President of baseball ops: Theo Epstein · GM: Jed Hoyer
2017: made playoffs · 92–70. 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 | 25 | pre-arb | 151 | 7.0 | 1.1 | +22.6 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 27 | FA-elig | 157 | 4.4 | 7.0 | +7.9 |
| Jon Lester | 33 | FA-elig | 32 | 3.2 | 25.0 | -14.3 |
| Javier Báez | 24 | arb | 145 | 3.1 | 0.6 | +9.9 |
| Jake Arrieta | 31 | FA-elig | 32 | 2.6 | 15.6 | -7.0 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 27 | arb | 25 | 2.3 | 0.8 | +7.0 |
| Willson Contreras | 25 | pre-arb | 117 | 2.3 | 0.5 | +7.2 |
| Addison Russell | 23 | pre-arb | 110 | 2.3 | 0.6 | +7.0 |
| Jose Quintana↔ CHW | 28 | arb | 14 | 2.0 | 3.1 | +3.6 |
| Ian Happ | 22 | – | 115 | 1.8 | 0.4 | +5.8 |
| Mike Montgomery | 27 | pre-arb | 44 | 1.5 | 0.6 | +4.4 |
| Jon Jay | 32 | FA-elig | 141 | 1.2 | 8.0 | -4.1 |
| Wade Davis | 31 | FA-elig | 59 | 1.1 | 10.0 | -6.2 |
| Kyle Schwarber | 24 | pre-arb | 129 | 1.1 | 0.6 | +3.2 |
| Albert Almora Jr. | 23 | pre-arb | 132 | 1.1 | 0.6 | +3.1 |
| Jason Heyward | 27 | FA-elig | 126 | 1.0 | 28.2 | -24.8 |
| Pedro Strop | 32 | FA-elig | 69 | 1.0 | 5.5 | -2.1 |
| Carl Edwards Jr. | 25 | pre-arb | 74 | 1.0 | 0.6 | +2.7 |
| Tommy La Stella | 28 | – | 73 | 0.8 | 0.3 | +2.2 |
| Brian Duensing | 34 | FA-elig | 68 | 0.7 | 2.0 | +0.5 |
| René Rivera↔ NYM | 33 | FA-elig | 20 | 0.7 | 0.5 | +1.8 |
| Koji Uehara | 42 | FA-elig | 49 | 0.6 | 6.0 | -3.9 |
| Miguel Montero↔ TOR | 33 | FA-elig | 44 | 0.6 | 8.1 | -6.1 |
| John Lackey | 38 | FA-elig | 32 | 0.6 | 16.0 | -14.1 |
| Eddie Butler | 26 | pre-arb | 13 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +1.6 |
| Héctor Rondón | 29 | arb | 61 | 0.4 | 5.8 | -4.6 |
| Alex Avila↔ DET | 30 | FA-elig | 35 | 0.3 | 0.6 | +0.4 |
| Brett Anderson↔ TOR | 29 | FA-elig | 6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | -0.8 |
| Justin Wilson↔ DET | 29 | arb | 23 | 0.2 | 1.0 | -0.4 |
| Ben Zobrist | 36 | FA-elig | 128 | 0.1 | 16.5 | -16.1 |
| Dillon Maples | 25 | – | 6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +0.2 |
| Victor Caratini | 23 | – | 31 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +0.0 |
| Pierce Johnson | 26 | – | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +0.1 |
| Zac Rosscup↔ COL | 29 | – | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +0.0 |
| Rob Zastryzny | 25 | pre-arb | 4 | -0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Leonys Martin↔ SEA | 29 | FA-elig | 15 | -0.0 | 1.5 | -1.6 |
| Jen-Ho Tseng | 22 | pre-arb | 2 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Jack Leathersich↔ PIT | 26 | – | 1 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.2 |
| Seth Frankoff | 28 | – | 1 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.3 |
| Dylan Floro | 26 | – | 3 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.4 |
| Taylor Davis | 27 | – | 8 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.5 |
| Jeimer Candelario↔ DET | 23 | – | 11 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.5 |
| Matt Szczur↔ SDP | 27 | arb | 15 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.5 |
| Mark Zagunis | 24 | – | 7 | -0.2 | 0.0 | -0.6 |
| Félix Peña | 27 | pre-arb | 25 | -0.2 | 0.2 | -1.0 |
| Mike Freeman↔ LAD | 29 | pre-arb | 15 | -0.3 | 0.0 | -1.0 |
| Justin Grimm | 28 | arb | 50 | -0.4 | 1.8 | -3.3 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Jose Quintana | 2.0 |
| Ian Happ | 1.8 |
| Jon Jay | 1.2 |
| Wade Davis | 1.1 |
| Brian Duensing | 0.7 |
| René Rivera | 0.7 |
| Player | 2016 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Dexter Fowler | 4.3 |
| Jason Hammel | 1.8 |
| David Ross | 1.5 |
| Aroldis Chapman | 1.3 |
| Chris Coghlan | 0.6 |
| Jorge Soler | 0.4 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2017, 2017–2023. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2017; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.
| Player | Age | Svc | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Heyward | 27 | 7.000 | $28.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jon Lester | 33 | 10.075 | $25.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ben Zobrist | 36 | 9.134 | $16.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| John Lackey | 38 | 14.095 | $16.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Wade Davis | 31 | 7.032 | $10.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Miguel Montero | 33 | 10.031 | $8.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jon Jay | 32 | 6.134 | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Koji Uehara | 42 | 8.000 | $6.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Brian Duensing | 34 | 7.055 | $2.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Brett Anderson | 29 | 8.000 | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Alex Avila | 30 | 7.061 | $625k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Arrieta | 31 | 5.145 | $15.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Anthony Rizzo | 27 | 4.168 | $7.0M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Héctor Rondón | 29 | 4.000 | $5.8M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Pedro Strop | 32 | 5.156 | $5.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jose Quintana | 28 | 4.133 | $3.1M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Justin Grimm | 28 | 3.170 | $1.8M | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Leonys Martin | 29 | 4.078 | $1.5M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Justin Wilson | 29 | 4.035 | $955k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| René Rivera | 33 | 5.070 | $473k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Tommy La Stella | 28 | 3.000 | $348k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Bryant | 25 | 1.171 | $1.1M | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Kyle Hendricks | 27 | 2.080 | $760k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Addison Russell | 23 | 1.167 | $644k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Javier Báez | 24 | 1.089 | $609k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Mike Montgomery | 27 | 1.089 | $570k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Kyle Schwarber | 24 | 1.086 | $566k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Carl Edwards Jr. | 25 | 2.000 | $556k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Albert Almora Jr. | 23 | 0.073 | $552k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Willson Contreras | 25 | 0.108 | $544k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Ian Happ | 22 | 0.000 | $415k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Félix Peña | 27 | 0.045 | $248k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Victor Caratini | 23 | 0.000 | $219k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Eddie Butler | 26 | 1.074 | $193k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Rob Zastryzny | 25 | 0.045 | $102k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Dillon Maples | 25 | 0.000 | $91k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Taylor Davis | 27 | 0.000 | $79k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Matt Szczur | 27 | 1.134 | $69k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jen-Ho Tseng | 22 | 0.020 | $56k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Mike Freeman | 29 | 0.038 | $39k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Dylan Floro | 26 | 0.040 | $38k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jeimer Candelario | 23 | 0.006 | $27k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Mark Zagunis | 24 | 0.000 | $23k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Zac Rosscup | 29 | 2.105 | $16k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Jack Leathersich | 26 | 0.091 | $9k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Pierce Johnson | 26 | 0.000 | $9k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Seth Frankoff | 28 | 0.000 | $6k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cubs 2017; 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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