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Chicago Cubs sign Zobrist, trade Castro

The Cubs stepped things up big time at the winter meetings Tuesday.

First, they made official the signing of starting pitcher John Lackey, with whom they agreed on a two-year, $32 million deal last week.

Then, during the evening, they traded former all-star infielder Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees for right-handed pitcher Adam Warren and a player to be named later (reported to be veteran infielder Brendan Ryan). They also signed infielder Ben Zobrist to a four-year, $56 million free-agent contract. The Cubs and Zobrist had been linked in trade talks this past summer.

Castro, who had been a Cubs major-leaguer since 2010, endured a rough 2015 season, enduring a midseason benching before rallying toward the end to help the team in its push to the National League championship series. He wound up with a line of .265/.296/.375 with 11 homers and 69 RBI. He no doubt helped his trade value with a good stretch drive.

In Warren, the Cubs are getting a 28-year-old who went 7-7 with a 3.29 ERA this year for the Yankees. In three-plus big-league seasons with the Yankees, Warren is 13-15 with a 3.39 ERA. He gives the Cubs some needed depth in their starting rotation, which currently includes Lackey, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks. It's possible the Cubs could move Hammel before the off-season is over.

Zobrist, 34, is a switch hitter who can play second base, shortstop and the outfield. He combined to play 126 games this year between the Oakland Athletics and the world-champion Kansas City Royals, compiling a line of .276/.359/.450 with 13 homers and 56 RBI. He played for current Cubs manager Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay from 2006-14.

Earlier Tuesday, Maddon talked with reporters at the winter meetings in Nashville and praised Zobrist's versatility and willingness to accept multiple roles.

Zo, from Day One, he's always been accepting of that," Maddon said. "He's all about winning. That's what he's about."

Maddon also had high praise for Castro, whom he never "lost" as a player even though Castro lost his starting shortstop job to Addison Russell and later moved to second base. The 25-year-old Castro is 9 hits shy of 1,000 for his major-league career.

"We felt confident Addy would be good," Maddon said of Russell. "I didn't know how well Starlin would take it and then adjust to it, and he couldn't have done any better. I mean, I'm visualizing the conversation I had with him right now, and he was so respectful and listened very carefully.

"I'm talking about Starlin. He sat for a couple of days. He didn't really play a lot. But we assured him that we were still going to work him back in there."

Russell injured his hamstring during Game 3 of the division series against the Cardinals, with Javier Baez taking over in that game and playing through the championship series against the Mets. There has been talk Baez would be traded, but Castro was dealt, with Zobrist providing a replacement and keeping the Cubs deep in the middle of the infield.

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