Chicago Cubs' Fowler expected to opt for free agency
Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer already are back at work, less than one week after their team won the World Series.
Epstein and Hoyer are in Arizona for the GM meetings, and they're dealing with several pieces of business.
According to reports, center fielder Dexter Fowler, the Cubs' leadoff man, will turn down the team's $17.2 million qualifying offer and will opt for free agency. This was expected. Fowler was a free agent last winter, but he returned to the Cubs in spring training after a deal with the Baltimore Orioles fell through.
Fowler has been the Cubs' sparkplug out of the leadoff spot for two seasons. This year, he had a line of .276/.393/.447 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI. He hit 2 home runs in the World Series, including 1 to lead off Game 7.
In line for big awards:
Major League Baseball's big awards will be announced next week, and several Cubs may be honored.
Next Tuesday, Nov. 15, manager Joe Maddon will find out of he has been named Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The other two finalists are the Dodgers' Dave Roberts and the Nationals' Dusty Baker.
The American League and National League Cy Young Awards will be announced the next night. The Cubs have two finalists: Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester. The other is Washington's Max Scherzer.
The final presentations are next Thursday, Nov. 17, with the Most Valuable Player for each league. Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant is an NL finalist. He is up against the Nationals' Daniel Murphy and the Dodgers' Corey Seager, who also is a Rookie of the Year finalist.
Chicago voices being heard:
Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes and Chicago White Sox TV voice Ken "Hawk" Harrelson are among eight finalists for the 2017 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
In addition to Hughes and Harrelson, the other finalist are former Cubs radio man Dewayne Staats, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Bill King, former Cubs pitcher Mike Krukow and Ned Martin.
The winner will be announced Dec. 7 at the baseball winter meetings and will be honored during the July 29 awards presentation as part of the July 28-31 Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, New York.
Going for the Gold:
The Rawlings Gold Gloves will be announced Tuesday night. ESPN will televise the announcements beginning at 7 p.m.
Four Cubs players are finalists: pitcher Jake Arrieta, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, shortstop Addison Russell and right fielder Jason Heyward.
Flurry of moves:
The Cubs made several moves Monday. They selected right-handed pitcher Jose Rosario from their Class AAA Iowa affiliate. They also claimed right-hander Conor Mullee off waivers from the New York Yankees and activated him from the 60-day disabled list.
Also activated from the 60-day DL were right-handed pitcher Aaron Brooks, left-hander Zac Rosscup and infielder Christian Villanueva.
The Cubs activated pitcher Dallas Beeler from the 60-day DL and outrighted him to Iowa. Pitcher Andury Acevedo and catcher Tim Federowicz also were outrighted to Iowa.
The 40-man roster stands at 34.