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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney will have stitches removed from his left knee on Friday before starting a rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa over the weekend and is expected to return from the disabled list for Tuesday's game against the Texas Rangers.

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Chicago Cubs prospect Jorge Soler was ejected from his Class A team's game Wednesday night after approaching the opposing team's dugout wielding a bat following an earlier confrontation on the field.

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The Chicago Cubs called off their series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday long before first pitch. A combination of freezing temperatures with a forecast of storms made it an easy call.

"Last night (Tuesday) was about as tough as it was going to get, tonight probably would have been where you couldn't even function out there," manager Dale Sveum said after the game was postponed.

"I'm not sure if it's football weather."

Sveum won't alter his rotation so Scott Feldman, Carlos Villaneuva, Jeff Samardzija and Edwin Jackson will pitch against the world champion San Francisco Giants beginning Thursday if the weather holds up. The forecast for the next couple of days isn't much better.

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A goat's head was delivered to Wrigley Field on Wednesday addressed to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, a team spokesman confirmed.

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Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, who led the National League in hits in 2011, may be poised to challenge for the NL batting title as the 23-year-old is working on a new approach he adopted at the beginning of spring training.

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Baseball is witnessing the most competitive balance in more than two decades. As a result, general managers of contending teams already are preparing and targeting potential trade partners for the July 31 trade deadline. All the same, non-contenders are scouting the top prospects in the contenders’ farm system and noting their own trade targets.

For that reason, even 120 days out from the July 31 trade deadline, it isn’t at all too early to be thinking about possible trades.

Thus, here are 10 players I think will most likely be traded by July 31. Early on, GMs have identified the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins as the four teams most likely to be quickly out of the race, which is why this list has eight players from those teams.

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs broke a four-game losing streak Tuesday, getting a late-inning rally and solid if not spectacular work by their newly configured bullpen in a 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Pinch hitter Scott Hairston's eighth-inning sacrifice fly, gave beleaguered former closer Carlos Marmol his first win of the season. Marmol, who was demoted after blowing a save in Atlanta on Saturday, was relegated to middle relief in his last two outings.

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CHICAGO -- A quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

How it happened: Pinch hitter Scott Hairston's eighth-inning sacrifice fly broke a 3-all tie before David DeJesus' two-run double made a winner of Carlos Marmol. Cubs starter Travis Wood pitched out of a first-inning jam before trouble hit in the second. Shortstop Starlin Castro made two errant throws and catcher Welington Castillo also threw a ball away that led to three Brewers runs (two earned). The Cubs scratched out a run in the fifth inning off of Willy Peralta on an Anthony Rizzo groundout. The Cubs got two more in the seventh, as Castro drove in a run on a RBI groundout that scored pinch hitter Steve Clevenger and Rizzo tied it on the next at-bat with a double plating DeJesus. Marmol pitched a scoreless eighth inning thanks to a diving play by Castro, who saved a run from crossing the plate. The team’s first night game of the season was the earliest scheduled since April 5, 1989 and featured a 30-degree wind chill.

What it means: The Cubs snapped a four-game losing streak. They had lost nine of their last 10 games against Milwaukee dating back to June 6, 2012. Wood has thrown 12.1 innings this season allowing two earned runs. The beleaguered Marmol threw a scoreless inning for the second straight day.

Outside the box: Manager Dale Sveum said Matt Garza should be back with the team in four weeks once he begins his rehab assignment sometime next week. Darwin Barney will go out on a minor league rehab assignment this weekend. If all goes well, Barney will likely return to the team on April 16. The second baseman went on the DL April 1 with a left knee laceration. Brent Lillibridge went 0-for-3, extending his season-long hitless streak to 0-for-17.

Up next: The Cubs send right-hander Scott Feldman (0-1, 7.71 ERA) against Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse (0-0, 1.50) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday night.

CHICAGO -- As he tries to battle through an early batting slump, Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has gone back to the basics.

A combination of video and cage work are part of his process as he works with the team’s hitting coaches.

“I have to go with the approach I had in Triple-A,” said Rizzo, who has four hits in his last 25 at-bats. “I need to take a lot of those fastballs I am seeing to left field. Also must gear up for the changeup and take them up the middle.”

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CHICAGO – Barring any hiccups in the rehab process, Chicago Cubs starter Matt Garza is likely to return to the team in early to mid-May, according to Cubs manager Dale Sveum.

“He has been throwing on flat ground and long toss,” Sveum said. “Everything has been going well, so a couple of bullpens and he will go out and pitch a couple innings.”

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ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine takes your Cubs and White Sox questions during a live chat at noon CT Tuesday. Click here to submit your questions.

CHICAGO -- There are seven basic plot types for a story, but only two kinds for the Chicago Cubs: Ones about failure and ones about hope.

When it comes to the Cubs, it’s all about the past we’ll never forget, the present we can’t stomach and the future we’ll never see.

Under the Ricketts regime, the present has been execrable. But a blissful future is always an outfield sign and a minor leaguer away.

All the talk about patience and commitment and foundation for sustained success have filtered into the brains of the most devoted Cubs fans. It’s not a bad thing to be patient, and it’s not a good thing to be angry about a perennially lousy baseball team.

But don’t tell Cubs president Theo Epstein he doesn’t care about winning this season.

As part of the public demands of his job, he has to sell hope and patience. He does it well, with charm and an earned baseball sophistication.

He’ll tell you that winning and building are intertwined, and it’s true. But it doesn’t feel good for him to answer questions about dealing with a wasted season before it’s even began. Because for Epstein, the owner of two World Series rings, baseball is better when you win.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs starter Edwin Jackson had to battle the elements as well as the Milwaukee Brewers Monday in his Wrigley Field debut.

With winds gusting upwards of 30 mph, Jackson watched the game get away from him in the first inning when Brewers first baseman Martin Maldonado's wind-aided triple went soaring over the head of Cubs right fielder Nate Schierholtz.

“I felt like I put myself in a position to be a pitch away (in the first inning) and I didn’t execute that pitch,” Jackson said. “I had (Jonathan) Lucroy 2-2 and I didn’t put him away. That allowed them to get back into the game. I have to do a better job of executing pitches when I get myself in a position to get myself out of a jam.”

Jackson trailed by five runs after two innings, but gutted his way through four more innings without allowing a run in the eventual 7-4 loss.

“I told (Jackson), ‘Just don’t think about what happened. Just don’t let them score anymore off of you,’” said catcher Welington Castillo, who hit a two-run home run, his first of the season, in the second inning. “I told him to let your ability come through and take care of it.”

Although Jackson, who signed a four-year $52 million contract in the offseason, lost his second game of the season and has an ERA close to six in 11 innings of work, he didn’t really pitch poorly in either ballgame.

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Chicago Cubs teammates came to the defense of relief pitcher Carlos Marmol after he was booed on two separate occasions in the Cubs home opening loss, 7-4, to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.

"You lose some respect for the fans," pitcher James Russell said after the game. "It's your home park, they should be behind you no matter what. It's not like he's going out there trying to give up games. He's out there busting his butt every day. Personally, it gets under my skin because that's my teammate. I have his back no matter what. It kind of bugs you whenever you hear that. There's no room for it."

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CHICAGO -- Here's a quick look at the Cubs' 7-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in their home opener on Monday:

How it happened: The Brewers took early advantage of the windy day, scoring four times in the first inning after Martin Maldonado doubled with the bases loaded, driving in three runs. They added a run in the second on a Ryan Braun RBI double before Welington Castillo got the Cubs on the board with a two-run home run to centerfield. Milwaukee added two runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Yunieski Betancourt and an RBI double by pitcher Marco Estrada. The Cubs made it interesting in the ninth with RBI singles by Nate Schierholtz and Luis Valbuena but stranded the bases loaded on a flyout by Starlin Castro.

What it means: The Cubs went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, continuing a trend in the early part of the season. Castro tripled and doubled but never scored in the game, highlighting the weakness in the middle of the order. Edwin Jackson didn't follow up a strong first start, but settled down after the first inning and struck out six over six innings. But five walks (one intentional) helped do him in. This game falls on the offense, considering the hitter-friendly conditions. The Cubs are now 52-45-1 in Wrigley Field opening games and 2-5 this season, overall.

What's next: The Cubs host their first night game at 7:05 p.m. CT Tuesday when Travis Wood pitches against the Brewers' Wily Peralta in Game 2 of the series.