Holiday Weekend Catch-Up: Cubs Roster Moves, Pirates, Cardinals, Baez, Lazarito, More

bn baseball featureThis past weekend, from which you very well may have checked out, given Friday’s holiday, was not especially busy. But with folks traveling before and after the holiday, I figured it would still be worth doing one of these catch-ups, and simply extending things back a little further. Plus, Wednesday was actually pretty active, so there was a lot then that you may have missed.

Wednesday, December 23

  • The Cubs pulled some starters relatively early throughout the year in 2015, and I have some thoughts on what you’ll see in that regard in 2016.
  • The top projected rotation for 2016 in baseball? Right now, it’s actually the Cubs.
  • We took a look at Dexter Fowler’s market, and the remote chance he could wind up back with the Cubs.
  • The Cubs made a series of roster moves, including releasing Brendan Ryan, losing Yoervis Medina to the Pirates, and re-claiming Edgar Olmos off of waivers.
  • The Cubs also inked a couple more players to minor league deals, adding to their huge stable of depth bullpen options.
  • The Pirates picked up a new platoon first baseman in John Jaso, although first base will be largely new to him.
  • Wednesday closed down with the latest from the Lukewarm Stove, including more on Ender Inciarte, Jorge Soler, the Cardinals’ outfield and more.
  • Thursday, December 24

  • Jason Heyward clarified his comments about why he preferred the Cubs over the Cardinals, and Adam Wainwright shared his own thoughts on why Heyward left.
  • A smattering of interesting things in the Bullets on Thursday, including Mike Leake’s deal, Joc Pederson’s extreme year, and the Mets’ money problems.
  • The Nationals agreed to a three-year deal with Daniel Murphy.
  • BN celebrated its seventh anniversary.
  • Friday, December 25

  • I took the day off. I am OK with it.
  • Saturday, December 26

  • The Pirates’ bullpen has quietly been historically good the last three years – not just good, historically good – and that might be changing soon.
  • Lazarito – the big-time Cuban prospect – is working out publicly on January 8, and he’s going to move the market.
  • Sunday, December 27

  • A bombshell report – though of questionable sourcing – purported to tie Ryan Howard, Ryan Zimmerman, Taylor Teagarden, and Peyton Manning, among others, to PEDs.
  • Javy Baez had a largely successful, and very trying, year in 2015 – lots on that, his sacrifice of power for contact, and much more in the Bullets.
  • 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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