MESA, Ariz. Air Max 90 Outlet Italia . -- 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. Air Max 90 Uomo Saldi . Yet coming off consecutive series losses at St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Los Angeles needed some sort of spark as August approaches. The Dodgers found it in the ballpark of their biggest rival, and left the Bay Area in first place following an emphatic three-game swing. Air Max 90 Italia . Pekovic had an MRI test Tuesday on his right ankle that revealed bursitis, which is inflammation of the fluid-filled pad that cushions the joint. http://www.airmax90scontate.it/ . Then he got back at the team that released him five days before the start of last season, hitting a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning of the first game at Fenway Park since Boston won the World Series last October.VAL-DOR, Que. - Simon Desbiens scored three goals — including one into an empty net in the final minute — and assisted on another to lead the Sherbrooke Phoenix to a 7-4 victory over the Val-dOr Foreurs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action on Saturday. Kevin Domingue scored twice, and Aaron Hoyles and Vincent Deslauriers added single goals for the Phoenix (3-1-0). Kay Schweri chipped in with three assists. Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored a short-handed goal for Val-dOr (2-2-0), which led 2-0 midway through the first period. Anthony Richard, Daniel Krenzelok and Stephen Anderson also scored. Alex Bureau stopped 19 shots in the victory, while Foreurs goalie Etienne Montpetit made 32 saves. --- REMPARTS 1 SAGUENEENS 0 SAGUENAY, Que. — Raphael Maheux scored the only goal, on a power play at 10:56 of the third period, as Quebec edged Chicoutimi. Remparts (2-2-0) goalie Callum Booth made 24 saves in the shutout. Julio Billia stopped 25 shots for the Sagueneens (1-3-0). --- SCREAMING EAGLES 7 ISLANDERS 1 SYDNEY, N.S. — Kyle Farrell scored twice, including a short-handed goal in the second period, as Cape Breton dominated Charlottetown. Loik Leveille and Evgeny Svechnikov eaach had a goal and an assist for the Screaming Eagles (3-1-0), and Bradley Lalonde, Maxim Lazarev and Dillon Boucher also scored. Scarpe Air Max 90 Scontate. Farrell tacked on an assist for a three-point day. Filip Chlapik scored the lone goal for the Islanders (2-1-1). --- SEA DOGS 6 MOOSEHEADS 5 (OT) HALIFAX — Thomas Chabot scored the winner 1:04 into overtime to lift Saint John over Halifax. Adam Marsh led the Sea Dogs (2-1-1) with two goals — including the tying goal at 13:58 of the third period — and two assists, Mitchell Dempsey scored twice, and Julien Tessier and Olivier LeBlanc also scored. Connor Moynihan and Timo Meir each scored twice for the Mooseheads (1-2-1), who led 3-0 in the first period, and Ryan Falkenham also scored. --- HUSKIES 5 OCEANIC 2 ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. — Ryan Penny had two goals, Samuel Harvey stopped 21 shots and the Huskies converted on three of seven power-play opportunities en route to victory over Rimouski. Mathieu Lemay had a goal and an assist, and Redgie Bois and Jean-Christophe Beaudin also scored for Rouyn-Noranda (2-3-0). Mathieu Boucher chipped in with two assists. Anthony DeLuca and Tyler Boland scored for the Oceanic (2-1-0). --- ' ' '