Cubs Notes: Soto will finally get his chance

Two miraculous things took place Thursday; Jim Hendry made his first smart move of the year (it didn’t even cost him any money) and Lou Piniella checked his stubbornness to play rookies at the door. These events combined meant a call-up for catcher Geovany Soto.

Not that this move was difficult to understand. The two Cubs catchers currently splitting time, Rob Bowen and Koyie Hill are a combined 11-for-88 (2-for-27 and 9-for-61 respectively) since the Michael Barrett trade on June 20. Just read my post on the JustCallMeJuice blog for other details on how senseless that trade was.

But thankfully, Soto is now in the bigs after posting a .341 average in 69 games with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs in Triple-A Iowa. How much worse can a guy really do in the majors? My bet’s on him topping the .125 average Rob Hill (or Koyie Bowen or whatever you want to call that hitless duo) is posting now. Just a guess though.

Piniella even got as bold as to declare Soto as Friday’s starter with Carlos Zambrano on the mound. Hmhh…must be something in the post All-Star Break air getting into the heads of the front office.

Imagine This: Mark Cuban, after applying last week to be a potential owner, buys the Cubs when the Chicago Tribune sells them at the end of the year and pays the big bucks for Alex Rodriguez. Not that the Cubs or the Tribune have ever been shy of spending a lot of money, but Cuban expresses a different type of interest in the guys he’s paying the salaries of than other owners. I’m not from Dallas nor do I know much about the Mavs, but I expect the interest he shows to be an attraction for a potential free agent like Alex Rodriguez.

What an infield that would be…Aramis at third, move A-Rod back to short, D-Lee at first, and ummm..urrr..Ryan Theriot at second (ok, so he’s not great, but he’s good, and a fan favorite). But let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. We have to focus on the Brewers.