What's in the Box? Pt. 2 - The Old

Alright, let's review.  

A few days ago, I grabbed an 800-count box of random baseball cards on my way out.  There were stacks and stacks of these at the front table of my LCS for each of the major sports for a wadded up Lincoln.

Yesterday, I displayed for you the unexpected quantity of cards from recent releases in the giant repack.  But, what's a repack without a fair amount of junk wax era cards?

But first, a message brought to you by 2001 Topps:

There were plenty of puke green borders to be expelled from the box

Tony Muser spent a few years as the Cubs hitting coach before getting a shot to manage the Royals, so into the coaching section he goes.  Meanwhile, Womack and Ordonez were a couple of scrappy middle infielders who I developed odd attachments too when they wrapped up the MLB careers in Chicago.

I've always been a sucker for the bubble guys.

Somehow, I didn't already have that 2000 base card of Gracie in my player collection.  As a child of the 90's, Gracie, Sandberg and later on Sosa were my idols.

I think I already have that Stadium Club piece, but I'm still trying to decide if he's embracing Jose Bautista or if he's finishing him, Mortal Combat-style.

Speaking of Stadium Club, there was no shortage of these full-bleed beauts within these white walls.  Chamberlain makes his second appearance in this post courtesy of a super old-school throwback uni, which might be some sort of record for a non-Cub on this blog.

Meanwhile, that DiPoto guy has been in the news recently for some reason... oh right, because the GM took his ball and went home on the Angels last week.  Between him and Ryno, there's a lot of quitting going on lately.

Why was I yelled at for playing with the outfield grass in T-ball if an MLB star like Orel is allowed to do it?  Such hypocrisy!

Awesome Dawson in a Red Sox jersey?  It just looks weird.

Mike Remlinger in a turn of the century Giants throwback?  It just looks phenomenal.

Some more Bowman, although this particular card is a touch older than those featured in the first post.  A new Nomar is always welcome in my collection, even if his Cubs career was rather disappointing.

I don't know that I've ever been more excited about a new Cubs acquisition than I was the day they brought in backwards Ramon.

I know what you're saying, more of the plaque known as 1992 Donruss?  Easy though, this guy might actually be a distant relative of mine.  Burba was my family's original last name before they came through Ellis Island and had it "Americanized."

There's a decent chance that this bullpen stalwart might be a cousin.

A smattering of Studio was also tucked inside.  We have a couple future/former Cubs on top (Wild Thing is rockin' that head band!) and some interesting photo selections on the bottom.

Denny has definitely got some balls and he might want to keep them away from Jose!

I'm fascinated by broder cards and I presume that that is what this Bo Jackson card is.  I've never heard of Statz cards and neither has the internet.  Any information out there on the blogosphere with this one?

I thought Bo was supposed to know everything?

What's a repack without a few nightmare inducing Diamond Kings?  I guess these two aren't really all that bad; but they certainly have seen better days, condition-wise.

It's odd for me to think of Kal as a Diamond King, seeing as his legacy is really that of a part-time player.  But, I see he lead the league in OBP in 1987 (.397) and cracked 26 homers the year before... the more you know!

Last, but not least, there was a singular Sportflics card stuffed in there.  Luckily for my collecting habits, it was that of Bill Madlock.

Well, 1/3 of it is anyway - "Mad Dog" shares some space with Dave Concepcion and George Foster.  I guess that's not bad company to keep though, is it?

There you have it - the completed highlights of my five dollar bargain box.  I have definitely spent a crumpled up Lincoln on much more useless things/Starbucks; so, it was a nice change of pace to see this produce such a large amount of new cards for my collection.

But, it should be noted, I'm not wed to any of it either - so, if you see anything you like, let me know and it is all yours.

Plus, since I am currently crippled and off of work, I can get this stuff in the mail almost instantaneously.

What's in the Box? Pt. 1 - The New

So, the same day that I went to my LCS and picked this stuff up, I also grabbed an 800-count box of random baseball cards on my way out.  There are stacks and stacks of these at the front table of the shop for each of the major sports for five smackers.

This is probably the best way for the owner to get rid of junk wax, which is normally what they are stocked with; but, every now and then, I grab one.  It's more bang for your buck than a pack of Stadium Club after all and I usually get a few interesting cards out of it.

Worst case scenario, I get a storage box out of the deal.

However, this wasn't a normal box.  Instead of finding stacks and stacks of 1991 Fleer or 1989 Topps with a handful of more recent cast-offs, this was almost entirely new stuff.  I'm talking 2015 Prizm, 2015 Series One Topps, etc.

I was ecstatic - this box must have been a result of some local case breakers who don't give a crap about base cards and left them behind.  Like that old classic rock band who doesn't know when to quit, that's playing the second stage at the state fair - it's all about the hits!

There was plenty of cool stuff to be found in this box; so, here's a lengthy, picture heavy post to show it all off, starting with the really recent product:

I already have this Series 1 Mendy; but it's my favorite card in the set with that excellent 60's throwback.  I'll take two more, just for the heck of it.

A couple of former Cubs for the respective player collections.  That Dioner is a true gem of a photo (though not particularly flattering) and, continuing the jersey infatuation theme, I adore those Giants alternates with the old-fashioned "NY" era logo.

It's not just base cards either.  That's the rainbow-foil parallel of Cliff Lee right?  That's what they call that?  No matter, it sure looks pretty.  Heyward might now play for my most hated team, but I like that the photo spotlights his unique batting helmet.  Something different and all that jazz.

There was a nice sampling of Bowman to be found too.  Check out that shiny, mini Dodger prospect that I've never heard of!  Who doesn't like shiny?  Greg Holland must not; look at him recoiling in fear!

This stuff hadn't even been on the shelves for a week and there are already stacks of it in a repack box.  That says a lot about what collectors think of the unlicensed stuff, huh?  Oh well, Kuechel is one of my favorite non-Cub pitchers - even if his last name is dangerous close to a racial slur - and I'll always take a Team USA card of a MLB player.

Here we have last years' edition of Archives.  Those basketball tall boys were by far the best insert set of the series and one of the best found in any product, in my humble opinion.  Hopefully Miggy's first career DL stint is short.

Wade Miley must have just heard Miggy's unfortunate news - look at that frown!

Here we have Garza at both ends of his career.  We have a fresh-faced Twin sophomore and an emotionally-charged-faced Brewer disappointment.  I like to keep a card of each Cub on every team they've played with, so these will be useful.

If I ever decide to actually pursue a collection of players that the Cubs once had under contract and set free before they joined the MLB squad, these will be a couple of the more painful additions.

Nolasco (and half of the farm system) were part of the package the Cubs gave to Florida in 2006 for one year of mediocrity from Juan Pierre.  Meanwhile, the late-blooming Donaldson was moved to Oakland as an afterthought in a "win now" deal for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin in 2008.

I can live with the Harden deal, as he was dynamite during the playoff chase, but I want a mulligan on that Pierre swap.

A couple of neat new Gooses....Geese?  

The insert from Topps is alright; but a card that pairs Rich with a fellow HOFer and shows him in a relatively unfamiliar uniform?  Even if it is '92 Donruss, that takes the cake!

Some more 2007 Topps because I found more than a few in there.  I like this set more than most because I have an affinity for black borders, even if the design within them is flawed.  

Here we have a couple of names that make me unconsciously cringe - Davis for being hammered like a nail as a Cub and Patterson for would could have been.

You know what's cool?  Acetate cards are cool.  I found some sluggers from UD's Elements series (which I had no idea existed) within the repack and I enjoy their translucent awesomeness - even if they have nothing to do with the Cubs.

Minor League cards of Major League players have always held my interest.  Especially so when they feature teams such as the Montgomery Biscuits.  God bless minor league baseball!

This is a just a elegant and appropriately reverent set.  While they may be Hall of Famers for their achievements in St. Louis, both of these guys left their mark on the Northside of Chicago as well.

There were a few more of these cards to be found; but, these are my personal favorites.

Fleer Triple Crown was well-represented within the box as well.  Thus, I was treated to some "Grade-A" throwbacks, plus a Negro League cameo and a Cubbie cult hero in Clement.

Surprisingly, there was also a full Cubs team set of 2001 Fleer Tradition to be found.  Joey gets to represent the set because this is only my second card of the failed prospect; meanwhile, Jon gets the call due to the rare pitcher with a batting helmet head shot.

This set is mostly very well designed, except for here.  Did Rick Aguilera pitch with a mask on in 2000 or something?  Who stole his face from this Team Leaders card?

Perhaps he was too embarrassed to admit he was on the 2000 Cubs - most of the roster probably was anyway.

Speaking of full sets, there was a complete grouping of Subway Series commemorative cards in there, in addition.  Since I have no love for either New York baseball franchise, I'm showing this one off just because I have had a fascination with trains since I was a wee lad and any baseball card that also features a train is OK in my book.

Alright, let's put a bookmark right here and continue on with this post tomorrow; my blogging stamina is running thin.

Tomorrow I'll show off the older contents of the 800-count box.  These are mostly junk wax (I didn't say the box was devoid of the stuff); but, that doesn't mean there aren't a few diamonds in the rough.

Everything you see above is available for trade; so, if you see anything you like, just let me know!  

I may have thought I knew what was in this box - but I guess you just never know for sure:

King Richard the 2,000th*

So, the other day, I delved into Cubs upcoming use of their 2,000th player in franchise history.  The local media have been neglecting to mention that it would be their 2,000th during their NL history because the official all-time roster includes 18 additional players from their old National Association days.

Nevertheless, it was a pretty nifty topic, thinking back on just how many players that is and all of the names who have come in and out of Chicago like a revolving door.

The Cubs celebrated Independence Day by hitting that round-number milestone - it wasn't by calling up another hot prospect or adding Rafael Soriano to the MLB roster (as I had predicted).  Rather, it was an outside acquisition:

If you had Clayton Richard in the poll you're either a dirty liar or you posses an actual Delorean time machine because no one knew that this guy was on TheoJed's radar.  

Richard was a solid, if unspectacular member of the Padres rotation for a few years before arm injuries derailed his career.  He'd been out of the Majors since 2013 due to thoracic outlet syndrome and shoulder surgery; but, he was pitching well for the Pirates AAA squad.  Clayton had a clause in his contract that required his contract be offered to any team who would place him on an MLB roster and the Cubbies obliged.

Mr. 2,000* seized his opportunity and hurled 6+ innings of 2 run ball on our nation's birthday; he should get a couple more shots at establishing himself as the fifth starter.  Here's hoping that the Pirates regret their rare intra-division trade during the Wild Card race.

The back of his 2010 Topps card gives a potential clue as to how Richard might have ended up with the Cubs:

Good ol' Hank White (aka Henry Blanco) spent several years as the Cubs back up catcher and is currently a member of Joe Maddon's coaching staff.  Is it possible that Hank was whispering into TheoJed's ears about a pitcher he was so impressed with five years ago?

At the very least, I'd bet that Blanco was consulted by the front office before they made the move.

Anyway, it might've taken a week for the Cubs to move from 1,999 to 2,000 on their all-time NL roster; but, it didn't take nearly as long to add number 2,001:

The same day that Richard made his grand return to the Bigs, the Cubs announced that backup catcher David Ross was hitting the 7-day concussion DL.  Thus, the club needed a backstop.

Having just traded away the recently DFA'ed Rafael Lopez and Kyle Schwarber needing time to work on his catching skills, Taylor Teagarden was the next man standing.

The former top prospect's bat has never really developed as had been hoped, which allowed the Cubs to add him on a minor league depth signing this past off-season.  His stay is likely to be short - Ross only has a few more days out left and Miggy Montero doesn't need too much rest time.

The back of Taylor's card doesn't offer any clue as to how he could have ended up in Chicago - though he does have experience breaking up no-hitters/perfect games.  That could be useful to a franchise that hasn't been no-hit since Sandy Koufax was stalking the mound.

OK - I'm aware that is a leap that even Evel Knievel wouldn't make, but there's only so much I can say about the guy.

Also, I used to loathe the design of 2011 Topps; however, I'm really starting to come around.  The photography isn't crazily cropped and the name plate is elegant and unobtrusive.  Why did I not like this??

Thus concludes my my obligatory post about new Cubs players and their addition to my CATRC binder.  They aren't very exciting additions - maybe we'll get something juicy around the trading deadline though.

Regardless, the roster jenga from which this blog takes it's name is still alive and well at Wrigley Field.

Nothing's Fine, I'm Torn

Jorge Soler came off of the disabled list yesterday and went 0-3 in the Cubs 2-0 win over Miami.  In order to add Jorge back onto the active roster, a corresponding move was made and I was added to the 15-Day disabled list with a torn hamstring.

OK, so the actual move was sending Matt Szczur down to AAA; but, I really did tear my hamstring and I have been rendered essentially immobile for the next two weeks.  I'm going to go so very stir crazy.

The injury wasn't the result of some crazy Fourth of July partying, rather I was about to go out for a run and attempted to chase down my girlfriend in her car to tell her something as she was leaving.

Taking off in a dead sprint without any sort of warm up is always a terrible idea and goes against everything I've been taught in 12 years of competitive running - damn my impulses!  Needless to say, I felt a pop and went down in the street like I got hit by a sniper.

On the bright side, I'll now have more time to blog since I'm restricted to crutches and office work for the time being.  In honor of my hamstring injury, allow me to show off a rather nice card that I pulled of Mr. Soler a few weeks ago:

What's the correlation between this relic and my injury?  Last season, Soler suffered a strain/slight tear to each of his hamstrings over the course of the season that caused some to think his prospect status was slipping.  While my professional career does not hang in the balance, I can now (literally) feel his pain.

This is a beauty of a relic from the 2014 edition of the Minor League Heritage.  Pictured in his AA Tennessee Smokies garb, I was fortunate enough to pull this slight pinstripe swatch from a random pack at my LCS  - a pack that I only grabbed to round my purchase up to the minimum five bucks for a debit card purchase.

Karma was with me that day.

I've been looking for some sort of reason/occasion to show off this card for several weeks; however, this really wasn't the event that I was hoping for!

At any rate, here's hoping the Soler comes back in full-force after this latest injury (non-hamstring related) and brings some much needed thump back to the Cubs' lineup; who, despite winning, have been playing like a Deadball Era club over the past week.

Also, here's selfishly hoping that I can come back in full-force relatively quickly as well.  I have races to run, work to attend to and things to do - I'll be even more saddened if I have to hobble around all summer.

This is how I feel.

Awwwww Mann!

I was graciously let out of work early yesterday due to the impending Independence Day holiday.  So, in order to properly celebrate the occasion, I elected to make a stop at the LCS that is just down the road from my place of employment.

What better way to celebrate America than with consumerism revolved around America's Pastime?

Thus, I was in a pretty good mood when I walked into the shop - it was a beautiful day, I was off work early and the Cubs were about to sweep the Mets out of 2015.  So, I took to scouring the folding tables stacked with masses of old binders and boxes.

I wish I'd remembered to take a picture, but in the middle of the shop is an overflowing, hodge podge of jenga-like stacked card containers - all seemingly results of collections bought in bulk.  It's hard to look through it all without creating a landslide, but it'll entertain ya for a quite a while.

Nothing to be found after an hour plus.  Sad days.

But, sitting loosely on the counter, was a stack of new arrivals with some 1994 Conlon Collection on top.

Including this maroon-colored, bowing beauty.  A lot like Bowman Chrome and Kelloggs issues, I've noticed that this parallel set tends to develop a curvature over time.  A little annoying, but you don't see many of these, so I'll let it slide.

The name stuck out to me - either because I'd seen it while scrolling through the Cubs' All-Time Roster or because of one of my saved Ebay searches - so I flipped it over to look at his career stat line.

Victory!  Not only did he Leslie here play for the Cubs (and get to be part of a pennant winner in 1918), he even got a season in with the Chicago Whales of the old Federal League.  Bonus cool points for the Mann!

I though that "Major" Mann would be new to my CATRC, or at the very least, an upgrade.  Who doesn't love these burgundy parallels of players of yore?  The borders really make the black & white photography of Charles Conlon pop!

Sadly, my enthusiasm was dampened when I got home.  I opened up my binder to add the Mann to it's pages and saw this staring back at me:

Crapola.  I already have a reprint of his 1916 Sporting News issue AND it depicts him in Cubs uniform, which gives it precedence in my collection.  I guess that's why I should really bring a list with me when I go card shopping.

Oh well, it's still a neat card for my now burgeoning Leslie Mann player collection!

I'd forgotten that I bought the full team reprint set of the Sporting News release a couple of years ago on Ebay because it filled in some obscure holes in my CATRC.  They're about the size of the tobacco cards of the day and feature blank backs,  Obviously, a little luster is lost with it being a reprint; but, I'm not made of money, after all.

Thankfully though, I walked out of the store with a touch more than "Major."

A card I've long been hoping to find is this 1959 Topps Bobby Adams.  Bobby only has a couple Cubs cards and they hail from semi iconic vintage sets; so, my local dealers have always been charging a little more than I'm comfortable paying. But, this one was just right.

This is a Cubgrade I've been wanting to make for a long time. A) the Bowman you see to the right is a reprint and I always prefer an "actual" card B) the '59 Topps is standard size and I almost always prefer that C) Bobby resides on the front page of my alphabetically ordered CATRC binder and a standard sized, Cubs card just makes the first page I see look better!

As satisfying as that find was, I was still able to find a few other singles that piqued my interest:

Here we have my first 2015 Stadium Club acquisition - the retail price point had been keeping me away.  It only took a couple of weeks and after seeing all the excellent cards pulled across the blogosphere in that time, I was jonesing to get my hands on some Cubs.

Jake doesn't have many cards as a Cub, so this will be taking his slot in my CATRC.  It's a very nice picture (they all almost seem HD, don't they?) and I adore the simplistic design of the set.  Although, you can just barely see the bottom of the pitched ball in the upper right of the frame and I haven't decided if I like that yet.  But, I know I'd much rather be able to see that ball floating in midair!

I picked this Topps reprint up just because. I don't have a lot of Alvin Dark cards and I thought it might displace his representative in the CATRC. It didn't beat out the 1989 Pacific Legends card (that I forgot to take a picture of) because I love that set too much, but I'm not too broken up about it.

Sidenote - boy oh boy, do I love that elegant looking old Giants combination mark.

Now, I don't actually collect pocket schedules; however, this one is for practical use.  The Northwest Indiana Oilmen, a collegiate summer league team, plays just down the street from where I work in a lovely, new, professional caliber ballpark and I keep promising myself that I'll make it to a game. Two years at this job and I still haven't gotten there.

I guess if I can still see my workplace from wherever I'm at after hours, I still kind of feel like I'm at work; I have some weird hangups.  No matter, now I have this handy dandy schedule sitting on my desk to remind me to lighten up go enjoy some summertime baseball on the cheap.

Well, if that doesn't make you want to go to a game...

Image courtesy of their official web site

Despite my initial disappointment surrounding the Les Mann, I was thoroughly satisfied with my trip and my mood continues to be bright and cheery.  It's a beautiful holiday weekend with a negligible chance for rain throughout.  Believe me, if you're from around here, you know just how significant the "no rain" forecast is!

On top of that, just last weekend I had the good fortune to catch Cheap Trick, Parmalee, Big & Rich and the Plain White T's all play shows at the Taste of Joliet.  Meanwhile, I was even luckier this week in receiving 17 (!!!) ticket vouchers for tonight's Train/The Fray/Matt Nathanson show at the local amphitheater.  So, I got myself a very large group of friends and friends of friends and we're going to enjoy some quality pop rock on a beautiful summer evening.

I'm smiling just typing that.

I'll wrap things up with my favorite Train song, pretty much a more demented version of Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover":

Canada Day Was When Now?

So, yesterday was Canada Day huh?  Once again, I missed my chance to be fairly topical with some new acquisitions for my CATRC here on the blog.  My girlfriend will be the first to tell you that I always seem to be just a touch late to everything.

Nagging aside, I recently acquired two new cards of guys who stopped through Chicago much earlier in their careers and what connects them to our neighbors to the north is that they are pictured in Canadian garb - aka Expo and Blue Jay regalia.

Two days ago, I missed the mark early by showing off my 1983 Stuarts oddball of Mel Wright, which would have been perfect for a Canada Day post since it even features French text.  C'est la vie - thankfully, I still have one Great White North card to display:

OK - so it's hard to find excuses to show off a plain, ol' dime-a-dozen 1981 Donruss card with a trademarked blurry head shot.  Thus, I should have been more on my game yesterday.

Regardless, though shown here during his brief managerial career for Toronto, Mattick spent some time in Chicago many moons earlier.

The son of Chicago White Sock Wally Mattick, the native Iowan also began his MLB career playing for Chicago - but on the other side of town.  In 1938, he batted 1.000 for the eventual NL pennant winning Cubs - in one at-bat on May 5th.  The 22 year old also got one inning of action at short stop without handling a chance.

The reason the young rube was in the game?  The Northsiders were clobbering the Phillies 21-2 and they might as well have let the bat bot take a few cuts too.

Mattick got a Cubs card in TCMA's set dedicated to the '38 NL Champs,

despite only playing 1 inning - anyone have a lead on this set/card?

The next season, Bobby was given a fair shake and did well enough to impress Mr. Wrigley and Co.  In 51 ABs, he put up a respectable .281 average and played a capable shortstop.  The Cubs liked him enough to ship out the incumbent Dick Bartell to Detroit and hand him the starting gig.

It's important to note here that Bobby had been succeeding despite a pretty serious condition. In 1936, the youngster had been smacked by a foul ball, which cracked his skull above his right eye and caused double vision.  In more recent history, we Chicagoans have seen how much vision issues can derail someone's career through Mike Olt.

Too bad Bobby didn't have Mike's magic eye drops

These issues must have reared their ugly head in '40 because in what would be his only season as a regular, he batted a paltry .218 and the Cubs opted to move on.  After a couple more seasons as a sub in Cincy, Bobby's MLB career was done.

Bobby taking some hacks in 1939

Image courtesy of ootpdevelopments.com

However his career in baseball was far from over.  Managing in the minor leagues for a few decades, Bobby eventually found his way to the Toronto organization for their inaugural season in 1979.  After rising through their scouting department ranks, he was handed over the reigns to become the second skipper in franchise history after Ray Hartsfield was dismissed going into 1980.

In doing so, Mattick became the oldest rookie manager to start a season at a youthful 64.  Initially, be balked at the idea for a somewhat odd reason - he insisted on being able to wear business clothes, a la Connie Mack, in the dugout.  It took some convincing, but he eventually warmed up to the idea of a white pullover.

See? It's not so bad, now is it?

Image courtesy of mopupduty.com

After two "successful" seasons of avoiding 100 losses, Mattick turned down an offer to continue and instead opted to go into the front office, where he played a key administrative role in scouting and development.  His work helped lead the Blue Jays to 5 ALDS wins and World Series crowns in 1992 and 1993.

So, I think it's safe to say his executive career was much more successful than his playing one, no?

Anyway, Mattick helped bring a lot of baseball pride to Canada and Canada Day seemed like a great time to give him a moment in the spotlight - so, it's too bad I missed it entirely.  However, as the old adage goes, it's better late than never.

In the meantime, I'm going to bring this post to a close so that I can run to Office Max and get myself a nice calendar. 

The Race to 2,000*

A few weeks back, the baseball world was up in arms about A-Rod and his quest to join the 3,000 hit club and his pursuit of Willie Mays on the home run list.  It inspired talk of asterisks and all that ilk heard since the glory days of McGwire/Sosa/Bonds.  Here in Chicago, we have another issue that may require an asterisk; but, it's of much less consequence.

When the Cubs called up Donn Roach to make a spot start in place of the injured Tsuyoshi Wada this past Saturday, Roach became the 1,999 man to ever suit up for the Cubs.  Almost.

Sorry Mr. Roach, close but no cigar; or was it?

Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

While sports media in Chicago has been stuck on this talking point for a couple of days now, it's important to note that the Cubs have used 1,999 players in the course of their history - their National League history.

The franchise itself dates back to 1869 and began play in 1871 as a part of the National Association - a full 5 years before the foundation of the NL.  Except for a few seasons lost due to the Great Chicago Fire (that's how you know you're team is old), they have been going strong ever since.  Thus, they have, in fact, rostered 2,018 players at this point in their history - this according to their own records, posted on Cubs.com.

National Association players may not be officially considered Major Leaguers; but, apparently the Cubs consider them family.

All of that aside, since my blog is dedicated to collecting a card of each Cubs player and even takes it name from Northside roster construction, I feel I should weigh in on who will be the 2,000th National League player to wear Cubbie Blue.

Will it be another young, hot-shot prospect following in the footsteps of Bryant, Russell & Schwarber?

Carl Edwards, Jr. (the artist formerly known as C.J.) was just named to the Futures Game roster and has been pitching pretty well as a multi-inning reliever in AAA.  The Cubs bullpen has been in a state of flux lately and he seems likely to get an audition soon.

But, maybe an offensive player like Christian Villanueva will jump up and steal the spot.  While his stock has taken a bit of a tumble and his main position is currently occupied by some guy name Kris; if the Cubs decide they need some pop off of the bench and Mike Olt's rehab hits a hiccup, Christian is already on the 40-Man...

Then again, it could be someone from outside of the organization.  Hot stove season is just around the corner, after all, and the Cubs struck before the fourth of July last season with the Shark/Hammel/Russell deal.

Armando is also on the 40-Man roster and, besides Villanueva, is the only other player on said roster who hasn't reached the Bigs.  The hard-throwing Cuban was near the top of the list of potential call-ups before the season started; but, after experiencing some control problems and mild velocity loss, his stock has dropped a touch.

When all is said and done though, as a reliever on the 40-man, you're never more than a hang-nail  away from getting the call.

The Cubs might have faced off against him last night, but rumor has it that the Cubs would like to bring in Jonathon Niese to shore up the middle of their rotation.  He's not a sexy name, but he wouldn't (in theory) cost the farm and would be much better than hoping Wada can last 5 innings every fifth day.

Meanwhile, Cole Hamels is definitely a sexy name.  He's been connected to the Cubs since before they had even signed Lester and would obviously give major street cred to the Chicago pitching staff.  While asking prices have been exorbitant, perhaps Andy MacPhail will bring some rationality to the Phillie front office.  Papelbon has supposedly been on the table too.

However, the Cubs aren't going to mortgage their carefully planned future for the first year that the window is cracked; Hamels is probably going to Texas and Papelbon is too much money.  I feel like the Cubs and Mets have been "talking" longer than a high school couple.

It's my prediction that, while he won't be a stud prospect, the 2,000 Cub in NL history will come from within the organization...

Remember him?  The Cubs signed the former star closer to a minor league deal a couple of weeks ago to hopefully provide a boost to the pen come the All-Star break.  The transaction has since been somewhat forgotten, largely due to the relief corps getting their act together and the offense taking a tumble.

Unless he gets hurt or his minor league tune up goes over like a lead balloon, my guess is that Soriano the Second assumes the coveted 2,000 spot.  Just in case, I've got this 2012 Topps Heritage issue ready to take a spot in my CATRC.

Fingers crossed that we get the Raffy from the first half of 2014 and before and not the Soriano who blew 7 saves and posted an ERA north of 6...

That's my prediction and I am sticking to it. Unless something crazily unpredictable happens like Joe Maddon activating himself to spell Montero behind the plate or Will Ferrell reprises his spring training first base stunt, I feel pretty safe in my pick.

Rafael Soriano will be the 2,000 Chicago Cub*

* In National League play.

In honor of the recently departed Chris Squire