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Chicago Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella has accepted his demotion and will report to Double-A Tennessee after initially balking at being sent down.La Stella had been placed on the inactive list a week ago as he contemplated retirement. He had been optioned to Triple-A Iowa on July 29 but said the Cubs are the only team he wants to play for.Cubs manager Joe Maddon said on his radio show on WSCR-AM 670 Wednesday that La Stella would be returning to the organization.The Cubs made another move on Wednesday as well, placing reliever Joe Smith on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain. He had been acquired from the Angels at the trade deadline but has struggled. He has a 7.36 ERA and has allowed three homers in only 3 2/3 innings with the Cubs.The move opens a spot for right-hander Trevor Cahill, who was added to the roster under the 26th Man Rule to make a spot start in the opener of Tuesdays doubleheader sweep of Milwaukee. Cahill threw five shutout innings, drove in a run and earned the win in the Cubs 4-0 win.La Stella, 27, went home to New Jersey instead of reporting to Iowa after being optioned. A valuable role player, he was caught in a numbers game but was likely to return. He was batting .295 in 51 games for the Cubs.La Stella stressed there is no animosity between him and the Cubs and that his decision was just what he felt was best for himself.Its a reflection of where I am in my life and my career, La Stella said. I told them, I know you have a business decision to make. I completely understand where theyre coming from. I dont fault them for making that choice one bit. Theyre doing whats in the best interest of the team. I understand that 100 percent.La Stella even contemplated retirement last offseason but returned to the Cubs because he wanted to be with his teammates who have backed him.Information from ESPNs Jesse Rogers was used in this report. Authentic Adidas Nmd . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Wholesale Adidas Nmd Black . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.nmdsneakerssale.com/nmd-shoes-womens-deals.html . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Discount Adidas Nmd r1 . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Discount Adidas Nmd . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. The hard-court season is usually a nicely paced escalation through the US Open Series of linked tournaments to the climax of the Grand Slam season at the US Open.Not so this year.This summer promises to be an extra long, hard and riveting march to the climax in Arthur Ashe Stadium, because the calendar includes the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (tennis starts Aug. 6).The six-week US Open Series action starts on Monday with the WTA event at Stanford (ESPN2 and WatchESPN will broadcast over 70 hours of all eight Road to the US Open events).Here are five key storylines for the coming hard-court season:1. The Olympics effect is impossible to predictThe stakes in Rio are huge, but playing there is a gamble in more ways than one. The tournament offers no ranking points. Many pros, including Roger Federer, will be eligible to participate in all three events: singles, doubles and mixed doubles. That means players will look at preparation with very different eyes -- and face different problems if they do well.Just how profoundly this will affect the contenders is difficult to gauge. Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber, for example, are the reigning champions at big tournaments before Rio. Murray will defend his Rogers Cup title in Toronto in late July, but Kerber has elected to skip Stanford. Shes focusing on Rio. Educated guess: Top contenders who play in the coming weeks will use the pre-Olympic events as training camp.2. American men have teed it up for a good summerThe U.S. men smell blood on the asphalt. Two of their top four singles players, No. 16 John Isner and No. 29 Sam Querrey, arent even taking part in the Olympics. Theyre putting all their eggs into the US Open Series basket. Its understandable, because the American men have momentum coming out of Wimbledon. Just dont expect the U.S. mens team to light it up in Rio, except perhaps in doubles. The singles squad, provisionally, consists of No. 26 Jack Sock, No. 25 Steve Johnson and two players outside the top 100, Denis Kudla and Brian Baker.Isner, Querrey, Sock and Johnson each made it at least to the third round at Wimbledon, and all prefer hard courts to grass. Each has a special reason to excel this summer. Querrey is proving critics wrong with his suddenly steely temperament. At 23, Socks peak-and-valley nature is leveling off. Johnson won his first title this summer and has all the mental tools. Isner, foregoing the Olympics, will be fresh for all the other events and historically does the most damage at this time of year.3. How much gas will Serena Williams have left in the tank?Williams has a glorious problem. But its still a problem. With her masterful wiin at Wimbledon, shes poised to surpass Steffi Graf as the Open eras most prolific Grand Slam singles title winner (theyve each won 22).dddddddddddd But Rio comes first. She will be vying to become the first two-time singles gold medalist (as well as seeking her fourth doubles gold). It would make her one of the most distinguished of all Olympians.Entered in the Montreal WTA event, Williams may have as little as five days off before the start of Olympic tennis play, which lasts nine days. Williams is almost 35 years old; Rio will be physically and emotionally exhausting if she goes deep. Her task at the US Open (it starts 15 days after the last day of Olympic tennis play and just eight days after the closing ceremony) will be formidable.4. Are we witnessing Roger Federers last big dance?While Williams left Wimbledon triumphantly, her closest peer, Roger Federer, departed shrouded in mystery. Also 34, the Swiss icon may have missed his last opportunity to win Wimbledon when he lost control of his semifinal and was eliminated by Milos Raonic.Federer said years ago that he wanted to remain a factor in tennis until the Rio Games. He hit that goal with ease, but things suddenly plunged downhill this year: left knee surgery, back problems and the disappointment at Wimbledon, even though Novak Djokovic was finally out of his way.Federer has never won Olympic singles gold. He is still ranked No. 3. If he can take the punishment in Rio and through the hard-court season and then contend at the US Open once again, hes entitled to declare his intent to play until the Tokyo Games of 2020. Its a big if, though.5. Cincinnati, the land of opportunityThe Cincinnati combined Masters/Premier 5 tournament is usually the high point of the US Open Series leading to the grand finale in New York. Its perfectly positioned as the ideal tune-up for the last major. Unfortunately, this year it also begins the day after the men play their singles final and the women wrap up the doubles in Rio.A lot of good players wont be around to ride The Beast roller coaster at Kings Island this August. It also means players who are at the door of the elite may slip inside to try the sofa while nobody is home. This ought to be particularly good news for promising young players, such as Nick Kyrgios, Garbine Muguruza, Alexander Zverev, Belinda Bencic and Dominic Thiem.Add up all these threads, and the conclusion is towering and inescapable: There will be no shortage of storylines by the time the US Open begins at the end of August. ' ' '