Cubs Add Lopez to Pen Mix

The Cubs have added another arm to their pitching corpse. Rodrigo Lopez has been acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Braves. In return, the Cubs send minor league hurler Ryan Butcher. Lopez inked a minor league deal with the Braves before this season and was 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA at Triple-A.

Lopez will be added to the Cubs active roster and used as a swingman out of the pen. He is expected to join the team tomorrow. Justin Berg has been send down to Iowa to make room on the roster. Lopez will join the team on Friday.

Randy Wells will be activated to start Saturday's game against the Pirates. The Cubs still have two starters on the DL (Cashner and Garza), so both Davis and Coleman will remain in the rotation for now. We'll wait and see which one is removed once Garza returns.

The Cubs will have to send down another pitcher, most likely Scott Maine, to make room for Wells. Geovany Soto is expected to return soon, so Welington Castillo will also go back to Iowa as the Cubs slowly get healthier.

The Cubs have just two days off between now and the All-Star Break. In addition, on June 28 they will host the Giants for a day/night twin bill. Hopefully the weather will allow the Pirates to get three full games in this weekend.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on everything Cubs as always.

Cubs Convention Day 3

Throughout the weekend at the Hilton it was noticeably less packed. For the first time, the convention was not a sell out. However, it was still packed.

On Sunday there were just two sessions. Many people are always cleared out by the final day, and when you top that off with the lower attendance to begin with this year and the Bears game- the two sessions were not all that crowded.

The first session was called "The 25 Club". Wayne Messmer chatted three of the Cubs 25-year-olds about life in the bigs. Tyler Colvin, Scott Maine and Darwin Barney were on the panel. James Russell was also scheduled to attend, but he did not show up.

Colvin told a story about an elementary school teacher who gave him a low grade on an essay about his career goal. She told him that becoming a Major League Baseball player was not a realistic goal. He showed her. Tyler also said that he was never a standout player growing up.

Darwin Barney hit over .600 in high school but still did not get drafted until after he went to college. When asked about a avoiding the temptation to go out and party in the city of Chicago, Barney said that it is pretty easy since he has a wife and a two-year old to go home to. Colvin said the same, but instead of a child he has his beloved dog.

Scott Maine said that Greg Maddux gave his season a huge boost by the instruction he gave him this season. Colvin credited Billy Williams and Derrek Lee as guys who have given him hitting advice.

Next up was the annual Down on the Farm session hosted by Vineline editor Mike Huang. Before the session, a handout describing Cubs prospects that will appear in the February issue of Vineline was passed out. Albert Cabrera and Rob Whitenack are the two guys who Vineline editors think will make a big splash in 2011.

In the past, they have listed 50 names from the farm, but this year they cut it down to 20. Here is the list:

• Tony Campana, OF
• Brett Jackson, OF
• Chris Carpenter, RHP
• Jay Jackson, RHP
• Welington Castillo, C
• Aaron Kurcz, RHP
• Rafael Dolis, RHP
• Junior Lake, INF
• Ryan Flaherty, INF
• DJ LeMahieu, INF
• Micah Gibbs, C
• Marcos Mateo, RHP
• Reggie Golden, OF
• Trey McNutt, RHP
• Brooks Raley, LHP
• Chris Rusin, LHP
• Hayden Simpson, RHP
• Kyle Smit, RHP
• Josh Vitters, 3B
• Logan Watkins, UTL

DJ LeMahieu, Jay Jackson and Chris Carpenter were all at the minor league session. The guys enjoyed their first Cubs Convention experience and the thrill of getting their names announced at the Opening Ceremonies.

All three guys had different draft day stories to share. Carpenter followed the whole thing with his family. DJ watched from his room at LSU with some teammates since the Tigers were still in the College World Series at the time. Jackson did not even watch his draft. He was outside shooting baskets when he got the text that he was a Cub.

Oneri Fleita (farm director) and Tim Wilken (scouting director) were both at the session. Fleita talked about how much he hates making the phone call to tell someone that they are traded or released. Wilken mentioned that a player's "make up" on and off the field is taken into consideration.

Tim talked about the Matt Garza,mentioning the fact that the Cubs have a lot of depth in their organization at positions like shortstop and catcher. Jim Hendry worked on the deal for three to four months. Wilken actually spent time at the end of the 2010 season watching Carlos Pena and Fernando Perez play in person. Both were already on the Cubs' radar.

Even though the Cubs are coming off a down year, the Cubs Convention was just as much fun as it always is. There is a lot of hope for the future in this organization. Welcoming Kerry Wood back, honoring Ron Santo and introducing the two ex-Rays to Chicago were the highlights of the weekend.

Click if you missed my recaps of Day 1 or Day 2. I'll have some more Convention wrap-up thoughout the week.

Catching Up Quick Hits: Wedge Interviews, Silva Rehabs, Girardi Speaks, and More

First of all, I apologize for the hiatus the last few days. It's been a wild week and no posts have made it up onto the blog. We should be back to posting everyday, or every-other-day at the least!

Let's catch up on all the latest Cubbies news and notes:

• Carlos Silva made a rehab start for the Peoria Chiefs last night. He went 2.2 shutout innings and is expected to make one more rehab before returning to the Cubs rotation.
• Tyler Colvin is still taking ground balls at first base, but the Cubs are not going to rush him into game action at his new position.
• Carlos Zambrano flew home to Venezuela to be with his nephew during an illness. He will rejoin the team this weekend and is scheduled to start against the Pirates on Monday.
• Lefty Scott Maine was called up from AAA-Iowa on Tuesday night and made his big league debut on Friday against the Reds. He is the 10th Cubs rookie to break into the bigs this season.
• Justin Berg was optioned back to Triple-A but should be back in the 'pen when rosters expand this coming week.
• Jim Hendry has started the interviewing process to find the next Cubs manager. According to Paul Sullivan, Eric Wedge has received the first known interview for the Cubs job.
• Joe Girardi, who is in town for the White Sox/Yankees series, met with the Chicago media before the game last night. Girardi says that he is focused on the Yankees and winning this year. He is not worried about his contract situation or coming to the Cubs at this point.
• Happy 67th birthday to former Cubs manager Lou Piniella and a happy 28th to tonight's Cubs starter Randy Wells!
• Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers placed Ted Lilly on waivers yesterday, but Jayson Starks says a trade is unlikely.
• Gordon Wittenmyer has sources that tell him that Girardi would be a candidate, possibly a leading candidate, to land the Cubs job if he is available.
• Jon Heyman gave his take on the opening. He says that many feel it will be Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade is a long shot, and Girardi is listed as the second most likely guy. Tony LaRussa and Bobby Valentine could also be in the mix according to Heyman.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

Bullpen Moves: Heilman traded, Grabow re-signs

According to Jon Heyman, the Cubs have traded Aaron Heilman to the Arizona Diamondbacks! The first real move of the offseason for the Chicago Cubs. Heilman was traded from the Mets to the Mariners last offseason, then the M's shipped him to Chicago, and now the Cubs have sent him to AZ.

The Cubs were expected to non-tender Heilman, so they were happy to get a few prospects for him. They received pitcher Scott Maine and first baseman Ryan White in return for him.

Some Notes on Scott Maine:

• Left handed pitcher
• 24 years old
• Drafted by the D'backs in the 6th round of the 2007 amateur entry draft
• Pitched in 36 games at AA Mobile in 2009. He had an ERA of 2.66 and a 3-3 record as a relief pitcher.
• Made 12 appearances at AAA Reno going 1-2 with a 3.68 ERA.
• Scout.com page

Notes on Ryne White:

• Spells his name like Ryne Sandberg!
• First baseman
• Born and went to High School in Chicago
• Went to college at Purdue University in Indiana
• Bats: Left, Throws: Left
• Selected by the D'backs in the 4th round of the 2008 draft
• Played the entire 2009 season at High Class A Visalia.
• In 116 games he hit .266 with a OBP of .371, 6 HR, 52 RBIs, and 3 SB.
• Hit .275 over his 2 minor league seasons so far.

The Bullpen re-gained a key member today as well, lefty John Grabow.

The Cubs signed Grabow to a 2 year deal worth about $7.5 M according to Bruce Levine. The deal is not yet official, but it will be "no later than Friday".

Stay tuned, it's Thursday so later we'll have our Cub Minor League Coverage post later! And this is just the start of what should be an interesting winter for our Cubbies...