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”

Oh, man, it feels really good to see that happen to not-us.

In case all the shouting and hysteria didn’t reach you on your justifiably Cub-free Sunday, Travis Wood’s spot start went better than expected, and the Cubs managed to win the game 4-3 on a walk-off walk by David DeJesus in the 11th inning.

Wood had a messy second inning in which he walked two Dodgers and allowed a run, but otherwise he acquitted himself well. The problem was a two-run homer that he served up to Juan Rivera in the third, putting the Cubs in a 3-0 hole.

Starlin Castro answered back immediately with a two-run single in the bottom half of the frame, and Wood retired 11 straight batters after the homer. But despite putting the leadoff man on base five times (and more often than not, it was Bryan LaHair; he went 3 for 4 with a walk today), the Cubs weren’t able to stage a rally.

Until the ninth.

Ian Stewart, apparently feeling well enough to pinch-hit, reached on a one-out single. DeJesus followed with a walk. Now, in this situation, I definitely don’t enjoy seeing Tony Campana at the plate, but this time, he delivered: Campanarama 2.0 lined a double into center, plating Stewart.

» Continue reading “Cubs Game Recap: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha”

Get used to it.

Ehhhhhh.

Everything was pretty cool for the first three innings, but Randy Wells shattered our illusions when he handed the Phillies a four-run fourth. Both sides would add a run later in the game, which culminated in a 5-2 Cubs loss.

Starlin Castro and Bryan LaHair put the Cubs on the board the first chance they got. Castro lined a single and stole second (he nabbed two tonight, giving him 10 on the year), setting him up to score on LaHair’s double. Wells proceeded to cruise, holding the Phillies hitless through three.

But Randy lost it in the fourth. He faced eight Phils and surrendered four runs on three hits before he was lifted in favor of Michael Bowden, who mercifully killed the inning. Bowden went a total of 2.1 innings on mop-up duty and gave up another run in the sixth.

The Cubs staged a rally in the eighth, when Tony Campana, pinch-hitting for Shawn Camp, singled and later scored on Castro’s fielder’s choice. That was all they would get, though. Phillies starter Joe Blanton dominated Chicago, striking out eight over seven and a third innings.

In fact, the Cubs just sucked at the plate tonight, managing only six hits over the course of the evening and striking out a grand total of 11 times. As for walks, well, excuse me for a moment while I go sob in a corner.

Steve Clevenger, as you may have heard, flew back to Chicago to have treatment for the tightness in his side. Geovany Soto was scratched last-minute with back problems, giving us the pleasure of a Beef Castle start tonight. Unfortunately, it didn’t amount to much: 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Here’s hoping he heats up, because he may be all we’ve got for a while.

Hope for All CubKind Matt Garza faces Kyle Kendrick tomorrow at 1:35. Should you desire to view the contest, you may do so on WGN.

There’s a ton of news this afternoon in the world of baseball. Let’s get to it.

• Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced today that he expects to expand the current baseball playoffs format from 8 teams to 10 teams in 2012.

“I would say we’re moving to expanding the playoffs, but there’s a myriad of details to work out,” Selig said during his annual meeting with Associated Press sports editors. “Ten is a fair number.”

The matter is subject to collective bargaining with the players’ association.

If expansion occurs, a new wild-card round would be introduced, with two wild-card teams in each league playing each other and the winners advancing to the following round against division winners. Selig said the scheduling of the additional round, including how many games it would be, is a major issue in the discussions.

But, he said, “the more we’ve talked about it, I think we’re moving inexorably to that.”

• Up north, the Brewers gave Ryan Braun a contract extension through the year 2020, guaranteeing that Braun will be even more cocky and insufferable than usual.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has agreed to a five-year contract extension that will keep the three-time All-Star with the team through the 2020 season, the club said on Thursday.

Financial terms of the deal, which includes a no-trade clause, were not disclosed but it is reported to be worth $105 million, one of the highest ever for an outfielder, according to a report on Major League Baseball’s website (www.mlb.com)

» Continue reading “Afternoon Around The Horn”