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Cubs Announce 25 Man Roster for Round 1

CHICAGO - The Chicago Cubs today announced their 25-man roster for the 2008 National League Division Series that begins tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs will carry 11 pitchers and 14 position players during the National League Division Series:

Pitchers (11):  LHP Neal Cotts, RHP Ryan Dempster, RHP Rich Harden, RHP Bob Howry, LHP Ted Lilly, RHP Carlos Marmol, RHP Jason Marquis, LHP Sean Marshall, RHP Jeff Samardzija, RHP Kerry Wood and RHP Carlos Zambrano

Catchers (2): Henry Blanco and Geovany Soto

Infielders (7): Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot and Daryle Ward

Outfielders (5): Jim Edmonds, Kosuke Fukudome, Reed Johnson, Felix Pie, Alfonso Soriano

The 2008 National League Division Series begins tonight at Wrigley Field at 5:37 p.m. and continues tomorrow with Game 2 at 8:37 p.m., also at Wrigley.

The series shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday with Game 3 at 7:07 p.m. Pacific Time (9:07 in Chicago) at Dodger Stadium.  Game 4 (if necessary) is scheduled Sunday (time to be determined) and Game 5 (if necessary) would be played on Tuesday, October 7 at Wrigley Field (time to be determined).

Recommended Reading: Off season Outlook Part II

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Cubs Claim Brad Snyder and Designate Adam Harben

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today claimed outfielder Brad Snyder off waivers from Cleveland and added him to the team’s 40-man roster. In a corresponding move, right-handed pitcher Adam Harben has been designated for assignment.

Snyder, 26, was originally selected by Cleveland in the first round (18th overall) of the 2003 Draft. He has batted .273 (641-for-2,345) with 132 doubles, 32 triples, 84 home runs and 356 RBI in 639 minor league contests, having spent the last two seasons at Triple-A Buffalo.

A left-handed batter and thrower, Snyder hit .246 (101-for-411) with 28 doubles, 12 homers and 61 RBI in 115 games for Buffalo this season as the team’s centerfielder, including a .271 average (39-for-144) following the Triple-A All-Star break. He hit .300 (27-for-90) with four home runs and 16 RBI in 24 July contests before ending the campaign with a .304 batting average (17-for-56) with runners in scoring position and two outs.

In 2006 with Double-A Akron, Snyder led the Eastern League with 86 runs scored, was second with 233 total bases and 135 games played, was fourth with 141 hits and fifth with 62 walks. He ended the campaign with a .270 batting average (141-for-523), 28 doubles, five triples, 18 homers and 72 RBI.

With Akron in 2005, Snyder was named the Eastern League Player of the Week ending August 7 after hitting .419 (13-for-31) with 11 RBI in seven games. Later that year, he batted .367 (36-for-98) with three homers and 19 RBI in 25 games for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League – his .367 batting average ranked sixth in the league.

Harben, 25, was 3-6 with a 5.37 ERA (35 ER/58.2 IP) in 23 games (seven starts) for Single-A Daytona this season, missing time on the disabled list with a left calf strain (June 6-17) and a right shoulder strain (August 10-September 11). He was acquired by the Cubs from Minnesota September 5, 2006, in exchange for infielder Phil Nevin.

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Yost Relieved of Brewer Post

Yost relieved of managerial post
09/15/2008 2:59 PM ET
MLB.com

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers today announced that Ned Yost has been dismissed from his position as manager of the Club. The announcement was made by Brewers Executive Vice President and General Manager, Doug Melvin.

“This was a very difficult move to make, and we appreciate all of the work that Ned has done to develop this team into a contender,” Melvin said. “In the end, this was a collaborative decision made to put our Club in the best position for the final two weeks of the season.”

Dale Sveum, the Brewers third base coach, will take over in an interim role as manager for the remainder of the season. Bench Coach Ted Simmons has been reassigned to an advisory role. Any other coaching changes will be announced later.

From ESPN:

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost on Monday in the midst of a late-season slump that has jeopardized the team’s chances of making the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

Third-base coach Dale Sveum will become interim manager for the remainder of the season. Bench coach Ted Simmons was reassigned to an advisory role.

“This was a very difficult move to make, and we appreciate all of the work that Ned has done to develop this team into a contender,” general manager Doug Melvin said. “In the end, this was a collaborative decision made to put our club in the best position for the final two weeks of the season.”

The Brewers share the NL wild-card lead with Philadelphia despite losing 11 of 14 in September, including seven of their last eight. Milwaukee was idle Monday.

“I think we have sucked in September so far,” a Brewers player who wished to remain anonymous told ESPN.com’s Amy K. Nelson. “And I don’t think it’s his fault that we can’t hit or pitch right now, but something had to change.”

Milwaukee is hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s collapse. The Brewers held an 8½-game lead in late June before sliding to 83-79 and missing the playoffs.

The Brewers kept up their playoff push even longer this season, boosted when they made a big splash on July 7 by getting ace CC Sabathia from Cleveland.

Sabathia, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, is 9-0 in 13 starts with six complete games and a 1.59 ERA.

Yost was in his sixth season as the Brewers’ manager. When Milwaukee hired him from Atlanta after the 2002 season, the team was in the midst of four straight seasons with 94 losses or more.

But the next three seasons resulted in records of 81-81, 75-87 and 83-79, a marked improvement for a franchise that hadn’t had a winning record since 1992.

Yost spent 12 years on the Braves’ coaching staff with Bobby Cox, and Atlanta won division titles every year Yost was there except the strike-shortened 1994 season.

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Cubs / Astros Moved to Milwaukee

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