Chows Hire Counsell

Illinois Times -- No, this isn't another story about the legal wranglings surrounding DYoungGate from a few years back. This time the Chows are not lawyering up, rather they are solidifying their middle infield. In a rare move that loses a Chows draft picks, Illinois traded their 6th pick to LCC for Craig Counsell.

"The move makes sense to us in a couple of ways. We wanted to get a 2B to share the load with Prado. Counsell fits that bill nicely and will play against the R-R guys while Prado plays against lefties and the R-L guys. We also needed to get a 2B who was rated at SS. Now that Hanley is a 2, we don't need a defensive caddy anymore. Counsell will fill in very occasionally for Hanley to keep his usage under check. We should be able to do this in blowouts and keep hanley available to start most every game."

Is this a signal the Chows are going for it this year? "It really all depends on how the draft breaks. With 5 picks in the first two rounds, our team will look a whole lot different than it does now. We will not pass-up a guy we think is a future superstar for a veteran that will be a stop-gap for us. However, we are not oposed to drafting a guy still in their 20s that is an established major leaguer. Right now our team does not have enough bats or top of the rotation guys to compete in our division. Who is selected with the top 6 picks (the Chows figure to have the 7th, 8th and 9th picks) will determine if we draft more with an eye towards this year or the future. The nice thing about Craig is he gives us roster flexibility. We free up the need for a back-up SS and maybe even the need for a back-up 3B. Each extra roster spot gives us the flexibility to take the best guy available instead of the position we need to fill."