President of baseball ops: Theo Epstein · GM: Jed Hoyer
2016: World Series champions · 103–58. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Bryant | 24 | pre-arb | 155 | 7.5 | 0.7 | +23.8 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 26 | arb | 155 | 4.8 | 5.0 | +10.7 |
| Dexter Fowler | 30 | FA-elig | 125 | 4.3 | 8.0 | +6.0 |
| Jon Lester | 32 | FA-elig | 33 | 4.2 | 25.0 | -11.2 |
| Jake Arrieta | 30 | FA-elig | 31 | 4.2 | 10.7 | +2.8 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 26 | pre-arb | 32 | 4.0 | 0.5 | +12.4 |
| Ben Zobrist | 35 | FA-elig | 147 | 3.6 | 10.5 | +1.1 |
| Addison Russell | 22 | pre-arb | 151 | 3.6 | 0.5 | +11.1 |
| John Lackey | 37 | FA-elig | 29 | 2.6 | 16.0 | -7.5 |
| Javier Báez | 23 | pre-arb | 142 | 2.6 | 0.5 | +7.8 |
| Willson Contreras | 24 | – | 76 | 2.5 | 0.3 | +7.8 |
| Jason Hammel | 33 | FA-elig | 35 | 1.8 | 9.0 | -3.3 |
| David Ross | 39 | FA-elig | 67 | 1.5 | 2.5 | +2.3 |
| Miguel Montero | 32 | FA-elig | 86 | 1.4 | 14.0 | -9.3 |
| Aroldis Chapman↔ NYY | 28 | FA-elig | 28 | 1.3 | 5.4 | -1.0 |
| Pedro Strop | 31 | FA-elig | 55 | 0.7 | 4.4 | -2.1 |
| Chris Coghlan↔ OAK | 31 | FA-elig | 48 | 0.6 | 2.3 | -0.2 |
| Jason Heyward | 26 | FA-elig | 142 | 0.6 | 21.7 | -19.7 |
| Héctor Rondón | 28 | arb | 54 | 0.6 | 4.2 | -2.3 |
| Carl Edwards Jr. | 24 | – | 37 | 0.6 | – | – |
| Albert Almora Jr. | 22 | – | 47 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +1.5 |
| Justin Grimm | 27 | arb | 68 | 0.5 | 1.3 | +0.3 |
| Tommy La Stella | 27 | pre-arb | 74 | 0.5 | 0.5 | +1.0 |
| Rob Zastryzny | 24 | – | 8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | +1.3 |
| Jorge Soler | 24 | pre-arb | 86 | 0.4 | 3.7 | -2.3 |
| Munenori Kawasaki | 35 | pre-arb | 14 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +1.0 |
| Matt Szczur | 26 | pre-arb | 107 | 0.3 | 0.5 | +0.4 |
| Félix Peña | 26 | – | 11 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +0.5 |
| Jake Buchanan | 26 | pre-arb | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +0.1 |
| Gerardo Concepción | 24 | – | 3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | -1.0 |
| Joe Nathan↔ SFG | 41 | – | 3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | -0.2 |
| Ryan Kalish | 28 | pre-arb | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.0 |
| Clayton Richard↔ SDP | 32 | FA-elig | 26 | -0.0 | 1.4 | -1.4 |
| Neil Ramírez↔ MIL | 27 | pre-arb | 8 | -0.0 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Trevor Cahill | 28 | FA-elig | 51 | -0.1 | 4.2 | -4.5 |
| Travis Wood | 29 | FA-elig | 81 | -0.1 | 6.2 | -6.5 |
| Mike Montgomery↔ SEA | 26 | pre-arb | 17 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.5 |
| Kyle Schwarber | 23 | pre-arb | 2 | -0.1 | 0.5 | -0.8 |
| Spencer Patton | 28 | pre-arb | 16 | -0.2 | 0.2 | -0.9 |
| Jeimer Candelario | 22 | – | 5 | -0.2 | 0.0 | -0.8 |
| Tim Federowicz | 28 | pre-arb | 17 | -0.2 | 0.2 | -1.0 |
| Joe Smith↔ ANA | 32 | FA-elig | 16 | -0.2 | 1.6 | -2.4 |
| Joel Peralta↔ SEA | 40 | FA-elig | 5 | -0.3 | 0.2 | -1.0 |
| Brian Matusz↔ BAL | 29 | arb | 1 | -0.3 | 0.5 | -1.5 |
| Adam Warren↔ NYY | 28 | arb | 29 | -0.7 | 0.8 | -3.2 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Ben Zobrist | 3.6 |
| John Lackey | 2.6 |
| Willson Contreras | 2.5 |
| Aroldis Chapman | 1.3 |
| Jason Heyward | 0.6 |
| Albert Almora Jr. | 0.5 |
| Player | 2015 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Starlin Castro | 0.6 |
| Chris Denorfia | 0.4 |
| Jason Motte | 0.4 |
| Dan Haren | 0.2 |
| Tsuyoshi Wada | 0.2 |
| Donn Roach | 0.1 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2016, 2016–2022. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2016; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.
| Player | Age | Svc | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Lester | 32 | 9.075 | $25.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jason Heyward | 26 | 6.000 | $21.7M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| John Lackey | 37 | 13.095 | $16.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Miguel Montero | 32 | 9.031 | $14.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ben Zobrist | 35 | 8.134 | $10.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jason Hammel | 33 | 8.153 | $9.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Dexter Fowler | 30 | 6.168 | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Trevor Cahill | 28 | 6.098 | $4.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| David Ross | 39 | 13.001 | $2.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Joe Smith | 32 | 8.091 | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Joe Nathan | 41 | 14.120 | $300k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Joel Peralta | 40 | 9.132 | $202k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Arrieta | 30 | 4.145 | $10.7M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Travis Wood | 29 | 5.004 | $6.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Aroldis Chapman | 28 | 5.034 | $5.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Anthony Rizzo | 26 | 3.168 | $5.0M | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Pedro Strop | 31 | 4.156 | $4.4M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Héctor Rondón | 28 | 3.000 | $4.2M | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Chris Coghlan | 31 | 5.148 | $2.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Clayton Richard | 32 | 5.163 | $1.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Adam Warren | 28 | 3.036 | $850k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Brian Matusz | 29 | 5.156 | $488k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jorge Soler | 24 | 1.032 | $3.7M | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Justin Grimm | 27 | 2.170 | $1.3M | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Gerardo Concepción | 24 | – | $1.2M | ||||||
| Kris Bryant | 24 | 0.171 | $652k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Kyle Hendricks | 26 | 1.080 | $541k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Tommy La Stella | 27 | 2.000 | $532k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Addison Russell | 22 | 0.167 | $527k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Kyle Schwarber | 23 | 0.086 | $522k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Javier Báez | 23 | 0.089 | $521k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Matt Szczur | 26 | 0.134 | $511k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Willson Contreras | 24 | 0.000 | $299k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Neil Ramírez | 27 | 1.158 | $233k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Tim Federowicz | 28 | 1.107 | $214k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Spencer Patton | 28 | 0.106 | $211k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Albert Almora Jr. | 22 | 0.000 | $202k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Mike Montgomery | 26 | 0.089 | $179k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Rob Zastryzny | 24 | 0.000 | $125k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Félix Peña | 26 | 0.000 | $125k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Munenori Kawasaki | 35 | 2.138 | $100k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Jake Buchanan | 26 | 0.105 | $89k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Ryan Kalish | 28 | 2.117 | $31k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Jeimer Candelario | 22 | 0.000 | $17k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Carl Edwards Jr. | 24 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 2016; 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 |
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