NEWSLETTER
Today, as they’d been expected to do, the Chicago Cubs added Brent Lillibridge and Hisanori Takahashi to the 40-man roster, and sent Scott Baker to the 60-day disabled list to accommodate one of the moves (the 40-man had been at 39). Lillibridge is expected to start at second base for the Cubs tomorrow, with Darwin Barney probably heading to the disabled list after cutting his knee yesterday.
Steve Clevenger has also made the club, and Alberto Gonzalez is traveling with the team to Pittsburgh in case Barney does go on the DL. If he does, and if the Cubs haven’t picked anyone up off of the waiver wire, Gonzalez will probably replace Barney, but will need a 40-man roster spot. All of that will be sorted out shortly, perhaps early tomorrow.
Baker, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery (and a recent setback thereof), is now not eligible to pitch for the Cubs until May 31 at the very earliest, though he’s not expected back until mid to late June.
The Cubs also put Matt Garza (lat) and Ian Stewart (quad) on the 15-day disabled list, as expected. Garza won’t be back until May, and Stewart is likely coming back around the same time. That’s without setbacks, of course.
Brett Jackson was officially optioned to AAA Iowa, where he’ll play for at least a couple months – hopefully then forcing the issue with an improved contact rate.
We’ll see if the Cubs grab anyone who was dumped in the last day or two, but, if they don’t, the rosters are set for the start of the season.
Which, like, did I mention that the season starts tomorrow? Finally.
