Murton odd man out as Cubs close in on opening roster

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Cubs To Open Season Robertsless And Murtonless
Published 3/27/2008 by Cubnut at A Hundred Next Years
... In other Cubs personnel news, Lou Piniella decided on the make-up of his bench: Mike Fontenot (884 OPS this Spring), Henry Blanco (912 OPS), Daryle Ward (10 RBI in 38 AB), Ronny Cedeno (14 hits this Spring; 6 for extra bases), and newly acquired Reed Johnson. ...

Murton Very Available
Published 3/27/2008 by Joshua Downie <info@draysbay.com> at DRaysBay: Front Page Posts
Per the Chicago Sun-Times, Matt Murton is officially not a part of the Cubs' plans.  Today Lou Piniella named Mike Fontenot as the final player on the five man bench, ruling out the possibility of Murton making the roster and going on to say that the Cubs will try to get him a spot on a major league team. ...

Winding Down?
Published 3/27/2008 by neil@chicagocubsonline.com (Chicago Cubs Online) at ChicagoCubsOnline.com
... and, as speculated, he was signed in anticipation of the Cubs making another trade .... Cintron would have served as the Cubs utility infielder . Cintron decided to accept free agency instead of a minor league assignment. Kosuke Fukudome The Cubs new right fielder might be used in the leadoff role against lefties this season . ...

Did we pull the trigger too soon?
Published 3/27/2008 at FriarBall
... Apparently if we had held out a couple of hours though, we would have been able to try and sign Murton outright, as he was released by Chicago yesterday. So now the question is, of course, which guy would we be better off with at this point. Obviously at the end of the season things may be different but since we don't have the benefit of hindsight all we can do is speculate. ...