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MESA, Ariz. -- No matter what the record says, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein insists he sees progress as he begins his third season in charge. It hasnt shown at the major league level. "The people that we have in place in this organization -- the coaches, scouts -- I believe are impact, and I believe in the processes that we have in place," Epstein said Thursday. "It takes time to turn our organization around. It takes time to build impact talent and to build requisite depth. But its happening. People in those meetings, the people in this organization, really believe that were on the verge of something special. And we understand that were perceived otherwise, and thats our fault because weve been a last-place club the last couple years. Were not protesting. We need to earn our way into a position where were championship contenders on an annual basis, and we feel like that is certainly moving in the right direction." It hasnt been an easy process, and while success might be on the horizon, it doesnt appear to be at hand. Pitchers and catchers reported on Thursday, and for the Cubs, it doesnt look like much will be different this season. They were relatively quiet in the off-season, although they did hire manager Rick Renteria to replace the fired Dale Sveum and made a run at star Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, but mostly it looks like they are in for more rough times at the major league level as they wait for their top prospects to develop in the minors. Their most recent winning season was when they went 83-78 under Lou Piniella in 2009. With four straight sub-.500 seasons, theyve matched their longest streak since 1984 to 1988. And another losing season would put them on their longest run since they finished below .500 six years in a row from 1978 to 1983. For now, the Cubs continue to sell hope, a promise that better days are coming. They tout their minor league system, and while renovations to Wrigley Field remain on hold, they can point to new facilities in the Dominican Republic along with a spring training home that just opened. As for the Cubs record, it cant get much worse. Theyve dropped 91 or more games each of the past three years and are coming off a two-year run under Sveum that produced a 127-197 record. Theyre hoping Renteria will provide the right atmosphere for young major league players such as shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo as well as top prospects Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant. They believe they have three solid starters in Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija and Edwin Jackson, although Jackson struggled last season and Samardzija is a potential trade chip after he was unable to reach a long-term agreement and took a one-year deal. Jake Arrieta, a candidate to start, might not be ready for the beginning of the season because of tightness in his right shoulder. General manager Jed Hoyer revealed Thursday that Arrieta, acquired from Baltimore last July, experienced some tightness this winter and is being brought along slowly. Hoyer announced Arrietas injury after confirming the Cubs agreed to one-year contracts with starting pitchers Jason Hammel and James McDonald. Both could be candidates to be traded before the deadline if they succeed, considering thats exactly what the Cubs did with Paul Maholm and Scott Feldman the past two seasons. "We know we have some numbers now," Hoyer said. They also have hope that better days are coming. "Theres a real dichotomy between how the organization is perceived from the outside and how we look at it internally and the morale that we have internally," Epstein said. NOTES: Renteria tabbed newcomer Jose Veras as the closer. ... Hoyer basically dismissed the idea of moving Castro to another position even though he and the White Soxs Alexei Ramirez led major league shortstops with 22 errors last season and Baez is in the pipeline. "Castros our shortstop," Hoyer said. "We have all the confidence in the world that hell remain our shortstop and hell keep working hard and keep improving. And he knows theres (room) to improve there." ... Hoyer said reliever Kyuji Fujikawa will soon start throwing off the mound. Hes coming off Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow. ... Epstein said the Cubs will look to draft pitchers going forward, although not necessarily with their first pick. Amari Cooper Womens Jersey .C. - Goodyear has warned teams that increased speeds at Charlotte Motor Speedway will put a heavy emphasis on the right front tires in Saturday nights race a€” a potentially key development for drivers trying to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys .com) - Bradley Beal deposited a season-high 33 points and John Wall posted another double-double as the Washington Wizards went on the road and beat the Houston Rockets, 104-103. http://www.shoptheofficialcowboys.com/Elite-Demarcus-Ware-Cowboys-Jersey/ . - Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored twice and added an assist, and Antoine Bibeau made 43 saves as the Val-dOr Foreur downed the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 6-3 on Sunday to force Game 7 in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series. Taco Charlton Cowboys Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. Charles Haley Cowboys Jersey . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin.TORONTO – Aaron Sanchez has arrived. Its the ultimate future-meets-now moment for a franchise at a crossroads. The Blue Jays are hoping a guy who the club expects to be at the centre of successful seasons down the road can contribute to the playoff push of the present. Sanchez will do so out of the bullpen, at least at the beginning, because the Jays wish to manage his innings. Manager John Gibbons will use Sanchez in high-leverage situations, although hed like to allow Sanchez to get his feet wet with nobody on base. His first appearance likely will be at the start of an inning. “Hes here to help us, not just here to be here and fill a role and we think he will,” said Gibbons. “You guys all know what kind of arm hes got. Its his first time there, but we plan on using him. Were not going to baby him, but well keep an eye on him.” Sanchez threw about 110 innings last season between Single-A Dunedin and the Arizona Fall League. Hes at 100 1/3 innings so far this year, the bulk of which were with Double-A New Hampshire. Sanchez made six starts for Triple-A Buffalo, but his last two appearances were in relief. He was moved to the bullpen after the All-Star break in anticipation of his promotion to the Blue Jays. With a 20-per cent innings increase planned for this season, Sanchez has about 30 innings to pitch for Toronto. If hes good, Sanchez addresses a need for the Blue Jays: a right-handed arm to help Dustin McGowan bridge the gap to closer Casey Janssen. It would allow general manager Alex Anthopoulos to focus on another area of need, specifically the infield. “Coming out of the ‘pen, I dont think its going to be that hard,” said Sanchez. “Ive done it a couple of times down there and I adapted to it fast my first couple of times. I had the normal soreness, just because we had three days off going from the All-Star break, but after my second outing I bounced back real quick.” Sanchez was the 34th-overall pick (first round) of the 2010 draft, Alex Anthopouloss first as general mmanager.dddddddddddd In a perfect world, regardless of Sanchezs role the remainder of the season, he adapts to the big leagues as well as his fellow first rounder, Marcus Stroman (22nd-overall, 2012). He insisted hes not afraid of the big stage. Hes looking forward to pitching in front of major league crowds. Stadia with three decks wont faze him. “I think Montreal was a big testament to that. You know, pitching in front of a crowd like that, just, you being in a big league atmosphere,” said Sanchez. “I think thats what I was expecting when I came back up.” Sanchez went through a period of control problems at Double-A. He was pulled early from a couple of outings when he hit 30 pitches in a single inning, a limit set by the Blue Jays in order to protect the prized asset. His command returned with some minor tweaks to his delivery. “I dont think it was more of an arm slot change, it was just about being more consistent with the arm slot,” said Sanchez. “There were a couple of mechanical things that would be inconsistent with my arm slot, so thats what we did down there is kind of go back to the foundation. The more and more I repeated the delivery thing, everything else kind of fell into place.” Sanchez doesnt plan to minimize his repertoire while pitching in relief, as some starters will do. His parents arrived in Toronto, from the Southern Calfornia town of Barstow, in time to be at Rogers Centre. His dad was the first person he called. “I called my pops, absolutely,” said Sanchez. “Hes been by my side from day one. I wish he could be there, in person, with me to share that moment because over the phone didnt do any justice.” ROGERS, GOINS REJOIN BLUE JAYS Sanchezs promotion wasnt the only move the ballclub made on Tuesday. Pitcher Esmil Rogerss contract was selected and infielder Ryan Goins was recalled from Buffalo. To make room, Brad Mills was designated for assignment and Darin Mastrioanni and Erik Kratz were optioned to Buffalo. ' ' '