Alfonseca To Be Activated Today
As the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, and Sun-Times all report in Monday’s papers, the Cubs are likely to activate Antonio Alfonseca off the disabled list today. No word yet on who the Cubs will send down. I have to believe it would be Alan Benes. The real question, though, is who gets sent down when Dave Veres returns. The only viable candidate would appear to be Juan Cruz. Kyle Farnsworth is out of options, Mike Remlinger and Mark Guthrie both have nice contracts. And Joe Borowski is the Cubs best reliever.
In any case, the eventual return of Veres would appear to weaken the Cubs bullpen, especially in light of the fact that it leaves them without a long reliever, a role currently filled by Benes and Cruz.
The Cub Reporter had a good post on the bullpen situation on Friday.
As for Alfonseca, Lee Sinins notes that “[a]fter 3.06 ERA/8 RSAA and 4.00 ERA/0 RSAA seasons, Alfonseca hasn’t made his 2002 debut yet. He has a 3.82 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.37, and 17 RSAA in 340 games.” (Note: RSAA is Runs Saved Above Average; a 0 RSAA is a league average pitcher).
UPDATE (1:45pm): Adding further intrigue to the bullpen story, Rod Beck’s line at Iowa looks mighty impressive: 18.2 IP, 8H, 1ER, 4BB, 11K. That’s right. Just 1 ER in 18.2 IP. It certainly appears, though, that there just isn’t room in Chicago for Beck. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ask for his release at some point so that he could sign with another team. I’m sure someone would give him a big league job, the way’s he pitching.
UPDATE (4:40:pm): As noted in the comments section by Ted B., the Cubs have activated Alfonseca and designated Benes for assignment.