Regarding Cespedes, there had been rumors that he could be looking at a new contract worth about $200 million for the 2016 Major League Baseball season and beyond.
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The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the trade is pending approval of medical records. Zobrist is from Eureka, Ill., about 135 miles southwest of Chicago.
The Illinois native said his decision to join the Cubs over the Mets, Washington Nationals and others took due diligence, but he was not set to sign until the Cubs traded Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees to clear up an everyday spot at second base. Second baseman Brendan Ryan is the player to be named, according to ESPN sources and multiple reports. For starters, he’s a right-handed hitter who has a history of hitting left-handers (career 106 wRC+), and we saw how southpaws chewed the Yankees up down the stretch past year.
Ryan, the other piece headed to the Cubs, hit just. He hit just. 265 last season, but did his.
The acquisition of Castro could make Rob Refsnyder available in another deal for a controllable starting pitcher.
He also vigorously defended Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, who was accused of choking his girlfriend and shooting a gun during an incident in October. You know, with the need for minorities, you can help yourself – you’ve got a better chance of getting some speed with Latin and African-Americans. I’m not being racist. “That’s just how it is”.
Zobrist had played nine seasons for Joe Maddon’s Tampa Bay Rays, and the Cubs coveted him enough to try trading for him last winter and before the July 31 deadline.
“Oh, he’s a heck of a guy”. “But I didn’t want to be a bad teammate or be bad with my guys”.
Recall that Sveum’s “tough love” treatment of Castro was one of the main reasons for Sveum’s firing after the 2013 season. “No, no, he is a tremendous young man with a great family, mom and dad, and what he went through to get here and what his family had to go through to get here”.
“What do I like about him?”
“I heard it from my son”, he said. And there’s no more complementary player in baseball than Ben Zobrist, who the Cubs acquired last night.
“I thought there should have been a super-U player on the All-Star team”, Maddon said.
Castro has four years and $38 million remaining on the seven-year, $60 million deal he signed with the Cubs in 2012. His flexibility will play very well with the Chicago Cubs. There could be some mental errors in pinstripes for Castro, as hasn’t spent too much time at second but NY is confident that he will be able to get a grasp on the position rather quickly.
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The Chicago Cubs welcomed free agent Ben Zobrist and bid goodbye to Starlin Castro, while the Arizona Diamondbacks further bolstered their rotation with a deal for Shelby Miller announced on Wednesday. These Mets rumors about Cespedes appear to have been confirmed by vice president and assistant general manager John Ricco.
