Brian: No surprise here. I imagine that Wellemeyer has to be frustrated with the way this season has gone for him. Since a great first week or so with the Cubs, he has been pretty bad both in the majors and in Iowa. He won't get a chance to pitch again this year unless he gets some garbage time in September. Hopefully, getting jerked around like a puppet all year by GM Dusty Baker Jim Hendry didn't mess with his head too much, and he'll be able to put it together next season.

Christian: Wellemeyer did what he was called up to do -- pitch long relief after Shawn Estes was bombed yesterday. He didn't fare too much better, but surprisingly I didn't read anything after the game about how he was pitching well, he just got unlucky. I guess you have to be a few years older before that sort of luck kicks in.

Whether or not Dusty says so, today's start has to be a rotation audition for Cruz. The way Estes has pitched recently has been historically bad, and there's no way Baker can keep running him out there every fifth day as long as Cruz pitches even marginally well.

Right?

Christian: Why, exactly? I suppose it's so Wellemeyer can bail out Shawn today if necessary, but couldn't Leicester have done that, too? It doesn't matter all that much, since I expect Wellemeyer will be sent down after today's game to make room for Juan Cruz, who should start tomorrow.

(Thanks to Tony for the alert.)

Brian: Maybe I just haven't been paying attention, but I didn't know Veres was hurting, so this is a surprise to me. Until melting down in his last two outings, giving up three runs in both games, Veres hadn't given up more than one run in any appearance since being activated from the DL the first time.

What this most likely means is more innings for Antonio Alfonseca, which has me pretty happy. Wait, not happy. Very nervous. Especially since Farnsworth has been less than sharp lately (he's blown the game tonight as I've written this).

The right-handed Leicester, 24, is a somewhat highly-rated pitching prospect who had kinda hit the wall entering the year. He had a 1.52 K/BB ratio and a 6.22 K/9 for his career in the minors entering this season, along with a 4.92 ERA mostly as a starter in A ball. This year he's pitched much more in relief, and has pitched much better. He still walks too many batters (2.00 K/BB) although his strikeouts are way up (8.97 K/9). Overall, he has a 3.89 ERA in 36 relief appearanes and nine starts.

Since the AA season ends this weekend, I guess Leicester was recalled simply because most of the other pitchers on the 40-man roster still have a start to make. Leicester made his last start on August 23rd, so he should be ready to go when the Cubs need him in an emergency. Otherwise, I don't expect he'll pitch much. Which is fine, because he's not really all that good.

Christian: Apparently, Veres was never quite right after his earlier bout with tendinitis. Of course, putting him on the DL before September 1st gives the Cubs more flexibility regarding who they want to have on the post-season roster (The F-Rod Loophole). This way, they can call up whoever they want in late September to replace Veres on the roster for the post-season (if they make it that far). I'm hoping it's Todd Wellemeyer.

I expect Leicester is only around for if (when) Estes blows up on Saturday. He mops up and gets sent back to Iowa in time for Juan Cruz to pitch on Sunday. Of course, given how well the bullpen pitched last night, he might see an inning or two tonight.

Brian: OK, I hope this clears everything up:

The roster page on the Official Site, since it's run by Major League Baseball, is naturally fairly useless. They've had 41 players on the 40-man roster for a while now, a mystery that we cleared up a while ago. Turns out that Alan Benes hasn't really been on the 40-man since he returned to the Cubs from Texas.

Another source of confusion in the last week was Augie Ojeda. I speculated last week that reports that Augie Ojeda was "optioned" were wrong. I thought Augie was out of options, and would have had to be designated for assignment before he could be sent back to Iowa.

Turns out that I was wrong. Ojeda was indeed optioned to Iowa, and remains on the 40-man roster. What the Cubs did to make a spot for Tony Womack was put Phil Norton on waivers. He cleared waivers and pitched a few more games for Iowa before being sent to Cincinnati.

So, what this means is that yesterday's trade did not open a spot on the 40-man like I said. I hope this clears up the confusion. If the Cubs/MLB would take the time to report these things, which should be easy since they have a section of the website devoted to transations, they would make these things a lot easier.

Memo to MLB: Wake up! People care about these things.

Brian: I wonder if this doesn't foreshadow another trade, since trading Norton opens up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Koronka is a 23-year-old lefty who has struggled in a starting role in AA Chattanooga. He showed some promise last season playing for advanced-A Stockton, when he went 11-0 with a 3.07 ERA along with 69 K in 73.1 innings. He's yet to get over the hump in AA, though, going 7-13 with a 4.39 ERA in the pitcher-friendly Southern League this season. Both Baseball America and Rotoworld imply a move to the bullpen in the future, so it looks like this trade works out well for the Cubs in that they get a younger, probably better, left-handed reliever while clearing a roster spot.

Christian:Both pitchers are left-handed. Koronka is four years younger than Norton, and was not on the Reds' 40-man roster. Since Norton was on the Cubs' 40-man, the Cubs now have an open spot, but I imagine instead of a trade what we'll see is them calling up someone who wasn't previously on the 40-man. I'm hoping it'll be Phil Hiatt.

Chances are it won't be Koronka. He was great at Stockton (A) last year, but overall he has 559 strikeouts and 3177 walks in his 685 inning minor league career, numbers that don't bode well for major league success.

Discuss this trade at The Cub Reporter.

Christian: I've seen this reported one place so far, and it isn't unexpected. Now that the Cubs have Tony Womack to play middle infield and not hit, they don't need Augie. Goodwin becomes the third centerfielder on the roster, and the Cubs now have the best bench in baseball, if it were 1997.

This doesn't address the 40-man roster situation -- the Cubs are currently one man over the limit with the arrival of Womack. I'm sort of surprised that Augie wasn't DFA'ed, but it may be that he was, and it was just misreported.

Brian: I think Ojeda would have had to be designated. He'll need to clear waivers before he can be removed from the 40-man, and he'll need to be removed from the 40-man before being sent to the minors because he doesn't have any options left.

I said earlier today that the Womack acquisition

may spell the end for Troy O'Leary. We had assumed that the Cubs were going to go with six OF, but if Tom Goodwin is really about to be activated, there's no room for all three Goodwin, Glanville and O'Leary with Womack aboard.

Uh, I'm not sure what I was thinking there. We'll just let that go, shall we?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how Baker handles these six outfielders, since three of them (four, if you count Lofton, which it's tempting to do) can't hit. I'm not quite sure what Hendry is aiming to do with this.

Brian: If I've been somewhat alarmist over the course of the season, I've been vindicated now.

To paraphrase Eddie Murphy, there's gonna be all kinds of consequences and repercussions to this move.

For one thing, I think this may spell the end for Troy O'Leary. We had assumed that the Cubs were going to go with six OF, but if Tom Goodwin is really about to be activated, there's no room for all three Goodwin, Glanville and O'Leary with Womack aboard.

Second, assuming Grudzielanek is returning, there's going to be another choice to be made at that time. Perhaps Womack is only a two-week rental. Yeah, right.

Third, Ramires isn't a bad pitcher. He's put up a 2.36 ERA and struck out 47 batters in 45.2 IP between AA West Tenn and A Daytona. Sure, he's just a minor-league reliever, but for crying out loud, Tony Womack?

Fourth, we're actually stuck with Tony Womack. To say that he's past his prime implies that he once had one. The only value he's ever really had were his stolen bases, which were mildly impressive to be sure, but he can't do that anymore. Now he has to rely on his career .316 OBP.

Fifth, there's still the matter of the 40-man roster to clear up. I'm sure Ojeda will be DFA'd. In the strict sense that Womack is better than Ojeda, this trade helps. But that's scraping the bottom of the barrel, and it's silly that the Cubs are even in the situation to have to choose between them.

Christian: Why? Why??? Brian, you thought the Doug Glanville acquisition was pointless, but it looks like Bagwell-for-Andersen compared to this one. Tony Womack? Tony Womack, who is hitting .225 this year, after spending the season in Phoenix and Denver, the two best hitter's parks in the NL? The wire story about the trade notes that Womack is leading the league in infield hits and bunt hits, prompting me to wonder just how low his batting average would be if he didn't have speed.

Rosterwise, this is going to get Augie Ojeda off the 25-man (and, most likely, the 40-man), so it's a slight positive there. But basically, it's a pointless move, and to me it's another indication that the Cubs are just sort of flailing around, hoping that they can cobble enough 30-something former speedsters together to push the team into the post-season. Just ridiculous.

Discuss this trade at The Cub Reporter.

Brian: That the Cubs prefer Randall Simon to Hee Seop Choi is bad enough, but now we know that they prefer Troy O'Leary to Hee Seop Choi, and that's a much bigger problem. Unless Tom Goodwin isn't really going to be activated tomorrow, I don't understand this.

One might say that Choi needs to go to Iowa to further his development, but there's only two weeks left in the PCL season. Is two weeks really going to make a difference long-term for Choi?

And besides, when did this team start worrying about development, anyway? Was it while they were letting Choi rot on the bench over the last month? Was it while they were jerking around Dave Kelton, Todd Wellemeyer, or Sergio Mitre? Or perhaps while they were letting Juan Cruz go two weeks between appearances? If the Cubs were really worried about his development, they're making this move too late for it to do any good.

In the meantime, veteran Troy O'Leary continues to get a free pass. Granted, I don't love the idea of having three first basemen on the roster, but it's not like having six outfielders will do the Cubs any good, either. Either way, the 25th man will be used almost exclusively for pinch-hitting duties, and in that role I'll take Choi over O'Leary any day.

Christian: Yeah, the continued presence of Troy O'Leary on the major league roster is both puzzling and troubling. With Goodwin back, there's nothing he brings to the team that can't be better accomplished by someone else (either Goodwin or Glanville), so I don't see what purpose he serves.

You're absolutely right that Choi would be a better 25th man/lefty off the bench than O'Leary, except that you're dealing with Dusty Baker's Proven Veteran Syndrome, in the middle of a playoff race no less. In Baker's mind, it is apparently better to have an older player with an established level of talent (no matter how low that might be) than a younger player whose level of talent is still unknown. I mean, it wouldn't do for a guy like Choi to get in the lineup and maybe get a few hits, would it? Too much uncertainty! Better to go with a guy you can depend on (to make outs).

Brian: Not much to say here. They needed to make room for Simon on the 25-man, and of course, Kelton wasn't busy anyway.

As Rotoworld mentions, this raises the specter of Choi being sent down when Tom Goodwin is activated on Tuesday. I can't wait to see a six-OF roster featuring both Tom Goodwin and Doug Glanville. Given that possibility, perhaps if we pray hard enough, O'Leary will be cut instead. That would leave the Cubs with three first baseman but a somewhat improved bench.

Hey, maybe Randall Simon can catch!

Christian: Sure would be nice if O'Leary were cut instead of Choi going down. The question is, what's more important, the team right now or Choi's development? Given that the Cubs are in first, I go with the former. Cut O'Leary and go with a three-headed first base monster down the stretch.

Brian: Sometimes it's hard to know what to say.

Randall Simon?

I think that even though I've been very critical at times this season, I've been a pretty good sport. I don't think I've ever rooted for anyone on the Cubs to do poorly, whether it be Lenny Harris or Shawn Estes or whoever. Perhaps in some of my weakest moments I have, but I generally think fans should root for the players on their team, even if they do want them gone in the worst way.

But, it's almost to the point where I'm ready to root for the Cubs to crash and burn. I'm just not sure that I want to live in a world in which positive reinforcement is provided for acquiring Doug Glanville and Randall Simon, on top of all the other questionable (at best) moves Hendry's made this year. Especially if Simon replaces a perfectly good first baseman in Hee Seop Choi. Especially when that perfectly good first baseman provides the team with exactly what they need, a patient left-handed batter with some power.

Sadler turns 23 in September, and is hitting .291/.352/.434 for AA West Tenn. That's good enough to believe he might become an adequate major league centerfielder someday. Maybe that's a stretch, but even if he doesn't turn out that well, the organization is better off having him play everyday in West Tenn than they are letting Randall Simon get one plate appearance in Chicago.

I can't find anything good about this. I'm too depressed to even make a lame sausage joke.

Jim Hendry needs to go.

Christian: I guess I'm not as down on this trade as, well, apparently everyone. Yes, Choi is outhitting Simon against righties this season. Over the last three seasons, though, Simon's numbers are better against righties than Choi's are this year.

In general, I suppose you could argue that this is another sound and fury move for the Cubs, signifying nothing (and told by an idiot, depending on how you feel about Hendry). The worst part of it is that it delays Hee Seop Choi's development, as well as keeping him off the post-season roster (last year's Angels shenanigans notwithstanding), and that is a bad thing for the future of the Cubs. In the present, though, I choose to look at it this way: Dusty Baker has essentially refused to play Big Choi, which means Erik Karros has gotten far too many ABs against right-handed pitching. If this trade puts Karros on the bench against righties, it's a net positive for the Cubs.

As far as your disillusionment, Brian, I don't share it. If the Cubs make it to the playoffs this year, that playoff run will not be tainted by the acquisitions of Glanville and Simon. We're not going to remember that 2003 was the year those guys came over. What we're going to remember is that 2003 was the year Baker came over and got the Cubs into the playoffs. In 1998, the Cubs picked up Matt Karchner and Felix Heredia at the trading deadline, neither of whom pitched well. In '89, the deadline acquisitions included Marvell Wynne and Luis Salazar, a fact I didn't remember until I went and looked it up.

In a few years, we may look back at the handling of Choi, Bobby Hill, and Juan Cruz as the reason why the Cubs never sniffed the playoffs after '03, just like we can look back at the poor handling of young pitchers and outfielders as one of the reasons for the futility of the '90s. If so, you can bet I'll be at the vanguard of front office criticism. But honestly, I'm getting greedy. I've been a Cub fan all my life and I've seen a total of three playoff victories. As wrong as it might seem, if this move helps the Cubs get to the playoffs (and I think it will), I'm in favor of it. Anything can happen in a short-playoff series, and pennants hang forever.

As far as the lame sausage joke goes, maybe we can refer to Simon as Abe Froman (The Sausage King of Chicago) and leave it at that?

Brian: After sleeping on it, I'm not as disillusioned as I was last night. Besides, I couldn't root against the Cubs even if I wanted to.

At the same time, it's hard to have any faith in a front office that would rather have Randall Simon than Hee Seop Choi. And it's hard to believe that the Cubs won't do the same thing next year if Choi hits another slump. It's not even a very protracted slump, although it seems like one since Choi plays so rarely.

The bottom line for me is, does this move give me faith in the front office? And the answer is, no, it doesn't. And I'm tired of justifying moves by saying that Dusty wasn't playing him anyway. That's no way to run a baseball club.

Discuss this trade at The Cub Reporter

Brian: Question asked, question answered.

Now that we can fully evaluate the trade, I think we just have to accept it as a deal that helped both teams and move on.

Funny thing about it is that, surprisingly, Hill is actually older than Ramirez. Sure it's only by two months, but it does put into perspective just where Hill's career is at this point. It would have been nice to see him tear up the PCL this year, but even though he mostly recovered from a horrible start, this season doesn't bode well for his future in the majors.

Still, there's plenty of time for him to become a useful major leaguer, and the Cubs may well regret giving him up. Not least of all since they now don't have a second baseman for next year. On the other hand, they wouldn't give him the job this past spring, so why should we assume that they would have next year anyway?

Christian: They've only been talking about this for a month, it's about time something happened. This means the Cubs have an open spot on their 40-man roster.

To tell you the truth, I'm a little surprised. I figured that since the Pirates traded for Freddy Sanchez, they'd look to get a pitcher ratherthan another middle infielder. But with Pokey Reese almost certainly not returning next year, I guess the Pirates figured they might as well throw another name into the 2B/SS mix along with Sanchez and Jack Wilson.

Hill's tenure as a Cub was unimpressive, and I will remember him as a guy who failed to live up to unreasonable expectations. The Cubs figured they had put one over on the White Sox when they drafted him the year after he refused to sign with the Sox. After a year in the Atlantic league, he played the 2001 season at West Tenn and briefly at Iowa. He started the 2002 season there as well, but was called up in early May. A month later, he was back in Iowa, not to appear with the Cubs again until the September roster expansion. His 2002 major league stats, 253/327/374, were not all that bad, but certainly didn't seem to match the expectations placed on him.

Those expectations got the better of him this Spring, as he started the Cactus League with a much-publicized 0-for-17 run. The papers were full of stories about how he was playing himself out of a starting job he had essentially been handed, but even at the time people wondered if the lure of Proven Veteran Mark Grudzielanek was going to be too much for Dusty to ignore. Sure enough, Bobby was back in Iowa before Opening Day, prompting this response from me:

"What the fuck?? If Dusty Baker wants to shed his image as a veteran-coddler, this was not the right move to make. I'm not sure what criteria were used to make this decision. Spring Training stats? Hill is batting .151 (8-for-53), but Grudz is at .133 (2-for-15) (and Ramon Martinez is at .086 (3-for-35)). Readiness for Opening Day? Hill has been playing almost every day, while Grudz has been hobbling around on two ankles held together with duct tape. The only thing I can think is that the Cubs were afraid of losing Lenny Harris on waivers, so rather than risk that, they sent Hill back down since he still had an option left. This is just a ridiculous move by the Cubs."

Of course, it turned out to be not that ridiculous of a move, since Grudzielanek played very well until he got hurt.

Hill started the season poorly at Iowa, hitting only .230 as late as early May. He had his average up to .258 by the time he was called up for a ten-day, five-plate-appearance cameo in June in which he did not get a start. He went back down to Iowa, started hitting the ball well, got hurt, came back, and now he's off to Pittsburgh. All in all, it's too bad he never got a real shot to prove what he could do. If he ends up as a star in Pittsburgh, we can chalk it up to Dusty's lack of confidence in a rookie; if not, well, great move by Hendry. I guess we'll know more in a few years.

UPDATE: Brian: Guess who the Pirates DFA'd to make room for Hill on the 40-man? That's right, Matt Bruback. I'm not saying it will happen, but wouldn't it be funny if the Cubs got him back?

Discuss this move at The Cub Reporter.

Brian: Hmm ...

I guess we could speculate all day long about what this portends for Bobby Hill. Is he being traded? Or do the Cubs have so little faith in him that they won't even call him up at a time of obvious need?

As I mentioned earlier this week, Kelton has been in a brutal slump, and I can't imagine what good sitting on the bench in Wrigley Field will do. Besides that, the Cubs seem to have enough right-handed corner outfielders to do just fine against lefties, thank you.

So, I can only assume that Kelton's time is being wasted as a placeholder until ... well, until what? I have no idea. Until Goodwin is activated? Great, that raises the prospect of carrying both Goodwin and Glanville. Until they need a twelfth pitcher again? Great, so Cruz or Mitre or Wellemeyer will be right back to sit and do nothing. Maybe Grudz's injury is coming along quicker than expected, which will sort this mess out.

Christian: Better watch out, Brian, or Fox will sue you, too.

I predict Kelton will get a grand total of one plate appearance in his weekend stay with the Cubs, Tom Goodwin will be activated in time for Tuesday's game, and Kelton will be sent back down. Enjoy your weekend in Chicago, David! I hear the Air and Water Show is lots of fun.

Christian: Geez, it's about time. The guy hasn't pitched for nearly two weeks -- what was he doing on the major league roster? The way Cruz has been jerked around this year is a shame, and I think he's basically the casualty in a battle between Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker. Jason Steffens at the Clark & Addision Chronicle alluded to this a few days ago. I think Dusty feels that the roster is his exclusive province, and just because Hendry puts someone on his roster doesn't mean he has to play him. This is not the first time this season that Hendry has made a personnel decision and Dusty has just plain refused to play the guy that has been brought in. In this case, the quality of starting pitching made it easier to not pitch Cruz, and the fault may lie with Hendry as much, if not moreso, than with Baker, since Cruz probably should have been sent down a week ago, but in general I think there is some sort of power struggle going on between Hendry and Baker.

No corresponding move has been announced yet, but with O'Leary and Martinez hurting, and Augie Ojeda apparently incapable of getting a base hit, doesn't it seem like this is the right time to call up Bobby Hill?

Brian: The most frustrating thing about watching the Cubs this year is that they have a terrible habit of benching guys that are better than the ones playing.

Cruz made two starts while Prior was hurt, neither of them spectacular but both of them good. In addition, he's made 7 starts in Iowa and put up a 2.01 ERA. Do I think he's immediately going to become another ace in the rotation? No, but I do think that he'd be a hell of a lot better than Shawn Estes.

But no, we can't have that, since Estes has had unspectacular but decent outings in three of his last four starts. Big deal.

Estes has not been a good pitcher for several years now, and while Cruz probably wouldn't have a spot in the rotation for the rest of the month anyway due to a couple of upcoming off-days, Cruz clearly deserves the fifth spot in the rotation. The Cubs made one good housecleaning move in releasing Lenny Harris, and now it's well past time for another.

Christian: Why is this important? Because according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have until Friday to pick their PTBNL in the Ramirez-Lofton deal. Much of the speculation has centered around Bobby Hill going to Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh acquired hot prospect Freddy Sanchez from the Red Sox at the trading deadline, which leads many (myself included) to believe that the Pirates will choose someone else from the Cubs' system. Two names which have come up a lot are Francis Beltran, who is currently on the DL at Iowa, and Steve Smyth.

In other Iowa news, the I-Cubs signed former major leaguer Rudy Seanez last week. Seanez, 33, has bounced through the majors with stops in Cleveland, San Diego, L.A., Atlanta, and Texas. He was a large parts of the Braves' bullpen from 1998-2000, appearing in 113 games for the Braves over those three years. This year, Seanez was in the Red Sox system (and appeared in nine games for the BoSox) before being designated for assignment at the end of June.

Finally, Treni Hubbard accepted his assignment to Iowa and was activated Saturday, resulting in the release of Jose Silva. Silva was unimpressive in his brief stint in Iowa, giving up eight hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Brian: I avoided talking about Sergio Mitre the other day when he was called up, but I have to wonder, what is the point of calling up prospects for no reason, especially AA prospects that were clearly overwhelmed in their first trip to the majors? I know that the team needed an extra reliever with Estes pitching on Saturday, but how did the Cubs get in their current position, without a non-prospect on the 40-man that can be shuttled back and forth from Iowa? What do other teams do in this position? Maybe they cut the starters that they can't trust to go five innings on a consistent basis - there's a novel idea.

That rant out of the way, I'm terribly nervous about Prior's return. I'd like to think the Cubs have done their due diligence, and that Prior is really 100%. And for the most part I do think that - I don't have any reason not to, but no one from the Cubs has seemed to have a good handle on this injury since it happened.

Assuming he's OK, I would really like to see him make a rehab start or two, since his control was a little shaky even before he hurt his shoulder. Nonetheless, getting Prior back is something to look forward to, even if the staff has been good enough that the Cubs haven't really felt his absence.

Christian: Grudzielanek has a broken right hand as a result of being hit by a Miguel Batista pitch on Saturday. He is expected to miss at two to four weeks.

Augie Doggie has been called up and will act as the back-up infielder. Ramon Martinez will most likely get the majority of playing time at second base.

Grudzielanek has been hitting well all season, but Martinez has actually played well in limited duty, so it shouldn't be too much of a blow to the offense. Defensively I'd say the Cubs aren't losing too much, either, but by putting Martinez in the everyday lineup it damages a bench already weakened by the loss of Lenny Harris.

That last part was a joke, by the way. As far as what Ojeda brings to the team, he's the definition of a AAAA player, a guy with the skills to survive at AAA but not to stick on the major league roster. He's known for being a get-dirty, hustle-all-the-time player, which is nice, but doesn't make up for the fact that he can't hit.

Brian: It's hard to say how Grudzielanek's absence will affect this team. As Jason Steffens wrote this morning, Martinez has been truly terrible against right-handed pitching this year. If you look at their three-year splits, though, Martinez has actually been slightly better (714 OPS vs. Grudz's 693), so that may be a sample size issue. Grudz is having a very good year (for him), but he's still very overrated, and his loss by itself just isn't going to hurt the Cubs that badly.

Ojeda's only hitting .236/.336/.306 for Iowa this year, which is even worse than his career AAA line of .257/.333/.376. I wrote this morning about why I think the Cubs should add Brendan Harris instead, and although I wrote that not realizing that they had a free spot on the 40-man due to (Lenny) Harris's release yesterday, I still that is a better option. As it is now, the Cubs have basically added another Lenny Harris to the team, as Ojeda isn't likely to contribute much in this lifetime, or the next. Hopefully Dusty will limit his playing time to the necessary minimum, but there's not much reason to think that will happen.

Discuss this move at The Cub Reporter.

Christian:Woo hoo!

Brian: "Waived for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release" - the sweetest 10 words in the English language. I'm so happy that I'm not even going to ask, "Why Mitre?" even though it's a very good question.