Alfonso Soriano Would Be Hesitant To Accept Trade To San Francisco Giants

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Groupon's 'Ultimate Chicago Cubs Experience' Deal Will Cost You $30,000

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Melky Cabrera Suspension: Could San Francisco Giants Now Be Interested In Alfonso Soriano?

With news breaking today that Melky Cabrera would miss the remainder of the season after being suspended for a failed drug test, would the San Francisco Giants find renewed interest in Alfonso Soriano? Doug Padilla of ESPN Chicago believes so, even though Soriano initially turned down any trade possibilities to the Giants when the July 31 deadline was approaching.

The Giants have a desperate need for an outfielder now that Cabrera is lost of the season, with the veteran Soriano being one of the more intriguing options to replace him. The problem now, as it was in July, is that Soriano has expressed relatively little interest in playing at a park that essentially takes away power from hitters with its expansive outfield dimensions.

Soriano is hitting .263 this season with a .810 OPS, also putting up 21 home runs and 71 RBIs so far this year with the Cubs.

For a trade to happen now, any player involved would have to pass through waivers first. As such, the Giants could conceivably claim Soriano and his $19 million price tag over the next two seasons. If the Cubs decide to pull Soriano back if he is claimed to try and get some assets in a trade, Soriano would then be able to veto the trade with his 10-and-five rights.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue. And for more news and notes from around baseball, check out Baseball Nation.

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Chicago Cubs Fire VP Of Player Personnel Oneri Fleita

The Chicago Cubs' front office has been in flux for nearly a year now, but the changes keep coming. On Wednesday, the team fired vice president of player personnel Oneri Fleita after ten months under new president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, as the club announced.

Last year, Fleita signed a four-year contract extension with the Cubs before Epstein's hiring, but there was always speculation that Theo would prefer to install his own guys. Having already brought in former Padres GM Jed Hoyer and Red Sox scouting guru Jason McLeod, Fleita stood out as a key decision-maker from the Jim Hendry era.

Fleita joined the Cubs in 1995 and became one of the key assistants under Hendry, the Cubs' previous GM. With Epstein making constant changes to his team, including the recent hiring of Jaron Madison as scouting director and the promotion of Tim Wilken to special assistant, Fleita's departure shouldn't be considered a major surprise.

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Cubs Vs. Astros Preview: Chicago Looks To Recover From Blowout Loss

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Chicago Cubs Vs. Houston Astros Final Score: Cubs Routed, 10-1

The Houston Astros raced out to a 10-0 lead on their way to an easy 10-1 victory at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. Chicago never made a game out of it and struggled to put up any offense, collecting only six hits.

Starting pitcher Lucas Harrell looked sharp for the Astros, winning his tenth game of the season. He gave up all six of Chicago's hits, but also racked up seven strikeouts and walked only two batters over eight innings. Rhiner Cruz came on to close out the game in the ninth inning.

On the other side, Cubs' starter Chris Volstad was roughed up for four runs, including a home run, in only five innings. Things, however, were even worse for reliever Lendy Castillo, who gave up five runs in less than an inning.

Chicago will hope to rebound on Wednesday.

For more on the Cubs, check out SB Nation blog, Bleed Cubbie Blue.

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Astros Vs. Cubs: Starting Lineups For Tuesday's Game

Chicago pitcher Chris Volstad will take the mound in search of his first victory of 2012 on Tuesday evening, as the Cubs will look take game two of their series with the Astros from Wrigley Field.

Volstad has walked away with a loss in every single one of his eight decisions this year for the Cubs, and has struggled mightily to find consistency with a 6.94 ERA over 11 starts. The 25-year-old right-hander will hope to lean on his offense against the Astros on Tuesday however, after Chicago hitters came to play in Monday's opener with seven runs on 10 hits.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo keyed the game one victory with a 4-for-5 performance from the plate, and is now hitting .306 on the season. The talented youngster will be counted on for another big game on Tuesday against Houston's groundball-inducing right-hander Lucas Harrell.

Here are the starting lineups for game two:

Cubs
1. David DeJesus - RF
2. Josh Vitters - 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo - 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano - LF
5. Starlin Castro - SS
6. Welington Castillo - C
7. Brett Jackson - CF
8. Darwin Barney - 2B
9. Chris Volstad - SP

Astros
1. Tyler Greene - SS
2. Jose Altuve - 2B
3. Brett Wallace - 3B
4. Scott Moore - 1B
5. Brian Bogusevic - RF
6. Brandon Barnes - CF
7. Fernando Martinez - LF
8. Chris Snyder - C
9. Lucas Harrell - SP

Head over to Bleed Cubbie Blue for more Cubs coverage, and check out The Crawfish Boxes for more Astros news. Also visit Baseball Nation for even more MLB coverage from around the league.

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Astros Vs. Cubs Preview: Chris Volstad Looking To End His Losing Streak

The Chicago Cubs were able to pick up a solid 7-1 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night in the first outing of their three-game series, but a win in their second game of the series might be a bit harder to come by considering it's Chris Volstad's turn to start.

Volstad has been trotted out as a starter 11 times for the Cubs this season and, unfortunately, all he has to show for it is an 0-8 record to go with his 6.94 ERA. The righty has history on his side for Tuesday's outing, though, as his last Major League win happened to come against the Astros ... although it happened on July 10, 2011 when he was still a pitcher for the Marlins.

The Astros will put Lucas Harrell, the NL's leader in innings pitched this season, on the mound when it's Chicago's turn to go to the plate. Harrell and Volstad have the same amount of losses this season, though the former's record is a much more appeasing 9-8 after 23 starts so far.

For those planning to be in attendance (or watch at home on CSN), first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue and Astros blog Crawfish Boxes. And for more news and notes from around baseball, check out Baseball Nation.

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Astros Vs. Cubs: Chicago Takes Game 1 Of Series

The Chicago Cubs took game one of their three-game series with the Houston Astros Monday, winning by a final score of 7-1

Jeff Samardzija pitched seven strong innings to get the win. He allowed just one run and four hits while striking out 11. The 11 strikeouts tie Samardzija's career high set last month against the Braves.

The Cubs offense gave Samardzija plenty of early run support, including two runs in the second inning on a Darwin Barney two-run home run. Chicago added another run in the third inning before a two-run Alfonso Soriano home run in the fifth inning made it 4-0.

The lone bright spot for the Astros was a pinch-hit solo homer by Brandon Barnes. It was Barnes' first Major League home run after being called up from Triple-A last week.

The two teams will meet in game two of the series Tuesday night at 8:05 p.m. ET.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue and Astros blog Crawfish Boxes. And for more news and notes from around baseball, check out Baseball Nation.

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Astros Vs. Cubs Lineups: Young Guys Going On Monday

There isn't going to be a ton of experience on the field Monday night in Wrigley Field, as the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros try to go young for the remainder of the season. Neither team is competing for a playoff spot at this point, so they're essentially using the next few weeks to offer opportunities to younger players.

For the Cubs, Josh Vitters is going at third base, Welington Castillo is behind the plate and Brett Jackson is in center field, while the incumbent young guys like Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney and Anthony Rizzo are also playing. The Astros have their standard array of young players going, including Jose Altuve and Brett Wallace.

Chicago:

1. David DeJesus (L) RF
2. Josh Vitters (R) 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) LF
5. Starlin Castro (R) SS
6. Welington Castillo (R) C
7. Brett Jackson (L) CF
8. Darwin Barney (R) 2B
9. Jeff Samardzija (R) P

Houston:

1. Tyler Greene (R) SS
2. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
3. Brett Wallace (L) 1B
4. Steve Pearce (R) RF
5. Justin Maxwell (R) CF
6. Jason Castro (L) C
7. Marwin Gonzalez (S) 3B
8. Fernando Martinez (R) LF
9. Armando Galarraga (R) P

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue and Astros blog Crawfish Boxes. And for more news and notes from around baseball, check out Baseball Nation.

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Chicago Cubs Promote Michael Bowden, Option Brooks Raley To Triple-A

The Chicago Cubs have recalled pitcher Michael Bowden from Triple-A Iowa to take the old roster spot of pitcher Brooks Raley, who has been demoted to Iowa, as Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports. Raley made his MLB debut with the Cubs this month, losing a pair of starts with the big league club before ultimately returning to the minors.

Bowden, 25, has pitched well for in the minors this year, posting a 2.76 ERA with 35 strikeouts and 17 walks in 32.2 innings of relief work with Iowa. He's never succeeded in numerous opportunities in the majors as his 5.87 career big league ERA can attest, but his minor league performance has always indicated some level of potential.

He'll be replacing Raley, who had mixed results in his first two MLB starts with the Cubs. After struggling in his big league debut against the San Diego Padres, the lefty bounced back on Aug. 12 against the Cincinnati Reds, pitching six innings of three-run ball in a defeat. The Cubs lost both of his outings, though.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue and Astros blog Crawfish Boxes. And for more news and notes from around baseball, check out Baseball Nation.