | 0.000 | $7.0M | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jeff Samardzija | 23 | 0.000 | $2.0M | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Carlos Marmol | 25 | 2.000 | $430k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Felix Pie | 23 | 1.000 | $402k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Angel Guzman | 26 | 2.000 | $401k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Kevin Hart | 25 | 1.000 | $392k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Carmen Pignatiello | 25 | 1.000 | $392k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Casey McGehee | 25 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Sean Marshall | 25 | 2.000 | — | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Randy Wells | 25 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jose Ascanio | 23 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Sean Gallagher | 22 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Micah Hoffpauir | 28 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Eric Patterson | 25 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 2008; 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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