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Chicago Cubs give Hoyer, McLeod contract extensions

CINCINNATI - The band is staying together.

Just a couple of days after the Cubs announced a five-year contract extension for baseball president Theo Epstein, they added to that Friday by announcing that general manager Jed Hoyer and scouting and player-development chief Jason McLeod had their contracts extended through 2021.

Hoyer and McLeod came to the Cubs in the fall of 2011, when Epstein was hired to run baseball operations.

Field manager Joe Maddon was hired before the 2015 season, and he said he likes the continuity.

"It's nice to keep the band together," he said. "Continuity is really, really important. People don't quite understand that unless you get involved in that or you're involved in a situation that does not have continuity. I talk about relationships all the time. When you have that, obviously there are strong relationships there. Everybody trusts one another.

"Here's the part that I love about it when you have those two components and they're firmly entrenched. You can have an open conversation. And nobody's worried about who's right. There's not a concern about, 'I'm right and you're wrong.' It eliminates pushback. It really enhances communication. At the end of the day, you're just about getting it right, and it doesn't matter who's right. Let's just get it right. We obviously have the relationships, the trust and this open conversation going on, which I think is the core of any good organization."

Quoted in a news release, Epstein praised both Hoyer and McLeod.

"Jed and Jason are simply the best at what they do and have played fundamentally important leadership roles in helping the Cubs build a healthy and thriving organization," Epstein said. "We feel honored to have the stability and support that we enjoy throughout baseball operations and look forward to many years of working together in Chicago."

Feeling good about it:

Left-hander Rob Zastryzny acquitted himself well in Thursday night's spot start at Pittsburgh. Zastryzny worked 3⅔ innings of a game that ended in a 1-1 tie in the sixth, when rain washed out the rest of the contest.

"It was awesome," he said. "I kind of (equate) to when I went up to Triple-A. I didn't know how I was going to fit, how I was going to be, talent wise. I just kind of went into it blindly. There was no real stress for me at all. I'm going to go feel it out and give it everything I've got. That's kind of how I felt yesterday. I felt very relaxed. I felt pretty confident going into it. Tim Federowicz (the catcher) did a great job. I can't say enough he did and how he went out there. He had a plan, and he stuck to my strengths and what I did in Triple-A well. We kind of went off that."

Still no Soler:

Outfielder Jorge Soler remains day to day with a right-side injury. Joe Maddon said he may be able to play in Sunday's regular-season finale. He also said a lingering injury could affect the playoff roster.

"He has to get out there and do it," Maddon said. "Anybody that's been injured, you have to make sure they're well. The other part would be, let's say he's not 100 (percent), and you put him out there and all of a sudden he gets banged up and he's done for the remainder. Our goal is not just to play one group of games. Our goal is to play three groupings of games. If you are cautious in the beginning and eventually might have him later, you've got to consider that, also."

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