Page 2 - James Bourque News Today

The initial 2022 Iowa Cubs roster is out.

Austin American-Statesman Letters to the Editor: Feb. 7, 2022

share-square-1239929 MESA, Ariz. -- The Cubs know what they have in All-Star catcher Willson Contreras. For the first time in a few springs, what Chicago may have to sort out is who backs up Contreras come Opening Day. The Cubs are holding out hope that veteran Austin Romine -- signed to be Contreras backup in the wake of the trade that shipped Victor Caratini to the Padres -- will still be ready in time for the season. Romine, however, is currently dealing with a right knee sprain with no esta...

The Cubs don’t have a timetable for Romine’s return and consider him day-to-day.

No surprises on this first list of roster reductions.

February 25th, 2021 share-square-386462 The Washington Nationals announced the inaugural Phil Rizzo Scout of the Year Award on Thursday. The award will be given annually to the Washington Nationals scout who represents the integrity, character, and work ethic exemplified by Phil Rizzo. Steve Arnieri, Special Assistant to the President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, is the first winner. The award will be presented annually at the baseball Winter Meetings. Nationals President of Base...

You know the drill by now – I mean, I just said it earlier today with the Joe Biagini signing: “The Chicago Cubs haven’t done a ton yet this offseason to make firm and fast additions to the big league roster, but they have certainly done what we expected them to do on the bullpen side of things: accumulate interesting, upside arms on the cheap. Don’t read that as a criticism, either. They’ve been good at it for a couple years now, and I’m not going to start betting against the appro...

The Chicago Cubs haven’t done a ton yet this offseason to make firm and fast additions to the big league roster, but they have certainly done what we expected them to do on the bullpen side of things: accumulate interesting, upside arms on the cheap. Don’t read that as a criticism, either. They’ve been good at it for a couple years now, and I’m not going to start betting against the approach: get a huge volume of guys in the door who do one or two things that you can’t teach, try to m...

Not much else doing right now for the Chicago Cubs, but they’re sticking to their now-usual route when it comes to the bullpen: find and sign as many “interesting” and “unique” guys as possible. As Bryan points out on Twitter, Kelley, 27, is a sidearmer who had the ninth lowest release point in baseball in 2020. So that’s definitely “interesting” and “unique.” The long-time Red Sox farmhand was exceptional in the minors, but hasn’t translated it in the big leagues yet, eit...

The Chicago Cubs are adding another big reclamation arm to the bullpen mix – as they do! – according to Jon Morosi. This time, it’s a minor league signing for righty James Bourque: Source: RHP James Bourque, the @umichbaseball alum, has signed a minor league deal with the #Cubs that includes an invitation to @MLB camp. @MLBNetwork Bourque, 27, hasn’t had much time in the big leagues, but once he was converted to a reliever in the minors, Bourque’s performance exploded: Before 2019, af...