Down to 30 (or 29)

Getting Cliff Bartosh set off a chain reaction of moves:

– Stephen Randolph, he being the actual left hand pitcher with no options, I believe, was given his release. Hendry’s not afraid to ditch guys he’s gotten in trades, it appears. That clears up one spot on the 40 man.

– Will Ohman was assigned to Triple A, with the carrot of possibly be brought up later.

– Scott Williamson was upgraded to a major league contract, taking Randolph’s on the 40 man roster. He’ll vacate it at the start of the season to go on the 60 day DL.

Meanwhile, Cody Ransom, an NRI who’s name I’ve been mispelling all spring, gets traded to Texas for PTBNL, in a deal probably more about the Rangers not having to wait for waivers.

In more expected news, Angel Echervarria and Calvin Murray resume their roles in the Iowa Cub outfield.

People left in camp who I don’t have figured for a 25 man roster spot

– NRI P Chad Fox: this is more admistrative than logical; he’s obviously on the roster; I’m waiting to see someone (Kelton), anyone (Kelton) knocked off it for more than a day so he can take their spot on the 40. I’ve got both Wellemeyer and Leicester figured for the bullpen, and obviously he bumps one of their spots

– AAA? P Michael Wuertz: and he might bump out the other one. I’ve got no feel for how that last spot is going to play out, plus Prior being on the DL could create yet another spot.

– AAA 3B Dave Kelton. The Cubs.com notes had a story about Kelton’s wife and cat and dog, and their inablity to pack at this point. Carrie Muskrat probably should’ve rephrased it; they ought to be packing, there’s just no way of figuring their destination at this point.

– NRI 1B Dave Hansen: Dusty would love to bring him along as the designated PH. Problem is, there’s no room on the 40 right now, and there’s no room on the 25 if they’re starting off with 12 pitchers. What I figure will happen is they’ll ask him to go to Iowa for the first two weeks while the rotation is being fixed, put him on the 40 Man when Williamson is moved off of it to the 60 Man, and bring him up as soon as possible. (Yes, this could also be accomplished by cutting Macias.)

I don’t know if they’ll figure it all out before they hit Vegas. I think a lot of it depends on how if/when they find a taker for Kelton (or decide to cut bait); that’ll at least trigger the Chad Fox move.

Roster update follows.

25 Man Roster
POS Number     First Last         Roster      05      06      07    08  09  10
C 8        Michael Barrett      25 Man     4.00    4.00    4.00
C 9          Henry Blanco       25 Man     1.20    1.50
OF 3         Jeromy Burnitz      25 Man     4.50
P 46          Ryan Dempster     25 Man     2.00
LF 4          Jason Dubois       25 Man     0.32
SS 5          Nomar Garciaparra  25 Man     8.25
UT 15         Jerry Hairston Jr  25 Man     1.80
P 32        LaTroy Hawkins      25 Man     3.50    3.50
OF 28          Todd Hollandswor  25 Man     0.90
1B 25        Derrek Lee          25 Man     7.33    8.50
P 51           Jon Leicester    25 Man     0.32
UT 1           Jose Macias       25 Man     0.83
P 31          Greg Maddux       25 Man     9.00  t+v option
P 52        Sergio Mitre        25 Man     0.32
CF 20         Corey Patterson    25 Man     2.80    arb     arb   arb
SS 13         Neifi Perez        25 Man     1.00
P 22          Mark Prior        25 Man     2.75  p escape  arb   arb
3B 16        Aramis Ramirez      25 Man     8.95
P 37          Mike Remlinger    25 Man     3.80
P ??         Cliff Bartosh      25 Man     0.32
P 33       Glendon Rusch        25 Man     2.00  p option
2B 7           Todd Walker       25 Man     2.50  t+v option
P 40          Todd Wellemeyer   25 Man     0.32    0.32    0.32  arb arb arb
P 34         Kerry Wood         25 Man     9.50   12.00  t+v option
P 38        Carlos Zambrano     25 Man     3.76    arb     arb
Count          25              Total    81.97   29.82    4.32
Pitchers       12
Hitters        13

15 Extras on the 40 Man Roster
POS Number     First Last         Roster      05      06      07    08  09  10
P 48           Joe Borowski    15 Day DL   2.30
IF 68         Ronny Cedeno        Iowa      0.32
P 58          Dave Crouthers   West Tenn   0.05
2B 63         Mike  Fontenot      Iowa      0.32
P 67         Angel Guzman        Iowa      0.05
LF 27         David Kelton       40 Man     0.32
P 64          John Koronka       Iowa      0.05
2B 62       Richard Lewis         Iowa      0.05
P 44       Roberto Novoa         Iowa      0.32    0.32    0.32  arb arb arb
P 50          Will Ohman         Iowa      0.05    arb
P 54        Renyel Pinto         Iowa      0.05
P 71          Russ Rohlicek      Iowa      0.05
C 53       Geovany Soto          Iowa      0.05
P 43       Michael Wuertz       40 Man     0.32
P 27         Scott Williamson  15 Day DL   0.32  t option
Count          15              Total    84.29

OF SFG       Moises Alou         Buy Out    2.50
2B STL         Mark Grudzielane  Buy Out    0.25
RF BAL        Sammy Sosa         Buy Out   16.15

P FLA         Luke Haggerty   Rule 5 fee  -0.05
P KCR         Andy Sisco      Rule 5 fee  -0.05

103.09

P 47          Chad Fox            NRI      0.05
1B ??          Dave Hansen         NRI      0.05


103.19