Cubs Are Down to Picking Last 2 Middle Relievers

After reading Paul Sullivan's column in today's sports page of the Chicago Tribune, I learned very quickly that if all the Cubs have to worry about is their middle relievers, then that's not too bad.

As it looks, Marmol, Gregg, Heilman, Cotts, and Vizcaino are in with the Cubs relief crew. The question that still remains is will the Cubs keep Dave Patton or will they lose him to keep Chad Gaudin in the group. There is also Jeff Samardzija hoping to get one of the last two spots in the bullpen. I was hoping that Lou Piniella would put Chad Gaudin and Vizcaino on injured reserve so they can play Patton who has an ERA under 1.0.

Believe it or not we might get stuck with Vizcaino who is not worth the nickel I found in my pocket. Angel Guzman looks as of now to have stolen Jeff Samardzija's spot. Angel, I have seen can have real brilliance when thinking straight and hitting his spots. This puts worry in many Cub fans to which I hope Jim Hendry and Lou Pinella can utilize both Waddell and David Patton, the youngsters, who have thrown extremely well this spring.

If the Cubs have other ideas I hope they can trade Jake Fox for another quality lefty middle reliever. Things in that bullpen are an issue and you and I have no control over the decisions coaches make, but let's pray these decisions turn out to be the correct ones. I finally would like to see this Bullpen as follows:

Aaron Heilman

David Patton/Waddell

Carlos Marmol

Kevin Gregg

Neil Cotts

Angel Guzman

Jeff Samardzija