CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have offered contract for next season to pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Travis Wood and reached agreements with catcher George Kottaras and infielder Donnie Murphy. The moves were announced Monday night. Kottaras, acquired from Kansas City last week, is due $1,075,000. Murphy will earn $825,000. Besides Samardzija and Wood, the Cubs also offered contracts to five other arbitration-eligible players: pitchers Pedro Strop and James Russell, infielders Darwin Barney and Luis Valbuena and outfielder Nate Schierholtz. Pitchers Chang-Yong Lim and Daniel Bard and infielder Mat Gamel were not offered contracts. Lim was not eligible for arbitration. Chicagos 40-man roster now stands at 37 players. Anree Saint-Amour Jersey . - Ryan Spooner scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders in a preseason game Friday night. Derron Smith Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15. http://www.cheapvikingsjerseyselite.com/...d-cliett-jersey. The question is how many minutes will be available to them and can any of their defence or goaltending provide value? Top Picks: Following a down year in 2011-2012, Matt Duchene rebounded with his highest points-per-game (0. Hercules Mataafa Jersey . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Mike Hughes Jersey . This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling.PARIS -- The closest thing to intrigue or drama involving Rafael Nadal on Saturday came after his 31st consecutive French Open victory concluded. Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. For now, leave the on-court theatrics to others. Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, for example, was clutching at aching hamstrings while being taken to 7-all in the fifth set by No. 28 Philipp Kohlschreiber before their third-round match was suspended for fading light. No. 23 Gael Monfils acknowledged tanking a set en route to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 victory over No. 14 Fabio Fognini, who was docked a point for chucking his racket near a ball boy. "They make a good show for the crowd," Nadal said. "Long match. Crowd involved. Good for tennis." Well, aside from the fact that Monfils and Fognini combined for more than twice as many unforced errors, 137, as winners, 66. Nadals play was much, much cleaner: During the entire course of his 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win against 65th-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, the No. 1-seeded Spaniard made 10 unforced errors -- two in the first set, three in the second, five in the third. Hes dropped a total of 19 games through three matches. More worrisome would be his back, which also acted up in January during a loss to Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open final. "During my career, I had (a) few problems. ... Hopefully will not be (the) case" the rest of the way in Paris, Nadal said. Against Mayer, Nadal averaged only 102 mph (165 kph) on first serves, with a top speed of 114 mph (184 kph). That was down from an average of 111 mph (179 kph) and top of 122 mph (197 kph) in the first round last Monday. Through two matches, Nadal faced five break points and lost serve twice. He dealt with eight break points Saturday, losing two. The last time Nadal won 31 matches in a row in Paris, he failed to get No. 32, losing in the fourth round in 2009 to Robin Soderling -- a defeat that later was blamed, in part, on injured knees. That remains the Spaniards lone setback in 63 matches at the tournament. Next for Nadal is 83rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who beat Jack Sock of the United States 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.dddddddddddd Another American, Donald Young, lost in five sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, leaving No. 10 John Isner as the last U.S. man. Before this French Open, Lajovic had a 10-21 career record in tour-level matches, never winning two in a row. "I saw him play a few times on TV. Sure, its great to have new players on tour, young players on the tour that are coming strong. Hopefully not too strong," Nadal said with a smile. "Well see on Monday. I hope to be ready." Asked whether he would seek advice from another Serbian, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, before facing Nadal, Lajovic joked: "Yeah, I will try to ask everybody (for) some tips." That wont help if Nadal produces shots of the sort he did when Mayer served at 5-all in the second set -- a stretching, scooping backhand lob to break. As Mayer watched the shot sail overhead, he waved his left hand to signal to the ball to go out, then rolled his eyes when it curled in. Nadal pumped his fist, ahead 6-5 and on his way to reaching the fourth round for the 10th time in 10 French Opens. Monfils will take on Garcia-Lopez for a quarterfinal berth. Whoever emerges from Murray-Kohlschreiber meets the winner of another suspended match scheduled to resume Sunday: No. 24 Fernando Verdasco led No. 12 Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 2-2. Womens fourth-round matchups set up Saturday were No. 4 Simona Halep against No. 15 Sloane Stephens, 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against L