Even with two wins in a row, we now have to be concerned because Angel Guzman and Jeff Gray both have injury woes that may keep both of them from being ready for Opening Day. Bruce Miles explains why the Cubs didn't sign Kiko Calero, even though they had said they were interested in a veteran reliever:
In any event, GM Jim Hendry will step up his efforts to land a veteran righty for the pen. That reliever, if Hendry can get him, most likely will come through a trade and not free agency. The Cubs, from what I was told, didn’t like the medicals on Kiko Calero, who signed with the Mets.
So that means the Cubs may look again at Jason Frasor or Luke Gregerson. The Cubs were rumored to be interested in those relievers last month. Frasor has a pretty big contract ($2.65 million) that the Cubs might not want. According to Gordo, Jim Hendry has the Cubs scouting just about everyone:
"In a perfect world, we would [add a pitcher]," Hendry said. ''We're doing no different than we always do. We've got every game, every club scouted in Florida, as well as out here. If there's something to be made, we will. It's not easy to make a quality camp deal. So we'll keep our eyes open."
Said [Lou] Piniella: "Jim's trying. I know he's told me we have scouts following a couple teams in particular. If he can get something done, he will. We'll see where that goes. If not, we'll just have to do it with what we've got here."
Speaking of large contracts, I'm going to throw this one out for discussion. There's a certain Cleveland reliever who's available:
Cleveland reportedly is willing to deal ex-Cub Kerry Wood, but Wood's $10.5 million salary is above the Cubs' budget.
So here's the question: if the Indians were willing to eat most of that contract in trade, would you bring Wood back? Personally, I'd consider it.
More on today's matchup after the jump.
Please put the pitchforks and torches away, even though Carlos Silva will be the Cubs' starter this afternoon. Maybe he won't suck. He will be followed by Carlos Marmol, James Russell, Andrew Cashner, Jeff Kennard, and John Grabow. The reason Marmol (probably) throws in the third inning is so he can face major league hitters -- this is common practice with closers early in spring training.
Daniel Hudson will start for the White Sox. It's a split-squad game for them, so don't expect too many Sox regulars to play.
Today's game is on WGN-TV with Len & Bob. It's also on WGN radio with Pat & Ron. Here's the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
First pitch thread will post at 2 pm CST. An overflow thread will post at 3:15 CST.
Discuss amongst yourselves.