Last month, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported that Trevor Cahill had offers from the Pirates and Orioles to sign as a starting pitcher, but he turned them down in favor of a relief role with the Cubs. Cafardo noted that Cahill’s preference was to start, but that he preferred to remain in Chicago. Today, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that, according to Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio, the Pirates’ offer was for two years. The deal he accepted from the Cubs was only for one year and $4.25MM. It sounds, then, like Cahill’s preference to stay with the Cubs was strong indeed. Here’s more from the NL Central.
- This offseason hasn’t gone the way the Cardinals had planned, with Jason Heyward and John Lackey heading elsewhere and David Price rejecting them for the Red Sox. But GM John Mozeliak is confident the team has what it needs to succeed, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “I feel like the answer for us is still we feel we have the right pieces,” he says. “If we go out and add an outfielder – where are they going to play? Who is not playing? How does that affect us? What does the short-term view look like vs. the long-term commitment? Honestly, we feel very comfortable with what we have.” Mozeliak says the team likes the idea of giving Randal Grichuk the opportunity to start in center field. The club also likes the idea of giving playing time to Stephen Piscotty and Brandon Moss.
- Mozeliak says there has lately been “more momentum” for bringing the designated hitter to the National League, according to Goold (on Twitter). Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein also addressed the possibility of the DH coming to the NL today, according to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald (also on Twitter). “We have so many good hitters coming that we wouldn’t mind the DH,” Epstein says. Against most NL competitors, the DH likely would be an advantage for the Cubs, given their strong group of young hitters and the presence of a defensively-challenged slugger in Kyle Schwarber on their roster. Epstein adds, though, that he doesn’t feel any change to NL rules is imminent.
