Cubs Recall Jake Fox, Reshape Bench

After the Cubs finally broke their crippling eight-game losing streak Tuesday, they made a slight overhaul to their bench and how it's going to be used. Aaron Miles is headed to the disabled list, while Bobby Scales and Neal Cotts (mercifully) have been optioned to the minors. In their place, the Cubs have recalled Jake Fox, Andres Blanco and Jason Waddell.

Waddell will replace Cotts as the lone left-hander in the bullpen, but the big news here lies in the call of Fox and a possible infield shuffle.

Fox has been Chicago's best minor-league hitter thus far in 2009. There isn't even a peer. He's sporting an obscene 1.389 OPS with 17 home runs and 50 RBI in only 40 games. The Cubs simply couldn't afford to leave his bat in the minors any longer after one of the most ugly offensive road trips in team history. It's possible that Fox could play third base, but he's only appeared in one game at the hot corner this season. More likely, he provides depth at the corner outfield positions and first base. Basically, he's the right-handed version of Micah Hoffpauir -- who handles righties well and is awful against lefties. As I said, Fox could get the occasional look at third base, though, if the Cubs hope to load up on offense at the expense of defense on a particular day.

The other nugget in these roster moves is the addition of a shortstop while optioning Scales -- who is better served at second or third. It's no secret the Cubs haven't gotten near the offensive output from Mike Fontenot that they were expecting. Miles hasn't done much either, and now he's on the disabled list. Plus, Fontenot will likely share third base duties with Ryan Freel (and possibly Fox). This means the Cubs are giving themselves the option to use Ryan Theriot at second base while playing Blanco at short. The 25-year-old Venezuelan was hitting .314 with four home runs and 25 RBI in Triple-A.

Finally, the Cubs still have the option of playing Alfonso Soriano at second base with Fox in left field should they really want to shake things up. You can see that Lou Piniella and Jim Hendry are hoping this dreadful offensive stretch is firmly in the rear-view mirror and have every intention of keeping it there.

Fantasy Spin: Don't get crazy about Fox. As I said above, it doesn't appear he'll be more than the opposite-handed version of Hoffpauir for now. If he starts at third base in the next two days, though, we'll be forced to re-evaluate. Hoffpauir's value does take a slight hit, but he wasn't doing anything against left-handers anyway, so the damage is minimal. Both are useful in large NL-Only leagues and not much more, with Hoffpauir holding a bit more value.

The most intriguing situation here is what happens at second base. Theriot would hold a slight amount more value at 2B, and Soriano would be an absolute beast there if the Cubs are nuts enough to try it.

Update: In the pre-game interviews with the press, Piniella indicated Blanco will get the start at second base Wednesday, but that "Theriot needs some help at shortstop." He also reinforced that Fox has taken ground balls at third base and fly balls in the outfield, but "if nothing else, he's a big bat off the bench."