Both Chicago teams are struggling this year. The White Sox sit at 22-27, 10 games out in the division and 4.5 back in the wild card. The 20-25 Cubs are seven games out in their division and six out in the wild card. Combined payrolls: about $262MM. On to the links:
- Outfielder Lou Montanez will have his contract purchased by the Cubs, Iowa manager Bill Dancy told Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register. Montanez, 29, was the third overall pick for the Cubs in 2000 as a shortstop. He became an outfielder in 2004, and after a stint with the Orioles signed a minor league deal to return to the Cubs in January. As Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald notes, the Cubs will have to create a 40-man roster spot for Montanez, perhaps by moving Andrew Cashner or Brian Schlitter to the 60-day DL. The team would also have to open a spot on the 25-man roster, and ESPN's Bruce Levine speculates that that could be accomplished by putting Matt Garza on the DL.
- The White Sox will likely bump someone from their six-man rotation after the current road trip, writes Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Bumping Phil Humber might create the fewest waves, since he's the only starter earning less than $5MM. However, he has the best ERA of the group and the Sox are talking about doing what's best for the team because some starters can't pitch with eight days rest. It'd be very interesting to see John Danks or Edwin Jackson moved to the bullpen, as Danks has a big arbitration raise coming and Jackson will be a free agent.
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