January 13, 2015

Chicago Tribune Starlin Castro, Welington Castillo among Cubs' concerns By Mark Gonzales

With the additions of marquee left-hander and colorful manager , this weekend's Cubs Convention will provide a more festive atmosphere for Cubs fans than last January, when restless supporters asked when the rebuilding program would end and whether the franchise had a realistic chance of landing Japanese free- agent Masahiro Tanaka.

Despite the momentum the Cubs have built since July, there is plenty of unfinished business more than five weeks before and report to spring training in Mesa, Ariz.

Here are three pressing topics.

Checking on Castro

Shortstop Starlin Castro already is in Arizona working out in preparation for spring training, according to agent Paul Kinzer.

That should come as a relief to Cubs officials and Castro supporters after Castro was questioned by police but not charged after being in the vicinity of shootings in two separate incidents in the Dominican Republic.

Kinzer said high-ranking police officials were satisfied with Castro's answers, especially after the second incident in which Castro was leaving a nightclub and sprinted to his car after hearing gunfire.

Those incidents aside, it's an important time for Castro and the Cubs. Castro, 24, has been sidelined for much of the last two springs because of injuries to both hamstrings, and he missed the final 31/2 weeks of the 2014 regular season because of a left ankle injury.

Castro is scheduled to participate in festivities at the Cubs Convention this weekend, and Kinzer said he and Castro expect to speak with Cubs President Theo Epstein.

Kinzer said Castro may return briefly to the Dominican before the start of spring training, but it's essential that he regains the health and momentum he enjoyed last summer, when he earned his third All-Star selection.

Barring a for a productive hitter, the Cubs will need Castro's offense to have any chance of competing for a playoff berth. And with probably a year from being major league-ready, Castro's performance in 2015 becomes even more important before they make a decision on his future and Russell's position in the majors.

Shopping Castillo

Before the signing of David Ross, Epstein said the Cubs weren't actively trying to shop Welington Castillo. But with Ross getting a two-year contract and Taylor Teagarden agreeing to a minor league contract, the Cubs have little choice but to move Castillo — unless newly acquired suffers a significant injury.

With the Rockies' signing of Nick Hundley to a two-year deal, potential landing spots are dwindling. The Diamondbacks are looking for a starting catcher while they groom Rule 5 pick Oscar Hernandez.

But a Diamondbacks source said the asking price is too high for Castillo, 27, who batted a career-low .237 last season but had a career-high 13 home runs.

The Rangers also are believed to be seeking a starting catcher.

Money talks

The Cubs have seven arbitration-eligible players — pitchers Travis Wood, , Pedro Strop and Felix Doubront; infielder Luis Valbuena; outfielder Chris Coghlan and Castillo. Salary numbers will be exchanged Friday if agreements haven't been reached, but the Cubs haven't had an arbitration hearing since 2010.

With 13 players under contract at about $75.85 million for 2015, there's plenty of room to sign those players. Despite coming off a career-worst season, Wood could receive a raise from $3.9 million to nearly $5 million.

Arrieta, a first-year arbitration-eligible player who posted a 10-5 record, a 2.53 ERA (including a 6-1 mark and 1.46 ERA at Wrigley Field) and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning on three occasions, could earn a salary close to what Wood could receive.

A lengthy extension looms for Epstein and his staff, but there are more pressing matters as two years remain on his contract.

--

Chicago Tribune Pat Hughes named Illinois Sportscaster of the Year By Mark Gonzales

Chicago Cubs venerable play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes was named the 2014 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Hughes, who will enter his 33rd year as a major league announcer and his 20th as the radio voice of the Cubs, won this award for the ninth time and for the sixth time in the state of Illinois.

"I'd like to dedicate this award to my wonderful broadcast partner, Ron Coomer, and to the fans, the best listening audience in the world," Hughes said in a statement.

The award will be presented June 9, 2015, in Salisbury, N.C.

--

Chicago Sun-Times Cubs' party will be wild, even without the World Series prediction By Rick Morrissey

The Cubs Convention should be quite the affair this weekend, what with the team set to go all the way in 2015.

Wait, you didn’t hear? Yes, it’s true: The Cubs will win the World Series this season. That prediction comes not from a fired-up fan base but from a noted brand, SportingNews.com. It’s a development that raises the question, Can an entire website have a drinking problem?

Now, no one is exactly sure what criteria Sporting News used or whether Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s David Kaplan financially backed the study. But forget about that. The point is that hope is in the air, and it’s thicker than I can ever remember it being.

It will be on display Friday through Sunday at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. The Cubs Convention traditionally attracts the truest of true believers, the kind of people who each season are certain that This Is the Year, when, in fact, It Most Certainly Is Not. So I’m not sure how the fans dressed up this weekend in their best Ron Santo jerseys and oversized Harry Caray glasses can get a better buzz than the one they already have. I just know they’ll try.

If I might add a teaspoon of reality to the proceedings: Doesn’t there have to be a way station on the journey to the top? After five straight fifth-place finishes in their division, don’t the Cubs have to get to second or third place in a season before they get to first? Most people don’t go from benching 100 pounds one day to 300 pounds a month later. Not unless they’re hitting the Flintstones Vitamins really hard.

For a moment, forget the 106 years of futility that has defined this franchise. In the past five seasons, the Cubs have gone 73-89, 66-96, 61-101, 71-91 and 75-87, respectively. Winning a World Series after such a of wretchedness would defy some sort of natural law. is supposed to be hard.

OK, enough with the reality and back to the high hopes. Sporting News might not realize it, but its World Series prediction reflects the mindset of a portion of a Cubs’ fan base that wants to be done with the pain and suffering. That got old about 10 amputations ago.

Now there are all kinds of reasons to believe. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein has built a deep farm system. He hired Joe Maddon to manage the team, a coup if there ever was one. And he signed an ace, Jon Lester, beating out other teams that might have offered more attractive situations.

There is every reason to believe that the Cubs and their fans have turned a corner at a high rate of speed.

That’s why there is so much anticipation about this year’s convention. It’s a realistic kind of anticipation. For the first time in three years, it’s not just about projections, about who might be called up to the big leagues and when. It’s about flesh and blood. All the hotshot young players will be in attendance this weekend: Javy Baez, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Albert Almora and Addison Russell. Presents to be unwrapped soon.

When Lester is introduced to a roaring crowd at Friday’s opening ceremony, there’s a decent chance the hotel will slide into the Chicago River, solving the future glut at shortstop. In those roars will be a mixture of euphoria and relief over the end of a nightmare. Are the dark times almost over? Well, the prodigious losing should be a thing of the past. Beyond that, I’ll leave the rest of it to your hope level.

If you want to be a party pooper, raise your hand at one of the convention’s Q & A sessions and ask where the offense will be coming from in 2015. If it’s supposed to come from all those young players, there’s a good chance the Cubs won’t get a sniff of the playoffs. Please see Baez’s struggles in 2014 as a reminder of how difficult it is to in the major leagues. It bears repeating: Baseball is supposed to be hard.

After last season ended, the Cubs’ odds of winning the 2015 World Series were 50-1, according to Bovada.com. Those odds moved to 12-1 after they added Maddon and Lester. I thought it insane, considering the team’s struggle to get on base the past three seasons.

And then Sporting News came out with its prediction late last week, making Bovada look as conservative as a banker’s suit.

I believe in miracles. But I do have limits.

--

Chicago Sun-Times Pat Hughes, Rick Telander win Illinois sports media awards By David Just

Chicago Cubs play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes was named the Illinois sportscaster of the year, and the Chicago Sun-Times’ Rick Telander was named sportswriter of the year, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association announced Monday.

Hughes is entering his 33rd season of broadcasting , and his 20th season with the Cubs. He has won the sportscaster of the year award nine times — six coming in Illinois.

Telander has been a sportswriter at the Sun-Times since 1995. He previously won the NSSA’s Illinois sportswriter of the year award every year from 2003-07.

Hughes and Telander will be presented with their awards at a ceremony this summer in Salisbury, N.C.

--

Cubs.com Montero eager to reward Cubs fans' warm embrace By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Miguel Montero has always enjoyed playing at Wrigley Field, and he found out just how supportive Cubs fans are when he was traded to the team in December.

The catcher, acquired Dec. 9 from the D-backs for two Minor League pitchers, saw an immediate response on Twitter and posted (via @miggymont26): "I just been a Cubs for 24 hours and I love it lol."

"It was just 24 hours and everybody welcomed me in," Montero said in a phone interview from Arizona. "[The fans] made me feel like I'd been there for more than 24 hours."

Montero, 31, has a .327 average in 16 games at Wrigley Field, but that's not why he likes playing there.

“I just been a Cubs for 24 hours and I love it lol” - miguel montero (@miggymont26) December 10, 2014

"It's great baseball when you walk into the stadium -- that's what I like the most," Montero said. "The people are passionate, they know what they're talking about, they know who you are, they know about you. As a player, you really appreciate that."

With the Cubs, Montero will be reunited with Edwin Jackson. The two were teammates on the D-backs, and on June 25, 2010, they combined for a no-hitter that Jackson almost didn't finish. The right-hander walked eight and threw 149 pitches in an Interleague game against the Rays.

"He was one pitch away from being out of the game in the first inning and he was one hitter away from being out of the game in the third, and it ends up being a no-no," Montero said.

Jackson walked two batters in the first and two more in the second. In the third, he walked the first three batters but was able to escape.

"When I had [Jackson in Arizona], he was a little bit inconsistent," Montero said. "He's got a really good arm and really good potential to be a Cy Young. Obviously, the way I worked with him, I was on him all the time. I couldn't stop talking to him for a second, because he'd kind of space out a little bit. I needed to be tough and that's what I did. Hopefully, I can help."

That no-hitter came at the expense of Montero's new manager with the Cubs, Joe Maddon, who was the Rays' skipper at the time.

"I always enjoyed watching him manage," Montero said of Maddon. "There are two managers I enjoyed watching - - Joe Maddon and Bruce Bochy. They're the best out there right now."

Montero, Maddon and Jackson will get reacquainted this week when they come to Chicago for the Cubs Convention. For now, Montero has been working out at the team's facility in Mesa, Ariz. He isn't sure how the Cubs will handle the catcher situation after the addition of David Ross, who joins Montero and Welington Castillo, who has been the starter in Chicago the last two seasons.

Montero's first priority is getting to know his new teammates. Last week was his first at the Cubs' complex in Arizona.

"I felt like I was going to a new school," he said, excitedly.

--

Cubs.com Hughes named Illinois Sportscaster of the Year By Carrie Muskat

CHICAGO -- Cubs play-by-play radio announcer Pat Hughes was named the 2014 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

This is Hughes' ninth Sportscaster of the Year honor and his sixth in Illinois, having previously won the award in 1996, 1999, 2006, '07 and '09. He also was honored as Wisconsin's Sportscaster of the Year three times (1990-92).

"I'd like to dedicate this award to my wonderful broadcast partner, Ron Coomer, and to the Chicago Cubs fans, the best listening audience in the world," Hughes said in a statement.

The award will be presented June 9 in Salisbury, N.C.

The 2015 season will be Hughes' 33rd broadcasting big league baseball and his 20th with the Cubs.

This year, Hughes and Coomer and the Cubs' radio broadcasts will move from WGN Radio to WBBM Newsradio 780.

--

CSNChicago.com Years later, Jon Lester and become building blocks for Cubs By Patrick Mooney

So Sporting News picked the Cubs to win the World Series this year, which just might be the perfect Internet story when it feels like 30 degrees below zero in Chicago.

Joe Maddon’s free agency overshadowed the World Series. Jon Lester’s decision dominated the winter meetings and made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Theo Epstein’s front office still hasn’t mortgaged one of baseball’s strongest farm systems (after making a play for Ben Zobrist). The national media will be flooding the zone when pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz., next month.

Another buzz indicator: The team announced weekend passes and hotel packages are sold out for the 30th annual Cubs Convention that begins Friday at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

Whether the Cubs live up to the hype — or flame out — will depend in large part on two cancer survivors who once connected at Fenway Park. They hung out in the office of Terry Francona, the Boston Red Sox manager at the time.

By 2008, Lester had already beaten anaplastic large-cell lymphoma and won the clinching game in the 2007 World Series, just beginning to put together the resume that would get him a $155 million megadeal this winter. Anthony Rizzo — a teenager with his baseball career on hold — needed treatment for limited-stage classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Jeez, I don’t remember how old he was when he got diagnosed, but this baby-face kid comes into Tito’s office,” Lester recalled. “Tito told me: ‘Hey, we got this kid just diagnosed with cancer. Would you mind talking to him?’

“(We were) hanging out, just talking. (It’s) seeing the disappointment and kind of seeing the flashbacks to myself. But at the same time, it’s seeing that desire: ‘Hey, this isn’t it for me.’”

Rizzo eventually got traded to the San Diego Padres in the Adrian Gonzalez deal. Three years ago, the Cubs executives with Boston roots acquired Rizzo for Andrew Cashner. Last season, Rizzo answered some of the questions about his maturity and leadership ability, going to the All-Star Game and putting up 32 homers and a .913 OPS.

As Lester said: “To see him come full circle — he’s been a part of some big trades for some big guys — (and) cement himself in MVP voting (is) pretty unbelievable.”

After Game 162 last September, Rizzo set the expectations at winning the National League Central in 2015. After five straight fifth-place finishes, the Cubs added a two-time American League Manager of the Year (Maddon), an All-Star catcher (Miguel Montero) and multiple clubhouse glue guys (pitcher Jason Hammel, potential closer Jason Motte, backup catcher David Ross).

With two World Series rings and a 2.57 career postseason ERA, Lester is exactly the kind of been-there, done-that winner Rizzo hoped the Cubs would sign this winter, a leader for all that young talent in the room.

“I’m not a guy that’s going to walk into that clubhouse and say: ‘Look at me. Follow me. We’re gonna go,’” Lester said. “That’s not who I am. And first of all, this isn’t my team. This is Rizzo and (Starlin) Castro’s team. They’ve been here the longest. They’ve put in their time. I’m sure they want to win more than I want to win — especially for this city. So I’m going to let those guys do their thing.

“But at the same time, I’m going to do (my thing). I’m going to put my head down. I’m going to work my butt off every single day. And if that, in turn, makes me a leader, then that makes me a leader. I’m not going to sit there and pound my fist on the table and say you need to follow me, because by no means am I like that.

“I just try to work as hard as I can, day in and day out. And if that gives the younger guys some sort of example, then that’s great. But like I said, I’m not going to force guys to do anything they don’t want to do.”

Ultimately, that means more than clickbait or Las Vegas odds or winning the offseason. That’s the way championship organizations are wired. All these years later, Lester and Rizzo will become building blocks at a renovated Wrigley Field.

--

CSNChicago.com Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes named Illinois Sportscaster of the Year By Staff

Pat Hughes is being honored as the 2014 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year.

The Cubs radio broadcaster won the award for the sixth time in Illinois (1996, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2009) and also won in Wisconsin three years in a row from 1990-92.

The award is voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

“I’d like to dedicate this award to my wonderful broadcast partner, Ron Coomer, and to the Chicago Cubs fans, the best listening audience in the world,” Hughes said.

Hughes is entering his 20th season with the Cubs and moves over to WBBM Newsradio 780 in 2015 after the Cubs' deal with WGN Radio expried following the 2014 season.

Hughes will accept the award June 9, 2015 in Salisbury, N.C.

--