HOUSTON - The Chicago Cubs hope Dexter Fowler will provide outfield strength and spark at the top of the batting order. Riley Ridley Jersey .He does control the strike zone really well, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Monday after acquiring Fowler from the Houston Astros for infielder Luis Valbuena and right-hander Dan Straily.Fowler, 28, hit .276 with eight homers and 35 RBIs last year in his only season with the Astros, who obtained him from Colorado for outfielder Brandon Barnes and right-hander Jordan Lyles.Fowler, who has a .271 career average, asked last week for $10.8 million in arbitration and was offered $8.5 million. He is eligible for free agency after the season.He can potentially lead off for us. I wont sit here and make the lineup card out for Joe (Maddon), but he certainly fits well in that role, Hoyer said. It really gives us much needed depth in centre field and in the outfield. We felt like we were a little bit imbalanced as far as our depth, that we were certainly a deeper team in the infield than we were in the outfield.The 29-year-old Valbuena played third base primarily last year but also saw time at second. He hit .249 with 33 doubles, 16 homers and 51 RBIs. Valbuena agreed Friday to a $4.2 million, one-year contract and can become a free agent after the 2016 World Series.Straily, 26, was 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA last season in eight starts and six relief appearances for Oakland and the Cubs, who acquired him as part of the trade that sent Jeff Samardzija to the Athletics. He was 10-8 for the As in 2013.The arrival of Fowler puts Arismendy Alcantara in more of a utility role. The departure of Valbuena creates an opening at third, although Hoyer insisted it will not accelerate prized prospect Kris Bryants arrival in the majors.He said Mike Olt, Tommy La Stella and Alcantara will compete for time until Bryant is ready.When Kris is ready, when we think hes ready to come up to the big leagues, well make that decision, Hoyer said. But certainly trading Valbuena is not gonna speed that clock up at all. Its all dependent on Kris.Chicago also agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Daniel Bard, who has not pitched in the major leagues since 2013 with Boston. Bard had surgery in January 2014 for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, then agreed to a minor league deal with Texas. He made four appearances in June for the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League and allowed 13 runs in two-thirds of an innings, a 175.50 ERA. Anthony Miller Womens Jersey . The 22-year-old Spanish midfielder recently signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea, and after spending last season on loan with Valencia in La Liga, Romeu will move to the Bundesliga for the 2014-15 campaign. Anthony Miller Jersey . Vonn had another scary moment at Saturdays World Cup downhill in Val dIsere, ending up clutching her knee in pain after losing her balance and missing a gate. But she gave a reassuring answer shortly afterward, saying no new damage had been done to the surgically repaired knee, and that her plans for the Sochi Olympics were still intact. https://www.bearssportsgoods.com/Womens-Brian-Urlacher-Inverted-Jersey/ . Judging by his performance Saturday night, Cotto has plenty left in the tank. Cotto became the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world championships in four weight divisions, stopping Sergio Martinez in their WBC world middleweight title fight Saturday night. SALVADOR, Brazil -- Bosnia-Herzegovina ended Irans hopes of advancing to the knockout stages with a 3-1 victory in Group F on Wednesday, registering its first World Cup win in the process. The Bosnians, who were already relegated from the tournament, took a commanding 2-0 lead with goals from Edin Dzeko in the 23rd and Miralem Pjanic in the 53rd before Iran hit back in a desperate late bid to qualify for the second round. Reza Ghoochannejhad gave some hope to the Iranians with a tap-in goal in the 81st, but Avdija Vrsaljevic replied immediately with his low shot from the edge of the area to restore the two-goal lead. Iran needed a win to have any chance of advancing. "Sorry to our opponents, but this was also an important win for us so we could hold our heads up high leaving this tournament," Bosnia-Herzegovina coach Safet Susic said. "Throughout the match we were those who wanted to win more." The Bosnians were already out of contention at their first World Cup following consecutive losses to Argentina and Nigeria. Iran coach Carlos Queiroz brought in strikers Khosro Heydari and Karim Ansari Fard in the second half but the shift in system only netted one goal. Playing at its fourth World Cup, the Iran squad faced criticism for its dour defensive tactics after a 0-0 draw against Nigeria. The Iranians also spent much of their game against Argentina packing the defence, but created several chances on counterattacks and nearly caused a major upset before conceding a late winner by Lionel Messi. "I was a bit surprised by Iran, they needed a win and they were calculating," Susic said. "That backfired for them. Maybe they could not change their habits." Queiroz said he could not change the defensive style with the players he had available. "Susic has his opinion," Queiroz said. "The next time I will give him the opportunity to train Iran and Ill train Bosnia, and we will see." "He has players who play in Roma and Manchester City, and whom do I have?" he askedd, referring to Pjanic and Dzeko and Iranian players who mostly play in Iranian and smaller European clubs. Dan Hampton Womens Jersey. "You squeeze an orange and then you see that you have players who cannot be squeezed no more," he said. "We played to the limits of our mental and physical capacities, and Im very proud of my players," Queiroz said. Bosnia created most of the chances in the match, with Dzeko -- criticized for missing several opportunities during Bosnias earlier two matches -- firing a volley over the bar in the third minute, and then heading straight at the Iran goalkeeper from close range. He opened the scoring in the 23rd with a low shot from 20 yards (meters) that deflected in off the post. Pjanic doubled the lead a half hour later with an angled shot from inside the box. Irans only genuine chances came after its only goal of the tournament came in the last frantic minutes, with Ghoochannejhads close-range shot narrowly missing late. Queiroz said he believes that Bosnia was the best team in the group. "The best team of the group did not qualify, with all my respects to Argentina and Nigeria," he said. "Today, they played on another level." Asmir Begovic, who made 11 appearances for Canadas under-20 team, started in goal for Bosnia. "So happy to finished off our World Cup with a win!" Begovic tweeted sfter the match. "Congratulations to everybody on out 1st ever win at the World Cup! Thanks for the support." ------ Lineups: Bosnia-Herzegovina: Asmir Begovic; Toni Sunjic, Emir Spahic, Sead Kolasinac; Avdija Vrsajevic, Anel Hadzic (Ognjen Vranjes, 61st), Miralem Pjanic, Muhamed Besic, Tino-Sven Susic (Sejad Salihovic, 79th); Edin Dzeko (Edin Visca, 84th), Vedad Ibisevic. Iran: Alireza Haghighi; Pejman Montazeri, Jalal Hosseini, Amir Hossein Sadeghi, Mehrdad Pooladi; Andranik Timotian, Javad Nekounam, Ehsan Haji Safi (Alireza Jahanbakhsh, 63rd); Masoud Shojaei (Khosro Heydari, 46th), Ashkan Dejagah (Karim Ansarifard, 68th), Reza Ghoochannejhad. ' ' '