Chicago Cubs pick up Jackson from Mariners

The Cubs added to their depth Monday by acquiring outfielder Austin Jackson in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.

Also coming to the Cubs were cash considerations in exchange for a player to be named and an international signing-bonus slot. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Cubs designated third baseman Mike Olt for assignment.

Jackson, 28, gives the Cubs a right-handed bat and some speed. In 107 games with the Mariners this year, he had a line of .272/.312/.387 with 8 home runs, 38 RBI and 15 stolen bases. For his career, he has a line of .273/.334/.400 with 54 homers.

"I've seen him a lot of times in the American League," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He's a really good player. When he starts swinging the bat well, he's very productive. Fine outfielder. Good baserunner. Stolen bases. To be able to pick him up, I think we're very fortunate."

Olt opened the season as the Cubs' starting third baseman, but he suffered a fractured wrist April 11.

The Cubs will begin calling up players Tuesday from the minor leagues as rosters may expand on Sept. 1. Infielder Javy Baez will be up along with outfielder Quintin Berry and pitchers Trevor Cahill and Tsuyoshi Wada.

The need for another outfielder became acute when right fielder Jorge Soler recently went on the disabled list with a left-oblique strain. He's expected to miss most of the rest of the season.

Celebrating the no-hitter:

The Cubs honored pitcher Jake Arrieta before Monday night's game for the no-hitter he pitched Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

Arrieta charmed the press corps and a national audience by appearing at his postgame news conference in onesie pajamas. The entire Cubs team wore pajamas on the red-eye flight home as part of a themed road trip.

"I bought that onesie at a little boutique in Nashville, Tennessee, during my rehab assignment last year, knowing at some point I would need to wear that," Arrieta said. "Yesterday just happened to be the perfect moment.

"It was just a fun experience, taking that picture as a team on the field in our onesie pajamas, celebrating with the guys. High energy on the flight for the first couple of hours and then people started to kind of doze off, expectedly. It was fun."

Arrieta was still trying to sift through all of his congratulatory text messages.

"Around 300," he said. "I'm still trying to get back to everybody. It's tough. On Twitter, too, all the congratulatory shout-outs are just tremendous. The entire city of Chicago and the fans all over the country have been really supportive and have all reached out and congratulated me and my family."

Knew it all along:

Jake Arrieta emerged last year as the ace of the Cubs' pitching staff. He was asked about breaking out and becoming the pitcher he is.

"From Day One, I knew that I could pitch like this my whole career," he said. "I did it college, did it in the minor leagues, and I did it in the big leagues at times. I knew there was some adjustments in there, mentally and physically.

"I knew once I was able to kind of get over that hump that things would eventually work themselves out. The work ethic was there. I had to cut some things out. I was trying to do too much.

"But, yeah, I knew that I'd be here one day."