When Aramis Ramirez takes the field Monday night in Wrigley Field, the Cubs will see themselves in the exact same position as the day he fell injured. They are 2 1/2 games out of first place, just like when their best offensive player badly injured his shoulder diving for a liner in Milwaukee. The reality of the situation, though, is that you can attribute the Cubs' ability to hang in the race more to the futility of their division foes than to the Cubs playing well. They haven't played well at all, yet they sit right in the thick of the race. Adding Ramirez is almost akin to a huge trade here in early July. But, the interesting wrinkle in the whole situation is the roster shakeup which will accompany Ramirez's triumphant return.
Relief pitcher Angel Guzman and outfielder Reed Johnson are also returning to the Cubs Monday, which means three players from a roster who went 5-2 last week will be departing. The biggest name in the mix is Jake Fox.
Fox is the 26-year-old slugger that has been filling in rather nicely at third base. He's hitting .310 with four homers and 15 RBI in just 71 at-bats. He clearly showed he was too good for the minors earlier this season when he was tearing the cover off the ball (.409-17-53 in only 45 games). Yet, he now has no position and minor-league options remain on his contract. Do the Cubs send him down, hoping he stays in a groove and ready to call him up in case someone else gets hurt?
Jeff Baker, who can play anywhere in the infield and was acquired via trade this past week, is out of minor-league options. It's pretty unlikely the Cubs would part with him less than a week after trading for him.
Andres Blanco, a middle infielder with incredible defensive skills but sub-par offensive ones, is also out of options.
Mike Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir, staples on the Cubs' roster all season, have options -- though it hardly seems likely either would be sent down right now.
Sam Fuld, the rookie who provided a spark this past week, is a great defender and baserunner who can hit for contact. He's a great clubhouse guy and cerebral player -- he went to Stanford, after all -- who doesn't have too big an ego to sit the bench. Thus, he's a perfect role player who gets only spot starts. But he has minor-league options and is pretty likely to get sent down.
It has been discussed as a possibility that the Cubs send back two pitchers and only one position player, thus leaving them with only a six-man bullpen. That sort of a move would signify immense trust in the starting rotation's ability to work deep into games consistently. With some glaring exceptions (Rich Harden on Saturday), they have done so in 2009. In this scenario, they'd probably send down Kevin Hart and Jeff Samardzija. And that's what I think they'll do.
Unfortunately, as I said above, they'll probably also send Fuld down. It's true he fills a pretty similar role to Johnson, but I'm still left scratching my head over the Baker acquisition. He seems to be redundant on the roster, considering the presence of Blanco, Fontenot and Aaron Miles -- who is currently on the disabled list but not far away from a return. What are the Cubs going to do when Miles comes back? Carry four backup-type infielders (yes, I'm including Fontenot as a "backup-type") on the roster? That just makes too little sense to even consider.
My suggestion -- and I know Jim Hendry is reading this on the edge of his seat -- is to just designate Baker for assignment and also send down Hart and Samardzija. They can at least last to the All-Star break short one pitcher. At that point, they can evaluate if they need to send someone down for another reliever. Maybe someone gets hurt in the meantime and the decision becomes easier?
If they actually do as I suggested, though, the Cubs can't afford to waste Fox's hot streak by keeping him on the bench. So, here's the plan. He gets at least one at-bat every game. He can start for Ramirez at third whenever he needs the rest -- and the Cubs have said he'll need more rest than in the past because the shoulder is going to be sore. He can play twice a week in left field for Alfonso Soriano, at least until Soriano learns to hit again (or needs to get benched quasi-permanently, in which case Fox can just take over everyday and the rest of this paragraph is null and void). He can play once a week in right field for Milton Bradley. That gives Fox five starts a week and pinch-hit appearances the other one or two games. That's enough to keep him going.
After that, the rest of the roster would look very complete. Johnson still platoons in center-field with Kosuke Fukudome. Fuld is a pinch-runner/defensive replacement in the outfield for Fox or Soriano. Blanco is a defensive replacement in the infield when he's not starting at second base instead of Fontenot -- and Blanco can also give Ryan Theriot the occasional break at short. Hoffpauir is your left-handed power bat off the bench who gets the occasional start in right field or at first base.
But, it matters not. Hendry is going to send down Fuld and I'm worried he sends down Fox, citing the need to play him everyday. All because he decided to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade. I mean, seriously, Jeff Baker?
Just wash your hands of the deal and move on, Cubs. Now is the time to sustain winning, not keep a utility infielder with a career .312 on-base percentage -- especially when you already had better in-house alternatives.
UPDATE: Well, I was kind of right. The Cubs have optioned Fuld and Hart back to Iowa and put David Patton on the disabled list with a strained groin. Should we put quotes around strained groin? I hadn't heard anything about Patton's "injury" until now. Hmm ...
