Briefs: No clear plan yet for 2010

September 16, 2009

As the Cubs gear up for next week's first organizational talks about next year, they're not much closer to a clear view of the winter than they were a month ago.

Manager Lou Piniella wants to add a top-of-the-order speed guy and ideally take another shot at adding that middle-of-the-order run-producer role that Kosuke Fukudome and Milton Bradley couldn't fill.

But how much payroll they'll have to add -- or subtract, in the possible cases of Bradley or Aaron Miles ($2.9 million in '10) -- isn't firm. And neither are the options they'll have to make all the moves they might discuss, with most of their players under multiyear contracts with no-trade clauses.

But this is what they know they're working with at this point:

••General manager Jim Hendry and Piniella are assured of coming back.

••Four players on the roster are free agents, including at least two the Cubs want back for the right terms (John Grabow and Reed Johnson) and two who may not fit their plans (Rich Harden and Kevin Gregg).

••Nine others will be seeking raises through arbitration, including potentially big first-time arbitration jumps for closer Carlos Marmol, shortstop Ryan Theriot and pitching swingman Sean Marshall. Infielders Jeff Baker and Mike Fontenot, catcher Koyie Hill and pitchers Tom Gorzelanny, Aaron Heilman and Neal Cotts also are eligible.

••And $117.5 million already is committed next season to 10 players under contract.

''We haven't even had discussions about next year as an organization, or even myself and the staff and Jim and his staff upstairs,'' Piniella said. ''Right now we're still trying to win as many games and finish as strong as we can.''

Despite an Internet report this week, a high-ranking team source said the Cubs have not begun contract talks with left-hander Grabow, acquired in a July trade from Pittsburgh, on a two-year extension.

''They asked me if I wanted to come back, and I said, 'Yeah,''' Grabow reiterated Tuesday. ''This is a great place to play and a great group of guys, and I love pitching for Lou and [pitching coach] Larry [Rothschild].''

The Cubs said the arthroscopic surgery on Alfonso Soriano's aching left knee Tuesday revealed ''acute inflammation'' and an anticipated degeneration of cartilage.

Loose cartilage was cut away and the area ''washed out,'' according to the team, and Soriano is expected to make a full recovery in about six weeks and be at full strength for next spring.

He was officially put on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sept. 4, which means he has been on the DL each of his three seasons with the Cubs after never spending a day on the disabled list before that.

Rookie outfielder Sam Fuld got good news Tuesday when an MRI exam revealed no ligament damage or break in the thumb he jammed on his highlight-reel, diving catch Monday night.

The Cubs are calling it a strained thumb, which is expected to sideline Fuld for about a week.