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It’s been a wild offseason so far with the Detroit Tigers landing Jordan Zimmermann, Boston Red Sox landing David Price and the Arizona Diamondbacks reeling in Zack Greinke.
Arizona missed out on Johnny Cueto who turned down a multi-year deal that was worth around $120-$130 million, but have finally found their next ace to help anchor their young rotation. Greinke remains in the N.L. West with Jeff Samardzija signing with the San Francisco Giants.
For the Chicago Cubs, they went out and signed 37-year-old right-hander, John Lackey. Both Lackey and Jon Lester have a strong relationship and went toe-to-toe in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
More from Chicago Cubs News
- Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
- Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
- Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
- Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
- Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis
They’re still hoping to find another starting pitcher and they could find one if they reached out to the San Diego Padres to see what it would take to acquire James Shields.
Shields is a former Tampa Bay Ray who pitched alongside Price under Joe Maddon. Most thought that a reunion involving Price and his former skipper and bench coach was in order, but as mention in the beginning of the article, things didn’t work out that way.
While Chicago searches high and low for another quality arm, Javier Baez will move over to center field later on this winter. The decision to have him pick up playing time at the position will provide Maddon with some flexibility depending on if they are unable to bring back Dexter Fowler or a suitable replacement.
Alex Gordon and Jason Heyward are still floating around the free agent market. It’s a bit surprising that both men are still without a brand new contract considering how well they played for their respective teams.
Here’s some more from Cubbies Crib and around the league:
‘Chicago Cubs: Will the team trade for James Shields?‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Chicago Cubs: Javier Baez making the transition to play center field this winter‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Chicago Cubs roster continues to take shape‘ – Cubbies Crib
‘Dodgers get jump on meetings with Iwakuma, Utley‘ – MLB.com