Millar to ESPN in 3...2...1...

Doesn't ESPN already have enough mascots?

Tracy's bat speed completely disappeared last year, and with it, his approach. It would be quite the turnaround if he should manage to do anything useful at the plate.

Yeah not real impressed with this move, but I would assume the Cubs believe that Tracy can fill in at the corner outfield spots and third base. That would be the only earthly reason to choose him over someone like Hoffpauir who has power though lacking in on base skills.

Tracy can fill in at the corner outfield spots and third base

Given Hendry's moronic roster construction, they seem to have no real choice. Nady, apparently, can't play the OF (or 3B which was unlikely anyway) until June as he recovers from TJS yet, apparently, is on the active roster anyway. Hill, Baker, Colvin, Nady on the bench leaves the Cubs with only one backup IF ... and he's in a platoon with Fontenot. (We are platooning at 2B right? We aren't still suffering under the delusion that Fontenot can hit LHP are we?) Given how much time ARam usually needs off, you've got no choice but to at least have somebody on the roster who will stand near 3B for you. Tracy's hardly the ideal guy to do that but he's got to be a better choice to do that than Millar at this point.

All of this could be solved by putting Nady on the DL and picking up a backup MI (or not moving Blanco) but I guess for now Nady is RHB off the bench and same-handed backup for DLee. That's useful. It also could have been solved by signing one of the half-dozen non-sucky $1-2 M 2B on the market who aren't worse hitters than Tracy.

Anyway, the important thing is that we all know what a great character guy Millar is.

Say, did Edmonds decide to stick around for Milwaukee?

The Rangers may kick the tires on Millar; there were some rumblings that they had interest in him earlier this week.

Tracy's bat speed completely disappeared last year, and with it, his approach. It would be quite the turnaround if he should manage to do anything useful at the plate.

That still makes him a better option than Millar, whose bat speed disappeared several years ago.

(or 3B which was unlikely anyway)

Yeah, I never really understood why Cubs fans were even bringing this up as an option. If he could still play 3B, don't you think the Pirates would have been using him there?

You are talking about the Pirates you know. A team that couldn't "fix" Aramis for years and the Cubs did it over a half season.

A team that couldn't "fix" Aramis for years and the Cubs did it over a half season.

Wrong. He was fixed in 2001, he sucked in 2002 because he played hurt all year (since a one-legged Ramirez was still more effective than a hale and hearty Mike Benjamin), then was fixed again in 2003.

And that was a different front office than the one that decided not to use Nady at 3B, in any event. Which makes you wrong twice.

To the Mets!