Prospects visit; Theo talks of "no quit" in team

Good to be back at a ballpark again. We’re pushing game time with the blog today. The Cubs get a couple of their players back today in Anthony Rizzo and Brett Jackson. They also welcomed first-round pick Albert Almora, who worked out with the team during batting practice. On Saturday, Cuban signee Jorge Soler will work out. Hope you caught our piece in the paper and online today about the Cubs not “quitting” this year. I’ve been around a few teams that have. Team president Theo Epstein made an on-field appearance today, and I asked him about the “no quit” in the Cubs. “For a team that’s where we are in the standings, this has been one of the best clubhouses I’ve been around,” Theo said. “They show up to play every day. They’re prepared. They work hard.” With some of the prospects here at Wrigley, I also asked Theo about the minor leagues overall, especially at the lower levels, where Mesa and Boise made the playoffs. “It was a pretty good year overall,” he said. “The lower levels had a lot of cause for excitement, especially at Boise. It was fun at the end of the year to look out on the field, and you literally had a prospect at every position, which is really rare from the minor leagues.” “That was the youngest team in the league, and it came within four outs of proving they were the best team in the league. A lot of good things happened down there.” “We had a few guys really step forward this year. What Javier Baez accomplished is significant for the organization.” Today’s lineup: DeJesus, RF Valbuena, 3B Rizzo, 1B Soriano, LF Castro, SS Clevenger, C Jackson, CF Barney, 2B Rusin, P Darwin Barney’s consecutive-games errorless streak at second base is at an NL-record 128 games entering today. That’s 13 shy of the major-league record, set by Placido Polanco of Detroit in 2007.