Here are the minor-league players released by the Cubs this week

Friday, I posted here about an NBC Sports Chicago report that the Cubs had released 30 players from their minor-league system.

Today, via the transactions pages of the minor leagues where the Cubs have affiliates, I have the names of 28 of these players. They deserve to be remembered, so here they are.

Iowa Cubs (Pacific Coast League)

Carlos Asuaje, Bryan Brickhouse, Noel Cuevas, Oscar De La Cruz, Corban Joseph, Jordan Patterson, Brock Stewart, Ben Taylor

Tennessee Smokies (Southern League)

Dario Beltre, Charcer Burks, Roberto Caro, Adam Choplick, Wladimir Galindo, Zach Hedges, Chad Hockin, David Masters, Marcus Mastrobuoni, Jordan Procyshen, Ian Rice, Jake Stinnett, Caleb Simpson, Matt Tenuta

Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Carolina League)

Jhonny Bethencourt, Brian Glowicki, Luke Reynolds

South Bend Cubs (Midwest League)

Fauris Guerrero, Zach Mort

Eugene Emeralds (Northwest League)

Emilio Ferrebus

To be clear, in a normal year many of these players might have been released at the end of spring training, as is common in most seasons, or around this time as teams geared up for draft picks who would be added to minor-league clubs.

Some of the names, you might recognize from having played in spring training games either this year or in past years, and some of them were high draft picks or had reasonable prospect status at some point in their careers. I am a bit sad that Bryan Brickhouse was let go; he’s no relation to the famed Cubs announcer, but it would have been fun to have an actual player named Brickhouse on the ballclub at some point. A few others listed (Asuaje, Cuevas, Joseph, Taylor) had previous big-league experience and might be able to catch on with another team when baseball begins again.

But some of the players listed above simply had big-league dreams that now likely will never be realized, with the minor-league season likely cancelled and the threat of possibly up to a quarter of minor-league teams being contracted at some point in the near future. I thought it was worth noting their names.

Beyond this, there are some teams that have already announced that they will be paying the minor leaguers remaining in their organizations through the end of August (or later), which would have been about the time this year’s minor-league seasons would have ended. Here are just a few examples:

The Oakland Athletics announced that they will stop paying minor leaguers at the end of May. It’s worth reading this Athletics Nation op-ed on this topic. To say A’s fans are upset is putting it mildly.

The Cubs have not made any official announcement regarding any of this — either the players they’re letting go, or whether the players remaining in their organization will be paid through August. This article in The Athletic indicates the Cubs will pay minor leaguers through the end of June, and are making decisions on “a month-to-month basis.” Even in a season where teams are losing millions of dollars of revenue, paying minor leaguers for the full 2020 season would be a pittance.

Here is another thing related to current baseball employment that’s worth noting:

At this time, the Cubs haven’t furloughed anyone, though they have cut pay for many high-earning employees and executives. JJ Cooper is right — teams that treat their employees well during tough times like these will have a better time attracting talent to work for them going forward. One last note on all this from Cooper:

We’re living through extraordinary times. Hopefully baseball — and all the rest of us, too — comes out on the other end better for what it’s gone through.