Chicago Bears

While we still don't know if Warrick Holdman will return after Angelo bungled his tender offer, the Bears have at least taken a positive step to insure the linebacker corp remains strong even after his potential departure.

Angelo signed former Eagles' starting linebacker Mike Caldwell to a $4.86M/4 year deal on Friday. He receives a $750K signing bonus, a $250K workout bonus on top of a $650K salary for this season, with the rest of the contract distributed over the next three years.

Caldwell appears extremely similar to Holdman aside from the several year age difference. He doesn't have much upside but will provide either an adequate replacement starter or a very talented back-up to Urlacher and Colvin.

As Hatley still dislikes Paul Eddinger, he signed Jim Hilbert to a two-year deal to compete for the kicking job.

We've also lost a couple more of our free agents as Walt Harris signed with Indianapolis and James Allen will likely be Houston's starting running back.

Chicago Blackhawks

Not only does Mironov look like he can make it back in only a couple weeks, but Mike Smith went out and added two more captains to the team without trading Amonte.

The Blackhawks acquired defenseman Lyle Odelein from Columbus in exchange for defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and a second round pick in 2003. We're a little shocked that Smith actually dealt a finesse player for another physical grinder, but this certainly seems like a quality addition to the team. While its unfortunate that he couldn't actually add offensive help, especially with Pavel Bure on the move yesterday, there's nothing wrong with improving the defense.

Last Wednesday the Hawks picked up Nashville captain Tom Fitzgerald, a veteran forward who provides more insurance in case Steve Thomas' broken ankle acts up again. Smith only had to give up a 2003 4th round pick, so we definitely also approve of this move.

While we didn't make any great advancement towards the Stanley Cup with these moves, we're a better team now than we were a week ago without giving up any of our top prospects.

Chicago Bulls

The seven-game losing streak from last week went to eight games before the Bulls finally pulled out a victory . Of course it took two overtime periods to beat Houston 114-112 on Saturday night, but at least it stopped the streak. Jalen Rose finished with a career-high 44 points, further cementing his status as the best player on the team.

Charles Oakley missed practice and the team photo on Monday morning. He reportedly spent the morning filling out police forms after his limo was robbed of tens of thousands of dollars of watches and electronics.

He sent an e-mail to a Bulls' trainer that was out of his office with another player, and the team's calls to Oakley went unanswered as they were calling his now-stolen cell phones.

While this situation certainly doesn't appear to be Oak's fault, we're going to be pleased when he and his over-inflated cap-hogging salary disappear off the roster at the end of the year. Coach Cartwright should provide all the guidance that Chandler and Curry need as they mature into NBA players, and the added cap room will allow either the re-signing of Travis Best or the acquisition of another quality albeit perhaps likely overpaid veteran.

Chicago Cubs

While the last roster spots for offensive players seem ever more confusing with Bobby Hill continuing to excel, Julio Zuleta still not signed with Japan, and Angel Echevarria now pushing for a bench spot, the pitching staff is starting to shake out.

The season will open with Lieber, Wood, Cruz, and Bere, and Julian Tavarez has re-established himself as the #5 until Mark Prior is ready, likely no sooner than May or later than July.

Farnsworth will likely receive most of the save opportunities as the Cubs reportedly have no available money to go out and acquire an established closer. Considering that the most reported options are St. Louis' Dave Veres, and Florida's Antonio Alfonseca, the Cubs would be quite wise to give Farnsworth the chance, especially as he's a superior pitcher to all three of those veterans.

Fassero will return as the primary lefty set-up and co-closer, and Jesus Sanchez and Donovan Osborne are both likely additions to the bullpen. Osborne, while he lacks the arm strength to start full-time, should still be a useful long reliever.

From the right side, Scott Chiasson and Courtney Duncan are the current expected favorites, although we've heard plenty of rumors indicating the Cubs expect to acquire a veteran right-handed set-up man. Although we know some combination of Chiasson, Duncan, and Carlos Zambrano is the best solution, we also won't object to picking up a quality flamethrower as long as we don't have to give up a serious prospect.

Ron Mahay and his 20.00+ spring ERA have been outrighted off the roster, opening up a 40-man slot for an NRI, likely Donovan Osborne.

The Cubs also moved Phil Norton to the 60-day DL to open up a roster spot for Shawn Sonnier, acquired from the Royals as the PTBNL for Michael Tucker. Sonnier has almost as much potential as Scott Chiasson, and while he'll be out for another month or two while recovering from arm problems, he's a great pick-up and probable future set-up guy.

Chicago White Sox

Most of the talk from White Sox camp surrounds the troubled pitching staff. Bobby Howry has lost his set-up job to Gary Glover, and Jim Parque seems destined to open the year in the minors.

Jon Garland and Dan Wright likely each move up a rotation slot, and if Parque isn't ready by the time the Sox need a fifth starter, Jon Rauch appears the current favorite to receive the major league playing time.

Howry still appears likely to break camp with the team, and Antonio Osuna will also go north because he has two years left on a fairly expensive contract. With Foulke and Wunsch already guaranteed spots, there's only room for two more pitchers on the Opening Day roster.

Lorenzo Barcelo, Rocky Biddle, Matt Ginter, and NRI Mike Porzio are competing for these two openings, but only one of these four will remain with the team after the promotion of the fifth starter.

Porzio has an advantage in that he would be the second lefty in the bullpen. However, considering the youth in the rotation and the need for quality long relief work on occasion, one of the other three would be a better fit. Biddle has the most experience as a swingman, although Ginter certainly has the most upside of this group. At this time I'd expect Biddle and Porzio to break camp, although its really still too early to tell.

The other main battle is between Willie Harris and Brian Simmons for the last spot on the bench. We've argued before that Harris should play full-time at AAA, but as Simmons has remained too injury-prone to develop his limited skills, Harris unfortunately presents both the best long and short-term upside.

I also wouldn't be complete surprised if they elected to carry three catchers considering that both Alomar and Johnson have been somewhat banged up this spring, and Paul can play a limited amount at a couple other positions.

Illinois State Gubernatorial Primary Warp-Up

Jim Ryan won the Republican nomination, fulfilling the prediction of every poll since he entered the race.

Rod Blagojevich barely eked out a win on the Democratic side. We're somewhat surprised that Vallas, the only candidate with a solid record of budget management, didn't win, but considering that Mayor Daley threw his support, albeit not his formal endorsement, behind Blagojevich in the last couple of days, Vallas should be happy to have finished within a few points of first.

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