The Cubs have signed 29-year old lefty reliever Scott Rice. Rice pitched in 58 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last season for the Rockies and he was 2-1 with 7 saves, a 2.86 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Rice has now pitched in 377 games (54 starts) in 12 years in the minors and he is 32-48 with 19 saves, a 4.25 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Maybe Rice is finally starting to figure things out. The Cubs will likely give him a shot next spring to win a job in the bullpen.

The Cubs have re-signed 33-year old switch hitting IF/OF Bobby Scales to a minor league deal. Scales played in 10 games for the Cubs last season and he was 4 of 13 (.308 avg, .858 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 61 games in parts of two years with the Cubs and he is 34 of 137 (.248 avg, .743 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers, 17 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Scales will get a shot to win a bench job next spring.

The Cubs have re-signed 28-year old lefty swinging 1B Bryan LaHair to a minor league deal. LaHair played in 125 games in AAA-ball last season for the Cubs and he was 130 of 422 (.308 avg, .942 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 25 homers, 81 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. LaHair’s only major league experience to date came back in 2008 with the Mariners. In 2008, LaHair played in 45 games for the Mariners and he was 34 of 136 (.250 avg, .661 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. LaHair will get a shot to win a bench job with the Cubs next spring.

20-year old righty swinging shortstop Starlin Castro finished 5th in the voting for the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award. Castro played in 125 games for the Cubs last season and he was 139 of 463 (.300 avg, .755 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 3 homers, 41 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Castro has a solid upside as a hitter but he is going to have to improve his D as he made 27 errors last season. Castro is likely going to be the Cubs’ starting shortstop for a long, long time.

The Cubs have signed 27-year old lefty swinging 3B/2B Scott Moore to a minor league deal. Moore played in 41 games for the Orioles last season and he was 18 of 86 (.209 avg, .611 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 3 homers, 10 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 80 games in parts of four years in the majors and he is 41 of 184 (.223 avg, .640 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 7 homers, 27 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. This was a decent signing to bring back Moore to the Cubbies where he started his major league career.