Cubs not likely to go after free agents anytime soon
The Cubs were not big players last winter in the free-agent market. There was no chance they would go after former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, and former Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder was a longshot who ended up in Detroit.
Since coming to Chicago last fall, new team president Theo Epstein has said time and again that the Cubs will build an organization from the ground up.
In other words, the coming winter might be short on major free-agent signings by the Cubs.
“Sometimes that works out for you, but more often than not, it doesn’t,” Epstein said Wednesday. “There’s a price to pay for that type of thing.
“If you get tempted and you get impatient and you try to solve your problems through free agency, there’s always a price to pay. Usually, it happens pretty soon toward the end of that deal.
“Free agency is definitely a nice way to add talent to an organization without giving up talent, but you cannot make an organization that way. We have a lot of steps ahead of us we have to take care of before we’re in position to add a finishing piece or two through free agency.”
That doesn’t mean the Cubs won’t shop.
“We’ll always look to free agency,” Epstein said. “We’ll always be on every free agent and see if it’s the right player or the right value. If we sat around and drew up a plan that had free agency as the answer to most of our problems, we’d be on a fool’s errand there.
“We need to build a foundation based on scouting we believe in, player development we believe in, a steady flow of prospects.”
Making the adjustments:Shortstop Starlin Castro went 2-for-5 in Tuesday#146;s series opener against the Marlins after going 1-for-12 over the weekend against the Diamondbacks.#147;Like I said, he#146;s a guy that#146;s going to be as good as he wants to be, and adjustments are still part of his game, as well,#148; manager Dale Sveum said. #147;Sometimes, you have kids like that, they may have never gone through any adversity on the offensive part.#147;Sometimes, guys learn how to pitch you, so you have to make those adjustments or you#146;ve got to learn how to make adjustments in your hitting style to get better and not just be content on being OK with a .720 OPS or whatever it is.#147;You should want to get better, and adjustments are how you do that.#148;Minor matters:Cuban prospect Jorge Soler will make his first start of the season Thursday in the Arizona Rookie League, according to Theo Epstein. Soler will be the DH. #133;Pitcher Randy Wells, who was designated for assignment last month, is on the disabled list at Class AAA Iowa with a right-elbow strain.