I don't know why Womack won't return when Soto gets sent back down. It doesn't sound like the Cubs demoted him because they're unhappy with his play, but simply because with Barrett out and Blanco hurting they had to have another catcher on the bench. Womack was already day-to-day with the back problem, so he was the logical choice. I really think Sullivan read too much into this one (though I hope he's right). I'd love to see Theriot promoted when Soto goes down, but it seems unlikely. Really, if the Cubs were through with Womack I have to think they'd just cut him. What's the point of keeping a 36-year-old middle infielder at AAA?

Too bad about Bynum - not that the Cubs need him, but blood clots are no fun. That might be the injury that preserves Matt Murton's spot in left field - I could have easily seen a Bynum/Nevin platoon. I really can't see a Pagan/Nevin platoon, despite Dusty's protests that losing Pagan was a big deal.

I hope they do trade Nevin. He's basically free, what with Texas on the hook for his salary this year. Someone might give up something to get him that cheaply (nothing great, but something is better than nothing, and nothing is what we'll get if we keep him through the end of the year).

Not that anything this team does will matter at this point. It's just a matter of how far we'll fall before the end of the year.

Yeah, Sullivan's off his rocker if he believes this callup has anything to do with an impending purge. The fact that Womack wasn't cut makes this move a signal in the opposite direction. The Cubs must be keeping him in the organization because they plan on using him when Barrett returns. No way does he have trade value.

Oh yeah: and why has Soto been sitting in the minors so the Cubs give all the ABs to one catcher (a veteran in the last year of his contract) who is putting up a .653 OPS?

This is no youth movement, just more of the same. Dusty's presence on the team is detrimental to this already lost season because he's going to apportion playing time with an eye to getting an extension rather than placing the best interests of the organization first. To be fair, however, ownership and the front office may be doing the Pittsburgh strategy of pushing toward some feeble win goal for the short term bump in revenues.

It seems Ryan Dempster will no longer be the sole closer:

Dempster, who has a 6.54 earned-run average since the start of May, was booed off the mound. Baker said he may yank Dempster from his closer's role.

"We might have to do matchups until he gets his stuff back together," Baker said.

Tribune: Hard to believe? Not this season (RR)

Beforehand, general manager Jim Hendry put the onus on the players to get their heads in the game.

"They have a responsibility to play the game the right way every day and to play as hard as they can every day," Hendry said. "There's no excuse to be this low below .500, no matter who we've had [playing]."

Talk is cheap. It's been this way for 2+ months, and we're far beyond the stage where telling them to play harder is going to make any difference at all. Quite the opposite - I don't think they're not playing hard. I think they're playing too hard - they're pressing, each one afraid of making the mistake that triggers another Cub collapse.

This is where a manager might step in and try to get them all to relax, instead of saying things like "I'm yanking this one if he doesn't do better" and "I want to platoon that one" and "we can't win because I don't have my horses" and "I've been stuck with all these rookies all season."

Dusty didn't lose. Dusty just didn't have his guys, that's all.

The All-Star break seems like the time to watch for a change. The Cubs don't play on that Thursday so they would have plenty of time to get the new guy in there. Or guys, if they go back to the College of Coaches. At least one of them is still living.

The All-Star break seems like the time to watch for a change. The Cubs don't play on that Thursday so they would have plenty of time to get the new guy in there.

If this team goes 1-11 or 2-10 in the next 12, including a sweep by the Sox, I think Hendry may have no choice but to make a change. We're getting past the point of people screaming for Baker's ouster and cursing the bad play and lousy players, and to the point where people really aren't going to be talking about the Cubs at all. Bears camp will start soon, and the Bulls have a high draft pick, and the White Sox are obviously in it for the repeat this year.

Chicago sports fans, and Chicago sports radio and the rest of the media, aren't going to bother listening to the same men make the same excuses for the same bad play for the next three months. Columnists can't spend the rest of the summer writing out the reasons Dusty should be gone, or tracking the health of Kerry Wood. It's boring, and no one but the diehards really cares anymore. How many casual fans do you seriously think are still bothering with this team this year? We're 20 below .500, 14 games out, and getting worse by the day. There will be no pennant drive, no meaningful September series played in the crisp air of autumn, no radiant superstar to electrify the crowd, no bright young flamethrower or sweet swinging rookie to create visions of a better future.

There's just mediocrity and excuses and disgust and despair. People may gawk at traffic accidents, but they only gawk for a second. Only a real nut will pull over and watch the messy aftermath. We are those nuts, but we're not the ones Hendry needs to worry about keeping around for the future.

the sky is falling the sky is fallingand its about damn time, i hope he is right, maybe they can demote neifi next

I hope they do trade Nevin. He's basically free, what with Texas on the hook for his salary this year.

Not if the Cubs have already spent the money.

When a team that was supposed to be good is using the same excuses as the Pirates, it can't be good. Still, good to see McClatchy and Tracy have pioneered the "blame the players" excuse. Go Bucs.

This article has a misspelling, it's spelled Murton not Nevin.