Cubs Ramirez To DL?

Aramis Ramirez took batting practice today, but was unable to accelerate and is likely heading to the disabled list. "He couldn't accelerate at all," Piniella said. "I think the plan is we're going to wait until Thursday and have him run again in Chicago. If it's not any better by then, we're going to have to weigh all our options. We don't have any infielders." Ramirez, who is hitting .358 with 3 HR in 53 at-bats this season, will likely be replaced by Bobby Scales from Triple-A.

The Cubs would be smart to call up Jake Fox instead. Nothing against Scales, but Fox offers the Cubs a power bat that they are missing. While he doesn't play third base, he can play left, right, and first base. He can also serve as an emergency catcher if needed. He is hitting .446 with 12 HR in 74 at-bats, with 31 RBI and 9 extra-base hits.

Another option would be to call up a pitcher, because the Cubs bullpen has been struggling lately. Both Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg had no command of their pitches in today's game against the Diamondbacks, and they might want to call up a fresh arm for the weekend series versus Florida. A couple options for them include Jose Ascanio (0.54 ERA, 14 K), Greg Reinhard (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 games), or Jeff Stevens (0.00 ERA, 8 K, 7 games). Expect a roster move to be made Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

This story was approved by MLB Rumors.

Kerry Wood Out Again

The Cubs announced today that Kerry Wood is sidelined indefinitely with what the Cubs are calling triceps strain. The Cubs are also saying he is day to day but who knows what that means with Kerry Wood. "He had a little strain in his triceps on the posterior, on the bottom, and not where he was cut [during surgery]," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "We'll give him a couple days and let Mark [O'Neal, Cubs athletic trainer] work on him. I'm not anticipating any long-term difficulty. He'll skip the next couple days." Hopefully it isn't anything serious, but with Kerry Wood out and Mark Prior heading for the minors, what's the saying again; "it's deja vu all over again."

Woodward to Cubs?

Many reporters around the spring training are coming across this trade tidbit and immediately pushing it aside. However, according to Ken Rosenthal, David O'Brien, and now a third source, who requested to remain anonymous because the trade is still very far away. A Cubs scout has recently scouted Chris Woodward and a couple other middle infielders on the Braves in hopes of swinging a deal for another utility infielder to provide even more depth, especially versus lefties. The scout suggested the reason to acquire this infielder was to provide backup for Ryan Theriot at second base versus lefties, because they plan to play Mark DeRosa in right field versus lefties. The reason being is because Jacque Jones' lack of ability to hit lefty pitchers. Lou Piniella has always had depth on his roster, and is pushing GM Jim Hendry to acquire more. Speaking of Jim Hendry, he plans to meet with Carlos Zambrano's agents either tomorrow or Saturday to discuss a five year deal, probably in the ballpark of 90 million dollars.

New Project

Derrek Lee started a project last off season to help fight LCA across the world. The foundation is called Project 3000 and I was impressed by the immediate response of sports stars around the league. As of today, I have had about 270,000 people come to the site. So starting April 1st and ending May 1st, how ever many people come to the site, I will add that number to 270,000 and donate one dollar for every 1000 people that have come. So if 300,000 people come, that's 300 dollars. I hope you will all continue coming to the site and if you want to donate money yourself, check the side column for further information. Spread the word any way you can!

Eli