Cubs 2013 Schedule Released
It's the most exciting thing to happen in Cubdom all month...the 2013 schedule release!!! They actually have the entire thing up at cubs.com already, but here are some of the highlights.
The season begins at Pittsburgh on Monday, April 1st followed by a trip to Atlanta. The home schedule begins the following Monday, April 8th versus the Brewers. We'll get an immediate feel for the new interleague schedule with a 3-game series versus the Rangers during that same homestand (April 16-18). The customary city rivalry versus the White Sox has been reduced to 4 games and will be back-to-back 2-game series at each home park (May 27-May 30) starting at Comiskey. Then in a horrific bit of traveling, the Cubs head to Anaheim against the Angels for a 2-game set on June 3rd and 4th. They have an off day before and after, but it's sandwiched between two homestands and that "away" series at Comiskey.
They're next interleague match-up will be versus the Astros at Wrigley from June 21-June 23. That's sandwiched between 2 road trips of 7 and 10 games culminating at Oakland to start off July. Then they come home for a 9-game homestand versus the Pirates, Angels and Cardinals before the All-Star break. The 2nd half starts with a 10-game roadtrip to Colorado, Arizona and San Francisco. Their Southern California trip through San Diego and then Los Angeles will be from August 23-August 28th. By September, they could be playing the role of spoiler with a 11-game roadtrip versus Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. They end the season at St. Louis on Septemeber 29th.
As for 2012, Anthony Rizzo is out after a nasty collision with Brett Wallace yesterday and Brett Jackson misses his 5th straight game. That means folks will witness this: Mather CF, Barney 2B, Castro SS, Soriano LF, Castillo C, Vitters 3B, Sappelt RF, Recker 1B, Wood P
Bonus amount has been added.
Jim Callis@jimcallisBA
#Cubs pay Trey Masek $357,400. Talent bargain in 5th rd. Texas Tech RHP, 89-93 to 95, shows some sharp curves, VG in Cape Cod Lg. #mlbdraft
alright cubs...having e.jackson + vanillawafers fail in the same outing...in the same inning...isn't good for fan morale.
the 6th inning sucks.
Gordon Wittenmyer@GDubCub
Sveum says Cubs likely to get bench back to full strength for weekend Houston series, get pen back to 7 guys. Clev or Sappy are possible.
welly with his 9th walk on the season...8th since may 23rd. ...still waiting on his 1st xbase hit of the month (9 singles).
also, cubs tie bottom 2nd on a play at the plate that rizzo would have been out by a mile on if y.molina didn't drop the ball.
I thought the Hannemann bonus was high because of comments his father made right after the draft about what he'd be signing for. More like slot. Which was higher than most thought because they had him ranked lower on draft boards.
The guy is already 22 with minimal baseball experience. I'll be rooting for him to turn into the next Ellsbury (without the injuries). But...
COL is going to option j.francis to AAA
Beat the Streak players everywhere groan. There's always Pelfrey.
COL is going to option j.francis to AAA...roy oswalt, welcome back to the bigs.
it's $263,800 over slot ($736,200), they paid $261,900 under slot for Zastryzny, doesn't seem that crazy since he had some leverage. So far 4th rounder Skulina is the biggest overslot at $323K, although if 12th rounder Clifton did get "3rd round money", he'll probably net the biggest difference.
Bryant is probably going to come in under $6M, so Cubs should save there as well.
damn...that's about 400-500K more than most people in round 3 have signed for so far.
it's pretty much early/mid 2nd round loot...and 100K less than the cubs very early 2nd round pick Z-nasty.
they also signed their 4th round pick for $800K...which is about 300-400K more than expected.
here's a tracker btw,
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2013xteam.p...
"Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Wednesday that he expects David DeJesus (shoulder) to miss about a month."
Holy overpay Batman.
Jim Callis@jimcallisBA
#Cubs, 3rd-rder Jacob Hannemann agree on $1 million. Brigham Young OF/cornerback, VG speed, also bat, power & CF skills. #mlbdraft
Groan
Sandberg never made sense as a base coach because he was best going from third to second.
"The Houston Astros say they have signed right-handed pitcher Mark Appel of Stanford, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft earlier this month.
Terms were not disclosed Wednesday ahead of a news conference with Appel."
http://espn.go.com/mlb/draft/2013/story/_/id/94038...
Somebody e-mailed me to ask why Gerardo Concepcion is eligible for selection in the December 2013 Rule 5 Draft if he signed his first contract in March 2012.
Concepcion is eligible because any player who has been outrighted previously in his career is eligible for selection in all subsequent Rule 5 Drafts, even if he otherwise would not be eligible.
Have they changed the meaning of extend again? Kids these days, just when I've gotten used to bad meaning good.