Sorry I haven't written in awhile and now it looks like I'm going to
be sorely out of the loop. The Cubs have gotten rid of Holly. :(


Cubs trade Hollandsworth to Braves


CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Cubs traded outfielder Todd
Hollandsworth to the Atlanta Braves on Monday night for minor league
pitchers Todd Blackford and Angelo Burrows.

Hollandsworth will give the Braves a left-handed bat and a reserve
outfielder during the rest of the season. He is a career .299 pinch-
hitter.
"Holly gets a chance to go to one of the finer organizations in the
game, a contending club and a club he's performed well against,"
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "John Schuerholtz and Bobby
Cox felt like as well as they are going, they could use a veteran
who can pinch hit off the bench, which Holly has done well."

Hollandsworth started in left field in the Cubs' 9-6 loss to Los
Angeles on Monday night and went 0-for-3 before he was removed. He
has a .254 batting average but is in a 9-for-54 slump over his last
28 games.

"It didn't work the way we all would have liked for Holly this year.
But it was never out of lack of effort by him," Hendry said. "He
gave us a heck of a first 40 percent last year and never got back on
the field after the injury."

The Cubs will recall Matt Murton from the minors to take
Hollandsworth's spot and call up right-hander Jermaine Van Buren to
replace Kerry Wood, who is scheduled for season-ending shoulder
surgery Wednesday.

Hollandsworth played in 107 games for the Cubs this season after
joining them a year ago. He played in only 57 games in 2004,
batting .318. His season was cut short in late June when he fouled a
ball off his shin and did not return.

The NL Rookie of the Year in 1996 with the Los Angeles Dodgers,
Hollandsworth has also played for the Colorado, Texas and Florida -
when the Marlins won the World Series in 2003. He went 3-for-3
against the Cubs in the NLCS that season.

Blackford, 20, is in his second professional season, a 13th-round
selection by Atlanta in the 2004 amateur draft. He is 6-5 with a
4.60 ERA in 27 minor league games.

Burrows, 25, was selected by the Braves in the ninth round of the
1999 amateur draft. He is 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA in 30 relief
appearances this season in Class A. A former outfielder, he was
converted to a pitcher last season.