FanHouse Micah Hoffpauir

When Aramis Ramirez takes the field Monday night in Wrigley Field, the Cubs will see themselves in the exact same position as the day he fell injured. They are 2 1/2 games out of first place, just like when their best offensive player badly injured his shoulder diving for a liner in Milwaukee.

The reality of the situation, though, is that you can attribute the Cubs' ability to hang in the race more to the futility of their division foes than to the Cubs playing well. They haven't played well at all, yet they sit right in the thick of the race. Adding Ramirez is almost akin to a huge trade here in early July. But, the interesting wrinkle in the whole situation is the roster shakeup which will accompany Ramirez's triumphant return.

After the Cubs finally broke their crippling eight-game losing streak Tuesday, they made a slight overhaul to their bench and how it's going to be used. Aaron Miles is headed to the disabled list, while Bobby Scales and Neal Cotts (mercifully) have been optioned to the minors. In their place, the Cubs have recalled Jake Fox, Andres Blanco and Jason Waddell.

Waddell will replace Cotts as the lone left-hander in the bullpen, but the big news here lies in the call of Fox and a possible infield shuffle.

Through the first 36 games of the season, it's been quite the bumpy ride for the Cubs. They've gone through as much adversity as they faced during the entire 97-win campaign that was the 2008 regular season. There have been myriad injuries, a suspension, many players suffering through extended slumps, excessive booing by the fans, bullpen meltdowns, and a much, much tougher division.

And yet, Lou Piniella's troops are 21-15. You know what their record was after 36 games in 2008? An identical 21-15.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

In news that probably means a lot more to fantasy baseball players than real baseball fans -- with all due respect to the Pirates and their true fans -- Ryan Doumit is going to miss the next 8-10 weeks. He'll be undergoing wrist surgery and have some pins inserted. As fantasy owners, we must march on and look at how to replace the production of a very solid offensive catcher.

We haven't even completed two full weeks of the Major League Baseball season yet, but the (arguably) best rivalry in the National League is already giving us a taste of what an exciting race the NL Central could be this year. With all due respect to the Reds, Astros, Brewers and Pirates, and with all due disclaimers about how long the baseball season is, it seems blatantly obvious the two best teams in the division are the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

For the past three days, the two teams have put on an entertaining show for anyone fortunate enough to be watching. Each game went down the wire, with both teams showing a flair for the dramatic.

Less than two weeks into his first season in Chicago, Milton Bradley has received his first suspension. Some would say it was only a matter of time, but -- as I discussed Friday -- this was a pretty vanilla "incident." He said his piece, albeit dramatically, and walked away. No thrown bats, no busted Gatorade jugs and no real contact.

We could argue about a possible double standard until we're blue in the face, but the office of the commissioner has spoken. Bradley will miss the next two games.

Sunday night, Milton Bradley pulled up lame on his way to third base after a Ryan Theriot base knock. He clutched his groin and the Cubs immediately removed him from the game -- said to be a precautionary measure. In the short term, the tweaked groin ended up being a blessing in disguise for the Cubs. Reed Johnson was inserted into Bradley's spot, and he made an unbelievable grand-slam-saving catch just a few minutes later.

Moving forward, though, Bradley's injury during the first week of the season is sure to draw the ire of the Cubbie-hating public and many Cubs fans alike. We know about his injury history, after all, and the Chicago media had a feeding frenzy on Jim Hendry when he granted Bradley with a three-year, $30 million contract this past offseason.

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Chicago Cubs.

A magical regular season that yielded the most victories for the Cubs franchise since 1935 sent them to the postseason for the fourth time in a 11-season span. Unfortunately, 2008 ended the same way 1998, 2003 and 2007 did -- in disappointment. The Cubs head into 2009 hoping to wipe the slate clean and get over any fake curses they are allegedly saddled with.

Look at the look on his face. Even he's thinking, "Ugh, why did you guys hire me? Haven't you been watching baseball for the last eight years?"

The sun rose this morning, and Kerry Wood hasn't taken the mound for the Indians since last weekend because of back problems, and I'm gonna go ahead and say he'll be out for the first two months of the season and 90% of September. This should come as a surprise to only newborn babies and the mentally incompetent, but hey, there's no reason to overreact. It's just a nagging back injury, and the Tribe is playing it safe by keeping him out. I'm going to skip the b.s. and just overreact now, so when Grady Sizemore misses the middle of the season with missing groin and Travis Hafner's foot falls off I can blame it on Wood and move on with my life.

Tonight's Dugout is after the jump.

Wondering which young players could have an impact in the majors this year? Let MLB FanHouse guide the way in Better Know a Prospect. In this edition we look at three players from the Chicago Cubs' minor league system.

First of all, let's get one thing straight here. The Cubs are pushing all their chips to the center of the table this season. It's now or never, as far as they are concerned. In turn, they are much more likely to trade prospects for veterans to plug holes created by injuries or ineffectiveness.