Chicago Cubs: More Moves Raise More Questions

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Monday should be an exciting day for fans of the Chicago Cubs. The lineup should, for the first time in months, be nearly complete with the return of third baseman Aramis Ramirez, outfielder Reed Johnson, and bullpen arm Angel Guzman.

But there's a cloud surrounding this silver lining.

What happens when veterans come back from their rehab assignments?

They take up spots on the 25-man rosters.

Now the Cubs have some decisions to make, and General Manager Jim Hendry has already followed his awful winter by handcuffing manager Lou Piniella before he has to start writing bus passes to Iowa.

Early this past week, the Cubs made a minor move that could have major implications on their roster moves this coming week. The team traded a low-level minor league pitcher to Colorado for infielder Jeff Baker, a utility player who has been described as a poor man's Mark DeRosa.

The problem with this move is that Hendry has spent eight months trying to find a replacement for a player he had under contract until New Year's Eve.

And look at the results the Cubs have had with the series of moves!

Aaron Miles, brought in to start at second base, has missed most of the season with a series of injuries. When he has been on the field, it's been regrettable; he's sitting at a robust .203 batting average with a .240 on-base percentage.

The only thing he has done for the Cubs this year is make Alfonso Soriano look like Ted Williams.

Then there was the series of moves that really excited fans. Hendry gave Joey Gathright a contract, and then watched him play. After a month of the bench, Hendry traded Gathright to Baltimore for Ryan Freel, another injury-plagued utility player past his prime.

Freel has dealt with injuries of his own this season and was designated for assignment when Baker was acquired.

After the Miles experiment failed, Piniella was forced to try Mike Fontenot full time at second base. What's more depressing is that the Miles experiment failed in March, before the regular season had even started.

Fontenot, a super-sub on last year's team, has struggled all year. He is currently batting just .236 while splitting time between second and third, where he's filled in for the ailing Ramirez as well.

Anyone sensing a theme here?

The bits and pieces Hendry tried to sell as a roster have all shown to be masking tape on a foundation crack.

That was until the team had the nerve to start promoting players from the minors to fill the holes on the roster.

Andres Blanco was brought up as a defensive specialist and has been spectacular in the field. Though he's only hitting .225, he has been a steady glove in the middle infield in the 27 games in which he's played.

And then there's the case of Jake Fox. He was described by many scouts in similar terms as the Kansas City Royals' Billy Butler: He can hit the cover off the ball, but he's not the best at catching it.

Since his promotion, Fox has forced his way into Piniella's lineup almost every day by hitting .310 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in despite only appearing in 26 games.

Considering Milton Bradley has six homers and 19 runs batted in to show for 65 games, Fox has been a lightning rod.

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