Chicago Sports

MESA, ARIZ. – The Cubs signed corner infielder Edwin R?os to a one-year contract on Friday. The deal was worth $1 million, according to a source.

He was already with the team at the spring training site in Mesa, Arizona when the deal became official.

In a corresponding move, the Cubs put reliever Ethan Roberts (Tommy John surgery) on the 60-day injured list.

R?os, a left-handed hitter, joins the position battle at third base, one that includes Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal and Zach McKinstry. He also adds depth to the Cubs’ first base options and can play the corner outfield. R?os has a minor-league option year left and two more years of club control remaining after this season.

In four years with the Dodgers, R?os played a total of 112 games. He was slashing .244/.293/.500 with seven home runs last year before a hamstring injury and trip to the 60-day IL interrupted his season in early June. When he returned from injury, the Dodgers optioned him to Triple-A.

Roberts was an obvious 60-day IL candidate. He’s in the fourth week of his throwing program, stretched out to 75 feet on flat ground. He told the Sun-Times he’s targeting a full return about 14 months post-op, which would be in September.

“It sucks — I put the team in a bad spot with me being on the IL for a year and a half,” Roberts said. “It’s terrible. But this organization has been really good to me. Fans have been awesome. And I’m gonna make it up to them. It’s going to be fun. Just got to give me a little bit of time, but I’m going to make it up to everybody.”

Game of telephone

PitchCom is evolving, with MLB now permitting pitchers to wear devices to call their own pitches, rather than signs always going from the catcher to the pitcher. Though much of the Cubs pitching staff has given PitchCom positive reviews since implementing it last year, introducing the two-way system isn’t that simple.

“The one thing we just get concerned about is if the pitchers hitting it and the catcher’s hitting at the same time and stuff’s getting relayed back and forth,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “[Before] the catcher would put down a sign, a guy would shake, there’s a direct line of communication. When it’s just people hitting buttons, things can get a little disconnected.”

Fulmer sighting

Right-handed reliever Michael Fulmer sat in front of a locker bearing his name in the Sloan Park complex clubhouse Friday morning. But the Cubs had yet to clear a spot on the 40-man roster to make his signing official. Fulmer is joining the Cubs on a one-year, $4 million contract, a source confirmed.

Read More

High school kids are awkward. That’s natural. High school big men take things to another level. No matter how promising a prospect is, when you get to 6-9 and taller there is almost always a hitch, a hesitation, some kind of very obvious flaw.

Drew Scharnowski, Burlington Central’s 6-9 senior, somehow avoided most of that. He flows and floats on the court with an easy athleticism that is uncommon.

Scharnowski has no clue how that grace happened and (probably correctly) puts it down to good genes.

“It just comes like that to me,” Scharnowski said. “My dad has always been tall and moves well and my mom was a Division I swimmer.”

Scharnowski took the good fortune and made himself into a dominant basketball player, not just a tall kid.

The Belmont recruit is averaging 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. He finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in three quarters of play on the road Friday, leading the Rockets to a 60-47 win against Huntley.

“[Scharnowski] is a hard worker,” teammate Nick Gouriotis said. “I’ve been there for a lot of that. He might be the hardest worker I know. It’s awesome because you see the progression. Each year he just gets better mentally, physically and just as a basketball player as a whole.”

Scharnowski is generally acknowledged as the best player in Burlington Central history.

“Some great players have come through here but with what he’s done this year he has cemented his legacy,” Rockets coach Brett Porto said.

Burlington Central (26-5, 15-2 Fox Valley) jumped on Huntley quickly, forcing a flurry of turnovers in the first few minutes of the game. The Red Raiders (20-10, 12-6) righted the ship and kept things close until midway through the third quarter when the Rockets went on a 10-0 run, led 46-27 and never looked back.

Burlington Central has been on the cusp of the Super 25 all season, but never cracked the rankings. The Rockets won their conference and are one of the two top seeds in the Class 3A Burlington Central Sectional.

All that success is a bit of a surprise. Scharnowski was expected to be excellent, but the Rockets lost every other starter from last year’s team, which was 31-4.

Several of Scharnowski’s senior classmates stepped up, including Gouriotis and Matt Lemon, the son of Daily Herald sportswriter John Lemon.

Lemon set a school record for assists this season with more than 160.

“I have pictures of myself at like three years old watching high school basketball with my dad,” Lemon said. “So it’s been special to get a chance to play and have this kind of a season. I remember going to Geneva-Batavia rivalries and the St. Charles games my dad was covering.”

So Lemon, a teenager that has already seen hundreds of high school basketball games, knows his teammate is special.

“With [Scharnowski] it’s basically like playing with another guard,” Lemon said. “You can put him anywhere on the court, one through five. It’s amazing to get to play with someone like that.”

Read More

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It started during the offseason and, as expected, is a talking point during the first week of spring training. The White Sox are using the disappointment of 2022 as a rallying point.

”You probably heard multiple guys in the clubhouse say we have something to prove to ourselves, to the fans, to the league,” right-hander Michael Kopech said Friday. ”We should have had a better season last year. We have the talent; we always seem to have the talent. It’s a matter of coming together and doing the little things right.”

Limited to 25 starts and 119 1/3 innings because of knee and shoulder problems in his first full season as a starter in 2022, Kopech — who will turn 27 in April — wants to prove he can stay healthy and make 30-plus starts in the middle of the rotation. He had a 3.54 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 57 walks in 2022.

Kopech ended the season on the injured list with shoulder inflammation and had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

”The knee’s feeling better, the shoulder’s feeling better,” Kopech said. ”But it’s just kind of smoothing things out and getting back to 100%.”

Manager Pedro Grifol said Kopech ”is right on pace” to be ready at the start of the season, but he most likely won’t pitch until the second series after the Sox open in Houston. That means a potential start in the home opener April 3 against the Giants.

Lauding ‘Yas’

Catcher Yasmani Grandal battled leg injuries, appeared in only 99 games and batted .202/.301/.269 with five home runs last season. He also struggled defensively.

But Grifol opened his post-workout media session talking about how good Grandal looked throwing to second base.

”He’s healthy,” Grifol said.

The biggest thing for Grandal, who went through an intense offseason training regimen, is his ability to work with healthier legs.

”His work capacity is really high,” Grifol said. ”Before, his work capacity wasn’t as high; you couldn’t rep him out the way we’re repping him out now. . . . That means the work in the offseason was really good and his body is allowing him to work at a high level for a longer period of time.”

Grifol said he will play Grandal’s workload by ear. He expects him to catch a lot in Cactus League games and in as many games as possible in the regular season.

”I really haven’t thought about him as a DH,” Grifol said. ”That doesn’t mean that he’s not gonna. He’s our catcher. And we want him to catch.”

Robert MVP material, Grifol says

Center fielder Luis Robert also dealt with injuries in 2022 and was limited to 98 games.

If Robert even approaches 150 games, Grifol said: ”This guy has an opportunity to win an MVP. If he puts it all together, it’s special. We’ve all seen the power, we’ve seen the speed, we’ve seen the way he runs out there in center field, how he plays defense and steals bases. There’s really nothing he can’t do on a baseball field. We just have to keep him on the field.”

Read More

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Two days after a press conference on the first day of White Sox spring training in which he addressed allegations of domestic abuse and a Major League Baseball investigation into his conduct, pitcher Mike Clevinger sharpened his tone in an interview with the Sun-Times.

It began with the 32-year-old right-hander being asked about Wednesday’s lengthy appearance on 670 The Score’s “Parkins & Spiegel” show by his accuser, Olivia Finestead, the mother of his 10-month-old daughter.

Finestead painted a sordid picture of Clevinger, accusing him of having “choked” her last June and taken her phone so she couldn’t call the police. She also described him as a drug abuser who drove a car while on acid with her — and his two other young children from another woman — as passengers, and as a serial cheater and abuser who is in need of “drug rehab and therapy.”

Finestead also said she filed a police report against Clevinger after learning he intended to seek full custody of their child.

And she took issue with Clevinger’s comments in his press conference, during which he denied having done anything wrong and complained of being mischaracterized “like I am one of those people.”

“For him to sit there and be like, ‘Oh, poor me on my first day [in camp]?’ Like, your poor baby. Your poor other kids,” she said. “He’s just so full of himself and such a narcissist that he will deny, lie and project every day. That’s just who he is.”

Clevinger fired back at The Score.

“It’s the world we’re living in,” he said. “Everyone wants the clicks. It doesn’t matter what the real truth is. Everyone will stop and look at the car crash, but no one’s going to stop and smell the flowers. That’s how the world is. But that was really trashy of them. That was some lowlife material right there.”

Clevinger warned of potential litigation against the station in response.

“My lawyers are paying attention,” he said. “My lawyers are getting in contact with them and they probably already sent a cease-and-desist for defamation. So [The Score] just got themselves involved in this, too, so good for them.”

Score operations director Mitch Rosen declined to comment.

On Wednesday — after Sox general manager Rick Hahn defended the team’s December signing of Clevinger, saying it was unaware of MLB’s investigation — Clevinger claimed not to have known the seven-month-long investigation was ongoing. Two days later, however, he said he has been cooperating with MLB throughout it.

“I trust the process,” he said. “I trust the commissioner’s office. I’ve turned over everything for seven months. I’ve had my phone [inspected] twice. I’m an open book. I think justice will be served.”

Meanwhile, the Sox are deservedly facing scrutiny and criticism for bringing in a player with a checkered past that includes violating COVID-19 protocols along with then-teammate Zach Plesac during a series in Chicago in 2020 when both were pitching for the Guardians. That indiscretion — which Clevinger reportedly attempted to hide from the team even after Plesac had been caught — earned him a trade from Cleveland.

Clevinger also has potentially troubling ties to pitcher Trevor Bauer, who was suspended by MLB in 2022 during a sexual-assault investigation and later released by the Dodgers. According to Finestead, Bauer “reported Mike’s drug abuse and anger issues a year and a half ago.”

For as long as Clevinger is being investigated, his presence on the Sox will be an elephant-in-the-room issue that won’t go away.

Meeting the media Wednesday “definitely was uncomfortable, an uncomfortable scenario,” Clevinger said.

“But I respect that you guys have a job to do,” he said, “and I just thought if I could show my face, then maybe some of you guys would start respecting me and looking for real facts and evidence before you start trying to destroy my life.”

Read More

Former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy is quickly seeing his stock rise again after proving to be inconsistent during his first stint as a head coach in the National Football League.

After being fired as the Bears’ head coach last year, Nagy returned to the comfort of the Kansas City Chiefs organization where his friend, Andy Reid, threw him a lifeline by naming him the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach.

Mind you, the Chiefs’ quarterback is perennial MVP candidate Patrick Mahomes so to say that Nagy’s role as Chiefs’ quarterback coach was a cushion job would be an understatement.

Nevertheless, Nagy now has the Super Bowl ring that evaded him in 2018 when the Bears lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card round. The Chiefs winning the Super Bowl has allowed Bears fans to see a new version of Nagy.

The Chicago Bears didn’t get the most out of Matt Nagy during his tenure.

In short, Nagy was living his best life.

This does not appear to be the end of Nagy’s redemption arc either. Current Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy appears to be in line to name the next offensive coordinator of Washington Commanders and that puts Nagy in a firm position for promotion this offseason.

We could be an Andy Reid retirement away from seeing Nagy’s second stint as an NFL head coach. Though, this time, Nagy will have the quarterback in Mahomes and tight end in Travis Kelce that would allow for him to perfectly run his system.

Mahomes has already gone to great lengths to speak about the connection that he has with Nagy and that may be the reason why he is destined to be the eventual successor to Reid.

The connection between Nagy and Mahomes was first formed during the 2017 NFL draft process when the quarterback revealed he received some assistance from the former Bears’ head coach in regard to his pre-draft visit with the Chiefs.

Nagy was broken after his first season as the Bears’ head coach in 2018 and was never able to re-establish his footing.

It seems that he is on track to get another head coaching stint relatively soon and this time, he won’t have to worry about his offense scoring more than 17 points in order to advance in the NFL Playoffs.

Read More

It was the second half of the 2022 season, Justin Fields was running his way into the hearts of Bears fans and the McCaskeys surely were breathing a sigh of relief. Whatever critics wanted to say about Fields, they couldn’t argue that there was no future for him in Chicago. Very little controversy existed over which quarterback would lead the franchise into the future, at least for a few years.

That meant there’d be no major, gut-wrenching QB decision for ownership to OK in 2023, nothing that could haunt the Bears the way the decision to draft Mitch Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes in 2017 had.

Peace. Finally, the McCaskeys had quarterback peace.

Um, yeah, about that.

In a matter of a few months, things have changed. The Bears were bad enough last season to “earn” the No. 1 overall pick in the April draft. They still say they love Fields, and most experts think they’ll stick with him, trade the top pick and select a non-quarterback in the first round. But it’s turning into a big decision, one that could define the franchise for years to come.

What if the Bears keep Fields, and Alabama’s Bryce Young, projected to be the top quarterback in this year’s draft, turns out to be a once-in-generation player for another team?

What if the Bears choose Young and trade Fields, only to see Fields turn into a superstar for another team?

It would be so like the franchise to choose wrong this time around. Cynical? Yes. And your point is? The issue really isn’t whether Fields stays or goes, as crazy as that sounds. The issue is the team’s terrible habit of choosing the wrong quarterback. They’ve done it over and over since the 1950s.

If you adore Fields, there’s a good chance you’re going to be happy. The odds of the McCaskeys wanting to keep him seem high. They know an exciting player like Fields doesn’t come along often, and they know his skills translate into more fan interest, which translates into more profit for the family business. He has shown enough promise to earn the McCaskeys’ faith.

It’s my civic duty to point out that their faith is not necessarily a good thing.

The family has a tendency to fall in love with whichever quarterback is pushed in front of them. Jay Cutler was chairman George McCaskey’s favorite Bear when Cutler was snarling his way through an eight-year stay in Chicago. Trubisky was the kind of clean-cut, conscientious person the McCaskeys like for either quarterback or marketing intern. But neither player turned into the franchise quarterback the Bears were sure they’d be.

The fact that ownership is captivated by Fields the way so many Bears fans are … is that the kiss of death for Decision 2023?

The wild card this time around is new general manager Ryan Poles. He has an opportunity to build a team in his image. If the Bears win with Fields, will that success be because of Poles or because of former GM Ryan Pace, who drafted the quarterback in 2021? Ego sometimes affects vision.

When it comes to picking quarterbacks, the Bears are the bomb defuser who, given the choice of two wires, snips the wrong one. The team has so much shrapnel from past decisions that going through airport security is a nightmare. This is why longtime observers of the Bears are leery about the April draft. Even standing pat can blow up in the franchise’s face.

Three months ago, this didn’t seem like an issue. Then Young started moving up teams’ draft boards.

And then Fields started running, all the way to a single-season franchise record for rushing yards by a quarterback. No one can be certain if he’ll turn into a great passer. Under new coach Matt Eberflus, the Bears didn’t give him many chances to throw, and when they did, the results were uneven. It takes some imagination to project him as a dual-purpose quarterback. That’s where the risk comes in.

Once again, the McCaskeys and the people they’ve hired have a choice to make. I’m sure they thought they were out of the choosing business for a while.

Keep Fields and hope he turns into a terrific passer?

Or choose Young and hope his rookie contract means years of big individual and team success before the kid is due a huge payday?

If anyone has antacids on hand, I know a family that might be in need of some.

Read More

Friday, February 17, 2023

BIG NORTHERN

Stillman Valley at Rockford Christian, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – BLUE

St. Ignatius at St. Rita, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Burlington Central at Huntley, 5:30

Cary-Grove at Dundee-Crown, 7:30

Crystal Lake South at McHenry, 7:30

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Wauconda at Grant, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

ACERO-Cruz at MCC Academy, 4:45

Agricultural Science at Morgan Park, 7:15

Benet at DePaul, 7:00

Bowen at Northside, 5:00

Comer at Harlan, 5:00

Crete-Monee at St. Francis de Sales, 7:00

Glenbard West at St. Charles East, 7:00

Hancock at Kennedy, 7:00

Iroquois West at Clifton Central, 7:00

Jones at St. Patrick, 7:00

La Lumiere-Blue (IN) at Lake Forest Academy, 6:30

Lake Forest at Evanston, 7:00

Lake Park at Lyons, 7:30

Mount Carmel at University High, 6:30

Newark at Aurora Christian, 7:30

Orangeville at Christian Life, 7:00

Palatine at Hghland Park, 6:00

St. Edward at Lisle, 6:45

Thornridge at Lincoln-Way Central, 6:30

University High at Mount Carmel, 6:30

University High (Normal) at Rockford Lutheran, 7:0

Woodstock North at Antioch, 7:00

Read More

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Where player leadership comes from in the aftermath of Jose Abreu’s departure is one of the questions facing the White Sox during spring training. It was underlined in January when Eloy Jimenez was asked who would provide at and said he didn’t know.

Jimenez may have overlooked 6-5 right-hander Lance Lynn, the 35-year-old alpha dog in the clubhouse last season. Lynn is here again to anchor the top of the rotation with American League Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease and to be a respected voice who leads by example. But he won’t go it alone.

“You need more than one and anyone can be a leader at any time,” Lynn said Friday. “That’s what we are trying to figure out. We’ve got a lot of guys capable of a lot of things. But they have to take care of their stuff individually and if they do that, then everybody can come together.”

Because of language barriers, a leader can’t be all things to all people. But Lynn, who once said he was looked down upon during his central Indiana youth because his family lived in a trailer park, vowed never to give anyone the same treatment regardless of their status, position, salary or anything else. That goes a long way in a clubhouse.

“You can’t force it. Players see that,” Lynn said. “So, if you practice what you preach, show up every day and play the game hard, people will naturally kind of follow. That’s the way I was taught to do it. Do things the right way and compete. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself.”

Generally quiet off the field but vocal and demonstrative on it, Lynn’s body language can be loud and clear if teammates don’t make plays or bring the same intensity he is when he’s pitching. Lynn got into a heat-of-the-moment verbal exchange with former third base coach Joe McEwing in the dugout during the Sox’ frustrating 81-81 season in 2022.

“If you needed last year to have a chip on your shoulder, then you got one,” Lynn said. “But I’ve had one my whole life.”

Lynn is amped about pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, which is why he came to camp ahead of the other pitchers.

“Oh, he’s ramping it up,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s going to the WBC. He’s in pretty good shape right now. He’s almost close to where he wants to be and once that WBC starts he’ll be ready to go.”

Lynn pitched in the 2007 PanAm Games but has a deeper appreciation for wearing USA on his shirt now, he said.

“I’m looking forward to having that opportunity again and really understanding what it means,” he said. “Being a little older, it’s going to be fun.”

After posting a 2.69 ERA finishing third in American League Cy Young voting in 2021, his first season with the Sox, Lynn injured his knee in spring training last year and was limited to 21 starts. He pitched to a 3.99 ERA, but owned a 2.43 ERA in August and September.

With new manager Grifol in place, the inner workings of the clubhouse will begin to come tother in camp.

“The main thing is how are we going to go about our business. How are we going to play?” Lynn said. “What’s going to be expected of us everyday. How are we going to be held accountable not only in the clubhouse but from the coaching staff. We get all those things ironed out, we are going to be good.”

Read More

Marques Easley has lived all over the Midwest, but there has been one constant in the Kankakee junior’s life.

“I came out of my momma playing football,” the 6-foot-7, 300-pounder said.

Around the game since he was 3 years old, Easley is one of the state’s fastest-rising prospects. He is No. 11 among Illinois juniors in the 247Sports composite rankings, No. 39 nationally among offensive tackles.

His list of offers reads like a who’s who of college football, topping out with two-time defending national champion Georgia — a program that rarely recruits in Illinois — and Alabama.

In all, Easley has more than 30 Power Five offers, including 11 from the SEC and 10 from the Big Ten.

That doesn’t surprise Rivals recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove.

“Guys with his frame that move like he does don’t grow on trees,” Cosgrove said. “He is far from a finished product. [But] for him to move like he does at his size and stage of his career — that’s incredibly impressive.”

Easley has already begun taking official visits, including to Georgia, and has been impressed by the food offerings, among other things. “Barbecue, salmon, steak, seafood, desserts — everything you can think of,” Easley said. “Washington had a full taco bar.”

He’s looking for a good fit as well as a good meal, of course. The recruiting process, which for him started in earnest during his sophomore year, has been “stressful and enjoyable at the same time,” he said.

Those first college looks came when he was playing at Peoria Manual. Originally from Kankakee, he also lived in Columbus, Ohio, before moving to Peoria and returning home to play for the Kays.

His football journey has been equally wide-ranging.

“I was a quarterback, receiver,” Easley said. “Then I started getting bigger and narrowing it down.”

He also played basketball and baseball and competed in track and field, but it’s clear where his athletic future lies.

Easley has worked hard at his craft. He’s the only Illinois player with the elite California Power, which travels to seven-on-seven and five-on-five events all over the country and features athletes from Hawaii, Florida, Texas and Alabama, among other states.

Easley plans to take his time to get his college commitment right, and doesn’t expect to make a decision before the season starts in August.

But he said he could have a short list by then. And he does plan to sign in December, graduate at the semester break and head off to college for spring football.

For this frequent flier, it’ll be just another trip on a unique football journey.

Justin Scott delays decision

St. Ignatius defensive tackle Justin Scott, the state’s top junior and the No. 21 prospect nationally, announced on Twitter last month he is “postponing my commitment until further notice.”

Georgia also has made an offer to Scott, and the five-star prospect has an official visit planned for April, according to the On3 recruiting site.

The 6-5, 310-pounder is versatile enough that Alabama has offered him as an offensive lineman. He has around three dozen offers overall, which is no surprise given his rare combination of size and mobility.

“He’s just so athletic,” Cosgrove said.

Read More

Read More