Cubs Name 50 Players to Summer Camp Roster, Carraway and Pérez Among Notable Exclusions

After initial reports that they were going to wait until Monday to announce their roster assignments, the Cubs changed course and pushed the information out Sunday evening. That actually makes perfect sense because it’s in keeping with the rest of the MLB news cycle over the last few months.

Part of the delay may have come due to communication with various players and because there are still some moves to be made. To wit, the initial roster of just 50 players — 39 at Wrigley Field and 11 in South Bend — is 10 shy of the allowed number. Although, as one of my Twitter friends pointed out, it’s technically 51 if you count both Rex Brothers.

More notable than the players who made the list are those who didn’t, particularly recent draftee Burl Carraway and versatile former Brewer Hernán Pérez. I’d like to say this is relatively similar to the roster I put together, though the vacant spots and few other names — Jason Adam, Juan Gámez, Christopher Morel — sort of ruined my accuracy. I did, however, correctly project Adbert Alzolay on the taxi squad.

I’m also really surprised to see members of the 40-man roster like Zack Short and Tyson Miller, not on the list, not to mention pitchers Cory Abbott, Justin Steele, and Jack Patterson. Trent Giambrone is another guy I’m pretty shocked isn’t listed.

This isn’t a final draft, of course, as players can be moved on and off the roster over the course of the season. And since the transaction freeze is over, there’s room to add players from outside the organization. For instance, the Phillies just released former Cub Matt Szczur and veteran righty reliever Drew Storen. Yasiel Puig remains unsigned as well.

It’s important to note that the group of 39 in big league camp will be trimmed down to 30 by the start of the season, so there’ll be movement just among the names listed here. Who knows what could happen over the next few days and weeks, but it could get really interesting.