Vorstellung » but I think we put together a great organization."

CHICAGO - Starlin Castro understands why the Chicago Cubs were concerned. He was scared, too.Authorities questioned the All-Star shortstop last month after a nightclub shooting in the Dominican Republic. In a separate case earlier in the off-season, Castro had just left a club in his home country when another shooting occurred.I just say that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Castro said Friday on the opening day of the Cubs weekend fan convention. I want let everybody know that I dont even know what happened. ... Im not that kind of person.The 24-year-old is beginning his sixth season with Chicago after hitting .292 with 14 homers and 65 RBIs in 134 games last year. He already has started training in Arizona and is thinking about moving his family to the U.S. after the rocky off-season in his native county.Just too many problems over there to try to cost me, and I dont even know what happened, said Castro, who has not been charged in connection with either shooting in the Dominican. I got to move. I got to do something.The situation with Castro was perhaps the only trouble for the Cubs in a strong off-season.There was a palpable buzz at the teams 30th annual convention after Chicago signed ace Jon Lester and brought in manager Joe Maddon in search of its first playoff appearance since 2008.Castro signed with the Cubs as an amateur free agent in 2006, and then agreed to a seven-year contract in 2012 that includes a club option for the 2020 season. He is a .284 career hitter, and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein made it sound as if the club plans to stand by him.I think the most important thing is that Starlin has responded to this adversity really well, Epstein said. Hes taken a mature approach and figured out that he needed to make some changes. He needed to change his environment in order to put himself in the best position to A. keep him and his family safe and B. to prepare the right way for a season to try to win a championship.The title talk for the Cubs is something new for Epstein after major renovations for both the roster and Wrigley Field dominated the first part of his time in Chicago.Its just nice to transition to the point where were building the organization but were building a major league team that can compete, Epstein said. Our fans deserve to get excited about it.Epstein said he is comfortable with the current roster heading into spring training, but they could make a few tweaks. The Cubs agreed to one-year deals with outfielder Chris Coghlan ($2,505,000), catcher Welington Castillo ($2.1 million), infielder Luis Valbuena ($4.2 million) and pitchers Jake Arrieta ($3.63 million) and Travis Wood ($5,685,000) before the start of the convention, leaving reliever Pedro Strop as the only Cubs player still in arbitration. He asked for a raise from $1,325,000 to $3 million, and he was offered $2 million.Castillo is one of three veteran catchers on the roster after the Cubs traded for Miguel Montero and signed David Ross to a $5 million, two-year contract in December.I think theres a scenario where our roster could handle three catchers and give Joe some opportunity to mix and match and do some matchup stuff, but were open to the possibility of a trade as well, Epstein said. Were not hiding the ball on that.Montero, a two-time All-Star, hit .243 with 13 homers and 72 RBIs for Arizona last season, but his acquisition was overshadowed by the moves for Lester and Maddon. The active winter led first baseman Anthony Rizzo to predict the Cubs would win the NL Central title this year, and his teammates supported the slugger before the start of the convention.Were all pulling the same rope, so I stand behind my teammate, said Lester, who agreed to a $155 million, six-year contract in December. Were going to go out there and hopefully thats the first goal that were going to try to make.___Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Brandon Fusco Falcons Jersey . - No matter the lineup or location, the San Antonio Spurs are rolling through the NBA again this spring, just the way they have for most of the last two decades. Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . Yoenis Cespedes proved he can play through a hurting right heel, giving Scott Kazmir and the As a spark with a pair of RBIs that helped spoil the Minnesota Twins home opener with an 8-3 victory on Monday. http://www.falconsauthenticofficialonlin...ley-jersey.html. According to a release sent by the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the only team to exceed the cap. Their total salary expenditure of $4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4. Calvin Ridley Falcons Jersey . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. Logan Paulsen Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans.AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kevin Harvick had a nice send-off with Richard Childress Racing, winning his penultimate race with the team at Phoenix International Raceway. Back at Phoenix four months later, he stamped his arrival at Stewart-Haas Racing by winning the second race with his new team -- doing it on the same weekend he celebrated his 13th wedding anniversary, no less. Yeah, Harvick kind of likes it here in the desert. Disappointed at the Daytona 500 after a last-lap crash, Harvick bounced back quickly by charging to the front and dominating the rest of the way Sunday to win consecutive races at PIR with different teams. "Man, this is awesome," Harvick said. Harvick won the fall race after Carl Edwards ran out of fuel at the white flag. He needed no help Sunday. Harvick had the fastest car in practice and kept it rolling in the race, charging to the front after starting 13th and pretty much staying there. He led 224 of 312 laps on the odd-shaped mile oval and pulled away on several late restarts for his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at PIR, passing Jimmie Johnson for the most at the track. Not bad for someone whos still trying to feel his way around with a new team and new crew chief Rodney Childers. "It took long enough," SHR co-owner Gene Haas joked. "This phenomenal. I think there was a lot of skepticism last year about what myself and Tony (Stewart) what we were up to, was there a lot of madness to this. Quite frankly, its a great team, theres a lot of synergy at the shop, people working together. I dont know what we did, but I think we put together a great organization." Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, pole sitter Brad Keselowski was third and Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano fourth. Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five on a warm and partly cloudy day after downpours wiped out the final 32 laps of Saturdays Nationwide race, won by Kyle Busch Harvick won at Phoenix during the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in the fall, giving him an outside shot at catching Johnson for the series title in his final season with Richard Childress Racing. He came up short, but the victory and a third-place finish in the standings gave him a bit of momentum heading into for his first season with Stewart-Haas. Harvick had a solid finish in his sights at Daytona last week before a last-lap crash dropped him to 13th. At Phoenix, Haarvick just missed the final stage of knockout qualifying, nipped by 0.dddddddddddd001 seconds, but had the fastest car in Saturday mornings final practice session. He had no trouble making his way through the field after the green flag dropped in the race, passing Keselowski on the apron, then Logano for the lead on lap 74. Harvick maintained the lead coming out of green-flag pit stops with just under 200 laps left and again with about 70 laps left. A series of cautions came out late in the race and Harvick easily pulled away each time to earn a quick win with SHR a nice capper to his anniversary weekend with wife DeLana. "Im just the lucky guy who gets to drive around the race track when they have dialed in like they did today," Harvick said. "We were able to put it altogether." Earnhardt had a whirlwind week after winning his second Daytona 500, needing his girlfriend to get him extra clothes while he went on a media tour. He had a solid follow-up, putting the distractions aside to qualify fifth. Earnhardt worked his way up in the opening third of the race, passing Logano and Keselowski to pull up behind Harvick. He dropped back a couple times and fought back to get Harvick within his sights again, but didnt have enough to track him down. "Ive got to congratulate Kevin. Those guys were two-tenths faster than everyone all weekend in practice. They were just phenomenal," Earnhardt said. "To be able to run with them all day was a big confidence builder for us." NASCARs new knockout qualifying system made its Sprint Cup debut at Phoenix and Keselowski came out on top, edging Logano for his fourth career pole. Not long after that, Keselowski found out he would be without his crew chief for the race; Paul Wolfe left the desert back to North Carolina for the birth of his first child. With team engineer Brian Wilson and its Nationwide Series competition director Greg Erwin at the helm, Keselowski ran near the front all day, but, like everyone else, didnt have the speed to keep up with Harvick. "They beat everybody before they came to the track today," Keselowski said. "Its a great combination. They were prepared for the weekend. To me, Randy Childers is like a rubber-stamp, carbon-copy of Paul Wolfe. 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