It will all come down to bullpens
Approaching Thursday's trade deadline, the question had to be posed to Jim Hendry.
"Have you asked for permission to talk to Brett Favre?"
The Cubs general manager played along.
"He hasn't been reinstated yet," he said.
When Favre is officially unretired back into sports, hey, why not baseball? He has a good arm and 30 teams are looking for one more good arm for their bullpens.
Last month I blurted on the radio that the Sox and Cubs were in first place for two reasons: Their bullpens were better than opposing hitters and their hitters were better than opposing bullpens.
If it remains that way, both will make the playoffs. If it doesn't, they won't.
Tuesday night the Cubs' 7-1 victory over the Brewers was the exception and the Twins' 6-5 victory over the White Sox was the rule.
The Cubs won because Carlos Zambrano beat Ben Sheets in a duel of premier starting pitchers. The Twins won because their bullpen outperformed Sox hitters.
"It comes down to doing your job," Cubs reliever Chad Gaudin said, "whatever it is."
Yes, but trust me. Underpaid, underappreciated and often unnoticed relievers will be the main difference-makers from here to October.
"You're probably right," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.
The Cubs believe they found their bullpen's final piece in rookie Jeff Samardzija, himself a former football player. So why shouldn't Sox general manager Kenny Williams consider adding Favre?
Otherwise, the Sox might have to inquire whether your Aunt Tillie has eligibility left. The Brewers and Twins might have to check the dumpster behind McDonald's for a hard-throwing left-hander.
Heck, the contending Marlins have former NBA player Mark Hendrickson pitching relief, don't they? Various teams might explore whether NHL legend Wayne Gretzky has a breaking ball. Otherwise there's the trade deadline, which is as reliable as scouting NFL rosters for pitching.
Everything will center on relievers - long men, middle men, setup men and closers.
For the Cubs, Samardzija's promotion from the minors last week and the acquisition of Gaudin a couple of weeks ago are the perceived answers.
For the Sox it was promoting journeyman D.J. Carrasco from the minors to sub for injured Scott Linebrink and tweaking other roles.
Closers Kerry Wood of the Cubs and Bobby Jenks of the Sox complicated matters by spending time on the disabled list. Jenks is back, Wood isn't, but all big-league bullpens are fluid this time of the year.
Wear has exhausted many relievers and tear has sidelined some others. Last team standing on its arms wins.
Starting pitchers are going fewer innings and the final third of most games decides the outcomes.
"At the end of the day," Hendry said, "the only team that thinks it has a great bullpen is the one holding up the trophy."
The Sox were that team in 2005, due in great part to a bullpen that complemented the starting staff. Now the Sox and Cubs are trying to construct similarly successful bullpens.
It wouldn't hurt to ask permission to talk to Brett Favre.