david@fisher.UUCP (David Rubin) (06/15/84)
OK, I take it all back. Before the season began, I had stated that no team with as poor a rotation as the Cubs could possibly survive July and August. Since then, Dallas Green has manged to obtain Eckersley for Buckner, and now the Cubs have traded Hall and three minor leaguers for Sutcliffe, Frazier, and a third-string catcher. Thus Chicago trades the future for what it needs now, and Chicago starting pitching is upgraded from abysmal to mediocre. That may be enough to keep the Cubs in contention to the end. But wait!!! Hall and one of the minor league players must clear NL waivers before they may depart for Cleveland. It seems that the Cubs frustrated a deal earlier in the season by Philadelphia which would have sent Dernier to the AL by claiming him on waivers; rumor has it that the Phillies will return the favor, claiming Hall. Frazier and Sutcliffe have already arrived in Chicago (Frazier even pitched yesterday), indicating that their transfer has already been approved by the league office, and that Hall is technically a "player to be named later" (not much later, to be sure). If the Phillies do thwart Hall's move, the Cubs will have to come up with someone else to satisfy Cleveland, someone Chicago may not be quite as comfortable giving up as Hall. Interesting. It now is beginning to look like a four-way race in the East. Pittsburgh is getting surprisingly little run production, and Montreal is a far, far poorer team then they were only one year ago. David Rubin allegra!fisher!david