Murton called up. Johnson leading off.

The Cubs are changing things up. Matt Murton was not in the Iowa lineup tonight and has been called up to start in LF for the Cubs against a good lefty tomorrow. Also Lou will start Johnson in CF and have him leadoff Saturday. It is about time!

I am really liking Johnson and think he deserves the everyday CF job.

Marty Brennaman rips Cubs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky9Kso9q_Ws

Could not believe what I was hearing. I have never heard an announcer rip a team like that in my lifetime. He is a jerk and frankly should not be on the radio. It was in poor taste to go on for mins. about a club that is not your own and continually rip them for things you do not understand. You do not hear Ron or Pat saying anything like this( maybe Ron talking about the Mets, but is not that bad). I should expect this from a guy who said that Dusty Baker is the answer to the Reds problems.

But while you continue to bitch like the poor sport, little baby you are, we will win the division and be heading to the playoffs. So continue to rip the Cubs and its fans while the Reds and you can be content with 3rd or 4th place like you finish every year. You are absolutely off base Marty and do not be surprised if you get a good "welcome" when you come back to Chicago for the next series.

CUBS FANS- THE BEST IN BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!

GO CUBS!!!

Cubs Notes and Rumors.

Here is some tidbits from today-

- The Cubs place Soriano on the 15 day DL with a strained calf muscle. The called up Eric Patterson. Patterson will give Lou lots of options, he can put him in all outfield positions and all infield positions except 1st base.

- The Rays like Matt Murton but find his asking price a little steep. The Cubs are valuing him as a .300 hitter with 20+ homeruns, which they should.

- The Red Sox may trade Crisp but they will have to be blown away by an offer and they do not wan to eat any of his contract ( which is roughly 11 million). I think the Cubs should make a play for the switch hitting outfielder. Especially since Soriano is out and his legs will not be 100% the rest of the year. Trade some of the farm, pay the contract, and have Crisp in CF as soon as possible.

Soriano injured, will not head to DL.

Thanks to Cubs.com-

CHICAGO -- Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano had to leave Tuesday's game after the top of the first inning with a strained right calf. His status was day-to-day.

Soriano ran to catch Ken Griffey Jr.'s fly ball in left center field with two outs in the Cincinnati first, doing his trademark hop to catch the ball. As he came down to land, Soriano couldn't put any weight on his right leg, and hopped a few times on his left leg. Shortstop Ryan Theriot helped the outfielder as he hobbled off the field.

Soriano missed time in April 2007 because of a sore left hamstring, injured nearly one year ago to the day on April 16, and suffered a more serious injury to his right quad last August.
Mike Fontenot pinch-hit for Soriano in the first inning, and Mark DeRosa moved to left field.
Soriano had gotten off to a slow start this season, batting .175, with two homers, five RBIs and two stolen bases. Last September as the Cubs' leadoff man, he hit .320 with 14 homers and 27 RBIs.

I have stated before the hop is not necessary and this proves it! Soriano you better come back soon and toughen up because you could have prevented this injury by not doing your "trademark hop". This is plain frustrating, not to mention idiotic!

Cubs Notes and Rumors.

We actually have quite a bit of news and rumors to go through today-

- Lou said they have moved Rich Hill to the pen and will be available to pitch tonight against the Phillies. Lou stresses it is not a permanent move and that Hill will be moved back to the rotation just in time for him next start. I think he should have Lieber in the rotation because of how well he has pitched. Besides Z and Dempster he is the only one pitching well out of the gate.

- Cubs prospect Jeff Samardzija topped Dodgers prospect Clayton Kershaw in his best performance in his professional career. Former number one pick Ryan Harvey collected three hits off Kershaw, a sign that maybe he is coming around. Thanks to MLBRUMORS

- The Tigers continue to struggle and now they have lost D-Train hyper extended right knee. This could force the Tigers to make a move to strengthen there weak rotation. They have looked at Snyder who was DFA'd. They could look at trading for Jason Marquis or Sean Marshall from the Cubs who have a lot of depth in the rotation. It is just a thought.

- Lou will give Fukudome Saturday off against the Phillies. He will likely have Reed Johnson in CF, Derosa in RF, Cedeno at 2b/ss, and Theriot at 2b/ss against the tough lefty Hamels.

- I wonder if moving Fukudome to center could be a thing we see a lot. I really like him in RF but he looked pretty good in CF too. I still like him in the 5th spot though.

- The Cubs may decide to send Pie to AAA if he continues to struggle and bring up Murton or Fuld. Pie has struggled out of the gate and Lou does not seem to patient this year, so he could pull the trigger before May the way Pie is going.

- If the Cubs doe send Pie if AAA the may decide to acquire a CF via trade or free agency to platoon with Reed Johnson. Names that come to mind are Reggie Willits, Gary Matthews Jr., Kenny Lofton, Juan Pierre, CoCo Crisp, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, and Nate McLouth. I would prefer a guy like McLouth, Cabrera, and Matthews because they all have power, speed, and play great defense and all could leadoff. My next tier would be Crisp, Damon, Pierre, Willits, and Lofton. All also could leadoff but hardly any power, besides Crisp the play average defense and are very streaky.

Cubs notes.

Rumors and news are really slow right now but here is some tidbits-

- Cubs optioned Carmen Pignatiello to AAA Iowa and called up Sean Marshall. Maybe it has to do with Carmen not able to throw strikes. Lets hope Eyre recovers quickly.

- Reed Johnson may end up the starting Centerfielder. He is off to a great start as a Cub hitting .375 with a .400 OBP and is playing good defense. He is such a hard nosed, old time player that plays the game right. He should start!

- It also seems that Lou will split time at SS with Cedeno and Theriot. Theriot are off to a bad start and Cedeno seems to have the upper hand on hitting. He also has better range. I have no problem with either starting at short but I think further down the road we should explore a trade for a big time shortstop.

Did Someone Say Trades???

Here is the latest addition of "Did Someone Say Trades???". It is early in the year and there is already trade rumors and ideas flying around the Cubs. Lets take a look at Bob Howry this week shall we?? Bob Howry has a tendency to start off really slow both in Spring and at the beginning of the year. One thing Lou has said is that the Cubs need to get out to a good start and I think Bob Howry, among other players, are preventing that. Now I am by no means saying trade all the players that are off to a slow start. What I am saying is Bob Howry situation is really alarming.

Bob Howry has an ERA of 11.57 so far this season in just 2.1 innings pitched. He about gave up the game yesterday and failed to hold the Brewers on Opening Day. Bob has pitched 158 games the past two years for the Cubs and I think the innings are finally starting to ware on the 35 year old relievers arm. The other thing that makes him an ideal trade candidate is that he is in the final year of his 3 year deal and the Cubs could ship him now or later in the year for maybe a middle infielder.

Now who could Bob Howry help-

The Cubs- I am actually putting the Cubs down first because of Bob Howry is a prototypical slow starter and could bounce back and get his ERA around his career 3.52 ERA. The Cubs do not want to do anything drastic yet, they should wait until the deadline because he could be traded as a part of a deal for a #2 starter or leadoff hitter. The downside is having him fail badly and lower his trade value to nothing, but I would take that chance.

The Tigers- The Tigers need relief pitching and have asked for Weurtz but he is not available. They maybe interested in a veteran pitcher like Howry. I would take Raburn straight up for Howry or a top prospect for him.

The White Sox- They could be looking for a veteran presence to go along with Jenks, Linebrink, and Dotel. I would actually see if Cabrera is available for a package of players( since the Cubs are already scouting him) that include Howry.

The Phillies- They did just put Lahey on waivers but still need pen help. Not sure how they would match up in a trade but a top 5 prospect would be about right.

The Blue Jays- They have some injury woes in there pen along with some inconsistency. Bob Howry could fix if he starts turning his season around soon. I like some of the Jays young talent like Justin Jackson and John Tolisano.

There is just to many teams looking for bullpen help to mention. I think Bob Howry is worth a top prospect or a young ML ready player or 2 mid level prospects. I think there are a lot of teams out there who would pay that price for Bob Howry but I think for now the Cubs will hold onto him and see if he turns it around. Lets hope Bob Howry can turn around his season for his sake and the Cubs sake!

No Faith in Theriot?? Cubs scouting shortstops??

According to League Officials the Cubs are currently scouting several shortstops in the ML. The Cubs are possibly looking for more production and better defensive range at the shortstop position. According to Officials the Cubs are currently at the Washington/Cardinal game watching SS Christian Guzman. Guzman is batting leadoff for the Nationals and is posting a .400 avg. in 20 AB's.

Other middle infielders that the Cubs are currently scouting are Jhonny Peralta, Bobby Crosby, Rafael Furcal, and Orlando Cabrera. It seems Crosby and Peralta seem the least likely of the two because of talent the other team would want. But I find Furcal and Cabrera interesting choices because both are at the end of there contracts and by trading for them it would be a win now mentality.

Furcal is owed 13 million this season and the Dodgers would definitely have to pay a portion of that. I am not sure what the Dodgers would want except a third baseman but we do not have one to give up. So it is unknown if they would be a match.

Orlando Cabrera would be my pick. The White Sox made an interesting move this offseason inking Juan Uribe, trading for Cabrera, and signing Alexei Ramirez, who is by nature a shortstop. The Sox definitely have depth at SS position but would rather give up Uribe, but cannot find any any takers. The Sox have the worst farm system in baseball and could use some prospects. I think the Cubs match up very well with the Sox for this trade. By trading O.C. they can insert Alexei at SS, Swisher in CF, and Quentin in LF. I would offer Marshall, Epatt, and Mike Fontenot for Cabrera and go from there.

Although a move this early in the season is very unlikely, it is not impossible. It is nice to know that the Cubs are looking at other options early instead of waiting until it is too late.

Man, Cabrera would look great in Cubbie Blue!!!

Cubs notes.

Here is some tidbits from today-

- Soriano will be moved to leadoff spot and Theriot to the 2 hole. Lou seems pretty pissed off after today and he should be. Losing a hard played, one run game is one thing, losing a game with sloppy play and at bats is unacceptable. I do not think Soriano or Theriot are the answers to leading off but there the only players we have that can fill the roles. That guy in Baltimore would have been great!!

- Cubs still have a mild interest in Crisp but the asking price is too high and they currently do not have a place for him on the team. Unless they are already giving up on Pie.

Marquis heading East???

The Mets have lost there #2 starter, Pedro, for an undetermined amount of time. They are set to give him a MRI today so they can have a better time table on when he is due back. The Mets are now in need for a pitcher. They have no one in the farm that can fill the spot and they are looking to add a pitcher without giving up too much. The Mets are looking at free agents Vargas, Weaver, Wells, and Williams. They also have interest in Marquis, Lee, Morris, and Reyes. This is the Cubs perfect opportunity to dump Marquis and his salary while inserting Lieber into the rotation. I would take a midlevel prospect for Marquis if they paid his contract. I still have a sour taste in my mouth about the way the whole rotation thing was handled. This is a good way to correct that!