Lou Piniella: No New Lefty Bat, No Problem

The Cubs solved their lefty pitcher issues by acquiring John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny at the deadline, but failed to address their need for another left-handed hitter to balance out the line-up.

Lou Piniella acknowledges the effort Jim Hendry made to get the trade done, and says he’s not disappointed by the failure.

“Jim tried,” said Lou. “Our ownership group would’ve okayed a deal. I’m not talking about a big salary player, but a nice productive, usable, versatile player — that’s what we were looking for more than anything else.”

Of course the Cubs could still make some kind of waiver deal happen.  Teams have not proven very eager in recent years to put in claims on guys, knowing that, if the original team doesn’t revoke waivers, they’ll have to pay salaries on players they don’t really want.

Don’t be surprised if a fairly decent guy ends up shaking loose as more teams fall out of playoff races.