Gentlemen JIM?

The Cubs won their 4th game in a row by defeating the San Francisco Giants. Jim Hendry made a deal with the STRUGGLING A's for Jason Kendall. The Cubs sent resently acquired Rob Bowen and minor league Jerry Blevins. Blevens is a left handed pitcher with good numbers in the minors.

The reason this deal got done for the Cubs is because Jason Kendall fills their need for a hitting catcher and was "cheap". Kendall is due 13 million dollars this season, but then his contract is up which works for the Tribune company who do not want to add long term debit. The A's are also sending an undisclosed amount of money to the Cubs with Kendall.

This could be the first in a series of moves made by the CUBS. The Cubs are trying to move JACQUE JONES and Cesar Isturis. In case you are not a Cubs fan or have not been watching as of late, Jacque Jones has been playing in Center field. MY reasoning behind that is to boast his "trade value" and audition him for other teams to see. Cesar is not playing but a good defender. Cesar could get something decent in return because of teams recent struggles at the short shop position namely in BOSTON. With Cesar gone Ronny Cedeno could come back up from Iowa.

The Kendall trade could be the first move between the A's and Cubs. The A's fiqure to be sellers at the trading deadline with "movable" players such as Shannon Stewart and Joe Kennedy. In MY opinion Shannon Stewart and Joe Kennedy would meet the needs of another hitter and a another left handed reliever for the Cubs.

With the trade deadline nearing expect more deals to come out of CHICAGO!