Harris Traded, Jose to Pen

In a surprising move yesterday, the Bears made their second trade of training camp. Safety Chris Harris was sent to the Carolina Panthers in return for a sixth round draft pick. This seems like a great move for Carolina, but the Bears depth at safety made Harris expendable. Harris, a sixth round pick in 2005, made 26 starts the last two years and ended his Bears career with an interception in the Super Bowl against Peyton Manning.

One thing is for sure, with Harris and fellow safety Todd Johnson both gone, the Bears defense is going to have a little less pop. Those two guys could lay wood with the best of them, hopefully their replacements, Kevin Payne and Brandon McGowan, will be able to hit just as ferociously.

The reason I have to write football posts now is because the Sox are so bad, and Jose Contreras has been a big part of that lately. The Sox just demoted Jose to the bullpen, in favor of Gavin Floyd, and Contreras is not too happy about it.

''I accepted the bullpen assignment now because I fully understand I'm struggling right now,'' Contreras said. ''I'm aware that I'm going to be back, I'm going to be OK. I want to be a starter. If they don't want me as a starter next year, I want to be out of here.

If it were up to the Sox, I’m sure Contreras and his $9 million salary would be gone next year too. The Sox are loaded with good, young arms in the minors, and with the first four in the rotation set for 2008 (barring a trade), the Sox should cut Jose lose and see what one of the young guns can do in the five hole. Gio Gonzalez, who was acquired in the Freddie Garcia trade, has been a strikeout machine in AA, but he may have to wait until 2009. Floyd and Charlie Haegar are the most likely candidates for the job next year, but don’t be surprised if Jack Egbert makes a strong push. Egbert, 24, is 11-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 134 K’s in AA this season. TUP friend of the program Al Bundy would like to point out that he predicted Egbert’s greatness two years ago. Worth noting.

*In other White Sox related news, pitcher Kris Honel, a former first round draft pick, has retired.