Rotation remains the Chicago Cubs’ focus for now – MLB News
The Chicago Cubs' president of baseball operations has said that efforts are being made to make the club a healthy organisation. He was referring to the recent one-year contract with the pitcher Scott Baker – a much-needed addition to the Cubs rotation.
"First of all, we hope our season goes better than that," Cubs' president Theo Epstein said Tuesday. "We're realistic. If we're out of it and we're trying to build a healthy organization, we are going to flip some players. We won't necessarily flip them all.”
Part of the strategy here is to see if extending the contracts with some players is both practical and workable in the long-term interest that is for the good of the club. After all, the Cubs had traded Paul Maholm earlier this year to the Atlanta Braves.
Epstein added, "If we have somebody who is a good fit on the field and off the field, we can look to extend them. We've signed some extensions with our own guys and we'll continue to do that as well."
Earlier, it was Ryan Dempster that the Cubs traded to the Texas Rangers for Minor Leaguers Christian Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks.
As for Scott Baker who will be making a start for the Cubs in the upcoming season, injuries have plagued the pitcher a few times. That might figure as a concern as the Cubs are looking for a high success rate in the pitcher.
Like the president of baseball operations asserted, there has to be a healthy and productive side so as to compete in the highly competition-oriented league. This past season, the Cubs had lost 101 games, something that they will not want to repeat again.
With the rotation getting a starter in Baker, there is one more starter that the Cubs are in pursuit of now. As to who the Cubs ultimately go for is a question that does not have an unambiguous answer at this point in time.
However, as Matt Garza attempts to stage a comeback after being shutdown in July due to injury in right elbow, the Cubs hope to fill the last spot with a strong pitcher.
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