Weekend Catch-Up: Fowler Return, Victorino Signed, Villanueva Hurt, So Much More

bn baseball featureNo Chicago Cubs players won Oscars last night, which was a bummer after they did so well at awards season last year. Though it was nice to see Tommy La Stella nominated for best adapted screenplay.

Other things you may have missed this weekend …

Friday, February 26

  • Friday’s Bullets looked at everything non-Fowler.
  • So much to unpack from the crazy moves on Thursday, with Chris Coghlan being traded and Dexter Fowler returning to the Cubs.
  • And the Cubs brought in another outfielder, Shane Victorino.
  • Big rules changes coming to MLB on pace of play and those dangerous slides at second base.
  • Do you want an exhaustive explanation of draft pick compensation as told through the lens of the twists and turns of the Cubs’ offseason? Yes, you do. And Michael provided it.
  • Is Addison Russell going to keep batting 9th this year? It’ll take some geeks to help figure it out.
  • Friday’s Ask Away answers questions on Fowler’s option, Albert Almora’s prospect-dom, and much more.
  • So many funny and awesome things out of Cubs camp on Friday. Just check it out if you missed it.
  • Saturday, February 27

  • Dexter Fowler’s return to the Cubs means many things, but there’s definitely going to be an impact to Jorge Soler.
  • Ruben Tejada had an extra day of service time added after a potential grievance, which brought him a year closer to free agency – which makes us think and talk about the Kris Bryant service time grievance.
  • Joe Maddon spoke with Tom Verducci if you want to be entertained for four minutes.
  • Luis notes that, although the Cubs did just about everything this offseason, the one thing they didn’t do is bring in a proven, fall-back closer option.
  • Given the moves over the past week, I took a look at what’s going on with the Cubs’ bench now.
  • Jake Arrieta is really flexible.
  • Sunday, February 28

  • The Cubs’ Spring Training season will open this week, and it’ll be Travis Wood and Kyle Hendricks getting the ball first.
  • Ian Desmond has finally signed, and he didn’t get much from the Rangers.
  • The Cubs netted Adam Warren in trade from the Yankees instead of Brett Gardner, and I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.
  • Luis looked into the value teams place – or don’t place – on home-run-hitting, defense-optional sluggers in free agency these days.
  • Bad news out of Cubs camp, as Christian Villanueva broke his leg and is going to be out a while. At least there’s also some good news there in that link, and some fun videos, too.
  • 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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