One that got away?
This is just not Jim Hendry's year.
Casey McGehee, who got an audition at third base for the Cubs as a September call-up last year, has hit .348 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in 36 games while Aramis Ramirez has been out with an injury. Only one catch: McGehee plays for the Milwaukee Brewers. Hendry cut McGehee last October. The Brewers, who seem to be able to scout and develop talent a little better than the Cubs -- they drafted six of their eight position starters, plus No. 1 pitcher Yovani Gallardo -- picked him up immediately.
Sure enough, the Brewers have gotten more out of McGehee than the Cubs ever did. As Ramirez continues a rehab stint with Class A Peoria, McGehee went 4-for-5 with five RBIs against Rich Harden and the Cubs on Saturday in the Brewers' 11-2 victory at Wrigley Field. McGehee is hitting .331. In seven games against the White Sox and Cubs this season, he's hitting .520 (13-for-25) with two home runs and nine RBIs.
What did the Cubs not see in McGehee? A 10th-round draft pick in 2003, McGehee hit .296 with 12 homers and 92 RBIs at age 25 at Class AAA Iowa last year. He only hit .167 (4-for-24) with the Cubs in September. Ironically, his best day came against Braden Looper, who beat the Cubs on Saturday -- an RBI single, a sac fly and a single against the Cardinals last Sept. 21. His other hits were a double against Johan Santana and an RBI single against Pedro Martinez.
McGehee is not the Brewers' third baseman of the future and might not be their third baseman for long. But already he's produced more than anybody the Cubs had to fill in for Ramirez. Hendry just can't catch a break.
Mark Potash
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