Random Jottings

Corey Patterson's FYC #3 last night was all but offset by his brutal bunt attempt. Korey may be crouching a little and holding his hands up higher now during his at bats, but he remains one of the most fundamentally unsound players in all of baseball.

Kerry Wood for closer. Don't like the idea Kerry? Well, Dennis Eckersley made the Hall of Fame, and a load of cash, learning to like that idea.

What to make of this?

Despite their recent struggles, general manager Jim Hendry doesn't anticipate an

extreme makeover of his roster this winter.

"Some of it is still up for grabs," he said. "But collectively we like our core group. That's why we tried to tie some guys up, and that's why some of our better players are still in their 20s. Even if we don't do well the rest of the year, it's not like it's a massive overhaul that's needed.

"Obviously we have to make the right four or five decisions, and hopefully make a trade or two. Hopefully get involved in some free-agent work and really just kind of stay on top of what areas we were weaker in than we thought we were going to be."

No massive overhaul, but four of five players need to leave, add a few players by trade, and add some free agents.

Someone send Jim the M-W.com entry for "massive."

Paul Sullivan starts a "Maddux Retirement Watch." This sure seems puzzling. Dusty opened his yapper last week and Greg quelled any speculation. Why is Paul dredging this up again? Sure makes it seem like the Cubs want Greg's retirement a regular topic of discussion. Are they trying to coax a $9 million payroll savings for 2006? If so, this is pretty low.