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Jon Lester's Retirement, Notes on Triantos, and Other Cubs Tidbits



 First off, I want to thank everyone who watched my interview with James Triantos, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Hopefully we'll have some other ones in the coming weeks, and I definitely enjoy getting to know these prospects and it makes me even more excited for their future. I'll mention a couple more things on Triantos in just a minute.

The biggest news in the baseball world right now is Jon Lester's retirement, as he announced that he would be retiring just yesterday.

Long story short, the Cubs would not have been 2016 World Series Champions if they didn't have Lester. Here's some really neat things about his time with the Cubs:

  • A career 3.64 ERA in 1002.2 IP in 6 years with the Cubs
  • 2016 NLCS MVP
  • Pitched in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series 
  • Received Babe Ruth Award (Postseason MVP) in 2016
He's a great guy that has had a legendary career. Enjoyed seeing him get his 200 wins, even though that came when he was a Cardinal...

Anyway, all the best to him in his retirement, and I cannot thank him enough for his part in the Cubs winning it all.

In case you have not watched my interview with James Triantos, you can view it here: Interview With Cubs' Prospect James Triantos

I'll mention a couple things I learned, or thought was interesting from the interview:

  • Goals for this year: "Stay within myself, do what I can do, I don't really want to set any numbers goals because it's really a mental game. I just want to put myself in the best position to succeed."
  • Goals for down the road: "I want to be a big leaguer. That's what I've worked my whole life for. I'm just going to put my head down and work hard."
  • Who he respects most in the Cubs' org: "Owen Cassie. He took me under his wing when I first got there. He's only like 8 months older than me, and he talked to me, showed me around, told me how to be a pro hitter."
  • Favorite Baseball Players: Mike Trout and Kyle Schwarber.
  • Favorite team growing up: Phillies
  • Biggest career goal: "It'd be a dream to win a World Series. I want to be with a team that I can help them out as much as I can. I want to be a leader of a team. And win a Championship.
I'm super excited for future with the Cubs, and I hope that one day he'll get that Championship. I'm also looking forward to seeing him play this season, and I know for sure one player I'll be rooting for.

Another note that I want to mention is that the International Signing Period starts Jan. 15th, and Baseball America already has someone picked out that the Cubs are expected to sign:

That'd sure be double trouble! 

That's all for now, but I appreciate y'all and hope you have a great day! 

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