In the middle of the night, Chicago Cubs reach an agreement with Jameson Taillon

Jameson Taillon reached an agreement with the Chicago Cubs just after midnight. According to Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan, Taillon has agreed to a 4-year, $68 million deal to join the Cubs rotation. The 31-year-old Taillon has spent the past two seasons with the New York Yankees. Last season, he posted a 3.91 ERA and a 1.128 WHIP.

Last year, Chicago’s starting rotation had several bright spots. Taillon gives the team potential to take that rotation to the next level. Jameson Taillon should fit nicely amongst names like Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele. With plenty of pitchers still on the market, it will be interesting to see how or if the Cubs prioritize adding another starting pitcher.

The Cubs have now added Cody Bellinger and Jameson Taillon during these winter meetings. It seems increasingly likely that the team is still greatly interested in adding a shortstop. Be on the lookout for more big-time moves as meetings progress.

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SAN DIEGO – Tuesday afternoon, the Cubs addressed center field. Tuesday night, they started fortifying their pitching staff.

The Cubs agreed to terms with right-hander Jameson Taillon on a four-year, $68million contract, according to multiple reports. The move capped a day that included the Cubs’ first winter meetings splash: agreeing to a one-year deal with Cody Bellinger.

Taillon entered free agency after posting a 3.91 ERA in the Yankees rotation last season. And his ability to limit walks – he allowed 1.61 walks per nine innings last season, tied for fourth-best in the American League – stood out.

He’s also familiar with the NL Central after spending the first four seasons of his MLB career with the Pirates, who drafted him No. 2 overall out of high school in 2010.

Taillon, 31, joins a largely youthful Cubs rotation, led by veterans Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks. But Hendricks missed much of last season with a strained right shoulder, and his health remains uncertain looking ahead to next year.

“I love what we have, I love the young group of guys,” Stroman said when asked about the pitching staff in late September. “I’ve said it before, I think we’re a few pieces away from being really, truly competitive in the league.”

The Cubs will continue to be active on the pitching market.

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Thornton is one of my favorite places to watch a game. The old gym in Harvey has a media table with a wonderful sightline to see all the action and Tai Streets’ teams are always competitive.

The less said about tonight’s game the better. Both Kankakee and Thornton have a lot of work to do over the next few months. Maybe I’ll check in with them again closer to the playoffs.

I’m glad I got a look at those two teams but for whatever reason I almost went up to see Lake Forest against Waukegan. Asa Thomas is always fun to watch and the Bulldogs have a high scoring freshman, Simereon Carter.

It wound up being a double-overtime thriller. Lake Forest won 53-46. Devin Malone led the Bulldogs with 19 and Carter was held to five points. I didn’t see any stats for the Scouts.

This is probably a good time to explain the notebook. There are a lot of new coaches and readers since the last time I did so. Basically, when I get home from whatever game I covered I scour through my Twitter feed, texts and emails and pick out the game scores and highlights that are the most interesting to me.

I tend to see most things that are on Twitter but if you tag @michaelsobrien you are much more likely to get in the notebook. I also try to retweet everything I’m tagged in. My email is [email protected].

So, ranked team or not, please go ahead and send me your scores and highlights. Also, full names are important. If a team just sends out last names they are fairly unlikely to wind up in the notebook. I don’t have time to google a bunch of guys if I don’t know them, sorry. Not everything I’m sent winds up in the notebook, that would be impossible, but I try and get a cross-section of the area represented.

Thanks for reading.

Tuesday’s top games

Mount Carmel 66, St. Laurence 52: The Caravan trailed by nine at the half but got it done. DeAndre Craig scored 14 in the fourth quarter and finished with 25. Tre Marks, who really opened my eyes at the Chicago Elite Classic, had 12 points and 17 rebounds. I know St. Laurence was young last season and I didn’t get the chance to cover them. It appears the Vikings have a team worth checking out.

St. Viator 51, Marian Catholic 48: An ESCC upset! Eli Aldana returned from injury to score 17 points and made the game-winner at the buzzer.

Hyde Park 78, Lindblom 64: The Thunderbirds’ big three put up big numbers. Da’Marion Morris had 20 points and five assists, Jurrell Baldwin added 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists and Cam Williford had 14 points and 10 assists.

Romeoville 71, Joliet Central 38: The Spartans fell out of the rankings last week but don’t forget about them. This win makes them 5-2. Meyoh Swansey had 18 points and seven assists and Troy Cicero scored 15 against his old team.

Oswego East 56, Yorkville 52: This was probably the place to be tonight but I had just covered the Wolves last week so it wasn’t a fit for my schedule. The Foxes were up by one with 1:45 left but couldn’t hold on and pull off the upset. Mekhi Lowery scored 20 and Jehvion Starwood added 17 for Oswego East. Jory Boley led Yorkville with 18.

Hoffman Estates 70, Elk Grove 48: Big game for DJ Wallace with 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. The Hawks are 6-1.

Ag. Science 48, Harlan 36: The number of undefeated teams is slowly decreasing. But the Cyclones are 7-0 and 2-0 in the White-South already. James White scored 12.

TF South 62, Argo 55: The first-ever notebook mention of the Red Wolves. Not sure what I think of that new nickname. Are there really red wolves? I guess I do know what I think. We have way too many big cat or big dog nicknames. Caleb Newman led TF South with 21 and Davonte Evans poured in 29 for the Argonauts (now that’s a nickname).

Kenwood 85, Brooks 40: There was a big freshman performance in this one. Noah Mister scored 18 and was 6 of 8 from three-point range. Dai Dai Ames added 16 and Aleks Alston scored 14.

Simeon 104, Morgan Park 31: Oh my. I’m told that the Wolverines didn’t even shoot for the final three minutes of the Battle of Vincennes. Sam Lewis led the way with 19 points and Miles Rubin added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Francis Parker 72, Elgin Academy 33: Payton Pitts, a player I’d like to get around to see this season, scored 24 and Caleb David addies 22 points and seven assists.

Prospect 49, Palatine 48: Another upset. The Knights were just 1-5 heading into this one and Palatine was expected to be one of the top teams in the MSL. I didn’t see any Prospect stats but Tyler Swierczek and Connor May each had 13 for the Pirates.

Wheeling 45, Schaumburg 42: RJ Gamble scored 19 and Josh Hutchinson added 12. Wheeling is fantastic about emailing scores and highlights (win or lose) and even include their opponents’ stats. Kudos to Tom Antosz for that. Josh Carter led the Saxons with 12 points.

Barrington 71, Buffalo Grove 45: Remember where the Broncos finished the season last year? They lost an awful lot but are still a perfect 6-0. Dillon Schmidt scored 18 and Donovan Nichols added 17.

Curie 67, Phillips 64: Closer than expected

Taft 69, Niles West 56: I really enjoyed watching Taft at the Chicago Elite Classic. Andre Harris is clearly doing a good job with the group. The Eagles were unselfish and played so crisply together they were more than the sum of their parts. And that was in a loss. Lyle Scibor led them with 20 points in tonight’s win and Frank Paszkowski added 15.

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Vincent Rainey was the leading scorer in some of last season’s biggest games. That experience is certainly helpful, but everything has changed for Rainey and Thornton this year.

“It’s been a big switch,” Rainey said. “Last year I was just a pick and pop shooter. This year I have the ball in my hands and they are counting on me to play defense and be a leader.”

Rainey came through when it counted in Thornton’s 38-32 win against Kankakee on Tuesday in Harvey. The senior made three of four free throws in the final 1:30 and scored the basket that put it out of reach for the Kays.

“We just had to be feisty,” Rainey said. “We had to come out as dogs and finish the game.”

Neither team had much success offensively. Kankakee was 9-for-51 shooting and Thornton was 13 of 41.

“Two great defensive teams,” Thornton coach Tai Streets joked. “That was an ugly, ugly game. That’s how we have to play. It’s going to be tough all year for us. We just have to find a way to win. I’ll take it a win any way I can get it. It’s going to be a struggle.”

Thornton (2-3, 1-1 Southland) turned the ball over 21 times. With all the missed shots and turnovers, rebounding was crucial. Thurman Thomas, a 6-4 senior, stepped up for the Wildcats with 15 rebounds.

“I knew I could use my athleticism to crash the boards,” Thomas said. “That’s a big win for us. We need it to boost our momentum and get us going.”

Rainey scored 16 points and Tiyuan McDaniel added seven.

Kankakee (4-1, 0-1) is playing without its leading returning scorer and rebounder, 6-4 senior Devon Prude. He’s out with an injured ankle and is expected back this weekend.

“Missing [Prude] didn’t show in the first few games but it showed tonight,” Kankakee coach Chris Pickett said.

Junior Larenz Walters led the Kays with 13 points and CaRon Johnson added seven.

“We shot badly against Carbondale the other night but we were able to make baskets when it counted,” Pickett said. “That didn’t happen tonight.”

Kankakee only managed one field goal in the fourth quarter. But Thornton only had two.

“I’m going to keep at them,” Streets said. “I’m not ever going to give up. You never know. No one is great, besides Simeon.

Watch the final minute of Kankakee at Thornton:

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SAN DIEGO — White Sox fans hoping to hear about player acquisitions Tuesday had to settle for talk of current players bouncing back and playing with chips on their shoulders and being more motivated next season on the second day of the winter meetings.

”We’re having conversations, a little bit more trade than free agent today,” general manager Rick Hahn said. ”We’ll see if something comes together in the next 24 hours before these meetings end [Wednesday].

”Our preference is for something to come together, but we’re not going to force it. If it requires some uncharacteristic patience from those of us upstairs, then so be it. We’ll wait until things properly line up for us.”

Corner-outfield help is the top priority, followed by second base for the Sox, who signed free-agent starter Mike Clevinger on Monday.

Clevinger has something to prove after a subpar season with the Padres, and every Sox player has something he can work on after the team finished 81-81 in 2022. Hahn said that will be a recurring theme.

”This is a team that certainly, as a unit, knows that we were disappointing last year,” he said. ”You’re going to hear from several individuals that they have something to prove this year, and we like that.”

Count catcher Yasmani Grandal among them. Asked whether he was satisfied with the catching position as is with Grandal and Seby Zavala, Hahn said Grandal, who struggled at the plate and was hurt last season, ”when healthy has the talent to remain one of the elite catchers in the league.”

”He’ll be the first to tell you that due to health and other reasons, he didn’t perform at the level that he’s accustomed to in ’22, and him bouncing back in ’23 is important.”

Trade chatter

Hahn referred to closer Liam Hendriks being discussed in trade talks as ”just us doing our job.”

”Our pitching is viewed as an area of strength,” Hahn said. ”Obviously in this game, that’s something that’s coveted. We’re going to hear from teams with interest. We’re not doing our job if we’re not listening to what ideas people present.

”At the end, we’re certainly not out there shopping any individual player. But we can’t be close-minded to any ideas that may show up.”

Sox in World Baseball Classic

Third baseman Yoan Moncada and center fielder Luis Robert will play for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic for the first time, and shortstop Tim Anderson will play for the United States.

Manager Pedro Grifol said he sees the benefit in that, even though they might miss weeks of spring training because ”they’ve got to be ready to go at the beginning of March.”

The pressure will be real and the experience beneficial because of it.

”That’s the big stage,” Grifol said.

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NEWARK, N.J. — When Lukas Reichel woke up Tuesday in Rockford, he didn’t realize his first NHL appearance of the season was imminent.

But 800 miles east, Jonathan Toews was simultaneously waking up with flu-like symptoms in the Blackhawks’ Newark hotel, setting in motion a sequence of events that led to Reichel skating on the second line in the Hawks’ 3-0 loss to the Devils.

“It was pretty quick,” Reichel said. “Straight to the airport, driving an hour, and then the plane, hour and a half, and then straight to the rink.”

Reichel, the Hawks’ 20-year-old top forward prospect, didn’t get to take a nap or even eat lunch — he instead relied on “power bars and a banana” — but he still played 13:58 in his 12th career NHL appearance.

“He skated well,” coach Luke Richardson said. “He had a couple good moves with the puck tonight, and he showed some flash. It’s a tough game to come in — that team comes at you hard. And he didn’t get a lot of time on the power play, [where] I’m sure he’s a little more creative.”

Toews had made a late-afternoon push to play, but Richardson ultimately decided to hold him out. He then shuffled the lines to integrate Reichel, who primarily played center last season but who has moved back to left wing — the position he was originally drafted to play — this season.

He was primarily deployed next to Jason Dickinson, with Taylor Raddysh on the opposite wing. Philipp Kurashev, meanwhile, moved up to the first line — next to Patrick Kane and Max Domi — and also took over Toews’ bumper role on the top power-play unit.

Offense was nonetheless hard to find. The Hawks produced some odd-man rushes and attacking shifts in the first period, but those became less frequent as the night progressed. The Devils enjoyed a 36-18 advantage in scoring chances.

By the end, things felt very similar to the 3-0 defeat Sunday against the Islanders. The Hawks have now been shut out in consecutive games for the first time since 2015.

“[You] can’t win if you don’t score,” defenseman Jack Johnson said. “We had tons of chances. It wasn’t like we didn’t get our looks. We just [need] to bear down and score. A couple missed the net, [and you] can’t score if you don’t hit the net.”

Unfortunately for Reichel, probably his most notable moment was a defensive coverage mixup on his fourth shift. It led to a goal against when Devils star Jack Hughes found Dougie Hamilton wide open on the weak side of the Hawks’ zone. Reichel had just come on during a line change and didn’t identify in time that Hamilton, despite being on the opposite side, was theoretically his man to mark.

Other than that, though, Reichel looked like one of the Hawks’ more impressive players, showing off his agility, elusiveness and vision in tight spaces on several occasions.

The league-leading Devils play at a speed few other teams can match, the Hawks included, but Reichel demonstrated an ability to — at least individually — match their pace. He was one of only four Hawks to finish with a positive expected-goals ratio during five-on-five play. He also drew a penalty when he took a late hit from Devils defenseman Brendan Smith.

“We all, as a team, can create more offense,” Reichel said. “But overall, it was solid game.”

Richardson didn’t indicate how long Reichel’s call-up would last, but the Hawks have generally emphasized patience with him.

He has thoroughly dominated the AHL — he touts 23 points in 19 games this season, including nine points in his last five games — but hasn’t yet proven he’s ready to handle a top-six NHL role on an every-night basis. It’s possible, though, this could be his chance to prove that.

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Lukas Reichel has been recalled by the Blackhawks from Rockford

The Chicago Blackhawks today announced that they have recalled forward Lukas Reichel from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League.

Reichel, 20, ranks tied for ninth among all AHL skaters with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 19 games this season. He’s currently riding a five-game point streak with the IceHogs and has four goals and five assists over that stretch.

In addition, the franchise placed goaltender Petr Mrazek (groin) on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 3. while forward Jonathan Toews will not play in tonight’s game versus New Jersey Devils due to a non-COVID related illness.

The Blackhawks want Reichel to continue developing in Rockford this season, but the call-up is a nice little reward for Chicago’s No. 17 overall pick in 2020. He had only one point (an assist) in 11 games last season with the Blackhawks and averaged 13:11 of ice time.

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

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