Crunch

Let’s not talk about the games. That would be fun. Let’s talk about the roster crunch.

Z!!!!!!! returns today, to brighten our days and warm our nights. Problem is, someone has to leave to make room. And it’s a totally obvious pick.

RP Ascanio: gone blown up good over the weekend, but looked really effective last night
RP Wells: techincally Z’s replacement, but has yet to actually give up an earned run, might be worth keeping around
RP Patton: not ready for this level, hasn’t pitched since May 9th (!!!), but can’t be sent down without being offered to the Rockies (and I keep thinking it’s the Reds because of that trade.)
RP Cotts: bad, though actually okay last time out but still Lou’s clearly lost completely faith in him. But can’t be sent down without eating the rest of his ($1.1 mil) contract, and that’d be #3 ate already this season.

3B Scales: kinda extraneous the second they traded for Freel, but is one of the few guys actually hitting. Possibly has to go thru waivers to get back to Iowa and might actually get grabbed at this point
SS Miles: still has 1.6 years and $4 mil left on his really dumb contract. Would not have a role on this team except he can play SS and no one else but Theriot could. Seriously, I can’t believe how great a player Ronny Cedeno apparently was, because the Cubs have had plenty of luck finding people who can play 2B and 3B, and 2B and SS, but playing all three is nigh impossible, and so you have 3 backup infielders when you really need 2 (and 1 Jake Fox.)

If Freel wasn’t just picked up, he might go on the list too. Reed is even a slim possibility, since he’s been reduced to 6th OF with Kosuke and Micah off to good starts, maybe even 7th behind Freel, but I think everyone still feels we’ll need depth there later on.

I think I’m rooting for Cotts to be cut, even though I think Marshall doesn’t really fit as a 1 out lefty (which is really only a problem if they use him like one), but I don’t think the Cubs are ready for that. Barring that, I’d really like to see a trade to get Patton to AA or AAA, since the Cubs really don’t need to continue playing with a 24 man roster. Both wouldn’t be bad if we could get Jake Fox up – even if he sucks, this is a good time to let him prove it because everyone else isn’t looking much better.

Can I say, this Padres series works out well for me, for once? I’ve got tickets to a 6:30 Cougars game tonight, which means I’ll probably catch up live watching the game on TiVo before it’s over. I think I’m stuck going out to dinner Saturday, but will be back in plenty of time for the game. And Sunday’s a day game, a fine day to flip between it and the indy race. Plus, they’re the Padres, so things may look up.