Chicago Cubs

The news going into today's Cubs vs. Pirates game was the roster moves made before the game. The Cubs added another player to increasingly expanding disabled list and sent down Neal Cotts and Bobby Scales.

To fill the void, they called up lefty reliever Jason Waddell, whose AAA stats aren't that impressive, 0-1 5.40 ERA 12 SO in 16.2 innings, but he is really the only lefty decent enough to call up.

I don't need to tell anyone that the economy is in ruins right now. Teams all over professional sports are seeing their season ticket renewal numbers sliding south and their merchandise sales stagnant at best.

In baseball, the rumor mills are full of hot items about teams in small and middle markets looking to unload any contract of length or substance as early as the beginning of June (Jake Peavy) for the sake of saving their bottom line.

Fans just aren't spending the money this year.

Carlos Zambrano has always been known as a player who wears his emotion on his sleeve, and today it cost him.

He was called on an extremely close play at the plate, where Nyjer Morgan slid in just before Zambrano was able to get the tag down, but Morgan barely got his hand in before Zambrano could tag him out.

Mark Carlson, the umpire on the call, actually made a tremendous call, because from first angle it looked like Morgan was blocked by Zambrano and he was out. But upon further review of the play, it shows that he slid his hand in before the tag could be made.

Carlos Zambrano was tossed from Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after a very close call at home plate with one out in the top of the seventh inning.

Zambrano threw an 0-1 pitch in the dirt to Nate McLouth on the first base side (inside to the left-handed hitter) which Geovany Soto slid over to block. In doing so, the ball kicked back to the third base side behind home plate.

While Zambrano ran home to cover the plate, speedy Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan bolted in from third base in an attempt to score.

Did the Cubs call up Sacha Baron Cohen to start their game against the Pirates on Wednesday afternoon, or was that Carlos Zambrano going nuclear in the top of the seventh inning?

Even the well-mannered Milton Bradley was impressed, being quoted after the game referring to the tirade as "Bradley-like."

Talk about tact!

It all happened in the top of the seventh inning, an inning Zambrano started despite having thrown 107 pitches through six innings.

The recent call-up of Cubs' power-hitting prospect Jake Fox has fueled plenty of speculation about how he will fit Chicago's mold. With Derek Lee and Micah Hoffpauir occupying his comfort zone at first base, it would appear that Fox is a square peg squeezing into a round hole.

However, there is one area Fox may cover perfectly while he enjoys his time in the majors—go-to pinch hitter.

Have you ever wondered what a group interview would be like if it was conducted by Major League Baseball general managers?  Would they bring in their free-agent targets, sit them down, and grill them with questions? 

With many Americans out of work and looking for a job, I thought it would be fun to take a light-hearted look at a potential group interview session.

So long, Neal. And hey, lose the phone number and address, okay?

The Chicago Cubs made some moves today as previously reported by other writers in our Cubs Community. My initial thought is that all this activity is similar to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as anxious to see if Jake Fox can hit major league pitching as you are. First of all, we've seen minor league phenoms before that couldn't hit major league pitching. They're usually called 4A players.

Maybe Fox will be able to hit in the bigs. But at 26, it is questionable.

The Cubs have made a few minor moves this morning, calling up Jake Fox, Andres Blanco and Jason Waddell.  Going down to Iowa was Bobby Scales, who had been battling the flu for a few days, and Neal Cotts, who had been battling his command.

Fox, 26, is making his long-awaited 2009 debut with the Cubs.  In Iowa, he was hitting a robust .423 with a .503 on-base percentage and slugging .886 with 17 home runs. 

Peoria's got something cooking that might look nice at Wrigley some time soon.

The Chiefs have a young, not-yet 20-year-old kid at third base that was named the Midwest League Offensive Player of the Week last week and his knocking the cover off the ball.

Josh Vitters, the Cubs' top draft pick in 2007, is dominating Double-A ball right now, living up to his billing as the top prospect in the Cubs' organization.