Andres Blanco to Texas?

Injuries are a part of every sport you play, and in some cases it could cause that individual their spot on the team. And that Appears to be evident with shortstop Andres Blanco.

Blanco, who at first thought was going to be the primary backup shortstop for the Cubs this year, now appears to be on the verge of not making the 25 man roster. As Lou Piniella anointed Mike Fontenot as the backup shortstop.  Andres Blanco never really had a shot to impress Piniella this spring, as he has been sidelined for most of spring training due to a sprained knee.

And now, it appears that Blanco maybe on verge of getting traded within the next week. As Bruce Levine reported today on his radio show “Talkin Baseball” that Blanco could be traded to the Rangers soon, as they have interest in acquiring an infielder and have scouted Blanco in the games that he has played in.

You can’t expect the Cubs to get much of a return for Blanco, if anything they will get the infamous player to be named later, or a low-level prospect.

I’m not sure if I agree with the Cubs trading Blanco away, because a move like that would then weaken the Cubs shortstop depth for the near future. As after Ryan Theriot,  the next pure shortstop in their organization is Starlin Castro, who will start the year in the minors. And even though Castro is touted to be a very good player in the majors, if Ryan Theriot were to suffer an injury in the early goings of the season, Would Castro be ready to fill-in?

Or on a lesser note, lets say Mike Fontenot were to get injured early in the season, Who is going to be your backup shortstop then? Obviously it is not going to be Starlin Castro, as the Cubs would rather have him play everyday in the minors, instead of playing sparingly while sitting on the bench in the majors. My guess then would be that it would have to be Darwin Barney, who has had an impressive Spring, but is not considered to be ready for the major leagues.

But it should go noted that Andres Blanco is out of options, meaning if the Cubs wanted to put him in the minors, they would have to risk sending him through waivers first. And with Blanco being a defensive minded shortstop, I’m sure some team would put in a claim on him.