Latest news and rumors: Cubs sign Bryant, Baez, Schwarber, and others |
Cubs’ Opening Day: 76 days. Pitchers/Catchers Report: 33 Days. First Spring Training game: 44 Days. (Saturday, February 23, Brewers vs. Cubs at Sloan Park) The Cubs followed standard operating procedure today and reached pre-arbitration settlements will all seven players- including Russell. This should make the landscape a little clearer as to what they have (or don’t have) to spend on talent over the next month. Kyle Hendricks: $7.405M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Kyle Schwarber: $3.39M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Mike Montgomery: $2.44M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Carl Edwards, Jr: $1.5M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Javier Baez: $5.2M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Kris Bryant: $12.9M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Addison Russell: The Cubs and Russell have settled on a $3.4M deal (one year) to avoid arbitration. Russell can make up to a total of $4M based on how many games he plays. Russell was initially projected to earn a $4.3M settlement. Russell, who will lose about $540K of his 3.4M base because of his domestic violence suspension to start the season, recoups all of that if he reaches four bonuses of $100k for 30, 60, 90, 120 days on active roster and final $200K bonus for 150 days. Russell played for $3.2M last season. Looking at MLBTR's arb projections, the Cubs came $2.665M under with a total of $36.235M base for their 7 players (though it's about $570,000 or so under that due to Russell not receiving pay for first month).
Doug Glanville: They call Kyle Hendricks “The Professor,” but that will apparently be Doug Glanville’s new name as well. Glanville starts teaching a course at Yale next week.
Manny Machado: If you can’t buy the player, try to lure him… The White Sox tried stacking the deck by signing Yonder Alonso and Jon Jay, both of whom have ties to Machado, and now it’s the Phillies turn. Philly has now hired Bobby Dickerson as a coach. Dickerson was one of Machado’s mentors in Baltimore. Astros: Alex Bregman had a procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow this morning in Houston. Recovery will cut into his spring training action, but he’s expected to be ready to play before opening day. Blue Jays: Toronto has signed free-agent reliever David Phelps t0 a one-year, $2.5M guaranteed deal with club options worth another $1M-$8M depending on games pitched. Braves: INF Charlie Culberson, OF Adam Duvall, LHP Sam Freeman, RHPs Kevin Gausman, Dan Winkler avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Brewers: Milwaukee has signed RHP Burch Smith to a minor league deal, which will include an invite to spring training. Milwaukee and INF Travis Shaw, RHPs Corey Knebel, Zach Davies, Junior Guerra, LHP Alex Claudio, catcher Manny Piña avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Cardinals: OF Marcell Ozuna, RHPs Michael Wacha, Dominic Leone avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Dodgers: Los Angeles will be getting veteran catcher Russell Martin and cash from Toronto in exchange for MiLB shortstop Ronny Brito and MiLB righty Andrew Sopko. D-Backs: LHP Robbie Ray, 3B Jake Lamb, OF Steven Souza Jr., RHPs Taijuan Walker, Matt Andriese, catcher John Ryan Murphy avoid arbitration with a 1-year deal. Giants: LHP Will Smith avoid arbitration with a 1-year deal. Mariners: The Mariners have designated outfielder, John Andreoli for assignment. Seattle and LHP Roenis Elías, OF Domingo Santana, avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Mets: NY has signed utility-infielder, Jed Lowrie to a two-year, $20M deal. The Mets have also reached a pre-arbitration settlement with Noah Syndergaard who will earn $6M for 2019, and Jacob deGrom who has settled for $17M. Padres: LHP Robbie Erlin, catcher Austin Hedges, OF Travis Jankowski, RHP Kirby Yates avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Phillies: Phillies ace Aaron Nola did not agree to a contract and is expected to head to an arbitration hearing. Pirates: Pittsburgh has claimed RHP Aaron Slegers off waivers from the Twins and; designated RHP Dario Agrazal for assignment. Rangers: Former Rangers’ 3B Will Middlebrooks has announced his retirement at age 30. Middlebrooks suffered a fibula fracture last spring after being signed by the Phillies and was unable to bounce back. Rangers and OFs Nomar Mazara, Delino DeShields avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Reds: 2B Scooter Gennett, INF José Peraza, OF Yasiel Puig, RHPs Michael Lorenzen, Anthony DeSclafani and Tanner Roark avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Tigers: LHPs Matthew Boyd, Blaine Hardy, Daniel Norris avoid arbitration with 1-year deals. Yankees: NY has signed Zach Britton to a three-year deal which includes an option for 2021, and they have managed to land DJ LeMahieu as well. LeMahieu’s deal is for two-years, $24M. LeMahieu’s signing may officially take NY out of the Machado lottery. The Yanks have also designated infielder Hanser Alberto for assignment. Starter Luis Severino did not agree to a contract and is expected to head to an arbitration hearing,Cubs’ news and notes
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