Posted by Bruce on Sun, 07/31/2011 - 18:42

ST. LOUIS _ Cubs GM Jim Hendry was not wearing a disappointed look this evening as he met with us to talk about not making a trade. Truth be told, most any Cubs player they want to move will clear waivers, and Hendry should be able to make a deal or two, such as he did last August with Mike Fontenot and Derrek Lee. “Obviously, what we needed to do for sure was to trade Fuke,” Hendry said, referring to Kosuke Fukudome. “That was important because you have somebody behind him that we needed to play in Colvin. We tried to stay on top of some things today, maybe try to trade some people that might not be back next year for sure. Those things didn’t work out. “I wasn’t expecting, like I told you the other day, a high percentage or likelihood of something significant being done. So you do the best you can. A lot of things can still happen. Last year, I think we made two trades in August, (Mike) Fontenot and Derrek Lee, one the 11th, one was the 18th and got some certainly respectable prospects back. I think the days are gone where it has to be done by the deadline or everybody gets all…if you didn’t do something by 3 o’clock, this is a disaster or that’s a disaster. I don’t put much stock in that. The guys we kept are for the most part guys that still have a chance to be involved next year. If we do make a trade or two in August, that’s still no more or less significant that if we made them today.” The way Hendry put it, the rate of return the Cubs would get on a player like Carlos Pena wasn’t enough to make a trade attractive and that Pena is a possibility for next year. “There’s not somebody waiting to take his place for next year in-house like Tyler is hopeful to do that in the outfield in moving Fuke,” Hendry said. You have to look at it that way, too. “The other factor, if you get a second-tier or two prospect back and you already have people better than that in your own system, then you really haven’t done anything to help the organization, and then you’re also put in the spot where if you add minor-league players today, that means somebody’s going to be sent backwards in our system or eliminated. That’s just the way I looked at it.” The Cubs were quick to shoot down reports that there was a deal in the works for Carlos Marmol to Texas. There was little to no interest in John Grabow. Others around baseball said no contenders came calling for Carlos Zambrano, so the whole idea of him waiving his no-trade became moot quickly. Lineup Johnson, RF Castro, SS Ramirez, 3B Pena, 1B Byrd, CF Soriano, LF Barney, 2B Hill, C Dempster, P MINOR-LEAGUE ROUNDUP Class AAA Iowa fell 6-3 to Memphis. Nick Struck got a no-decision, working 5 innings and giving up 6 hits and 3 runs. He walked three and struck out three. B rett Jackson (1-for-3, BB, R, HR, RBI) tied the game a 3-3 with his third homer of the season, a sixth-inning solo shot. He is 8-for-21 (.381) with 5 runs, 1 double, 3 homers and 5 RBI in his last six games. Catcher Steve Clevenger (3-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI) has eight multihit games in his 16 games since joining the I-Cubs. Chris Carpenter took the loss, surrendering 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out one in 1.1 innings of relief. Class AA Tennessee beat Birmingham 8-2. Brooks Raley worked 4 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs while walking one and striking out two. Class A Daytona beat Jupiter 3-2 with 2 in the ninth. Brett Wallach worked 5.2 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs while walking two and striking out four. Second baseman David Macias (2-for-4) drove in all 3 of Daytona's runs. Peoria (A) beat Clinton 3-1 with 2 in the ninth. Anthony Giansanti had the game-winning RBI with a triple to right-center in the ninth. It was his team-leading fourth triple of the season. Matt Loosen pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 run while waling two and striking out four. Boise (A) fell 8-7 to Everett. Su-Min Jung had an ugly pitching line of 1 inning, 0 hits, 4 runs, 1 earned run, 4 walks and no strikeouts. Reggie Golden (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI) snapped a 0-for-15 skid with a single to left in the second. Dusty Harrington went 2-for-4 with a double. Rafael Lopez also homered.