Cubs busy making roster moves and staffing changes

Even though it's the off-season for the Cubs, the team has been busy making roster moves and looking for a replacement for former Cubs TV broadcaster Bob Brenly, who accepted a job as the TV analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this month.

Bob Brenly has accepted a job with the Arizona Diamondbacks

Brenly said, "Working here in Chicago was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my professional career.  The Ricketts family, everyone associated with the Cubs and WGN and, most importantly, Cubs’ fans everywhere, will always be in our hearts, and Joan and I wish nothing but the best for the organization moving forward.  I was very blessed to have the best play-by-play man in the game as my partner for eight years and Cubs’ fans are very fortunate to have Len Kasper as the voice of the Cubs.  I’ll miss working with him and we look fondly toward returning to Chicago in the future."

The Cubs outrighted Joe Mather, Justin Germano, Manuel Corpas and Blake Parker to the Iowa Cubs today.  Corpas then elected free agency.

The Kansas City Royals claimed right-handed pitcher Chris Volstad off waivers on Friday.

On Thursday, the team assigned infielder Adrian Cardenas and right handed pitchers Miguel Socolovich, Jason Berken and Marcos Mateo to Triple-A Iowa. 

The Cubs also claimed right handed pitcher Carlos Gutierrez off waivers from the Minnesota Twins.  In a corresponding move,  catcher Anthony Recker, who was designated for assignment on Wednesday, was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets.

The Cubs claimed RHP Carlos Gutierrez off waivers from the Twins (photo from cubs.com)

On October 23rd, the Cubs named David Bell as their third base coach and removed the interim tag from hitting coach James Rowson.  The 2013 coaching staff is now set.  Bell & Rowson join Chris Bosio (pitching coach), Dave McKay (1B coach), Jamie Quirk (bench coach) & Lester Strode (bullpen coach). 

On October 16th, the Cubs acquired right handed pitcher Marcelo Carreno from the Detroit Tigers to complete the 8/5 trade for Jeff Baker.

On October 14th, Blake DeWitt, Randy Wells and Alex Hinshaw all elected free agency.

The Cubs' 40-man roster currently stands at 33.  I'm sure there will be many more roster moves to come!  Meanwhile, Cubs fans all over the world are happy the St. Louis Cardinals were eliminated by the San Francisco Giants from winning the National League division.  It was fun tweeting with fellow Cubs fans while cheering for the Giants (or against the Cards, depending on how you look at it!)

Are you rooting for the Giants or the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series?  The Giants are currently two games up on the Tigers.  Game three will be played in Detroit on Saturday.