Cubs agree with C Soto, 5 others

Baseball Betting Lines

01/17/2012 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs agreed to terms on one-year contracts with six salary arbitration-eligible players, including catcher Geovany Soto.

The announcement, made Tuesday, didn't include salary figures for Soto or the other five players: right-handed pitchers Chris Volstad and Randy Wells; and infielders Blake DeWitt, Jeff Baker and Ian Stewart.

Soto also signed a one-year deal last January to avoid arbitration and played on a $3 million contract, hitting .228 with 17 homers, 54 runs knocked in and a .310 on-base percentage.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old catcher has played parts of seven major league seasons for the Cubs and is three years removed from belting 23 home runs with 86 RBI and a .285 average to win NL Rookie of the Year in 2008.

Volstad, who was acquired from the Marlins earlier this month, was 5-13 with a 4.89 earned run average in 29 starts for Florida last season. He spent his first four years with the team.

Wells has a 27-30 record in 86 major league appearances, most of them starts and all but one of them coming with the Cubs. He was 7-6 with a 4.99 ERA in 23 starts for Chicago last season.

DeWitt batted .265 in 121 games for the Cubs last season, splitting time in the infield and outfield.

Baker has played the last two-plus seasons in Chicago and batted .269 last year while playing mostly the infield, and Stewart joined the Cubs in a trade with Colorado last month. He batted .156 in 48 games for the Rockies in 2011.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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