CHICAGO - Jason Hammel never wanted to leave the Chicago Cubs, a team with decidedly increased expectations since he last pitcherd at Wrigley Field.Hammel and the Cubs finalized a $20 million, two-year contract Friday, a deal agreed to earlier in the week. The agreement includes a $12 million club option for 2017 with a $2 million buyout. If the option is exercised, the contract would be worth $30 million for three seasons.The 32-year-old right-hander was 8-5 with a 2.98 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs before he was traded to Oakland on July 5 with pitcher Jeff Samardzija. Hammel went 2-6 with a 4.26 ERA for the Athletics.The phone call that happened when (president of baseball operations Theo Epstein) said that were moving you to Oakland was kind of bittersweet, Hammel said. I felt I had pitched my way to stay here and proved myself, and he acknowledged that. But it was something that just had to be done. I knew that this was a place for me and I wanted to come back, and I was going to get a real good opportunity (to return).The Cubs still are seeking their first championship since 1908. But they believe they are in position to make a jump in the NL Central after five straight losing seasons.Besides bringing back Hammel, they added three-time All-Star Jon Lester with a $155 million, six-year agreement likely to be completed next week. They also acquired two-time All-Star catcher Miguel Montero from the Arizona Diamondbacks.All those moves came after the Cubs hired one of the games top managers, replacing Rick Renteria with former Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon. Hammel played for Maddon with the Rays and teamed with Lester in Oakland.The two pitchers talked about the Cubs, although Lester knew Chicagos front office well from their time together in Boston.I think the Theo-Jon bromance was gonna happen, anyways, Hammel said.With Lester and Hammel joining Jake Arrieta (10-5 with a 2.53 ERA in 25 starts) and Kyle Hendricks (7-2, 2.46 ERA), the Cubs figure to have a strong rotation.Chicago also has a pair of All-Stars in shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Young sluggers Javier Baez and Jorge Soler arrived in the majors last season and another wave of prospects is in the pipeline, including third baseman Kris Bryant and shortstop Addison Russell.You see a lot of things going on right now, Hammel said. Its not just shtick. Its not just flash. Theyre making a commitment to winning here. Custom NCAA Jerseys . - Suspended Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Justin Blackmon has voluntarily checked into a treatment facility and seems to be doing well. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . Hamels threw seven sharp innings to earn his 100th career victory, Domonic Brown had a career-best five RBIs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-1 on Saturday night to end a four-game losing streak. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/.Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday it is inevitable that the league will one day take after European sports and have sponsor names on team jerseys. Fake NCAA Jerseys . Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. Cheap Football NCAA Jerseys . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91.There is a fine line in sports betweeen age-old experience and just plain old age. Generalyl speaking in sports, getting older equates to more injuries and greater recovery time from said injuries. Yet the past two seasons, it was largely the younger pitchers of the Toronto Blue Jays, Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchison and Brandon Morrow who were injured and, last year in particular, veterans R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle who pitched the most innings. I dont know if it should concern the Blue Jays or not at this point, but the two youngest and most economical rotations in their division belong to the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles. With the Rays rotation as is right now with Jeremy Hellickson recuperating from an injury, David Price, Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi, the likely fifth starter to start the season, have a cumulative age of 124. If Hellickson eventully supplants Odorizzi, the number will move up to 127 years. Without Hellickson, they will be spending a little over $16.4 million in total on their five-man rotation and $19.6 million when he returns. Not bad at all for a team that has been a post-season contender since 2008 and not one of those pitchers is above 28 years of age. The Orioles made the post-season two years ago and came fairly close again last season. Their projected rotation is slightly older and a bit more expensive than the Rays. The total age of their top-five starters will be 139 or 140, depending on whether Bud Norris or recently signed Korean right hander Suk-Min Yoon slots into the rotation. If Norris is in the rotation, the cash layout is about $20 million. If it is Lee it drops off a bit to $17 million and change. The oldest pitcher in the Os rotation is recent signing Ubaldo Jimenez at 30. The Jays and Boston Red Sox have the most 30-or-over starters at three apiece. Bostons highest paid starter is also their oldest in John Lackey, whos 35 and will be making $15.25 million this season. The BoSox will be paying just over $50 million to their top-five starters. If Ricky Romero somehow earns the fifth starters job, every one of the Jays starters will be 29 or over and their cumulative age will be 162. Thats an average age 32.2 and speaks to how the Blue Jays havent done as good a job at developing young pitchers, like the St. Louis Cardinals have, and how their prospects have either been set back by injuries or have been traded. If Esmil Rogers or Todd Redmond fills the five-slot, the age of the Jays pitchers will still total 161, good for the oldest in the division with Bostons starting five totaling 152 years of age or 30.4 on average. The Jays pay for their starting pitchers if Romero iis in the rotation will be $50.dddddddddddd7 million, virtually the same as the Red Sox. Mark Buehrle will be making the most at $18 million, more than any Boston starter. If Romero isnt in the rotation, the payout for starters will be about $44 million. The Yankees, as usual, are in a class all their own. They will be paying out $77.8 million to their five starters, including about $23 million each to C.C. Sabathia and rookie Masahiro Tanaka. If Michael Pineda doesnt rebound after missing two years with shoulder troubles, they might have to add another veteran starter who would push their cash outlay even higher. Even with 39-year-old Hiroki Kuroda in their rotation, the total age of the Yanks current top five is 149 years or an average of 29.8 years old. What all this means is hard to say. After all, talent is talent at any age. But Tampa Bays average age of 24.8 for its staff, just sounds a lot better than the Jays average age of 32.2 and the Rays record since 2008 speaks for itself. - Did I miss something here? Roy Halladay signs a one-day contract with the Blue Jays over the off season, so he could retire officially as a member of his original ball club. There was all kinds of talk about him joining the organization, at least initially as a spring training guest instructor, with the role growing as the years progressed. Then, over the weekend, Halladay shows up at the Philadelphia Phillies camp as a guest instructor. Did the Blue Jays fumble the ball or did Halladay simply feel he owed something to the Phils for his years with that club? It makes sense in one regard. Roy would certainly know more about the Phils up and coming young pitchers than he would about the Jays at this point and, perhaps, felt he could contribute more there. Still, it would be a shame, if, somehow, the Blue Jays have lost Roy Halladay to the Phillies again. - I dont know if this means the wall blocking PED users from making the Hall of Fame is beginning to crumble, but relations are at least beginning to thaw. First, the Red Sox announced Roger Clemens would be inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame this summer and now Barry Bonds is at the San Francisco Giants camp as a special guest hitting instructor. Two of the most villified PED users are now being welcomed back into the fold. Then over the weekend, ESPNs Buster Olney, one of the great clean-up hitters in the baseball media whose opinion carries a lot of weight, wrote an article on the "incongruity" of Barry Bonds not being in Cooperstown. It may take some time, but clearly, the movement has begun to include all of baseballs greatest stars in the Hall of Fame, no matter their sins against the fans and the game. ' ' '