NL Notes: Epstein, Diamondbacks, Brewers

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has nothing to report about whether he might soon receive an extension, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune writes. “That’s a private matter,” says Epstein. “I look at it and the club looks at it like this is going to be a longer-term marriage, and we’re not concerned about the fact there is no extension.” Epstein’s contract ends after 2016. With salaries for big-name executives increasing (Sullivan points out that Andrew Friedman got five years and $35MM from the Dodgers), Sullivan wonders if Epstein could go elsewhere after his contract expires if the Cubs’ rebuild pans out as most fans hope. Here are more notes from the National League.

• The Diamondbacks do not plan to make a deal for a catcher, GM Dave Stewart tells FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). “We’re not going to trade for a catcher. Some people think we are. We’re not,” Stewart says. The Diamondbacks took Oscar Hernandez in the Rule 5 Draft with the idea that he would compete for time behind the plate, but he has a broken hamate bone. Tuffy Gosewisch currently projects as the Snakes’ starter, and they also have Gerald Laird, Peter O’Brien and Blake Lalli in camp.
• Now that Francisco Rodriguez is in camp, the Brewers have a logjam in the bullpen, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Rodriguez, Jonathan Broxton, Will Smith, Jeremy Jeffress, Neal Cotts and Brandon Kintzler join Tyler Thornburg and Jim Henderson (who are both returning from injury, although Henderson is struggling with his velocity) as pitchers who seem like they should get spots out of camp. Even that is too many relievers unless the Brewers want to carry a 13-man staff. (One short-term fix might be to send down Thornburg or a starter like Jimmy Nelson, if only for the first few weeks of April in Nelson’s case — the Brewers won’t need a fifth starter until April 20). That means it could be tough for pitchers like Chris Perez (who is signed to a minor-league deal and has May 1 and June 1 opt-out dates) and Rob Wooten to make the team.