With the Olympics receding every further into memory, we return to covering the major Chicago professional sports' teams.

Chicago Bears

The NFL combine was last weekend, but we saw very few articles about the Bears' analysis in the paper, other than a brief mention that they might consider drafting a quarterback besides Kurt Kittner. One name mentioned was LSU's Rohan Davey, a horrible potential pick as he's likely to be roundly derided whenever he's anywhere on the field in Chambana after thrashing Illinois in the Sugar Bowl.

NFL free agency also began last Friday, and the Bears wasted little time in finally completing the long-rumored deal with starting QB Jim Miller, settling at $12M over 5 year. As he only received a $2.5M signing bonus, I don't expect Miller to remain with the Bears under this contract for more than three years at the most, through the end of the current deals for Angelo and Jauron. Miller's bonus will be prorated over the next five seasons, so the cap hit is only $500K/season through 2006, along with whatever salary he's scheduled to earn in a particular season. I believe he'll likely count for a total of $2.5M against the 2002 cap.

The Bears have several other free agents, so I'll attempt to briefly review each of their roles with the team and their likelihood of returning.

RB James Allen will likely return if he'll continue to accept a limited salary as the Bears will occasionally feature him in the game plan, an opportunity likely unavailable most anywhere else.

CB Walt Harris probably will head to one of the Ohio teams as both are desperate for a quality defensive back. We're already financially committed to CBs R.W. McQuarters and Jerry Azumah, so despite his steadily improving level of play, we can afford to let Harris leave.

C Olin Kreutz, likely the most recognizable of our unrestricted free agents due to his recent Pro Bowl appearance, will depart if someone offers him a substantially higher signing bonus. We've already committed long-term money to Big Cat and Chris Villarial, and with 2001 draftee Bernard Robertson quickly maturing, there's no need to re-sign the often headstrong and seemingly frequently penalized Kreutz. We believe this money should be spent on a more traditional "skill" position behind the offensive line.

SS Tony Parrish, despite no particularly outstanding attributes, continues to play quality ball for the Bears. While Mike Green might be able to start here, we hope the Bears will use some of the money for Kreutz to instead keep Parrish. Losing two starting defensive backs in Harris and Parrish would significantly deplete the depth of the defensive backfield.

CB Frankie Smith, a top special-teams performer, missed the year with a knee injury. We hope he returns, although Larry Whigham made the Pro Bowl in his place.

OT Jimmy Herndon, LB Greg Jones, DE Carl Powell, FB Daimon Shelton, and TE Kaseem Sinceno all offer potential continuity of they return, but most of their roles can likely be filled by cheaper replacements, either through untested free agents, draft choices, or undrafted prospects.

Restricted free agents include WR D'Wayne Bates, tendered at $563.2K, and RB Autry Denson. Restricted free agent starters include:

LB Rosevelt Colvin, tendered at $1.227M, expected to return as the starting strongside linebacker as no team will give up a 1st round pick to acquire him.

WR Marty Booker, tendered at $1.227M, should return as the primary possession receiver and current deep threat; I wouldn't expect any team to give up a 1st round pick for him, unless a playoff team with a low pick is desperate for another WR.

OG Rex Tucker, also tendered at $1.227M, and also should return as starting Left Guard. I'd be shocked if any team gave up a 1st round pick for him.

Finally, LB Warrick Holdman was tendered at $563.2K, but Jerry Angelo forget to check the box that required other teams to give up compensation for him. While Angelo made the same mistake with Bates, potentially costing us a 3rd round pick, 17 teams have reportedly contacted Holdman's agent. We already would have only received a 4th round pick, and now he could easily leave and we'd receive nothing. Angelo basically non-tendered him, although we still could re-sign him to a long-term deal.

General Managers should be fired for this type of mistake. With the current NFL salary cap, teams only have a brief window in which to compete, and there's no excuse for potentially losing a very capable starting linebacker, especially one reportedly considered for the Pro Bowl.

I'm also not certain that we should re-sign him to a long-term deal as Colvin's a more important part of the team and we can likely replace Holdman in the draft. This is just a bad situation, and McCaskey family should hold someone accountable. Every GM should have a clause in his contract that permits instant release without a buyout for gross incompetence like this paperwork mistake.

Chicago Blackhawks

Ignoring the fortunate situation of having a backup goalie named Passmore instead of Scoremore, or even Emptynet, Coach Brian Sutter still needs to address this situation soon. Passmore has now started two games in a row when Jocelyn Thibeault was theoretically very rested from his vacation over the Olympic break.

Now based on everything we've read, Thibeault is a significantly better goalie than Passmore, and even shows potential to carry a team through the playoffs. However, we won't know unless he's given that opportunity.

Some of the columnists have suggested the Hawks pursue potential free agent Ed Belfour, our former All-Star goalie and winner of the Stanley Cup after we traded him. He's clearly on the downside of his career, but he does have the experience and talent necessary to insure we have a capable goalie should either of the current ones fold under playoff pressure.

Considering the Blackhawks have almost an unprecedented opportunity to capture the city's attention in May and June while the Bulls continue planning for the draft and our baseball teams will likely only be slightly over .500, they really need to take a shot now. We wouldn't support dealing most current members of the roster, although Passmore would likely have to be included in any deal. If we could package future draft picks and/or prospects to grab Belfour, we could start the playoffs with Thibeault in goal, and if he falters for two games in a row, stick Belfour in there to safeguard our Cup chances.

Chicago Bulls

We've at least started losing the games we should lose, but the additions of Rose and Travis Best have given the team more life than in years. We're now perfectly capable of staying with every weak team in the league, and while we're probably more likely to suffer a blowout if our starters hit a cold streak, we're also more likely to win more games.

The most positive development of the trade is that the correct players are receiving the starting minutes and therefore finally posting somewhat impressive scoring totals. Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and Marcus Fizer have all played quite impressively in the last two weeks, and with Eddie Robinson and Jamal Crawford finally mostly healthy and ready to play, Cartwright should be able to develop the current rotation.

Any playoff future for this team still depends on adding one more gamebreaker with our high #1 pick, though it really doesn't matter if this player comes from college or in a trade for the pick. The Bulls finally show some promise, so its difficult for us not to look to the summer and the acquisition of the missing piece that will first take us to a .500 record, and then hopefully a return to June glory. Perhaps this is just foolish optimism, but almost every move since the Brand-Chandler trade has helped advance the franchise out of recent misery.

Chicago Cubs

As no newspaper printed the Cubs' opinions on their best prospects, I'll just keep this short and discuss the recent contentiousness in Cubs' camp.

The Trib reported that our flailing centerfielder said, "My mentality is that I'll be aggressive and ready to hit a ball in the zone, whether it's the first or last pitch."

Now this is the worst possible attitude from Corey. He's destined to be our 2nd or even 3rd hitter long-term, and if he's to succeed in either role, he'll need to talk a walk, preferably at least one every two games. If he's up there thinking he must get a hit, he'll not help the team, and likely will always deserve to man the #6 slot or lower.

When listening to the first Cubs' spring training game on the record, we were horrified when he laced the first pitch he saw for a single up the middle. He won't be able to do that on every pitch, and if he won't wait in an attempt to wear down the pitcher, he needs to be sent back down to the minors, potentially even to AA since he never found great success there.

Flash Gordon has also been complaining about his role. He wants to pitch more than one inning when he isn't even capable of pitching a single inning many days. He's also concerned that Farnsworth or Fassero might steal some saves from him. Despite our abhorrence at appeasing his stated preference for a trade if his role is reduced, Hendry needs to be looking to deal him as soon as late April. Farnsworth appears ready for more responsibility, the move opens up a bullpen spot for both Mahay and Zambrano with Duncan, or potentially even Chiasson, and as he'll be a free agent at the end of the year anyway, he needs to be moved as soon as possible.

The Dodgers are still looking for a closer and Baltimore also might consider a deal, and as both teams have potentially great young pitching to move, we should look to one of them soon, before they trade with another team. We should be able to secure either Eric Gagne or Odalis Perez for Gordon, considering Gagne was reportedly available for either Danny Graves or Ugueth Urbina. He'd step right in as our #4 starter, allowing a trade of Jason Bere for even more minor league talent. From Baltimore, I'd trade Gordon straight up for B.J. Ryan, since with Fassero's advancing age, we desperately need a young, competent lefty in the bullpen. Ryan has closer potential, and would fit in wonderfully with young guns like Farnsworth and Chiasson.

Finally, Julian Tavarez has already issued warnings that he'll be quite displeased if he's not the fifth starter. Considering Baylor's stated preference for a left-hander, we'd take either Donovan Osborne or Jesus Sanchez over Tavarez anyway, so he really needs to be dealt quickly. Baltimore also expressed interest in Tavarez as a starter a year ago, and as previously discussed, they really need a veteran arm to help take the pressure off the kids. While Tavarez doesn't last particularly long in most games, he'd be an upgrade over their current options. We'd also ask for B.J. Ryan in exchange for him.

If the Cubs look to quickly deal Gordon, Fassero, Tavarez, and Bere, while they might irritate the "veteran core" of the Cubs, they should be able to acquire one or two excellent young lefty relievers. We can replace the three right-handers with Zambrano, Chiasson, and some combination of Osborne, Mike Meyers, Alan Benes, and then Mark Prior when he's ready.

The Cubs need to take advantage of the organization depth to acquire something in return for their pending free agents so they don't have to worry about another huge round of arbitration and draft picks. With the restocking of the system that will begin with the dozen picks in the first few rounds of the June draft, we need to use our excess to acquire a couple of very young major leaguers with incredible ceilings. These players are available in exchange for our "proven veterans", and we must not miss this fantastic opportunity.

Assuming one of the paper cooperates and prints a list of their top 10 prospects according to the Cubs in the next week, we'll discuss the Cubs' top prospects next week.

Chicago White Sox

Spring Training Preview

Here's our rundown on the players in White Sox camp and their likely 2002 destinations, ordered by position.

Catchers on the 40-man roster:
Sandy Alomar, Jr., probable starting catcher, batting 8th, whenever he's not injured
Mark L. Johnson, probable back-up catcher as a LH alternative
Josh Paul, potential platoon partner for Johnson when Alomar's injured
Miguel Olivio, probable future starter who needs a full year of AAA

Non-roster catchers mainly brought in to catch all the extra pitchers:
Mark Dalesandro, will return as the AAA back-up for another season
Lee Evans, a likely future 25th man, should either head back to AA to start and work on his plate discipline, but he might be kept as a starting utilityman at AAA
Humberto Quintero, as he shows little indication of any plate discipline, we hope the Sox send him back to A+ instead of given him an undeserved promotion to AA

First Basemen on the 40-man roster:
Paul Konerko, starting 1B, batting 5th
Jeff Liefer, primary back-up at 1B, 3B, LF, RF, and DH, especially considering his LH power nicely offsets the rest of the lineup
Frank Thomas, starting DH, batting 3rd or 4th, and the Sox shouldn't even consider playing him at 1st except in perhaps one interleague game a series

Non-roster first basemen in camp:
None.

Second Basemen on the 40-man roster:
Ray Durham, starting 2B, batting 2nd
Tony Graffanino, top MIF utilityman could even be used as a starter due to injury or trade
Willie Harris, likely future starter at either 2B or CF and lead-off man, he needs a full year of AAA but might be kept by a Sox management team focused on 2002. This unwarranted promotion would likely severely hinder his development and might permanently leave him as a utility guy instead of perhaps a top leadoff hitter

Non-roster second basemen in camp:
Justin Baughman, probable AAA utility guy considering his past injury problems will probably keep him off the major league roster

Tim Hummell, future starter at either 2B or SS, likely in 2003, also needs a full year of AAA work

Third Basemen on the 40-man roster:
Joe Crede, probable trade bait considering the Sox show little inclination to start him; he might make the team as a back-up, but would be better served by another year of AAA
Jose Valentin, despite a potential move back to SS in 2003, appears stuck at 3B this year. He'll likely hit 6th

Non-roster third basemen in camp:
None.

Shortstops on the 40-man roster:
Royce Clayton, potential free agent, starting SS, batting 9th
Jason Dellaero, cannon-armed SS prospect with no bat, will likely start at AAA despite his horrendous offensive ability. We consider him a prime candidate to lose his 40-man slot this year

Non-roster shortstops in camp:
None.

Left fielders on the 40-man roster:
Carlos Lee, starting LF, batting 7th
Aaron Rowand, probable top back-up OF capable of starting at any position if needed

Non-roster left fielders in camp:
Mario Valenzuela, desperately in need of more minor league time, will hopefully return to start at AAA after torching the AFL

Centerfielders on the 40-man roster:
Kenny Lofton, starting CF, batting 1st
Brian Simmons, potential back-up OF, capable of defending all 3 positions but hitting at none of them, although we have no objection to him making the team to give the youngsters more time in the minors.

Non-roster centerfielders in camp:
Joe Borchard, probable AAA starting CF, and future Sox' cleanup hitter, likely no later than 2003
Julio Ramirez, former top prospect now likely to spend 2002 as the AAA utility OF considering that Borchard, Valenzuela, and Jeff Inglin all deserve to start, although the latter might DH

Right fielders on the 40-man roster:
Magglio Ordonez, starting RF, batting 4th but hopefully 3rd at some point to take advantage of his speed

Non-roster right fielders in camp:
None.

Right-handed Starting Pitchers on the 40-man roster:
Todd Ritchie, #2 starter and workhorse
Jon Garland, #4 starter who really should see more AAA time first
Dan Wright, probable #5 and future #3 who certainly appears ready
Gary Glover, potential #5, deserving of #3, and perhaps the most underrated pitcher on the staff, he's capable of a great season if he can cut his HR rate
Jon Rauch, future ace, likely needs at least a half season of AAA after missing 2001 with arm troubles
Rocky Biddle, potential 5th starter or long reliever, although he probably needs more AAA experience
Matt Ginter, probable future closer, should probably spend this year as a spot starter and long reliever, although he's quite capable of handling the #5 slot
Matt Guerrier, capable of either starting or relieving if needed, probably needs at least a half season of AAA experience
Mitch Wylie will likely spend almost the entire year starting at AAA

Non-roster right-handed starting pitchers in camp:
Gary Majewski will likely spend the entire year starting at AA
Brian West will also likely spend the entire year starting at AA

Left-handed Starting Pitchers on the 40-man roster:
Mark Buehrle, Opening Day starter but future #2
Jim Parque, #3 starter although we really don't like his stuff

Non-roster left-handed starters in camp:
Corwin Malone, future #4 or better and one of the top left-handed prospects in baseball, likely needs at least a half year in AA
Mike Porzio, a minor league veteran, could be a passable #4 although he'll likely spend the year at AAA, probably in the rotation
Dennis Ulacia probably should return to A+ for a few starts but the Sox might unfortunately let him begin as high as AAA

Right-handed relievers on the 40-man roster:
Keith Foulke, closer, continues to be one of the very top relievers in baseball
Bobby Howry, despite frequent trade talks, appears destined to spend most of the year as the primary set-up man
Antonio Osuna, signed to a long-term deal for two more seasons, should pitch in middle relief when healthy
Lorenzo Barcelo, considered for the #5 but has a much better chance of emerging as a valuable late inning option
Ryan Kohlmeier, erstwhile Oriole closer, has little chance of making the team and will be lucky if he's sent to AAA and not released; he's very likely to lose his 40-man spot in the near future
Edwin Almonte, AA closer and top relief prospect, will likely close in AAA
Kyle Kane, AA set-up man and as good a prospect as Almonte, will likely relieve at AAA

Non-roster right-handed relievers in camp:
None.

Left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster:
Kelly Wunsch, when healthy, should return as the primary lefty in the pen
Onan Masaoka, even a potential #4 if needed, would likely see significant success if kept in the bullpen this year
Thomas Jacquez, another potential lefty swingman, is in competition for the second lefty spot, although the Sox might just keep five right-handers

Non-roster left-handed relievers in camp:
Arnaldo Munoz, probably should split 2002 between A+ and AA, but despite never having pitched above A Kannapolis appears the current favorite as the second left-handed reliever. If he beats out Jacquez, he also might take his 40-man spot.

So which 25 out of these 61 players will break camp with the team? We'll give you two lists of possibilities:
Who Should Break Camp with the Team
1. Kenny Lofton, CF
2. Ray Durham, 2B
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Frank Thomas, DH
5. Paul Konerko, 1B
6. Jose Valentin SS
7. Carlos Lee, LF
8. Mark Johnson, C
9. Joe Crede, 3B

Josh Paul, back-up catcher
Jeff Liefer, back-up 1B/3B/OF and primary LH pinch-hitter
Aaron Rowand, back-up OF and primary RH pinch-hitter
Tony Graffanino, back-up middle infielder

1. Todd Ritchie
2. Mark Buehrle
3. Gary Glover
4. Dan Wright
5. Jim Parque

Keith Foulke, closer
Bobby Howry, set-up
Matt Ginter, set-up
Kelly Wunsch, middle relief
Antonio Osuna, middle relief
Onan Masaoka, long relief
Lorenzo Barcelo, long relief

Everyone's already on the 40-man roster, but before explaining our rationale, we'll list:

Who Will Break Camp with the Team
1. Kenny Lofton, CF
2. Ray Durham, 2B
3. Frank Thomas, DH
4. Magglio Ordonez, RF
5. Paul Konerko, 1B
6. Jose Valentin SS
7. Carlos Lee, LF
8. Sandy Alomar, C
9. Royce Clayton, SS

Mark Johnson, back-up catcher
Jeff Liefer, back-up 1B/3B/OF and primary LH pinch-hitter
Aaron Rowand, back-up OF and primary RH pinch-hitter
Tony Graffanino, back-up middle infielder
Brian Simmons, back-up OF

1. Mark Buehrle
2. Todd Ritchie
3. Jim Parque
4. Jon Garland
5. Dan Wright

Keith Foulke, closer
Bobby Howry, set-up
Kelly Wunsch, middle relief
Antonio Osuna, middle relief
Gary Glover, long relief
Lorenzo Barcelo, long relief

Crede deserves to start; he's still one of the best 3B prospects in the game. Royce Clayton is an offensive hindrance, and despite less errors than Valentin, he gets to dramatically fewer batted balls, thereby increasing the hits allowed for the entire staff. If he can't be traded, the Sox should just release him and take the PR hit.

We have the same feeling about Sandy Alomar. He'll likely miss half the year with an injury, necessitating the Johnson/Paul platoon, so why not just start with that anyway so the pitchers can get comfortable with them. Either Olivo or Dalesandro would be a capable back-up if one of them hit the DL, so there's no reason to keep Alomar on the team.

Considering the youth in the rotation, keeping a 12th pitcher and second spot starter is more important than keeping another defensive back-up, as Harris and Hummel need to start at AAA, and Simmons isn't that good.

For the rotation, Ritchie can absorb more IP and therefore should take the pressure off of Buehrle, who seems poised for a slump due to a low strikeout rate. We have little faith in Parque for similar reasons and would therefore rather gamble on Glover, who at least has better control than Parque. Garland appears to suffer from the same problem, so despite a great spring training, we'd like to see him dominate at AAA for two months before easing him back into the rotation.

For the bullpen, Ginter appears a victim of the numbers' game, although he's certainly a worthy member of the pen. If Howry is dealt, he should receive the other spot. We also have no faith in the Sox keeping Masaoka despite him having nothing left to prove in the minors. We're going to hope they keep Glover instead of Munoz, although Ken Williams never fails to astound his with his rash and short-sighted decisions.

They'll still likely win 85-90 games and finish no worse than 2nd in the division, but 90-92 games and first place are perfectly reasonable targets with just a few small alterations, and perhaps the addition of one more veteran starting pitcher like Robert Person at the trade deadline.

Until Steve Goodman can rest in peace, these are your Good Chicago Sports.