What To Watch

The only interesting thing about the next few weeks will be how much playing time the rookies get. According to Jim Hendry, that would be a lot.

On Saturday, Hendry told reporters that "if Cedeno and Murton are playing, that's a positive, and I think our fan base would appreciate that."

Ah, but there's Dusty Baker in the way of that.

"I just can't take the ball and glove out of Neifi's hands," Baker argued. "It's not fair to just sit him down for what he's done for us. So I've got to find a way, at least for a while, for both of them to play."

Murton will rejoin the club from Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday, but Baker would not say how much playing time he'd get in left field.

"Depends on how [much time] I can get Corey [Patterson] and [Jerry] Hairston - he's playing pretty good," Baker said.

I think I've figured out Baker's angle on playing the Neifi's over the Cedeno's. There's two things going on here. First, Baker is clearly angling to get fired. With the trial balloons floated about other managing jobs, to the outright ignoring of fulfillingg the goals of his boss, there's no other conclusion possible. Self preservation is the bottom of Dr. Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs.

But, as the exodus of players from Wrigley begins, Dusty knows he may see these players again elsewhere. Maybe as their manager again. If Dusty gets the Macias' and the Neifi's playing time, they stand a better chance of doing something to attract the attention of another team's GM and earning a new contract when they leave the Cubs.

Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno have jobs locked up for next year. Neifi doesn't.

Baker is sacrificing player development in exchange to get guys who won't be here new jobs elsewhere.

And when he does that, he's sacrificing OUR future, not his. Every at bat that Murton and Cedeno don't get is a slap in the face of every Cubs fan out there.