Cubs 25 man roster tracker....

Boobaby1

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With Veras, Parker, Strop, Villanueva, as well as another lefty in Wesley Wright to go with Russell, this will be the best our bullpen has looked since our 97 win campaign of 2008. Contrast that to last year when we had Marmol, an unproven Fujikawa, and Camp at the back end of our bullpen.

While our offense may still suck, we won't be blowing as many leads in 2014.

It takes two things to get to the bullpen with the lead, and the Cubs are sorely lacking in both. Offense and/or starting pitching.
 
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It takes two things to get to the bullpen with the lead, and the Cubs are sorely lacking in both. Offense and/or starting pitching.

We'll just see about the Cubs' 2014 rotation, but I do believe that it will breath confidence in our young guys knowing our bullpen won't blow as many leads as they have in recent years.
 

chibears55

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Yawn... not much going on here...

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chibears55

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heading into February with just 4 new players added to the roster.. Kottaras, Ruggiano, veras, and wright


C. wellington castillo
1B. anthony rizzo
2B. darwin barney
SS. starlin castro
3B. luis valbuena
LF. Junior lake
CF. Ryan sweeney
RF. Nate schierholtz

C. George kottaras
IF donnie murphy
IF logan watkins
OF Justin Ruggiano
UT. open

SP. jeff samardzija
SP. travis wood
SP. edwin jackson
SP. jake arrieta
SP. chris rusin

REL. carlos villanueva
REL. jose veras
REL. hector rondon
REL. blake parker
REL. Wesley wright
REL. james russell
REL. pedro strop
 

daddies3angels

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heading into February with just 4 new players added to the roster.. Kottaras, Ruggiano, veras, and wright


C. wellington castillo
1B. anthony rizzo
2B. darwin barney
SS. starlin castro
3B. luis valbuena
LF. Junior lake
CF. Ryan sweeney
RF. Nate schierholtz

C. George kottaras
IF donnie murphy
IF logan watkins
OF Justin Ruggiano
UT. open

SP. jeff samardzija
SP. travis wood
SP. edwin jackson
SP. jake arrieta
SP. chris rusin

REL. carlos villanueva
REL. jose veras
REL. hector rondon
REL. blake parker
REL. Wesley wright
REL. james russell
REL. pedro strop

100 losses here Cubs come
 

chibears55

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The Cubs have agreed to sign free agent starter Jason Hammel to a one-year, $6MM deal



C. wellington castillo
1B. anthony rizzo
2B. darwin barney
SS. starlin castro
3B. luis valbuena
LF. Junior lake
CF. Ryan sweeney
RF. Nate schierholtz

C. George kottaras
IF donnie murphy
IF logan watkins
OF Justin Ruggiano
UT. open

SP. jeff samardzija
SP. travis wood
SP. edwin jackson
SP. Jason hammell
SP. jake arrieta

REL. carlos villanueva
REL. jose veras
REL. hector rondon
REL. blake parker
REL. Wesley wright
REL. james russell
REL. pedro strop
 

CSF77

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Cubs Sign James McDonald
By Jeff Todd [February 13 at 2:10pm CST]
The Cubs have officially signed pitcher James McDonald. The deal, originally thought to be a minor league contract, is actually a major league deal, tweets MLBTR's Tim Dierkes.

McDonald's $1MM salary is not fully guaranteed, however, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune via Twitter. The 29-year-old can also earn incentives, tweets Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com.

McDonald hit the open market in September when he refused an outright assignment from the Pirates. Things never came together for him last year, as he only got six starts and ended up with a 5.76 ERA in 29 2/3 MLB innings. Control was a particular issue, as McDonald ended up with 6.1 BB/9. In 33 Triple-A innings in 2013, McDonald scuffled to a 6.55 ERA.

Nevertheless, McDonald offers tantalizing upside. Over the first half of 2012, he carried a 2.37 ERA with a 3.23 K:BB ratio and allowed opponents to hit just .196/.258/.312 against him. (Of course, those numbers flipped to a 7.52 ERA, 1.34 K:BB rate, and .292/.388/.551 line in the second half.) And though he dealt with a shoulder issue last year, McDonald has otherwise been durable over his professional career.

Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com first reported the signing on January 31st



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McDonald_(baseball)


Pitching style[edit]

McDonald has a variety of pitches. His primary pitch is a four-seam fastball in the 91–94 mph range. He throws a two-seam fastball with similar velocity. He features two breaking balls: a slider (79–82) and a curveball (75–77). His last pitch is a changeup in the low 80s. McDonald does not mix his repertoire differently between right-handed and left-handed hitters. He throws his four-seamer about half the time and uses his curveball most often when he is ahead in the count.[11]
In the early part of the 2012 season, his slider was recognized as the NL's second-best swing-and-miss pitch, only behind Cole Hamels' changeup, with whiff rate of 49% since 2011.[12]
 

brett05

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Jose Veras named closer

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CSF77

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Saw they signed both Hammels and McDonald because Arreta has shoulder soreness and is progressing slow. Sounds like McDonald will be the #5 with Hammels as the #4 starter.
 

chibears55

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Saw they signed both Hammels and McDonald because Arreta has shoulder soreness and is progressing slow. Sounds like McDonald will be the #5 with Hammels as the #4 starter.

hammels definitely no.4, but I think McDonald will be battling with Rusin and others for the 5th spot..

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CSF77

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hammels definitely no.4, but I think McDonald will be battling with Rusin and others for the 5th spot..

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:andruw:
 

nwfisch

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My favorite teams
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  1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
With Veras, Parker, Strop, Villanueva, as well as another lefty in Wesley Wright to go with Russell, this will be the best our bullpen has looked since our 97 win campaign of 2008. Contrast that to last year when we had Marmol, an unproven Fujikawa, and Camp at the back end of our bullpen.

While our offense may still suck, we won't be blowing as many leads in 2014.

:andruw:
 

Boobaby1

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Fisch! If he isn't on your "ignorant" list already, I suggest you put him there, and somewhere near, if not on top of it. :shot:
 

theberserkfury

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Yeah, I thought I remembered reading that the bullpen would be a positive this year...
 

JosMin

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Rusin recalled, Schlitter optioned back down to AAA (thank God).

With Carlos V starting, Cubs wanted another swing option. Could see Rusin getting sent back down for Blake Parker, but the flexibility with Rusin is definitely interesting.
 

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