Cubs pick up Kipnis' contract
Jason Kipnis recalled getting lost in Wrigley Field the first day he reported for a workout as a Cub.
He'll have a chance to get to know the place a lot better this summer.
The Cubs on Friday announced they have picked up the contract on the second baseman from Northbrook. He had signed a one-year minor league deal with the club in the off-season after nine years with the Cleveland Indians.
"It's exciting for me, to be honest," Kipnis said. " ... I didn't think it was going to come on July 17, but here we are right now, and I'm as happy as I would have been on April 1 or whatever it would have been."
Of course, it would have been better if Kipnis could have gotten the full Wrigley Field experience, complete with fans rocking the place.
"Clearly I don't think anything this year is going how anyone envisioned," he said. "You kind of take it day by day and you control what you can control.
"I still like to look at the positives coming out of it where I get to practice and play at Wrigley every day right now. I get to see Chicago and actually walk around maybe a little bit when it's warm outside instead of just living here during the winter months."
Kipnis said he spent time this spring getting swings in the batting cage at his old high school, Glenbrook North, with a former teammate pitching to him.
Ross said he is getting close to settling on a regular lineup, and the 33-year-old Kipnis is part of a battle for playing time at second base. Whether he wins the job or rookie Nico Hoerner does, the position looks improved from last season.
David Bote and Daniel Descalso also are in the mix to play second base.
"It will be a challenge," Ross said. "More than one guy is swinging the bat well. The main thing here is we're going to have to play good defense. We're going to have to have quality at-bats."
Kipnis is a big Hoerner booster. A former first-round draft choice out of Stanford, Hoerner, 23, impressed the Cubs late last season when he was called up on an emergency basis. He has continued to impress this summer.
"We've been working together, and I know he has a bright future," Kipnis said. "He's ahead of probably where I was at his age. ...
"He does the right things. He says the right things. He asks questions. He works hard. You never have to worry about him, and that's a great thing to say about someone so young where it's like sometimes you have to make sure he's doing the right things."
In another roster move, the Cubs sent cash to the San Diego Padres in order to keep right-handed pitcher Trevor Megill in the organization.
Megill, selected in the off-season in the Rule 5 draft, was not kept on the 40-man roster. He has been sent to the club's alternative training site in South Bend.
"Trevor's been a nice addition," Ross said. "Really showed a nice, young arm. True velocity. Good competitor."