... the Pirates are not going to be great in 2008. "I said I think it's pretty obvious that this group of guys is not going to get it done," said Mr. Bay, who, after winning the Rookie of the Year in 2004 and being an All-Star in 2005 and 2006, hit all of .247/.327/.418 last year (worse than the strangely maligned Matt Murton).

"The Chicago Cubs dealt Cesar Izturis to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday" along with cash for a player to be named later reports MLB.com. They also called up Jake Fox from AA Tennessee.

Izturis had lost his starting shortstop job to Ryan Theriot, as he has only started two games in July. He hit .246/.298/.304 for the Cubs this year in 207 plate appearances, after coming over from the Dodgers last year in the Greg Maddux trade. I noted then that "Izturis is a younger Neifi Perez." In 2006, he hit .233/.282/.260 for the Cubs in 79 plate appearances. Despite a defensive reputation, having won a Gold Glove in 2004, Baseball Prospectus rates him as just 2 runs above average at shortstop during his career.

Here's what the Chicago Tribune's Mike Downey had to say when the Cubs traded Maddux for Izturis last year: