This will get six kinds of ugly

It should have been enough of a warning shot to see this on ESPN.com's MLB front page yesterday.

Yes, that is Carlos Silva. No, he is not very good. Or consistent. Or photogenic. Or less than mildly disturbing in person - and I sat 10 feet away from him as he warmed up two summers ago. I think of that day whenever I'm trying to cure a case of the hiccups.

Here's the screen grab in case you missed it.

Better yet if you're a Cubs fan - in addition to recent word that if years of futility hadn't interceded, the 1984 World Series would have been played at Comiskey Park - is more evidence that pitchers are at a premium this year.

Following the rousing success that was the "college of coaches" the Cubs are going to buck traditional wisdom and employ (or at least entertain the idea of) closer by committee with Kerry Wood and Bob Howry nailing down the end of the bullpen in 2008.

Two key points here:

1.) They will be removing the current closer, Ryan Dempster, who was shuttled to the bullpen after elbow trouble shelved him for parts of the 2003 and 2004 seasons to put in Wood who hasn't seen a full season since he was playing American Legion ball in Texas.

2.) The 2008 season will mark 100 years since the Cubs last won the World Series, so why the hell not? You guys just do whatever you want on Addison. I'll just go buy another hat and pretend like I don't know these conversations are taking place right down the street.

(Image from ESPN.com)