Posts tagged ReedJohnson at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

On his second at-bat of the game tonight, Alfonso Soriano was beaned on the left wrist. ESPN just reported that he has a mildly displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal. Translation: broken hand. He's reportedly out six weeks.

This is a blow to the Cubs, but hardly devastating. He's a stud and has been hitting as well as anyone in the everyday lineup, but the team is loaded with capable hitters and he's a defensive liability. They dealt without him for two weeks earlier in the season and played quite well, going 9-5.

For the Cubs, several guys will benefit playing-time wise. The options are plentiful thanks for the versatility of the bench and Mark DeRosa. Mike Fontenot or Ronny Cedeno can play second base while DeRosa shifts to LF. Micah Hoffpauir -- sure to get the call from triple-A -- will get some looks in LF as well. Finally, should Lou Pinella decide to stray from his CF platoon, Reed Johnson can play left while Jim Edmonds stays in center. There won't be an everyday lineup. Musical chairs is more like it.

Alternate title: Jim Hendry Hates Matt Murton

In what's not terribly surprising news, the Cubs just announced that they're putting Alfonso Soriano on the DL after he strained his calf in last night's game. General scuttlebutt has been that Mark DeRosa and Reed Johnson will get at-bats in left field with Felix Pie and Mark Fontenot will fill in for DeRosa and Johnson in their regular positions. The Cubbies are insisting that Soriano's not hurt that badly, but apparently they'd rather be cautious this early in the year. Accordingly, Soriano's going on the DL and Eric Patterson is coming up.

Wait, what? Not Matt Murton? Eric Patterson? They'd rather split time in left field between a middle infielder and a guy that got released three weeks ago instead of Murton, who's got some decent pop and the definite ability to get on base? And they'd rather have Patterson on the bench? Really? Either Jim Hendry wants Murton to stay in AAA and play every day to showcase him or he just really, really, really hates his guts.

As for the main issue here, I think the Cubs are probably making the right move with Soriano, even if he'll be ready to play again in a week. He wasn't all that durable last year, playing in only 135 games, and having him healthy at the end of the year is much more important than having him healthy now. Taking two weeks off in April and early May won't kill the team, and it may make Soriano that much stronger down the stretch.

Reed Johnson was only looking for work for a few days after being cut by the Blue Jays last week, as he signed a 1-year deal with the Cubs today for a little over a million dollars. This move, in itself, is not terribly interesting because Reed Johnson isn't really that good and he's just going to function as a fourth or fifth outfielder for the Cubs. However, between this move and some other moves the Cubs made today, there are some things worth paying attention to.

In the same article, it's noted that both Eric Patterson and Sam Fuld were demoted to the minors. That means that Felix Pie's twisted testicle (sorry, guys) must be feeling well enough for him to start in center field. Pie didn't actually perform that well as a 22-year old in Chicago last year, though Patterson and Fuld are just as unproven as he is, even if they are a bit older. If things go poorly, Johnson does have some center field experience and he can fill in there in a pinch.

The other thing worst thinking about is Matt Murton. For about as long as I've known that Murton existed, he's been on the trading block. As it stands right now, the Cubs have Murton, Pie, Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Daryle Ward in the outfield. It's mildly crazy to carry six outfielders and since Ward is a fairly valuable right left-handed bat off the bench and they just acquired Johnson, well, Murton might not want to buy a plane ticket to Chicago just yet.