The minor league roundup returns after a month-long absence! Williams makes debut for Iowa; & Ryu wins for West Tenn.

The logjam in the double-A West Tenn rotation made by the acquisition of David Aardsma has been solved by the promotion of Rich Hill to triple-A Iowa. Hill has a 3.28 ERA in 57.2 innings this year and leads the Southern League with 90 strikeouts, while walking just 21.

In other minor league transaction news:

9:05pm CT. Carlos Zambrano v. Brad Penny.

And then there was one...

Cubs 5, Dodgers 3
Ramirez's bat keeps booming
He hits home run in 3rd straight game, has 8 RBIs in last 4
By Paul Sullivan
Tribune staff reporter

May 30, 2005, 11:28 PM CDT

LOS ANGELES -- Amazing as it seems, Aramis Ramirez is the only player left on the Cubs' 25-man roster who also was on the postseason roster in 2003.

With Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Mike Remlinger on the disabled list, Ramirez has become the last man standing from the team that came within five outs of the World Series.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/...

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Photos from a Cubs game at Wrigley
http://pages.prodigy.net/chicagocubs

< rant >

Monday night's game was scheduled to air on ESPN in both NTSC and HD.

Yep, it was blacked out again. What is the purpose of a national network airing a local team's game and then BLACKING IT OUT to the local audience?

As a paying customer, this really irks me. Imagine going to the Jewel and paying for a bag of apples and being told after you've paid for them that they're non-returnable and they won't let you eat them because you live in a particular service area. Here we pay for ESPN and HD but we don't get to watch our local team play when they air those games.

They even black out the 2am re-runs of the game. < / rant >

Sadly, the HD telecasts of the Cubs games on WGN and Comcast Sports Chicago Network are not available here. Those are only available to Chicago area cable and perhaps Canada, I'm not sure.

Regarding Sunday's game. Saw Todd Walker at bat. The book "Cubs Nation" describes him as someone who comes in at 9am clean shaved and at 9:30am has a 5 o'clock shadow.

Now remember, I don't have access to a HD signal here, but it seemed like his forearms looked rather smooth - like a body builder's.

Then I watched the batters after him and their forearms seemed to have a similar appearance. Perhaps they're more aerodynamic this way???

The announcer's forearms didn't have that same appearance.

Then I watched the high 5 party after the game ended. (Cubs win)

{This is the best part of the game. You should hear me scream when WGN/Comcast edits this out of a game}

Wow, from what I could tell all those guys had shiny forearms. I'm sure that isn't the case, but it did look like it.

Lefthander John Koronka will start Wednesday's game in Los Angeles, reports MLB.com. The Cubs needed a new starter following Mark Prior's injury. Koronka's qualification for the job appears to be that he's "stretched out" enough to go 7 innings, unless he gives up too many runs. "He's the best candidate to take us deep in a game and he's throwing the ball pretty good," said Dusty Baker. "We're in [a stretch of 20 consecutive games], and I didn't want to tear up my bullpen."

David Aardsma, acquired in the LaTroy Hawkins trade, "was sent to Double-A West Tenn," reports the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune had reported yesterday that GM Jim Hendry said Aardsma would enter the rotation at Iowa. Despite West Tenn's stacked rotation, MLB.com reports that Aardsma "could start Monday" for them.

1:20pm CT. Sergio Mitre v. Jeff Francis.

The question of where to put David Aardsma, given double-A West Tenn's stacked rotation, has been answered by General Manager Jim Hendry. "Hendry said Aardsma would continue to start at Iowa before the Cubs decide what role they foresee for him," reports the Chicago Tribune. As expected, Jerome Williams will also enter the Iowa rotation.

LaTroy Hawkins won't have to hear the boos of the Wrigley Field faithful any longer, at least not while wearing a Chicago Cubs uniform. The Cubs traded Hawkins to the San Franscisco Giants today, along with cash considerations, for pitchers Jerome Williams and David Aardsma.

The Chicago Cubs have placed Mark Prior on the disabled list following his sustaining a broken right arm in yesterday's game. They recalled Robert Novoa to take his place on the 25-man roster. Todd Wellemeyer is expected to start in Prior's place next Wednesday.

12:05pm CT. Glendon Rusch v. Byung-Hyun Kim. Game preview.

At first glance, the potentially season-ending injury to Mark Prior is the death knell to this season for the Cubs. However, if the Cubs gather their wits about them, this season can still be salvageable.

Here's what the Cubs rotation should look like for the remainder of the season:

Zambrano
Maddux
Rusch
Dempster
Wellemeyer

If Dusty Baker is smart, he'll bring Ryan Dempster back into the rotation and make Borowski the closer again or have a bullpen-by-committee. Todd Wellemeyer deserves to have a shot at being the team's 5th closer. Except for the declining Maddux, this is a good, solid rotation that has a chance to at least stabilize the situation barring any further injuries. As for Kerry Wood, once he gets back, he should be relegated to the bullpen so as to avoid further injury and to try to get this dog to learn some new tricks.

An MRI on Mark Prior's arm on Friday "revealed a 'slight fracture,'" reports ESPN.com. Prior left today's "game in the fourth inning after being hit in the right elbow by a line drive hit by Colorado's Brad Hawpe." Earlier this afternoon, reported MLB.com, "[t]here seemed to be more than just a few sighs of relief around the Cubs clubhouse upon hearing that X-rays taken on Mark Prior's elbow, after being struck by a line drive during Friday's game, came back negative." An MRI was then taken, which has apparently turned out bad for Prior and the Cubs, if ESPN's source is correct.