MESA, ARIZ. – Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is not viewing the first day of spring training as a hard deadline for extension talks with Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner’s camps.

“We’ve had good dialogue with both sides,” Hoyer said Wednesday. “We’re not going to cut it off because we’re here today. Like I said, my preference is really not to get towards the end of spring training and get to a place where I feel like it’s affecting the preparation and mentality, I would say, for the season.”

He’d shared that sentiment earlier in the offseason, and he said he’s also communicated that preference to the players’ representatives. Hoyer wouldn’t divulge how much progress had been made in extension talks, per team policy, but he characterized them as “positive conversations.”

Hoerner sill has two years of arbitration left, so even if the Cubs don’t reach an extension agreement with him this spring, they could come back to the table. Happ, on the other hand, is in his final year of club control.

Injured list decisions

The Cubs may put reliever Codi Heuer on the 60-day IL to start the season, Hoyer revealed on Wednesday.

Heuer is working back from Tommy John surgery and was targeting late June or early July for his return. But he’s shown good progress. He threw off a mound on Wednesday as one of seven pitchers scheduled for bullpens on the first day of Spring Training.

Starter Kyle Hendricks’ timeline is less certain as he works back from missing the last three months of the 2022 season with a shoulder strain. He’s in the long-toss portion of his throwing program, approaching the next step: throwing off a mound.

“We know he’s going to be delayed; we’ll have a lot of discussions about how much,” Hoyer said. “But certainly, we’re prepared to start the season without him, and we’ll see when he comes back. But the most important thing is getting back to pitching like Kyle Hendricks, and we’re willing to wait a little while for that.”

Stroman applauds WBC

Right-hander Marcus Stroman isn’t just excited about returning to the World Baseball Classic, this time representing Puerto Rico after winning a championship and MVP award with the United States in 2017.

“The WBC experience is the best experience I’ve had playing baseball,” Stroman said. “I’ll tell everybody that there’s that excitement, that level of energy, you don’t get that in an MLB game.”

He remembers covering his ears to warm up a half an hour before the United States’ game against the Dominican Republic during pool play in Miami.

“Just because the sound was overwhelming,” he said. “And those are the type of things that excite me. I feel like those are the environments, the moments you want to be in and play in. I can’t wait to compete in that tournament because I feel like it displays baseball in the best light.”

He is one of 17 members of the Cubs organization on WBC rosters this spring.

Quotable

“From just the little bit of time that I’ve been here, you’ve got a lot of guys that care about each other. And we always would have a saying that good teams hang out together. And I feel like this can embody that.” – Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson on his new teammates

Read More

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox opened spring training Wednesday, and what a day it wasn’t.

Hope didn’t spring eternal. The anticipated feeling that a fresh start was all the Sox would need after a miserable 2022 was undetectable in the air. The sounds of baseballs popping against fresh leather failed to ring out like church music.

Instead, on the Sox’ side of Camelback Ranch, it was tense and gloomy, with a dark cloud already hanging over the 2023 team and season.

Have the Sox stepped in it again?

Can general manager Rick Hahn and the front office be trusted to ever get this right again?

Was signing pitcher Mike Clevinger, who’s being investigated by Major League Baseball after allegations of domestic violence brought by the mother of his 10-month-old daughter, a damning, defining mistake?

Happy spring training, Sox fans. The whole thing has gone negative already.

“I regret the fact that we’re sitting here today talking about this,” Hahn said. “I understand why we’re doing it. Obviously, we have to.

“But this is a year in which we have high expectations. We have a new staff that’s trying to hit the ground running to help us fulfill those expectations, and we’ve got a heck of a lot of players in that clubhouse right now who feel like they’ve got something to prove.”

There are all kinds of questions about these Sox, of course. How they’ll move on under a new manager, Pedro Grifol, after the Tony La Russa experiment — bewildering, to say the least — ran aground. How they’ll move on without Jose Abreu. Whether or not this roster, even as it has been tinkered with, is capable of adding up to the sum of its talented parts.

But it isn’t just the players who have something to prove. The front office — with long-timer Hahn in its forward-facing role — has failed to inspire confidence on an ongoing basis. No, the Sox still haven’t won a postseason series since 2005. No, they never should have hired chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’s old pal La Russa. No, they haven’t come close to taking full advantage of what they believed to their core was a championship window.

A few years ago, Hahn and the Sox were being lauded for the progress of their rebuild. Where did all that goodwill go? Why does it seem as though the Cubs have suddenly gone from sad sacks to the only Chicago baseball team anyone is excited about?

Hahn might be exactly right when he says “there was no way for [the Sox] to be aware” of the Clevinger investigation before they signed him to a one-year, $12 million contract in December. Confidentiality indeed is — for the benefits of both accused and accusers — a critical element in an open investigation according to the collectively bargained policy between MLB and the players association. Hahn, who has a Harvard law degree, emphasized that repeatedly during a Q&A with media on the back fields of the Sox complex in which he looked and sounded not only disappointed and frustrated but perhaps even wounded.

But Clevinger pitched for the Padres throughout the second half of last season and into the playoffs while reportedly being investigated. Could the Sox have dug deeper into the vetting process? Were they thorough enough in their background checks on a player who, in 2020, was kicked to the curb by the Guardians for violating COVID-19 safety protocols during a trip to Chicago and apparently was untruthful with his own teammates during that episode? In meetings with Clevinger and his agent before signing the pitcher, did the Sox ask all the necessary questions?

“It’s a very fair question, the question about the level of due diligence that we do,” Hahn said.

Hahn maintains there was “no indication of anything close” in Clevinger’s background to what has been alleged in this case. Clevinger met with reporters after Hahn and passionately denied having done anything wrong.

“If Rick Hahn’s reputation, if the confidence in me and the front office is adversely affected by this because there needs to be confidentiality in these investigations, that’s OK in the end, frankly,” Hahn said. “The overall good and need and effectiveness of the policy is more important than me necessarily making fully informed decisions. That’s reality.

“But I’m certainly going to take whatever slings and arrows come our way, understandably.”

Either way, there’s still that dark cloud, and it isn’t going anywhere for as long as the Sox wait for the investigation to play out. It’s going to be a tense spring.

Read More

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Closer Liam Hendriks has been checking in at the White Sox training complex in recent weeks, is doing some baseball work and is in “very good spirits” while undergoing treatment for Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, general manager Rick Hahn said.

Hendriks is progressing but the Sox won’t have an update on his status until closer to Opening Day.

“I want to reiterate and respect Liam’s wishes that Liam likely won’t be available publicly until closer to Opening Day once we have a little more firm understanding of what lies ahead for him,” Hahn said on the day pitchers and catchers reported to spring training Wednesday. “However, he is here on a fairly regular basis doing work, he’s in good spirits. Feel free to say hi to him when you see him in the coming weeks.”

The Sox closer options in Hendriks’ absence include Kendall Graveman and Reynaldo Lopez, or mix-and-match possibilities with those two plus Joe Kelly and Aaron Bummer.

“It’s a little too early to really get into specifics on that,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “The good thing is we have a number of guys who have pitched late leverage (and) the makeup of this bullpen is we have experience we feel can pitch the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.”

Left-hander Garrett Crochet should be fully recovered from Tommy John surgery and available by mid-May.

Early birds

Every pitcher and catcher was on time, and there are no visa issues with any foreign players, Hahn said. Position players are not required to report till Monday but Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, Yoan Moncada, Billy Hamilton and third base prospect Bryan Ramos are already in camp.

Moncada is playing for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic this spring and took live batting practice against Lance Lynn, who is ahead of schedule as he prepares to play for Team USA in the WBC.

Camp Grifol

Hahn went out of his way to praise Grifol as he begins his first year on the job.

“It’s hard for me to do justice to how impressive Pedro and his staff have been over the last few weeks and month,” Hahn said. “He and his staff have been face-to-face with several players. The energy, the focus, the attention to detail has been fantastic to date and we’re very much looking forward to getting this thing going in earnest.

“There’s going to be different messaging and different game prep. We made very significant changes to our coaching staff. I think that answers one of the elements we thought we could get better in.”

La Russa update

Tony La Russa, who stepped down late last season for health reasons, would have been in the third year of his contract. But Hahn doesn’t expect to see La Russa, who has a home in Arizona, around camp.

“I talked to him last week for a while. He was doing well,” Hahn said. “He’s continuing to get treatments, and his No. 1 focus remains his health. So I don’t suspect you’ll see him here. Perhaps we can get him out to sit and watch a game or something, enjoy some ball. But right now, his No. 1 job remains getting himself healthy.”

Schultz gets noticed

First-round draft pick Noah Schultz, a 19-year-old 6-9 lefty, made an impression on Kelly.

“The firstcomplaint I heard from a player this spring was [from] Joe Kelly,” Hahn said. “When I walked in the clubhouse this morning, he asked me why Noah Schultz wasn’t in big league camp because he has better stuff than Joe.”

Read More

As Major League Baseball’s investigation into allegations of domestic violence against new Mike Clevinger continued, the White Sox right-hander vehemently denied the accusations on the first day of spring training Wednesday at Camelback Ranch.

Clevinger expects to be cleared by MLB and pitch this season for the White Sox, who signed him to a one-year, $12 million contract as a free agent this winter.

“It’s really embarrassing,” Clevinger, 32, said. “It’s not who I am. And now I need to sit here and answer questions like I am one of those people. I’m here to answer to the bell and excited to see when the facts come out.”

“I am,” Clevinger said when asked if he expects to be exonerated by MLB. “I’m confident. I am.”

It was somewhat surprising that Clevinger stepped up to talk publicly hours after addressing teammates in the clubhouse, where he said he regretted causing a distraction on the first day of camp.

“I didn’t have to, but yeah,” he said. “It’s the elephant in the room. I wanted to address it. I’m not going to hide away from it. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not running away from this.”

The White Sox must wait for Major League Baseball to conclude its investigation, which has been ongoing for months. If they cut him from the roster, they would still owe his salary and would face a grievance from the players association.

Manager Pedro Grifol said he expects Clevinger to pitch for the Sox this season.

“We signed him to be a part of the rotation,” Grifol said. “He’s here in camp and working to be a part of it, a big part of it.”

It was first-year manager Grifol’s first day on the job as pitchers and catchers reported for spring training. It was Clevinger’s first official day, although he checked in to the Sox training complex Friday, he said.

“I’m pretty disappointed we have to start off this way,” Clevinger said. “This is pretty devastating to me and my family and I know I feel terrible for my teammates having to answer questions from you, and for you to have to ask them a bunch of questions about this. I trust the process from MLB, I really do. I think there’s a reason I’m sitting in front of you today. I’m just asking everyone to wait before they rust to judgment. Wait until the actual facts are out there, wait until there’s actual evidence, and then make your decision on who you think I am.

”This is pretty devastating to me and my family,” he said. “And I know I feel terrible for all my teammates having to answer questions.”

“I’m just asking everyone to wait before they rush to judgment. Wait until the actual facts are out there. Wait until there’s actual evidence and then make a decision on me.”

Read More

The Chicago Bears announced Wednesday that they had closed on a 326-acre former horse race track in Arlington Heights, putting them one step closer to leaving the city and drawing swift reactions from fans.

Many had dreams of seeing their budding star quarterback Justin Fields flourish under a dome in a state-of-the-art facility. But others wanted the team to change its name if it moved out of the city.

“Can’t wait to see the new stadium!” said one fan on Twitter.

“Have you guys planned out where the Justin Fields statue will go? cuz he’s getting one,” said another.

Jay Rembert, 41, who has been a fan of the Bears since he was a child, said he loved the move, and though he still has fond feelings toward Soldier Field he thinks the team has outgrown the stadium’s current space.

“I Love it. No offense to Soldier Field, but it’s very congested and condensed in that area,” Rembert said. “I think the new stadium would be beneficial for every Bears fan. Not to mention more seats for more fans to celebrate.”

In an open letter, the team emphasized that buying the site provides no certainty of a new stadium. Chicago officials have offered proposals for upgrades to Soldier Field, including a dome, in an effort to keep the team in the city.

But not everyone was happy about the idea of the team hosting its home games in the northwest suburbs.

“Hoping you do the right thing and give up the name “Chicago Bears” and the entire team history to a new expansion team that will actually play in the city of Chicago,” said one fan.

Read More

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

BIG NORTHERN

Dixon at Oregon, 7:15

DU KANE

Batavia at St. Charles North, 7:00

Glenbard North at Wheaton-Warr. South, 7:15

Lake Park at Geneva, 7:00

Wheaton North at St. Charles East, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Latin at University High, 6:00

KISHWAUKEE RIVER

Johnsburg at Richmond-Burton, 7:00

Marengo at Harvard, 7:15

NIC – 10

Freeport at Belvidere, 7:00

Guilford at Auburn, 7:00

Harlem at Boylan, 6:30

Hononegah at Jefferson, 7:00

Rockford East at Belvidere North, 7:00

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Zion-Benton, 7:00

Lake Zurich at Warren, 7:00

NORTHEASTERN ATHLETIC

Mooseheart at Alden-Hebron, 7:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – BLUE

Bolingbrook at Sandburg, 6:00

NON CONFERENCE

ACERO-Cruz at Mogan Park Academy, 5:30

Alcott at Senn, 5:00

Bartlett at Marmion, 7:00

Beacon at Fasman Yeshiva, 8:00

Catalyst-Maria at Brooks, 5:00

EPIC at Harlan, 5:00

Evergreen Park at Providence, 7:00

Flanagan-Cornell at Woodland, 7:00

Gary Lightouse (IN) at Morgan Park, 7:00

Genoa-Kingston at Sycamore, 7:00

Hansberry at Eisenhower, 6:00

Harvest Christian at Woodstock North, 7:00

Holy Trinity at ITW-Speer, 5:00

Johnson at Vocational, 5:00

Juarez at Kennedy, 6:30

Lane at Von Steuben, 6:30

Lycee Francais at Cristo Rey, 6:30

Morgan Park Academy at ACERO-Cruz, 4:30

Newman at Rock Falls, 7:00

Noble Academy at Legal Prep, 5:00

Noble Street at ITW-Speer, 5:30

North Shore at Amundsen, 6:30

Ogden at Prosser, 6:30

Payton at Oak Forest, 7:00

Phoenix at Argo, 6:00

Putnam County at St. Bede, 7:00

Raby at Prosser, 7:00

Southland at Shepard, 6:30

St. Laurence at St. Francis de Sales, 6:00

Yorkville Christian at St. Ignatius, CNL

CENTRAL SUBURBAN CROSSOVERS

Championship

Niles North at New Trier, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP TOURNAMENT

Championship

Ida Crown at Christ the King, 7:00

MID SUBURBAN CROSSOVERS

Championship

Palatine at Rolling Meadows, 7:00

Read More