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NLCS, Game 1: Cubs vs. Mets lineups

By D.J. ShortOct 17, 2015, 2:43 PM EDT
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Here are the lineups for Game 1 of the NLCS between the Cubs and Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET this evening at Citi Field in New York:

CUBS:
CF Dexter Fowler
LF Kyle Schwarber
3B Kris Bryant
1B Anthony Rizzo
2B Starlin Castro
RF Jorge Soler
SS Javier Baez
C David Ross
SP Jon Lester

No huge surprises for the Cubs. Ross is catching Lester as usual while Schwarber is in the No. 2 spot. Soler remains in the lineup, but he’ll be batting sixth. Baez will serve as the regular shortstop for Chicago with Addison Russell sidelined due to a hamstring injury.

METS:
RF Curtis Granderson
3B David Wright
2B Daniel Murphy
LF Yoenis Cespedes
C Travis d'Arnaud
1B Michael Cuddyer
SS Wilmer Flores
CF Juan Lagares
SP Matt Harvey

As expected, Michael Conforto is sitting against the left-hander, with Cespedes in left field and Lagares in center field. The big change is Cuddyer at first base in place of the struggling Lucas Duda. Duda went just 2-for-18 with 11 strikeouts during the NLDS against the Dodgers.

Madison Bumgarner is reportedly asking for a nine-figure deal

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By Craig CalcaterraDec 9, 2019, 12:13 PM EST
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Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that free agent pitcher Madison Bumgarner is asking for a nine-figure deal.

Your first impression of that may be “what? how?” A lot of that, however, is probably bound up in your understandable feeling that Bumgarner is too old to get that kind of scratch. But then you remember that, oh wait, he’s somehow still only 30 years-old. Indeed, he’s only ten months older than Zack Wheeler, who just nabbed a five-year, $118 million deal from Philly.

Bumgarner, obviously, has much more mileage on the odometer than Wheeler does, and he’s not the ace he was a few years ago, but he’s coming off a fine year, having put up a solid 3.90 ERA and 203/43 K/BB ratio over 207.2 innings in 2019. He would be a fine addition to the top — or at last near the top — of a contender’s rotation.

The White Sox, Twins, Cardinals, Reds, Braves, Padres, and Yankees have all been mentioned among possible landing spots. Figure his market to heat up a good bit once Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg sign and some of those contenders start looking for fallback options.