Just a bit ago, George Offman was on WSCR and he narrowed down the speculation about the Cubs trading for an OF to a "corner outfielder" indicating that the Cubs wanted to trade a current OF for another team's OF with a swap of middle relievers as well as the Cubs giving up some prospects as well. Offman said that he did not have any names yet and also said that Dempster will remain the closer for the rest of the season. He also said that the Cubs have no intention of trading Corey Patterson either this year or next year.

This would eliminate any chance of Ken Griffey, Jr. coming to the Windy City. More likely, it would mean the Cubs trading off either Dubois, Hollandsworth or Macias. If this is the case, then one players that the Cubs should go for most is are Cubs Killers Carlos Lee or Austin Kearns. Either one would be an exciting addition to the Cubs lineup and would be worth the price.

However, it would mean that the Cubs would remain stuck with the OBA-challenged Patterson in CF for the forseeable future. One would think that one of the goals of a trade would be Addition by Subtraction combined with getting a player who would make a better fit. Then again, the Cubs have been OBA-challenged for years which is why this club has consistently fielded such poor teams over the years.

Even worse is the fact that a proven starting pitcher, Ryan Dempster, is being to relegated to pitching only a few innings a week. The main problem for the team is the lack of quality starting pitching, the current stretch of weak teams notwithstanding. Maddux is more less done and Mitre is not much better. Rusch is only filling in for Wood even though Rusch is the better pitcher so much so that the Cubs should place Wood in the bullpen once he returns.

Finally, Todd (8 for 37 at Iowa) Walker will be playing for the Cubs tonight. This despite both Hairston's fine performance at 2nd Base and the fact that Frank Thomas is spending a 100-AB spell in Triple-A to get back up to best condition. Truly, the Cubs are both more clueless and desperate than the White Sox are.