Chicago Cubs News: Pitching plentiful in minors; Cubs roster

After years of developing hitters, the Chicago Cubs have shifted their focus to pitching. It might not be the greatest in the minors, but it is indeed plentiful.

With the Chicago Cubs shifting away from the hitters and into the pitching market, they’ve drafted heavily in recent years. And on top of that, they drafted pitching in the later rounds while taking hitters early. All of that is starting to work it’s way up through the minors as the Cubs finally have some pitching depth near the upper levels. While the talent might not be top-tier, the Cubs are showing promise with their young arms.

This year’s roster doesn’t have all the battles for sports and playing time that we might have gotten used to. But the mystery is still there. The Cubs bullpen is much stronger than last year but still isn’t set. The Cubs are also trying to figure out who the backup catcher is. While none of these will make much noise outside of Chicago, they’ll be fun to watch play out of if you’re a Cubs’ fan.

Why is Jake Arrieta still unsigned? Thought to be one of the top free agents of this class, no one is biting on him. His velocity did drop a bit, and the crossfire delivery could be a concern for him. One of the biggest components of this? Age. Turning 32 in March, father time isn’t on his side. And while he had one of the greatest seasons we had ever witnessed in 2015, teams aren’t going to pay big money for what you’ve done in the past. Or it just could be the wrong advice that Scott Boras is giving him.

These and other stories you might have missed:

‘Cubs have depth of pitching in the minors’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Cubs roster still holds mystery’ – Cubbies Crib

‘Why is Arrieta still unsigned?’ – MLB.com

‘Player should own pace-of-play issue’ – ESPN

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