FanHouse JoshVitters

The Cubs continue to make minor tweaks to their roster as they cling to relevancy in the NL Central race. After recalling Kevin Hart and Sam Fuld in the past few days, relief pitcher Jeff Samardzija was brought back to the big leagues Tuesday. He'll replace Jose Ascanio in the bullpen.

Samardzija, the highly popular pitcher who once played wide receiver for Notre Dame's football team, came onto the scene with a solid rookie season in 2008. He worked 26 times and compiled a 2.28 ERA. Earlier this year, though, Samardzija had a rough go at the major league level. In five outings, his ERA was a large 8.10.

As baseball's offseason slogs along at a molasses-like pace, the Jake Peavy-to-Cubs rumors just won't die. Whether it's actual reality or just pure conjecture at this point is hard to tell.

For now, Peavy and each front office remain pretty quiet. And all we're left doing is speculating.

Yet we do know a few things that still make the deal a logical one.

So here's a nifty idea: the Cubs, beholders of the precious night game inside their stadium -- are ceding their July 29 evening to let their Class A affiliate Peoria squad take on the Kane County Cougars. (Sidenote: The only foul ball I've ever caught at a baseball game was at a Kane County Cougars game.)

The reasoning? To let Peoria Chiefs coach and former Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg show off the Cubs No. 1 pick Josh Vitters.

"I think it will be very cool," said Sandberg, the Hall of Famer in his second season as Chiefs manager. "It's an opportunity for everybody involved, probably the chance of a lifetime for some of these players to come here and play at Wrigley. I can't imagine what that will be like."

The game-the only one in town that day with the White Sox playing in Minnesota and the Cubs in Milwaukee-will include team mascots, T-shirts being shot into the bleachers and kids running the bases afterward, or, as Kenney said, "things we've never really done here before to bring the spirit of the minor-league system into Wrigley Field for a night."

Three cheers to the Cubs for letting these teams play inside an MLB stadium: should be fun for all parties involved and might be the highlight off some of these kids' careers. And sweet, t-shirt guns? Whooooo!

Here are the first round picks by the NL Central teams in today's MLB Amateur draft and a few words about them:

Chicago Cubs (3)- Josh Vitters, 3B, HS. The Cubs got their guy here. Just about everyone had him and Mike Moutsakas (selected directly above by the Royals) as the 1-2 high school hitters in the draft, with neither one a clear #1.

Pittsburgh Pirates (4)- Daniel Moskos, LHP, Clemson. Big overdraft. The Pirates apparently asked for the money to sign Matt Wieters and were denied by ownership, so instead they drafted a guy that's been mostly a reliever in his college career. With the fourth overall pick. John Sickels listed him as the ninth best pitcher. I'm a Pirate fan. Permit me an, "ugh."

Milwaukee Brewers (7)- Matt LaPorta, LF, UFlorida, pictured above. Maybe a bit of a reach here. Baseball America was surprised by the pick and noted that it's rare for a college senior to be picked this high. He does lead the SEC in OPS this year, though, so how bad can he be?

Cincinnati Reds (15)- Devin Mesocaro, C, HS. He's from Punxatawny. You know, the place with the groundhog and the funny movie. It seems risky to me to take a high school catcher, but I'm a blogger and not a general manager. Also, that Joe Mauer guy worked out OK.

St. Louis Cardinals (18)- Peter Kozma, SS, HS. Baseball America calls him the best middle infielder available, but still a reach at 18. They do seem to think it's more of a need pick for the Cardinals. I can't tell you because he's the only guy on this page that I've never heard of at all before.

The Astros lost their first round pick by signing Carlos Lee.