Sunday, January 23, 2011

Cubbie Quick Hits While the City Waits for the Kick-off

The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers will meet today in a NFC Championship matchup for the ages. The Fanfest of another Chicago baseball team is taking place this weekend. The defending Stanley Cup Champions are red-hot in January, while the city's NBA team is in first place.

But soon the Cubbies will take center stage once again. Pitchers and catchers report three weeks from tomorrow! The first game of Spring Training is exactly five weeks from today. Let's catch up on the latest news and notes on the North Side Ballclub:
  • The ESPN family of networks has set its Spring Training schedule. The Cubs games on March 24 (against Texas) and March 26 (against the Sox) will both be on ESPN2.
  • The big news of the week was the minor league outfielder and Villanova wide receiver Matt Szczur has committed to playing baseball. He will skip the NFL Draft and instead sign a deal that has a signing bonus of $1.4 million.
  • Justin Havens of ESPN.com wonders if the Cubs should have traded Tom Gorzelanny. His 2010 stats were pretty close to Matt Garza's.
  • According to Bruce Miles, Andrea Soriano passed away this week. Andrea is the mother of Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano. I would like sent my condolences to the family.
  • The Cubs signed outfielder Lou Montanez to a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training. Montanez was originally drafted by the Cubs in the first round of the 2000 draft and never panned out. He hit .223 in 26 games for Baltimore last season.
  • The Chicago White Sox have invited former Cub Jeff Gray to Spring Training. He spent one year with the Cubs (2010) after coming over in the Fox/Miles trade with the A's. Gray's season was derailed by a groin injury.
  • Check out the new poll on our right sidebar!

Here is the list of non-roster invitees so far for Spring Training-

  • Angel Guzman, RHP
  • Scott Rice, LHP
  • Scott Moore, INF
  • Bobby Scales, UTL
  • Jim Adduci, OF
  • Reed Johnson, OF
  • Bryan LaHair, 1B/OF
  • Lou Montanez, OF

A lot of names will be added to this list over the next three weeks.

I know, many of my readers will hate me for this. However...

"I don't care who wins as long as it's THE PACK!"

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