The Chicago Cubs trimmed their spring training roster down by three spots on Thursday.  Sean Gallagher and Jose Ascanio were sent to Triple-A Iowa while Josh Kroeger was re-assigned to the teams minor league camp.

Gallagher is a guy that will probably be called up at some point in the season.  That is if he isn’t traded before hand.  Gallagher is a key player in any trade that happens for Brian Roberts of the Orioles so who knows if he will make another pitcher for the big league Cubs.

The spring roster now has 38 players, and includes 19 pitchers, three catchers, 10 infielders and six outfielders.

Talks are getting very serious again between the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles as the two teams try to work out a deal for Brian Roberts and possibly Jay Payton.

Roberts and Payton would be sent to Chicago for a package deal of Sean Marshall, Sean Gallagher, Ronny Cedeno and Matt Murton possibly.  I’d rather keep Marshall or Gallagher and throw in Jason Marquis into the deal but I don’t know if they Orioles would want to take on his contract.

Payton would be that right handed hitting outfielder that can play multiple positions that Cubs have been looking for, and they could finally land Roberts as well.  What do you think Cubs fans? Do you think this deal will get done?

The Cubs and Orioles trade that would have sent Sean Gallagher and atleast one other player to the Orioles for Brian Roberts has been put on hold by the Orioles.  They still want to do the trade with the Cubs, but want to concentrate on trades involving Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada.

One name you won’t see in the trade for Roberts will be Felix Pie.  Jim Hendry said the only way Pie gets moved is in a much larger trade.

Cubs Blog

The Chicago Cubs today selected left-handed pitcher Carmen Pignatiello and recalled infielder/outfielder Jake Fox from Triple-A Iowa. In corresponding moves, right-handed pitcher Sean Gallagher and infielder Eric Patterson were optioned to Iowa. To make room for Pignatiello on the 40-man roster, catcher Henry Blanco has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

I think we can pretty much assume with “Hank White��? going to the 60-day DL his year is finished.  With Fox coming up, the Cubs are hoping to add a little bit more pop to the lineup.  How many chances will he get though?  That is what I want to know.

Cubs Blog

The Chicago Cubs scored first, but it wasn’t nearly enough last night as the Colorado Rockies rocked the Cubs 12-2 at Coors Field.  Jamey Carroll hit a grand slam in the sixth to break a tie and Rockies’ rookie Troy Tulowitzki had a four-hit, three-run night as the Rockies snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cubs.

Rich Hill took the loss for the Cubs and his record now stands at 6-7.  He didn’t get into much trouble until the 6th inning when Carrol belted the grand slam.  Hill threw 5 2/3 innings allowing seven earned runs on nine hits.  He did have four strikeouts and walked one.  Rich just didn’t get third out in the 6th inning that he really needed to get.

Once Hill left the game, the flood gates opened even more as Sean Gallagher and Scott Eyre both let more runs score.  Gallagher gave up four earned runs and Eyre two.

I don’t even want to talk about the Cubs offense.  Terrible showing last night after having two great games at Coors Field.  Hopefully they will come back strong and close out the series with a win today against a Triple A pitcher that the Rockies just called up.

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A great offensive showing for the Chicago Cubs today even without Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee in the lineup!  Aramis is taking a day off to just get a day off, and Lee has began his 5 game suspension for the Chris Young incident.

Koyie Hill had a career day for the Cubs as he went 2-3 with 5 RBI’s!  That is more offensive numbers today then the catching position has produced in the last few months it seems!  Cliff Floyd also had a good game going 2-3 with a RBI as well.  We can hate on Jacque Jones all we want but he did produce today as well going 1-2 with two RBI and two walks.  Angel Pagan, Mark DeRosa, and Mike Fontenot each had one RBI in the game also.

Carlos Zambrano threw only five innings as the Cubs were already up  9-0 after five innings so Lou took him out of the game early to rest his arm a little bit.  Zambrano did stikeout three and walked two while giving up only two hits.  Zambrano is the first National League pitcher to win 12 games this season.

Sean Gallagher threw four innings in relief as he closed out the ballgame.  Gallagher did allow a run in the ninth inning other then that it was a great showing for himself.  A great showing by Zambrano and the bullpen today.  Sure was a lot better showing by the bullpen today compared to last night!

The Cubs and Giants will play another day game tomorrow as the Cubs try to go for the 3-1 series win.  Lets get the win Cubbies!

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The Chicago Cubs on Thursday recalled righthander Sean Gallagher from Class AAA Iowa.This will mark Gallagher’s second stint in the majors, as he was 0-0 with a 9.53 ERA in three relief appearances in June. The 21-year-old made his debut on June 9 by tossing 3 1/3 innings at Atlanta.

In a corresponding roster move, righthander Billy Petrick was optioned to Iowa. Petrick, 23, had no record with a 3.18 ERA in four relief appearances with the Cubs.

This is clearly just a move to get a fresh arm in the bullpen to help out this weekend.  Expect another move to be made when the team comes back after the All Star break especially if Ryan Dempster is ready to go.

Aramis Ramirez has been activated off the disabled list today and to make room for him on the roster the Cubs sent pitcher Sean Gallagher down to Triple A Iowa.

It will be nice to see Aramis back in the lineup.  Hopefully he can give the offense a spark and we can sweet the White Sox away this weekend!