The Chicago Cubs traded outfielder Todd Hollandsworth to the Atlanta Braves on Monday night for minor league pitchers Todd Blackford and Angelo Burrows.

Hollandsworth will give the Braves a left-handed bat and a reserve outfielder during the rest of the season. He is a career .299 pinch-hitter.

"Holly gets a chance to go to one of the finer organizations in the game, a contending club and a club he’s performed well against," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "John Schuerholtz and Bobby Cox felt like as well as they are going, they could use a veteran who can pinch hit off the bench, which Holly has done well."

Hollandsworth started in left field in the Cubs’ 9-6 loss to Los Angeles on Monday night and went 0-for-3 before he was removed. He has a .254 batting average but is in a 9-for-54 slump over his last 28 games.

"It didn’t work the way we all would have liked for Holly this year. But it was never out of lack of effort by him," Hendry said. "He gave us a heck of a first 40 percent last year and never got back on the field after the injury."

The Cubs will recall Matt Murton from the minors to take Hollandsworth’s spot and call up right-hander Jermaine Van Buren to replace Kerry Wood, who is scheduled for season-ending shoulder surgery Wednesday.

Hollandsworth played in 107 games for the Cubs this season after joining them a year ago. He played in only 57 games in 2004, batting .318. His season was cut short in late June when he fouled a ball off his shin and did not return.

The NL Rookie of the Year in 1996 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Hollandsworth has also played for the Colorado, Texas and Florida - when the Marlins won the World Series in 2003. He went 3-for-3 against the Cubs in the NLCS that season.

Blackford, 20, is in his second professional season, a 13th-round selection by Atlanta in the 2004 amateur draft. He is 6-5 with a 4.60 ERA in 27 minor league games.

Burrows, 25, was selected by the Braves in the ninth round of the 1999 amateur draft. He is 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA in 30 relief appearances this season in Class A. A former outfielder, he was converted to a pitcher last season.

It’s time for Kerry Wood to think about next year.

Wood will undergo arthroscopic surgery Wednesday on his right shoulder, the Chicago Cubs announced Monday. Dr. Timothy Kremchek will perform the surgery at Beacon Orthopedics in Sharonville, Ohio.

"We’re in a position now to make sure we gave Woody the proper amount of time to do this exploratory surgery, which he’ll have in Cincinnati on Wednesday," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Monday.
Wood, Hendry, Kremchek, Cubs athletic trainer Mark O’Neal and team doctor Stephen Gryzlo all discussed the pitcher’s options and concluded now was the time. The Cubs entered play Monday 7 1/2 games back in the National League Wild Card race.

Wood was 3-3 with a 4.67 ERA in 10 starts, but those games were interrupted by two stints on the disabled list because of a strained right shoulder. He missed two months, tried to come back and had to be placed on the DL again. When activated on Aug. 5, he was assigned to the bullpen. In 10 relief appearances, the right-hander is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA.

He was available Monday night for the Cubs in their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I’m sure he’d like to end the year pitching, knowing Woody," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "If we can get him in there, we’ll try to do that."

O’Neal said the team does not anticipate Kremchek finding anything seriously wrong with Wood’s shoulder. The right-hander has been throwing fastballs at 98-100 mph coming out of the ‘pen.

"Realistically, we’re going in to find out what’s going on," O’Neal said. "We’ve compared his MRIs from 2001 to every one he’s ever had and they’ve all been very consistent, and not one thing has jumped out and said, ‘This is the problem, this is what we have to do.’

"With the way he’s pitching out there now, we’re not anticipating anything significant. You don’t throw a baseball as long as he has and not have some sort of rotator cuff fraying, some sort of labrum fraying. At the minimum, they’ll do a debridement and check everything out so we don’t miss anything."

The procedure was expected to be similar to the labral debridement that St. Louis pitcher Matt Morris underwent in November. Morris was pitching by mid-April, and is 14-5 in 24 starts this season.

If the procedure goes well, Wood expects to be back in the Cubs’ starting rotation next season.

"I think that’s what we all want him to do, I think that’s what he would like to do," Hendry said.

The first priority is to get Wood pain-free. His shoulder flares up when he throws 50-60 pitches, which is why he hasn’t had any discomfort in his short relief outings.

"It can’t be a real significant injury because it’s hard to believe somebody can throw 98 miles an hour and have a serious arm problem," Hendry said. "He hasn’t had any discomfort at all. He hasn’t had any complaints since going to the ‘pen."

The Cubs decided to do the surgery now to give Wood enough time to rehab.

"Dr. Kremchek felt that from his studying the MRI, it would be nothing to stop him from being available once Spring Training opens," Hendry said. "Why we’re doing it now is to avoid a sprained ankle that would set back his rehab. We’re just trying to give ourselves the maximum amount of time, no matter what it is."

O’Neal reiterated that if Wood requires a simple procedure, then there’s no doubt he’ll be ready for Spring Training.

"What he’s dealing with with his shoulder is symptomatic of the amount of torque and velocity he’s able to throw with," O’Neal said. "It’s an enormous amount of torque that you put on your shoulder. This is a product of him throwing through the years with his shoulder."

Wood, 28, exploded onto the scene in 1998, winning Rookie of the Year honors with a 13-6 record and 233 strikeouts. Nicknamed "Kid K" after his 20-strikeout game against Houston on May 6, 1998, Wood is 70-54 with a 3.67 ERA in 184 career games (174 starts) and has struck out 1,285.

"I hope it comes out well," Baker said of the surgery. "I hope it’s not anything serious. I hope and pray it’s something minor and he recovers well."

There is little doubt that Ryne Sandberg will forever be respected by “Cub Nation” (hehe like that I stole it from Boston!)

Today’s number retirement ceremony proved that! The team showed sparks of a playoff contending clubhouse, in their 14-3 ROUT of the Marlins…

He sang the 7th inning stretch, and the Cubs scored 8 in the bottom of the inning. (I think Harry had something to do with that.)

What a Game, the mood was electrifying Ryno can still bring that to the field.

I only wish Mark Grace could have been there.

Here is Sandberg’s speech:
http://www.cubshub.com/ryno/ryno.mp3
It is in Mp3 format, and is only 2.4meg in size

Here is Ryne singing take me out to the ballgame:
http://www.cubshub.com/ryno/7th_inning.mp3
It is also in Mp3 format, and is only 534K in sizeThe ironic thing is every player had a hit, except the Cubs second baseman. Todd, I am not picking on you, it was just the way of the Gods.

Here are some of Ryno’s career highlights, Enjoy:

Sept 1, 1981: Ryne Sandburg was recalled by Philadelphia from Oklahoma City (AAA).

Sept. 2, 1981: Made his major league debut in Atlanta crossing the plate as a pinch runner.

September 27, 1981: Recorder his first major league hit off his future team, singling off Cub Mike Krukow in the 14-0 Cub victory.

January 27, 1982: Traded to the Cubs with shortstop Larry Bowa for shortstop Ivan DeJesus.

April 23, 1982: Hit his first big league homer off Pittsburgh’s Eddie Solomon…he followed up his 4th inning, 2-run shot with a solo shot off Paul Moskau in the 7th inning in a 12-10 Pirate win…and recorded his first big league stolen base in the contest.

October 3, 1982: Recorded his first career 4-hit game in his final game of the season, doubling twice and scoring a run in St. Louis’ 5-4 win.

May 31, 1983: Drove in 6 runs as he hit his first career grand slam off Houston’s Frank LaCorte…his a 6th inning homer to put the Cubs ahead 9-8 – the Cubs, however, would eventually lose 12-10.

June 12, 1983: Tied a ML record for most assists by a second baseman in 9-inning game, recording 12 in the contest against St. Louis.

Sept 17, 1983: Posted his second career 4-hit game in a 7-6 win over the New York Mets.

June 23, 1984: Hit a pair of late-inning dramatic homers in the Cubs’ 11-inning 12-11 victory over St. Louis…was 5-for-6 with a solo homer off Cardinal Bruce Sutter in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 9-9 – then homered again in the bottom of the 10th to tie the game at 11 runs a piece…the Cubs went on to win on an RBI-single by Dave Owens…Sandburg’s performance out shadowed Cardinal Willie McGee, who hit for the cycle..

September 29, 1984: Went 4-for-5 in a 9-5 victory over St. Louis…scored 3 runs and had 2 RBI in the contest.

July 9, 1985: Homered twice and drove in 4 runs in the Cubs’ 7-3 victory over San Diego…hit 2-run blasts off Eric Show in the 1st and 2nd frames.

August 21, 1985: His 6 RBI put the Cubs on top in the 9-5 win at Atlanta, as he hit a 3-run homer off Joe Johnson in the 3rd inning and 2-run homer off Jeff Dedmon in the 9th.

June 13, 1987: Sprained his right ankle while trying to avoid a collision at first base with St. Louis’ Jack Clark…went on to miss 26 games.

July 11, 1987 Homered in his first at plate appearance since being activated from the disabled list when he hit a solo shot off Los Angeles’ Tim Leary in a 7-0 Cub win.

August 7, 1987: Recorded his 1,000th career hit – a solo homer- off New York’s Ron Darling…it was the Cubs’ only run of the game (7-1 loss).

September 5, 1987: Was 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored in a 10-5 loss to Cincinnati.

June 19, 1988: Hit the 100th homer of his major league career off Montreal’s Neal Heaton…was 2-for-4 in the 9-3 win over the Expos.

July 31, 1989: Posted his second 2-homer game of the year as teammate Rick Sutcliffe hurled a 3-hitter in a 10-2 Cub win.

August 10, 1989: Drove in 4 runs in a 16-13 loss to Philadelphia…homered off both Randy O’Neal and Terry Mulholland, going 4-for-5 with 4 runs scored.

August 20, 1989: Became the forth Cub to homer twice in a game in Houston’s Astrodome…hit solo shots off Mike Scott (7th inning) and Danny Darwin (9th inning) in an 8-4 Cub loss.

September 8, 1989: Had hit fifth 2 homer game of the season, going 4-for-5 with 3 RBI in an 11-8 loss to St. Louis.

October 1, 1989: Set a major league single season-recorded for the consecutive errorless games (90) in the final game of the season.

April 22, 1990: Broke Manny Trillo’s record of consecutive errorless chances with 5th inning putout of Pittsburgh’s Wally Backman.

June 2, 1990: Homered in St. Louis off Greg Mathews for his 150th career homer…with the 2nd inning shot, he became the first Cub to hit 150 homers and steal 150 bases.

June 29, 1990: Reached the 1,500-hit mark, singling off San Diego’s Greg Harris…the Cubs won 3-2.

October 1, 1990: Hit a 2-run homer off Philadelphia’s Jose DeJesus, giving Sandberg 100 RBI for the season…it was his first career 100 RBI campaign.

July 27, 1991: Posted his 18th career 2-homer game in a 7-5 defeat of Atlanta…in the game (in which he had 5 RBI), he hit the second inside-the-park home run of his career and the first by a Cub at Wrigley Field since September 23, 1983.

August 18, 1991: Went 4-for4 with 4 runs scored in the same game in which he recorded his 200th career homer…hit a solo shot off Philadelphia’s Danny Cox in the 1st inning in a 7-6 Cubs win.

September 2, 1991: Hit his second career grand slam in a 10-8 win over San Diego…the 8th inning grand slam off Jim Lewis put the Cubs on top for good.

October 6, 1991: He hit a line-drive double (scoring Mark Grace) in the 7th inning for his 100th RBI of the season…it was Sandberg’s final at-bat of the season.

May 6, 1992: Tied club record with eight consecutive hits, becoming the seventh Cub to accomplish the feat.

September 9, 1992” Hit his third career grand slam off Pittsburgh’s Danny Cox – but the Cubs still lost 13-7.

March 5th, 1993: Sustained a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand in the Cubs’ spring training opener when he was hit by a pitch by San Francisco’s Mike Jackson.

April 30, 1993: Was activated from the disable list and made his first start of the season, striking out twice and drawing a pair of walks.

July 3, 1993: Singled off Colorado’s Curtis Leskanic for his 2,000th career hit.

September 13, 1993: Dislocated the fourth finger of his right hand sliding into home plate and missed the remainder of the season.

June 13, 1994: Announced his voluntary retirement.

April 1, 1996: Made his return to baseball on Opening Day, going 0-for-3 with a pair of walks.

April 22, 1996: Homered off Colorado’s Marvin Freeman to become the 10th player in the ML history to record 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.

August 9, 1996 Hit his fifth career grand slam off Barry Manuel in an 11-9 win at Montreal…the 5th inning shot put the Cubs on top for good…also added a solo shot in the 9th (off Mel Rojas).

April 12, 1997: Recorded his 1,000th career RBI singling in Shawon Dunston for the Cubs’ lone run of the game (2-1 loss to Atlanta).

September 28, 1997: Went 0-for-2 in his final major league game – a 2-1 loss in St. Louis.

The Chicago Cubs sent outfielder Matt Lawton to the New York Yankees on Saturday in exchange for minor league pitcher Justin Berg.

The 33-year-old Lawton batted .268 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs over 120 games this season with Chicago and Pittsburgh. He has played for five teams in parts of 11 major league seasons with a career batting average of .269.

Berg, 21, was 6-1 with a 3.07 ERA at Class A Staten Island.

Lawton was in the Yankees starting lineup Saturday, playing right field and batting eighth against Kansas City. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, the Yankees optioned right-handed pitcher Scott Proctor to Triple-A Columbus. Proctor was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 20 games with New York.

I logged on today, and I had an email from one of my connections, saying Nomar @ 3B…

I laughed and replied, "yea right".

Then I went to Cubs.comThe Chicago Cubs today placed infielder Aramis Ramirez on the 15-day disabled list with a strain of the left quadricep, retroactive to August 25. In a corresponding roster move, infielder Ronny Cedeno was recalled from Iowa (AAA).
Ramirez, who suffered the injury in the first inning of the game on August 24, is batting .302 with 31 homers and 92 RBI.

Cedeno, 22, is in his third stint with the big league club. He was also on the roster April 21-May 17 and June 28-August 9 - and has combined to bat .259 in 31 games.

The shortstop has spent the remainder of the season at Triple-A, hitting .355 with 14 doubles, 8 homers and 36 RBI in 65 games.