Aramis Ramirez won't play Saturday due to the calf strain he suffered Friday night, leaving the Cubs with no extra infielders for today's game against St. Louis.

Ramirez and Carlos Marmol are being examined this morning, and we should have some news before gametime. Ramirez's injury turns Milton Bradley's groin strain from a minor annoyance to a major problem, basically leaving manager Lou Piniella with a 23-man roster.

Bradley is not close to being able to play the outfield, but can still pinch-hit. But even if he reaches, as he did with a walk in the ninth inning on Friday night, Piniella still has to remove him for a pinch-runner, namely little-used outfielder Joey Gathright.

That means Bradley has become, at least temporarily, the new Daryle Ward- a one-dimensional player taking up a roster spot who can't play defense or run the bases. The Cubs seem reluctant to put Bradley on the disabled list, for whatever reason, so what will they do without Ramirez in the lineup and no spare infielders?

Unless they DL Ramirez or Bradley, or send Micah Hoffpauir down to Triple-A Iowa for infielder Andres Blanco (an unlikely scenario), they'll have to make due with what they have. That means Alfonso Soriano, who came up as a shortstop but switched to second in New York because of Derek Jeter's presence, will become the emergency back-up infielder, assuming Piniella has to double-switch at some point.

Koyie Hill has also played some third base in his minor league days, but as the back-up catcher, it's doubtful he'd be used except for an extreme emergency.

As for Marmol, the Cubs are hoping his knee strain is minor and will miss only 4-5 days. if that's the case, they should be able to get by with a six-man bullpen, though someone may have to nudge Piniella into using David "Rule 5" Patton, the rookie who has disappeared from view.

If Marmol goes on the DL, the Cubs can call up Jose Ascanio or Chad Fox, and Aaron Heilman will be the new set-up man for Kevin Gregg, with Angel Guzman replacing Heilman as the bridge pitcher to the eighth inning.


Make do with what they have?? They now have a 3B hitting .213 1 HR and 5 RBI (Fontenot) and a 2B hitting .095 0 HR and 2 RBI (Miles). Soriano an emergency infielder?? Yikes! I kept saying all offseason that Hendry was leaving this roster short without a legit backup for Ramirez. I guess he couldn't squeeze one in on a $150 mil budget. What a terrible GM. Who could have EVER seen a scenario where Bradley and Ramirez are hurt at the same time?!?!

this could be bad for the cubs. the cardinals are playing great baseball and if the cubs cant keep afloat during all these injuries they could fall a little too far behind. even the healthy players arent hitting. soto has yet to get started, lee is struggling, fontenot is proving he is not an everyday player, and theriot is slumping. right now were counting on fukudome and soriano

on top of the mess in the lineup the cubs starters all have era's in the high 4's outside of lilly. none of them are pitching well at all. and i wont even mention the shitty bullpen the cubs have right now.

14-0

Sox have their own problems

Forget the Swine Flu, this should have everyone panicking.

Still very early in the season, not panic time yet. But things are not looking good right now.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

They should get a utility guy, a Mark DeRosa type, just in case things like this happen.


Cup- Whoops

_________________

Hendry should be hung in effigy!
Riots in the streets!!
Blood! Slake the mob's thirst with buckets of blood!!!

Fucking idiots.

_________________
Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

yeah i hope you're still laughing man. what's gonna happen for the rest of the year that makes you think this team is ok?

i don't know why all cubs fans don't see the forest through the trees. i think a lot of you guys need lasik.

"oh it's only april."

yeah...how much worse can it get...

remember, october doesn't care about april...

lipid...you think i don't know? tell some of these other cubs fans please.

congrats to your cards though. it's a good series for them.

My main purpose in that post was directed towards those who think Hendry is a terrible GM.
Mistakes? Yup
Terrible? Nope. Sorry.
Then I laugh at the gem of "all Cubs fans" this or that. Absolutes like that are hilarious. The fact remains that it IS early and, while the early returns aren't good, they're not a guarantee of failure.

_________________
Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

i get you. but i'm sorry man...i don't have confidence in this team.

To be fair, they've not done a helluva lot to make anyone confident. Patton and Egbert will be splitting a fare to AAA by the day's end I imagine.
Bullpen? Bad
Starting pitching? Underwhelming.
Offense? Not gouda.

Cards fan wife and Sox fan co workers?

_________________
Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

you are in my prayers.

don't get me wrong dude, i'm cubbie blue thru and thru...

HA!!! That reminds me of a job I had loooong ago in a print shop, the guys who ran the place were Sox fans and I was a Cub fan. They hired me JUST to ride me and give me crap for bleeding blue.

_________________
Compared to you...Wagner was a minimalist

Keyser couldn't be more right on. This mix of players fucking blows. Christ, this is gonna be a long, profanity laced year, goddammit.

_________________
We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Both the Cubs and Sox are .500 =/

Alfonso Soriano at second base again? Yikes!

Thanks Reason. It's not like I'm a johnny come lately that is kicking them when they're down. I've been very critical of Hendry the entire offseason. I don't think he improved the team and they have a real fight on their hands with this Cardinals team. Maybe I'm wrong and end up running away with the division. I don't see it happening but maybe....

I said it to start, if Milton plays well down the strecth and helps , all will be forgiven.

Not even close to panicking at this point.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

That 83 win total I predicted seems about right.


There are a lot of Cub fans (not you, and not most of the ones on the board here) that presume October is a guarantee.

_________________

You might remember that I went so far as to predict they WON'T make the playoffs. Who knew that this board has a preponderance (sp?) of rational, sane Cubs fans... although the lulus we do have are simply priceless.

_________________
Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

2 years ago, Lou took almost 1/2 the season, to figure out the bullpen and make changes. This may also happen this year. The bullpen is mostly new to him. Except for Marmol and Cotts, this is all new to him. Samardjia should help and Heilman and Gregg should be pretty solid. But there are some big question marks. The offense will be fine, once these minor injuries are past (assuming major ones do not follow) . The starting pitching will be very good. Yes, they do miss DeRosa. I thought the move was a mistake from the start. I also would have rather had Abreau or Ibanez than Bradley. But I am sure Bradley will start hitting and be a solid player-when healthy. That said, I think last years team was a better one. This years team may go further in the playoffs though. Perhaps even win it all. But I doubt it will accumulate 97 regular season wins. It isn't a mess though. It will be another fun year on the North side.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

[size=200]

The REAL question is when is a drunken bleachers BIMBO GOING TO ZING A BASEBALL AT BRADLEY'S NOGGIN!!!!!!![/size]

_________________
There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

Steve Stone sez Cubs run away and hide with the division. Sez they win by 10 games.

Right.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Even the jock sniffer has started questioning the cubs off season moves:

Phil Rogers | On Baseball
April 30, 2009

Mike Norton, a Tribune subscriber living in California, makes good points. He also has a nice sense of history.

Our kind of guy.

"Having followed the Cubs pretty closely since 1954, many of the team's personnel moves have baffled me -- [for example] 'Miksis will fix us,' " Norton wrote. "I'm again baffled as to why the Cubs would sign Milton Bradley, a player with a long history of obvious emotional issues that affect his ability to play, and a seemingly endless series of injuries.

"I'm also totally puzzled as to why the Cubs 'traded' Mark DeRosa. It looks as if the real 'trade' was DeRosa for Bradley -- not as bad as Brock for Broglio, but in the same class."

April is coming to a close with the Cubs still stutter-stepping. It hasn't been a disastrous month, but the twice-defending National League Central champs aren't playing like the team that had gone 160-110 since putting the slow start of 2007 behind it.

As the architect of a winner, Jim Hendry is enjoying a nice run in Chicago. But he does have critics. They argue he mostly has thrown money at the Cubs' deficiencies.

Now he must pull off the toughest feat of all for an executive -- taking a team close to a championship and putting it over the top.

The crushing playoff series losses against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks made last winter a huge time for Hendry. The early returns are alarming, to say the least. Here's a progress report on Hendry's three biggest 2008-09 transactions:

The Bradley signing: Early grade -- F

Kosuke Fukudome's steady disintegration in 2008 put the Cubs in the market for a right fielder for the second year in a row. DeRosa represented an in-house option (he played 38 games in right last season), but Hendry was captivated by free-agent options.

Hendry was intrigued by the chance to get run production from a switch-hitter and downplayed Bradley's history of injuries and social difficulties.

Hendry probably could have signed left-handed hitters Raul Ibanez (.359-7-17 with Philadelphia), Adam Dunn (.324-6-15 with Washington) or Bobby Abreu (.362-0-12, eight stolen bases, for the Angels) but went looking for a flush, not two pair.

Bradley has two hits in seven at-bats since returning to the lineup after resting a bad leg. He's going to get better after hitting only .097 with one homer in 13 games thus far but is digging a hole with fans that could be tough to escape.

The DeRosa trade: Early grade -- F

There was no compelling reason to trade DeRosa, who hit .285 with 21 homers and 87 RBIs a year ago. Manager Lou Piniella wanted to get more left-handed-hitting into the lineup and Mike Fontenot was available to play second base. But DeRosa, who went to the Indians for three minor-league pitchers, could have gotten 400-plus at-bats moving between right field and second base while backing up at third, first and in left.

The Cubs are missing DeRosa, who has five homers and 18 RBIs.

The Jason Marquis trade: Early grade -- D

True, Marquis has fringe stuff. But he contributed to the back-to-back titles with 23 victories and 358 innings pitched. If Piniella didn't want him in the rotation, he still would have had value as a long reliever and sixth starter.

But the back-loaded contract Hendry gave him before 2007 called for him to receive $9.875 million this season, and Hendry was semi-desperate to unload some of that burden. That's why he took Luis Vizcaino from Colorado, even though no one ever seemed to think Vizcaino could help. The Cubs dropped Vizcaino last week, so their total return on Marquis is a savings of $5 million.

Coupled with DeRosa's trade, that leads you back to Bradley's contract.

For Hendry, it's good news Fukudome is hitting again. The bad news is Bradley's failure to launch must be keeping him from experiencing a feeling of relief.

One plus for Hendry: At least Bradley didn't come with his own slogan, like infielder Eddie Miksis in 1951. And he didn't give up an Andy Pafko to get him, although DeRosa might as well have been in the exchange. That's clear from Wrigley Field to California.

Keyser...how long did it take you to write this long post about the team you dont root for?

I guess hating a team is following it to.


Anyways...11-10 for the Sox...are they in trouble?
11-10 and Bartolo is pitching out of his head...I dont know if the White Sox are problem free...I guess your hate for the Cub trumps your love for the hose.

I guess the byline got cut off on my cut and paste.

and to answer your question it took me about 3 seconds to write the first line.

Well that certainly makes a lot more sense...your hate is impressive though

Not nearly as impressive as your stupidity.