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West Tennessee's MVP shortstop Ryan Theriot has been called up for today's game, a move necessitated by Ronny Cedeno breaking his left hand on Saturday, being most probably out for what's left of the season, and therefore leaving the Cubs light up the middle. Due to expanded rosters, Cedeno avoids the disabled list, but Kerry Wood has been shifted to the 60-day DL to make room for Theriot on the 40-man roster. Daytona infielder Carlos Rojas will replace Theriot in the Jaxx's championship series versus the Jacksonville Suns, which now begins on Tuesday rather than Wednesday after a scheduling change. Congratulations to Theriot, but wouldn't you hate to leave your team when they're on the brink of a championsip, even if it's just the Southern League? And why do we need him with the big club? Neifi will play shortstop, Walker plays second and the combination of Hairston, Macias and Nomar can back all those positions up. It seems pointless, especially when you have Mike Fontentot already on the 40 man roster. I suppose there's a reason behind this and it might actually be good, but quite a blow to the Jaxx and their championship aspirations. As for Theriot's skills, he's been considered an absolute defenseive wizard through his years with the farm system and a lightweight with the bat. That is until this year, when he scrapped switch-hitting and went to hitting exclusively from the right side. He's way old to be considered a prospect (he'll turn 26 in December), but he did hit a robust .304/.365/.391, stealing 24 bases in 34 attempts with 45 walks to 38 strikeouts.

Abbreviated organizational report this week since the minors league seasons are over except for the AA Jaxx. I'll get a post up with the final minor league numbers in the next few weeks. For more info on the Cubs' minor league system, check out Rudy Kamman, writing at Road to Wrigley. Team Records updated through 9/12/05

Organizational Records

Team	W-L	GB/Pos.	Last 10
Chicago Cubs	71-72	(Div)19.5/3rd (WC)5.5/5th	8-2
Iowa Cubs	64-75	8.5/4th	3-7
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx*	39-31 83-56	0.0/1st	5-5
Daytona Cubs	34-34 69-66	4.0/5th	6-4
Peoria Chiefs	33-37 68-72	4.5/6th	5-5
Boise Hawks	34-42	3.0/3rd	5-5
AZL Cubs	9-19 19-37	9.0/9th	4-6

Cubs Ex W/L: 72-71; (2003) 76-67; (2004) 79-64 * West Tennessee swept their first round series over the Carolina Mudcats and face the Jacksonville Suns for the Southern League championship starting on Tuesday, September 13th.

GAME 142 IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (69-72) @ SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (64-76) SBC PARK, 9:15 pm CDT, TV: CSN, KTVU

Brad Hennessey, RHP 4-6, 4.96 ERA 51/42 K/BB, 13 HR in 89.0 IP	Mark Prior, RHP 10-5, 3.69 ERA 160/47 K/BB, 23 HR in 144.0 IP
CF *Corey Patterson	CF #Randy Winn
LF Jerry Hairston	SS #Omar Vizquel
1B Derrek Lee	1B *J.T. Snow
RF *Jeromy Burnitz	LF Moises Alou
3B Scott McClain	2B #Ray Durham
2B #Todd Walker	3B Pedro Feliz
SS Ronny Cedeno	RF #Dave Ortmeier
C Henry Blanco	C Yamid Haad
P Mark Prior	P Brad Hennessey

How about that Matt Cain last night? I fell asleep right after Derrek Lee's home run (I'm old), and apparently I didn't miss much else besides a sterling pitching performance from the 20-year-old Cain. The Giants still apparently think they're in the NL West race. They're seven games behind the Padres (the Cubs are closer than that to the wildcard lead), but the Giants announcers, the excellent Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, kept talking about what the Giants needed to do to catch San Diego. Why is it that I didn't think that was crazy, the way I would if Bob & Len were saying it? The Cubs are going to miss the reactivation of Barry Bonds -- it looks like he'll come back tomorrow, once the Cubs re on their way back home. What, exactly, did Corey Patterson do to deserve the leadoff spot? Was it getting picked off on Thurday? Is it the 2-for-15 he's currently on? Maybe it's the fact that he's hitting 177/217/291 since his recall, or 153/196/260 since June 21st. It must be something...

GAME 141 IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (69-71) @ SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (63-76) SBC PARK, 9:15 pm CDT, TV: CSN, KTVU

Matt Cain, RHP 1-1, 2.25 ERA 6/5 K/BB, 1 HR in 12.0 IP	Jerome Williams, RHP 5-7, 4.77 ERA 56/36 K/BB, 12 HR in 88.2 IP
LF Jerry Hairston Jr.	CF #Randy Winn
SS #Neifi Perez	SS #Omar Vizquel
1B Derrek Lee	1B *J.T. Snow
RF *Jeromy Burnitz	LF Moises Alou
3B Nomar Garciaparra	2B #Ray Durham
2B #Todd Walker	3B Pedro Feliz
C Michael Barrett	RF #Dave Ortmeier
CF *Corey Patterson	C Mike Matheny
P Jerome Williams	P Matt Cain

Jerome Williams gets a chance to pitch at his old haunt, while attempting to gain enough Dusty points to keep him in mind for next year's rotation. For the Giants, it's one of their top propsects, 20-year-old Matt Cain on the mound. The Giants 1st round pick in 2002, his ascent through the system has been swift and for the most part justifiable. After putting up a respectable season in AA ball at age 19 last year (6-4, 3.35 ERA,40 BB, 72 K, 7 HR, 86.0 IP), he followed it with an average year at AAA Fresno (10-5, 4.39 ERA, 73 BB, 176 K, 22 HR, 145.2 IP). Considering he won't reach his 21st birthday until October 1st, that's not too shabby, not to mention the PCL is certainly a hitter's league. His numbers look like the perfect candidate to be a Cub, don't they? Lots of K's, lots of walks and lots of home runs allowed. Baseball America had him rated as the Giants top prospect before the season and possessing the top curveball in the whole system. He ranked as the 13th best prospect in all of baseball as well. As for the Cubbies, the march to .500 continues, player development be damned. I'll be at the game tomorrow and with the Giants throwing out righty Brad Hennessey, it's unlikely I'll get to see both Murton and Cedeno play and potentially neither. Wouldn't mind seeing them in person. I do get to see Prior pitch which is always fun and could be made more fun if he plunked Barry Bonds right in the armguard (if he happens to play). Go Cubs and Congratulations to the Jaxx, who swept their first round series tonight with an 11-2 thrashing of the Carolina Mudcats!!!