Another “Cub”

On Friday, the Cubs announced another signing away from the other Cubs and have inked Matt Murton for 5 years and $55.  “Matt really came on at the end of last year and we expect big things from him in the future”, Coach Ron Santo said on Monday.  Murton joins an outfield that already consists of another former Cub, Jacque Jones.

The Cubs have been very active in the outfielder market recently, however, the turn now will be to add some arms.  Only 3 pitchers have been signed roughly half way through the free-agent period.  “I am very pleased with the quality of players added to the staff, I just need to see some quantity and soon” pitching coach Ferguson Jenkins pleaded on Sunday afternoon.

Early November Player Signings

The Cubs have continued the trend of adding quality players to the roster along with having all singed to multi-year contracts. The recent signings include:

Michael Young – SS – 5 years for $225
Vernon Wells – OF – 5 years for $220
Aramis Ramirez – 3B – 5 years for $165
Aubrey Huff – 3B/OF – 4 years for $68
Juan Rivera – OF – 5 years for $60
Mark Prior –SP – 4 years for $56
Emil Brown – OF – 2 years for $6

“Wow, what a great group of players!” GM Jason Hoover was heard as saying as he signed the last deal. “We are very happy in the amount of talent that is being assembled here in northern regions of the I-40 corridor of the URL”. Young, Wells and Ramirez bring a lot of pop to a line-up that already included Jacque Jones. The average season for these 3 new players over the last 3 years is a .304 average, 30 homeruns, and 105 RBI’s.

With the addition of Prior to the staff that already includes Jose Contreras and Mike Mussina, the hurlers for the Cubs are looking strong as well.