Colvin Causing Confusion

According to Bruce Levine of ESPN, Tyler Colvin will be on the Cubs opening day roster. This leaves ONE spot up for grabs between Tracy, Millar, Fuld and The Hoff. According to earlier blogo-rumors, that spot could already be wrapped up by Tracy.

That makes sense because Tracy can probably play all 4 corner positions in a pinch and he's almost a decade Millar's junior.

I'm more confused by the 0utfield situation. With Nady already the designated 4th outfielder, where/when will Colvin get to play? Loupa said last week that Colvin would only play if he could find at-bats, sooooo... this either means that they're planning on another injury ridden Soriano year, or they're already doubting Fukudome's chances to be a regular starter.

Personally, I've been rather unimpressed with Fukudome's Cubs stint thus far, but sadly, probably also have all the other GM's in the league. I would LOVE to see him dealt for that experienced bullpen arm, especially since Tracy can most definitely be a stop-gap late inning/extra inning sub in the OF.

Announcing Colvin this early and trading Blanco are definitely interesting moves, and I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't the last before opening day.

Cubiatrics

Remember when Ryno sprained his ankle, or was it his wrist??? I wanna say it was the year after his error-less games streak? (Notice how I can't pinpoint the injury or the year)
Can you remember Gracie EVER being sidelined for days at a time? Neither SOSA nor Maddux missed any considerable amount of time during their tenures either.

I've ranted on this before, but there is some sort of residual bad karma lingering in the Cubs training room and its been there since KWood's rookie season.
Back then it was Woods and Prior keeping each others spots warms on the DL.
Then Nomar tore his hammy RIGHT off the bone as it were!!
Then Lee's hand/wrist gets broken on a freak cubbery-liciuos play.
Z felt lonely so he started to stop by for weeks at a time (One of those stints was actually from surfing the web too much)
Soriano joined the DL fray with multitude of various leg injuries.
...and last year ARAM wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and apparently wanted another taste this spring!!

What is going on with this training staff?? Is Mark O'Neil giving out happy endings?? Did Sammy leave a stash of porn under the trainers table?

And now DLee has injured his back by improperly sitting in a chair?? Good thing he wasn't taking web-classes from Z! I know that injuries are a 'part of the game' and that other teams (see the Mets) have been just as badly off, if not worse, in recent years.

But this is just plain ridiculous. Dare I say CUBBERY at its best? Colin Cowherd on his radio show mentioned the Cubbies and my ears perked up. He followed with the question: "Why are they in 'Wait and see Mode'"? Valid question, Colin. All of the above is another painful reminder to me of why we should have Kept Jake Fox around rather than bringing in two 'past their primers' in Millar and Tracy. He was a fresh breath in an increasingly stagnant atmosphere. Young blood rather than old tired, post PED muscles. Sadly, I'd prefer Millar OR Tracy over Baker/Hoff but apparently the cubs HAVE to keep baker around because he can play 2nd and 3rd.

This infield situation is a mess. Makes me wonder if Loupa/Hendry have considered. Plattooning Theriot, Castro, and Fontenot between the two middle infield positions, keeping Tracy and Millar because they can both play 1st and 3rd and both have more pop than Baker, and try to package Baker and Someone for some bullpen help (Subject of upcoming rant, to be sure) All I know is that with Aram and DLee dancing the Wood/Prior DL tango, backup power at the corners HAS to be at least close to the top of Hendry's concerns.

Sadly, once again, the Cubs risk stalling out of the gate due to injuries, and then rely on the tried and true 'When this guy gets off the DL, it'll be like making a trade without giving anything up'! reasoning for not trying to improve mid-season.

Already Worried...

Aram out with a sore 'something'..already. I hate to say I told you so, especially due to the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost 3 years, but regardless, Hendry should NOT have so callously gotten rid of Jake Fox. A power hitter that can sub at 3rd, 1st AND CATCHER!!! In exchange we get a seldom-heard-of reliever in the form of Jeff Gray and then invite Kevin Millar and Chad Tracy to camp: Two guys past their primes with pretty much the same pros/cons as Fox had, plus (in Millar's case) an extra 10 or so years. I've actually always liked Millar and hope they keep him, but Aram's soreness could force the Cubs' hand to keep Tracy or Baker due to their 3B experience.... Not to sully Millar's prowess at 3B. He DID play 4 games at 3rd for the Jays last year.

I absolutely love Aram when he's on the field, but it appears that its getting exceedingly difficult to keep him there, and with Lee not getting any younger, Fox was an asset that should have been kept until at least the end of camp this year. Now there's indecision in the infield, AND in the bullpen due to Gray's 'I slipped on the pitcher's mound' injury. (never a good sign for a pitcher I might add).

Hope to be posting more, but for now, here's to Aram being cured by opening day, or we might lose another season before it gets started.