The Cubs have released 33-year old righty swinging infielder Edgar Gonzalez. Gonzalez played in 9 games in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he was 8 for 28 (.286 avg, .726 OPS) with 1 run scored, 3 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He last played in the majors back in 2009. He has played in 193 games in his two years in the majors and he is 122 of 478 (.255 avg, .693 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 11 homers, 51 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. This isn’t much of a loss for the Cubs.

26-year old lefty James Russell and 27-year old lefty Scott Maine are off to good starts out of the pen this year for the Cubs. Russell has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He has only given up 6 hits, while whiffing 8 batters in his first 7 2/3 innings this year as he has been nasty. Scott Maine started the season in the minors, so has has only pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Maine has given up only 1 hit while whiffing 7 batters in his first 3 2/3 innings so far this year. The Cubs hope that Russell & Maine can keep up the good work.

The Cubs have placed 25-year old lefty swinging catcher Steve Clevenger on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 26th due to a strained right oblique. Clevenger has played in 10 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 11 for 22 (.500 avg, 1.249 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. The Cubs have called up 25-year old righty swinging catcher Welington Castillo to replace Clevenger as the backup to Geovany Soto. Castillo played in 16 games in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he was 16 for 50 (.320 avg, .955 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. Castillo has played in 11 games in his first two years with the Cubs and he is 8 for 33 (.242 avg, .719 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. This is a bad break for Clevenger as he was ripping the ball for the Cubs so far this year.

If 29-year old righty swinging catcher Geovany Soto doesn’t starting hitting soon, he’s likely going to start losing ABs. Soto has played in 13 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 6 for 47 (.128 avg, .435 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. 26-year old rookie lefty swinging catcher Steve Clevenger is putting some pressure on Soto. Clevenger has played in 9 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 10 for 19 (.526 avg, 1.287 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.

The Cubs have designated 36-year old righty reliever/starter Rodrigo Lopez. Lopez pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Cubs this year and he was 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA and a 2.05 WHIP. He pitched in 30 games (16 starts) in his two years with the Cubs and he was 6-7 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. This is not much of a loss for the Cubs as Michael Bowden will take over Lopez’ spot in the bullpen moving forward.

UPDATE: (4/25/2012) - Rodrigo Lopez cleared waivers and he has accepted an outright assignment to AAA to stay in the Cubs’ organization.

The Chicago Cubs have dealt 34-year old righty swinging Marlon Byrd to the Red Sox along with a lot of cash for 25-year old righty reliever/starter Michael Bowden and a player to be named later. Byrd played in 13 games for the Cubs this year and he was 3 for 43 (.070 avg, .219 OPS) with 1 run scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. He played in 284 games in his three years with the Cubs and he is 296 of 1,069 (.277 avg, .729 OPS) with 136 runs scored, 21 homers, 103 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Michael Bowden pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox earlier this year and he was 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Bowden has now pitched in 39 games (2 starts) in his two years with the Red Sox and he is 2-2 with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. This was a good deal for the Cubs as Bowden might be able to help them out of the pen this year and Marlon Byrd is lost at the plate right now.

Righty swinging 2B Ryne Sandberg had an outstanding career with the Chicago Cubs. Sandberg played in 2,151 games in his 15 years with the Cubbies and he was 2,385 of 8,379 (.285 avg, .796 OPS) with 1,316 runs scored, 282 homers, 1,061 RBIs and 344 stolen bases. Sandberg won the N.L. MVP Award back in 1984 with the Cubs. He played in 156 games for the Cubs in 1984 and he was 200 of 636 (.314 avg, .887 OPS) with 114 runs scored, 19 homers, 84 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. He also made the All-Star team, won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award in 1984 for the Cubs. Sandberg scored 100 or more runs seven times, he had 30 or more homers twice, drove in 100 runs twice and he stole at least 30 bases in a season five times in his 15 years with the Cubs. Sandberg is #4 in games played with 2,151 in Cubs’ history. He is also #4 in hits (2,385), #3 in runs scored (1,316), #4 in doubles (403), #5 in homers (282), #7 in RBIs (1,061), #4 in steals (344) and #9 in walks (761) in Cubs’ history. Sandberg won 9 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Slugger Awards and he was selected to 10 All-Star teams in his 15 years with the Cubs. He was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2005 as a Chicago Cub.

29-year old lefty swinging 1B Bryan LaHair has gotten rewarded so far in 2012 for the overall year he had in 2011 for the Cubs. LaHair played in 129 games in AAA-ball for the Cubs last year and he was 151 of 456 (.331 avg, 1.070 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 38 homers, 109 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He finished up the season playing in 20 games with the Cubs in which he was 17 of 59 (.288 avg, .885 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. The Cubs decided to give LaHair a shot to win the starting job at 1B this spring and he worked his way into the better part (the lefty swinging side) of a platoon at 1B with Jeff Baker. LaHair has played in 11 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 12 for 32 (.375 avg, 1.147 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. He appears to be a late bloomer for the Cubbies.

The Cubs have placed righty starting pitcher Ryan Dempster on the 15-day disabled list due to a right quad injury. Dempster has started 3 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 1.33 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He has only given up 11 hits in his first 20 1/3 innings for the Cubs this year while whiffing 23 batters as he has been impressive. The Cubs have called up 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Tony Campana to replace Dempster on the active roster. Campana has played in 14 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 17 for 56 (.304 avg, .730 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 3 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He got his first taste of the majors last year with the Cubbies when he appeared in 95 games in which he was 37 of 143 (.259 avg, .603 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. The Cubs are going to call up 29-year old righty starting pitcher Randy Wells tomorrow to replace Dempster in the starting rotation. Wells pitched in 3 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he was 1-0 with a 9.42 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Wells pitched in 23 games (all starts) for the Cubs last year and he was 7-6 with a 4.99 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has now pitched in 85 games (82 starts) in his first four year with the Cubs and he is 27-30 with a 4.02 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. I think Wells will do a decent job for the Cubs, but they are still going to miss Dempster as he was pitching excellent so far this year.

The Cubs have placed 34-year old righty reliever Kerry Wood on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 14th due to right shoulder fatigue. Wood has pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 11.57 ERA and a 2.57 WHIP. The Cubs have called up 27-year old righty reliever Scott Maine to replace Wood in the bullpen. Maine has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 1-0 with 1 save, a 1.42 ERA and a 0.63 WHIP. He has pitched in 20 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Cubs and he is 0-0 with a 4.95 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. The Cubs hope Wood gets healthy soon, because they are going to miss him while he’s out of action.