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The Miami Marlins will officially court Yoenis Cespedes Wednesday, but Tuesday the Cuban free agent said he already likes the team.

"It would be good [to play here]," Cespedes told reporters at Miami International Airport Tuesday. "There are a lot of Cubans and they would support me a lot. Hopefully I can play for the Marlins."

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ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine and Doug Padilla took your baseball questions during a live chat on Tuesday. See what they had to say about Yoenis Cespedes, Jorge Soler and Gerardo Concepcion, among other topics. Click here to submit your questions.

Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes’ next step toward signing with a major league team will eventually happen on U.S. soil, as he awaits his chance for face-to-face meetings with his agents and interested teams.

The plan, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, is still to have Cespedes in a big league camp by the third week of February.

The five-tool centerfielder will be a rich man before he sees one pitch in spring training, as industry sources tell ESPNChicago.com that the bidding for the Cuban defector may go as high as six years, $60 million.

The Chicago Cubs and the Miami Marlins may be driving the price up. The speedy 26-year-old outfielder said a month ago that the Cubs appeared to be the most aggressive team pursuing his services, having taken him out to dinner a few times. And Miami team owner Jeffery Loria has told his people that signing Cespedes is a priority for the Marlins, due to the large Cuban population in the Miami area.

Many other teams, including the Chicago White Sox, are still in the mix for Cespedes, who is waiting for a visa from The Dominican Republic, where he recently became a citizen.

The Chicago Cubs designated infielder Blake DeWitt for assignment Monday to make room for infielder Adrian Cardenas, who they claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.

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At age 56, baseball life begins again for former Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry.

Seventeen years after taking his first position under then-Cubs general manager Ed Lynch, Hendry will be a top assistant to Brian Cashman, the New York Yankees announced Thursday.

Hendry was fired by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts in July but stayed on to sign the team's June draft picks and work the trading deadline that sent outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to the Cleveland Indians for prospects.

"I had the good fortune of being a minor league director and scouting director for [former Cubs president] Andy MacPhail before he hired me as assistant general manager," Hendry said. "I'm very grateful to have had those opportunities for 17 years, and I feel very good about the success we had.

"My only regrets are that we couldn't finish it off. We had a chance three or four times with real good teams. The '03-'04, '07-'08 teams I thought any of those could have gone all the way. Realistically I thought we could win a championship here, and I thought we were capable, but that would be my biggest regret."

After enjoying four months of rest and relaxation, Hendry is ready to get back to work.

“I enjoyed the time away from the 15-hour days, spending time with my children and friends, but I am refreshed and ready to give the Yankees my very best," Hendry said.

Hendry will begin his new job in Tampa the week of Feb. 20. His new position includes major and minor league scouting as well as troubleshooting for Cashman and assistant general manager Billy Eppler. Cashman wants Hendry to stay with the major league team for at least a couple of weeks to form new relationships.

When spring games begin in early March, Hendry will evaluate players in the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues.

Many industry insiders believe Hendry will be back in a GM role by 2014. But Hendry is not looking ahead.

"This is a job I have and the job I wanted," Hendry said. "I'm not looking to go into this with any thought of staying for a year and then doing something else and getting out. I want to give my total commitment and concentration to the Yankees and Brian Cashman. No one really knows what the future really holds, and this game takes a lot of twists and turns. But there's a lot of variety to the job that Brian has given me, and my goal is to give him and the Yankees my all."

As he moves on, Hendry is appreciative of the opportunity he got with the Cubs.

"I was treated very well by all the people I worked for during my time with the Cubs," he said. "I'll always value the relationships I made with my co-workers, the fans and the media who were always very fair with me."

Cubs add Caridad: The Cubs added pitcher Esmailin Caridad as a non-roster invitee. The 28-year-old right-hander was 3-2 with an 8.27 ERA in 26 games with Triple-A Iowa last season.

Pitcher Matt Garza and the Chicago Cubs avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract on Friday.

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SANTO DOMINGO -- Cuban left handed starter Gerardo Concepcion, an 18-year-old phenom who defected last June, has reached a $7 million guaranteed contract with the Chicago Cubs, a source close to the negotiation told ESPNdeportesLosAngeles.com.

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CHICAGO -- Since taking over the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family has expressed a strong desire to keep Wrigley Field affordable and family friendly.

“It’s everyone’s house,” Tom Ricketts told ESPNChicago.com at Wrigley Field when the Cubs opened single-game ticket sales in Feb. 2010.

Now, the Cubs are also inviting bigger-spending fans to “experience exclusivity.”

While they haven’t formally announced the pricing of the new exclusive aspects of the Wrigley Field experience, the Cubs have unveiled a pricing scale for the new right field patio, along with a new ultra-premium suite, on their website.

It’s tough to find, but it’s there.

The new Budweiser-sponsored patio in the right field bleachers, which was announced at Cubs Convention last month, is being marketed as “the Wrigleyville rooftop experience inside the ballpark,” and the Cubs are charging rooftop-like prices.

There are four pricing tiers for the section: $125 a ticket (silver), $150 (gold), $190 (platinum) and $250 (marquee). But as of now, fans can’t buy solo tickets. This is aimed solely at large groups, from bachelor parties to corporate outings.

Tickets can be purchased in blocks of 50, 100 or 150 and include food and drinks -- alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Each block of 50 contains 32 seats and 18 standing-room tickets. This is also where the Cubs are debuting a new 70-foot LED board that looks to some like a harbinger to a JumboTron.

The Cubs are focusing extra attention on high-end group sales and have organized their offerings on a page on the website that says, “Experience Exclusivity.”

Last month, the Cubs accidentally posted pricing for the patio section before they decided to make it a group section. Tickets ranged from $31.36/$52.64/$76.16/$87.36/$117.60. The Cubs pulled these prices off the website after a reporter alerted them to their existence.

One new addition to the offerings is the “Legends Suite.” Located on the first base side of the suites level, the suite offers 14 tickets, an “upgraded gourmet menu,” a pregame tour and most importantly, the company of a former Cub, who will autograph a “unique gift.”

The Cubs listed on the website range from Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins to fan favorites such as Dave Otto, Randy Hundley and Doug Glanville.

Of course, this being the Cubs, there is a variable, four-tiered pricing aspect to this suite, depending on which Cub you’re paired with. “Cubs Alumni” pricing ranges from $5,500 to $10,000, while “Cubs Hall of Fame” pricing goes from $7,500 to $12,000.

The Cubs also have the recently renamed Budweiser Bleacher Suite (formerly the Bud Light Batter’s Eye), which still sells all-inclusive tickets between $165 to $295 and the PNC Club of Chicago.

Another change for the Cubs is the availability to rent out the Cubs Trolley, which the team created last season. The decked-out trolley holds as many as 30 people and can be added as a “VIP suite upgrade” for $1,200. That’s a round-trip price of no more than 10 miles each way. The Cubs are also renting it out for weddings, bachelor/bachelorette parties and pub crawls.

Theo Epstein helped break one legendary baseball curse, and Curt Schilling believes he can do it again with the Chicago Cubs.

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Now that Yu Darvish is a Texas Ranger, all the attention on the international market has gone to Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, with the light becoming brighter last week when his residency in the Dominican Republic was established, making him finally eligible to sign. His U.S.-based representative, Adam Katz, insists that Cespedes will be in camp with a team, so a signing could happen soon, and it's time to talk about just how good he can be.

Once again, opinions on where Cespedes fit on the scale were all over the board, with both extremes occurring as one exec took all five big leaguers ahead of Cespedes, while another chose Cespedes over all five established players.

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Pitcher Matt Garza will have an arbitration hearing in Florida on Friday to determine whether he will earn $12.5 million or the $7.95 million that the Chicago Cubs offered, according to a major league source.

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Police in Fresno, Calif., are investigating a burglary at the home of the Chicago Cubs' Matt Garza that included the theft of the pitcher's 2008 American League Championship Series ring, valued at $30,000, according to a report in the Fresno Bee.

Police say the burglary occurred between Jan. 26 and Tuesday morning.

Garza, a Fresno native, was the MVP of the 2008 ALCS with the Tampa Bay Rays, beating the Boston Red Sox twice and compiling a 1.38 ERA.

He was traded to the Cubs before the 2011 season.

The Chicago Cubs are looking for backups on their 25-man major league roster, inviting 21 non-roster players to big-league camp beginning Feb. 18 when pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz.

The Cubs' major needs center around a utility middle infielder and a backup catcher with major league experience. Alfredo Amezaga, 34, has spent parts of nine seasons with four teams. A switch-hitter who can play three infield positions and all three outfield spots, Amezaga is a .247 hitter and could be a solid backup for shortstop Starlin Castro and second baseman Darwin Barney. The Cubs went the entire 2011 season without a backup for Castro. Barney had to move over to shortstop for the five games Castro missed.

Another option is 33-year-old Edgar Gonzalez, a former Padre who can play all four infield positions as well as left and right field. A right-handed hitter, Gonzalez batted .315 at the San Francisco Giants Triple-A affiliate Fresno in 2011.

Former Minnesota Twin Matt Tolbert will also get a look this spring. Tolbert a .230 hitter in four years as a utility man, can play all the infield positions. Other candidates include Jonathan Mota and 34-year-old minor league veteran Bobby Scales. Mota has been in the Cub system for seven years. Scales played at Iowa before he was sold to the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan last June.

Jason Jaramillo has three years of part-time big-league catching experience. The Cubs will have to decide if Welington Castillo or Steve Clevenger are ready to become Geovany Soto’s full-time backup. If not, it looks like the switch-hitting Jaramillo will replace Koyie Hill as the second catcher.

Former Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has been hired by the New York Yankees as a special assistant to GM Brian Cashman, according to a major league source.

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ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine and Doug Padilla took your baseball questions during a live chat on Tuesday. Click here to read the chat wrap.