The 40-Man Roster is Back Up to 37 and Other Bullets

chicago cubs logo featureAs it was yesterday, there’s a ton to discuss on various news and rumors, and also on Joe Maddon. But, for now, the “everything else” Bullets …

  • The Chicago Cubs’ 40-man roster is now officially at 37 after the re-signing of Tsuyoshi Wada, and the reinstatement of Justin Ruggiano and Ryan Sweeney from the 60-day disabled list (required yesterday). You can expect quite a bit more movement there, as the Cubs will add at least another couple pitchers externally (probably three, with two starters and a reliever coming), a few position players, and a few prospects to protect from the Rule 5 Draft (C.J. Edwards is the most obvious). From there, the Cubs may look to leave open a spot for the Rule 5 Draft, themselves, which takes place the first week of December. All in all, I’d expect five or six names to be trimmed from the 40-man as the offseason goes on, but obviously that can be impacted by trades.
  • We’ll await official decisions on the coaching staff, but Theo Epstein told Carrie Muskat not to expect “significant turnover.” Though he added that Maddon has the right to pick his guys. As I mentioned yesterday, pitching coach Chris Bosio was at Maddon’s press conference and was referenced by Maddon by name more than once, so I’d tentatively expect that to lock him up to return in 2015.
  • FanGraphs player of the year voting (Clayton Kershaw won over Mike Trout). No down-the-ballot love for Anthony Rizzo, but when you actually look at folks’ lists, it’s probably fair that he was just below the cut. A step forward in 2015, though, and man …
  • Hey, this is fun:
  • BN’er Rich is raising funds for a good cause via the Boston Marathon, and he asked if I would share his fundraising page. Yes, I will, Rich. Yes, I will.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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