The Chicago Cubs won a road series against a good team this weekend, but the big news came late last night. Ken Rosenthal reported that the Cubs and first baseman Anthony Rizzo have come to an agreement on a contract extension. Take it away, Ken.

The Cubs have reached agreement with Rizzo on a seven-year, $41 million contract through 2019, according to major-league sources. The deal also includes two $14.5 million club options, sources said.

Thus, the total value over nine years could be $68 million; Rizzo would not receive a $2 million buyout if both options are exercised. Escalators could further increase the size of the package to $73 million, sources said.

Rizzo, who has just over a year of major-league service, is earning $498,000 this season. His new deal will include an immediate increase for 2013 while covering all four of his arbitration years — Rizzo was on track for Super Two status — and his first free-agent year.

That means the Cubs have Rizzo and Starlin Castro locked up through 2019. Will a Jeff Samardzija extension be next? Whatever happens with Spellcheck, we can be happy knowing that Castro and Rizzo will be around for awhile. We can also be happy that the Cubs managed to take two out of three from the Nationals this weekend. Yesterday’s game featured another good start from Scott Feldman.

After allowing an RBI double in the first, Feldman settled down and was dominant the rest of the way, opening the door for the Cubs to pull out 2-1 victory. Feldman allowed just one run on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks over six innings. He did not earn a decision for the first time in six starts this season, but lowered his ERA from 2.70 to 2.53

“[Gonzalez] was throwing really well and he had really good stuff today,” Feldman said. “It was just a battle and we were able to squeeze across a couple of runs there at the end and come away with a series win. It was good team win and hopefully we get some momentum rolling back home.”

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Monday Headlines: Get Ready For Seven Years Of RizzOMG”

Honestly, this is getting ridiculous. First, the Chicago Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano declined to waive his no-trade clause to go to the San Francisco Giants, the team that (surprise!) won the World Series. Now, he’s not so sure he’d want to play for the New York Yankees, either. 

MESA, Ariz. — Alfonso Soriano knew what was coming when he heard Yankees outfielder Curtis Grandersonsuffered a fractured right forearm after being hit by a pitch in a Grapefruit League game on Sunday.

Would the Cubs outfielder be interested in waiving his no-trade clause if the Yankees called the Cubs about a trade?

“I hope they don’t look that way because I’m feeling comfortable here and I believe in this team,” he said. “We have a better chance this year.”

Whether the Yankees would seek Soriano is a question that sprung to mind because he came up in that organization and the Cubs have been forthcoming about their willingness to eat a significant portion of the remaining $36 million left on his contract.

“I don’t like to say no,” Soriano said. “That’s the team that opened the door for me in the big leagues. But, like I said, that was a long time ago. … It happened today, so I don’t know if they want to call (the Cubs) or not. But if they call for me I have to think about it. I’m 37 years old, so I have to think about it first, what’s good for me and the team and my family too.”

All of this sort of begs the question: Does Alfonso Soriano understand that the whole point of baseball is to win baseball games? Don’t most players want to win baseball games? Don’t most players who are 37-years old want to win a World Series before they jog off into the sunset or the cornfields of Iowa or whatever? Am I completely off-base here? IS THIS THING EVEN ON?

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano on the Yankees: Meh”

With the end of football officially upon us, it’s that time of year when we slowly coast downhill to Spring Training and Chicago Cubs baseball. O’er the last four (five? six?) years, the focus of the Chicago Cubs fan base has been finding a way to pry entrenched left fielder Alfonso Soriano from his lofty perch.

And now, Phil Rogers wants me to believe this may happen:

Will the possibility of a Nelson Cruz suspension put the Rangers in an acquisition mode before spring training? The Rangers would be wise to try to get the best hitter available, the Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano, but it appears they have tied their hands by rolling the dice on Lance Berkman as their designated hitter. …

Soriano would help the Rays more than any other team. He could give the Yankees a huge lift in Alex Rodriguez’s absence, but they spent this winter adding guys on one-year contracts for tax threshold reasons, and Soriano has two years left on his deal. …

Of course, the Cubs will now manage to pawn Soriano off on someone and avoid paying 100% of his salary, because he is, once again, the best hitter on the team (at least in terms of OPS). Not because Soriano has gotten so much better, but because the rest of the team has gotten so, so much worse.

If you don’t think the damage done to the turf by at Wrigley by four concerts a year is enough, get ready for more Northwestern Football (and soccer! and lacrosse!)

After years of flirting, the Cubs and Northwestern will take their relationship to the next level Tuesday when they announce a broad partnership during a news conference at Wrigley Field.

A university source told the Tribune that while Wrigley will not be host to a football game in 2013, other NU teams (baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse) might play some there this year.

Let’s hear it for divots!

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs headlines: Don’t toy with my feelings about Alfonso Soriano, Phil Rogers”

We’ve been waiting on the Cubs to make official the signings of Carlos Villanueva and Scott Hairston. The catch to both was that there were no open spots on the 40-man roster, so two players would have to be chopped. The Cubs finally got around to chopping one of them Saturday to make the Villanueva signing official. In case you’d forgotten about Lendy Castillo, here’s some background:

Castillo began his career as a shortstop in the Phillies organization, but converted to a pitcher in 2010 and showed enough promise for the Cubs to select him in the 2011 Rule 5 draft.

The 23-year-old appeared in 13 games for the big-league club last season, suffering through a 7.88 ERA and 2.25 WHIP in 16 innings.

Castillo went on the disabled list May 11 with a groin strain and missed several months before being recalled in mid August. He had never pitched above the Single-A level before 2012.

Will Lendy stick with the organization or go the way of his Rule 5 predecessor David Patton? I doubt there are any teams dying to sign him, but you wouldn’t have expected any team to pick him in the Rule 5, either. As for Villanueva, in case you’d forgotten about him…

By placing him on waivers, the Cubs risk losing Castillo to another team, but it has cleared room for Villanueva, whose flexibility will come in handy on this year’s team. The former Blue Jay and Brewer has made 56 starts in his MLB career and 245 relief appearances, with a 4.26 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.

Welcome aboard, Carlos. At least you’re not Lendy!

» Continue reading “Chicago Cubs Monday Headlines: Carlos Villanueva In, Lendy Castillo Out”

Jed Hoyer visited CSN Chicago Tuesday for an interview. He talked about the Cubs’ free agent philosophy, pitching and Alfonso Soriano. First up, free agents.

“We talked about all the free agents,” Hoyer said on “Chicago Baseball Hot Stove” on Tuesday. “Where we are as an organization, we want as many draft picks as possible. We want as much money in the draft as possible. So we would have given up a pick, theoretically, for the right player, the right fit.

“And we will going forward. But right now, I think holding onto our picks is something that makes sense and we’re looking to build as much talent in the minor leagues as possible. We need a lot going forward.”

So don’t expect the Cubs to sign any free agents with qualifying offers unless they’re a perfect fit. There are all kinds of aging closers still available on the free agent market (Jose Valverde, Brian Wilson, Francisco Rodriguez), but we don’t have to worry about the Cubs signing any of them.

“We’ll probably go forward with what we have now,” Hoyer said. “Of course, if there’s just a bargain – or a player that we feel like is at an incredible price – we might add him. But at this point, we feel really good. There also is a point at which we’re full on the roster – we’re taking a spot away from somebody. We really do like the way our bullpen and our rotation fit together now.”

That’s a relief.

» Continue reading “Cubs Wednesday Headlines:Jed Hoyer Talks Roster”

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’d all better get used to seeing Alfonso Soriano in left field. At least according to Nick Cafardo:

Unless someone is in desperate need of an aging-kind-of-still-slugger at the trade deadline, I can’t imagine the Cubs getting anything “of note” for Soriano.

So here’s a topic for this rainy Sunday afternoon: Which deal was worse for the Cubs: Signing Milton Bradley or the deal Jim Hendry gave Alfonso Soriano?

Trade rumors surrounding the Cubs this offseason have been mostly nonexistent. Sure, they’ve signed some free agent pitchers, but we want trades! Unfortunately, this one sounds like it’s not going to happen.

The Phillies, interested in a right-handed batter to hit behind cleanup man Ryan Howard, talked to the Cubs about a swap of Domonic Brown for Alfonso Soriano but may still be slightly more inclined to sign a free agent, such as Cody Ross or perhaps even Josh Hamilton.

Phillies people are said to be split over how hard to try for Soriano, who had 32 home runs, 108 RBI and a .262 batting average with vastly improved outfield defense.

(snip)

The Cubs are believed willing to pay all but $10 million of the $36 million remaining on Soriano’s deal if they can receive good prospects back. The Cubs are all about gathering assets for the future.

With Soriano’s production last season, 2/$10MM seems like a steal, no? Another place that would seem to make sense for the Fonz is Houston, which is heading to the AL and needs a DH.

The Cubs previously shopped Alfonso Soriano to the Astros as a possible DH, but Houston doesn’t have enough money even with Chicago picking up the bulk of what is owed to him, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.

Really? Houston doesn’t have $5MM a year to pay a DH? It looks like their top salary commitment for 2013 is Jed Lowrie at $1.15MM. How can they not afford Soriano?

» Continue reading “Cubs Wednesday Headlines: We Have A Rumor”

Goodbye, NL West

The Cubs headed into yesterday’s game with Arizona with the chance to create history. They flubbed even that and managed to win in Arizona, thereby avoiding losing every game in an NL West city this year. They also managed not to lose their 100th game, and Dale Sveum is bound and determined not to let that happen.

“I think for the guys out there [Monday], it could be our little playoff atmosphere to stay away from that number,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said, not even wanting to whisper 100. “I think there will be a little enthusiasm in the dugout [Monday] to try to take care of business and, obviously, win the last [three]. It’ll be fun, as much fun as we can have in this season, to try to avoid it.”

I have a feeling the attendance figures won’t reflect a playoff atmosphere. Anthony Rizzo is ready to do whatever it takes to win these next three games.

“It’s been on our minds for the entire month,” Rizzo said of the possibility of losing 100 games. “We’ve got to play these next three games as hard as we can and come up with ‘W’s’ any way we can.”

Young Rizzo and Bryan LaHair added to the Cubs’ catalog of hilarious TOOTBLANs yesterday.

“Rizzo thought there were two strikes and two outs and thought Soriano struck out, and started walking off,” Sveum said. “LaHair got caught — [first base coach Dave] McKay was telling him to go and draw the throw and we could score the run on the backside. It’s one of those plays, you’ve got the outfielder where you want him. You can go, and if he throws to first, you walk into second. If he throws to second, you score the back-end run.”

I hope someone has the ability to make a 2012 baserunning highlights video.

» Continue reading “Cubs Monday Headlines:1-18 Never Felt So Good”

Yesterday, the Cubs honored Kerry Wood for his years of dutiful service to the team. There was a special ceremony before game and the singing of the seventh inning stretch. But don’t expect yesterday’s gala to be his big send-off.

“We’ve kicked some ideas around, (I’ve) met with and talked to Theo about it,” Wood said about a possible role with the Cubs. “We’re all kinda on the same page and I’m sure we’ll get something done soon and work out all the details. (I) definitely want to be around and definitely want to be involved. In what aspect, we’ll figure that out probably this winter.”

He also mentioned a couple Cubs-in-exile he’d like to see come back into the fold as Cubs emeritus.

“Hopefully we’ll get Ryno back,” Wood said of Ryne Sandberg, who spent this past season managing the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A affiliate. “Actually, it wouldn’t be bad thing to seeSammy (Sosa) come around too. He did a lot for this organization and a lot for this city. It’d be a shame for him not to come back.”

(snip)

“Certain things ended certain ways, but it’s a new group of people here,” Wood said. “It’s a new ownership, it’s a new attitude, it’d be a shame to not have those guys be a part of it. Sammy and (Mark) McGwire pretty much single-handedly brought the fans back to baseball. Sammy did tremendous things for this city. We all know how he left and how it ended with him. But ultimately, that one mistake that he made at the end shouldn’t determine his future here in Chicago.”

Hear, hear, Kerry. Dale Sveum seems excited to have him around in a role that doesn’t include bullpen pitcher.

“I think it’s very important,” Sveum said. “It’s important in spring training and throughout a season to have these great players — especially the high-character guys — be around. It’s meaningful to these guys to see these types of people. I know it was in Milwaukee whenever Robin (Yount) was around. It’s special to bring back those guys.”

» Continue reading “Cubs Monday Headlines: Kerry’s Big Day”

Did anyone stay up for the last out last night? I hate to admit it, but I was asleep before the game even started. Apparently, Travis Wood is gunning for Chris Volstad and the number one spot in the rotation:

It was late night at Wrigley Field on Monday, as Starling Marte hit a two-run triple to help the Pirates beat the Cubs, 3-0, in a game that wrapped up at 1:28 a.m. CT.

“That’s probably the latest I’ve ever started a game and the latest I’ve ever been pitching,” Cubs starter Travis Wood said.

Wood threw the first pitch at 10:42 p.m. as the start was delayed three hours and 37 minutes due to rain. It was the latest start in Wrigley Field history, and the latest a game has begun and ended here since July 26, 2005, when the Cubs faced the Giants, and Greg Maddux threw the first pitch at 9:48 p.m. CT. Maddux picked up his 3,000th strikeout in that game, and play ended at 1:16 a.m. CT.

1:16? American? As in, 1:16 in the morning?

Have you been depressed because the Cubs don’t have a magic number this season? Well never fear; they DO have a magic number! And it’s 5!

The Cubs also have a magic number of five. Five more wins, and they avoid a 100-loss season.

“It’s a goal for these guys, because they started talking about it a couple weeks ago about not losing 100 games and it’s their motivating factor, as well as all of us,” Sveum said. “Nobody wants to be associated with that. To be able to sit back and knock people out of the playoffs, that’s what you get motivated for in September when you’re not in it yourself.”

There. Now don’t you feel better?

» Continue reading “Cubs Tuesday Headlines: YAWN”