There are strong rumors that the Sox will send second baseman Chris Getz and infielder Josh Fields to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for infielder/outfielder Mark Teahan. Sun-Times beat writer Joe Cowley has been told that minor-league players are involved and that could be the only thing holding the deal up.

Teahan has been with the Royals for five years. Last season, he batted .271 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs. He was drafted as a third baseman, but he's also played all three outfield positions, some first base and even a little second base. His versatility and athleticism are his two biggest assets.

I'm not sure how I feel about this deal (assuming it goes through) because I'm not sure how the Sox intend to use Teahan. I think he could valuable as a utility guy, a 10th man who plays three times a week at multiple positions and gives other guys a day off.

I've heard talk that Teahan is being acquired to replace Jermaine Dye as the everyday right fielder. If that's the case, that's fail. Teahan doesn't have near enough pop in his bat to be an everyday guy at a corner position. That's why the Royals are willing to part with him.

I've also heard discussions that Teahan could be plugged in at third base, moving Gordon Beckham over to second. I would hate for the Sox to continue to screw around with Beckham. They moved him from shortstop to third base last year. Now that he's got the hang of third, they're going to move him to second? Beckham is the best position player the Sox have drafted in 20 years. I'd prefer to give him a position and let him run with it, as opposed to treating like a utility infielder. Teahan is, in fact, a utility guy. I hope the Sox plan to use him as such.

In modern journalism, we are supposed to have kneejerk, violent reactions to everything. I'm either supposed to proclaim this move as a work of genius, or mock it as the definition of idiocy. Alas, I will do neither at this time. I want to wait and see how Teahan fits in as far as the big picture goes. On Nov. 5, we have no way to know what other moves will be made in the coming weeks. I reserve judgment on this one.

According to this mock draft from Yahoo, offensive lineman Jon Asamoah (pictured) is on track to be chosen in the first round in 2010. There's a chance injury-prone wide receiver Arrelious Benn will be taken in the first round, too. Benn was a preseason All-American in several publications, but a nagging high ankle sprain and the overall ineffectiveness of the Illinois offense has hurt his stock this season.

Benn doesn't have a single TD reception this year. He's made just 26 catches for 298 yards. His lone TD all season came on a 3-yard rush in Saturday's 38-13 win over Michigan. Despite that, Benn clearly has NFL size, speed and athleticism. You just wonder whether the injury history will send him tumbling into the third or fourth round.

Here's a complete list of former Illini in the NFL. Pierre Thomas, David Diehl, Tony Pashos, Neil Rackers, Eugene Wilson, Brandon Moore, Greg Lewis, Kelvin Hayden, Steve Weatherford -- a lot of these guys have had nice pro careers. It's really a pretty good list considering the lack of team success Illinois has had over the years.

In fact, I often find myself correcting McCarver. For instance, during Philadelphia's 8-6 victory over New York in Game 5 Monday night, McCarver said American League hitters are "unfamiliar" with Phillies' left-hander Cliff Lee's ability to cut his fastball inside to right-handers.

Huh? On the contrary, American League hitters are quite familar with Lee, who spent five-plus seasons with the Cleveland Indians. McCarver seemed to catch his mistake mid-sentence. He tried to talk his way out of it by saying Lee is a "completely different" pitcher now than he was in Cleveland.

Again, bogus. Lee was just as good in Cleveland as he is now with Philadelphia. You don't need a real long memory to recall that Lee went 22-3 and won the AL Cy Young Award just one year ago. He's had tremendous success in both leagues the last couple years. For that reason, he hasn't changed his repertoire one bit.

When I saw Lee pitching against New York last night, I saw the same pitcher who competed against the White Sox for several years in the AL Central. Lee has excellent command of his fastball. He works both sides of the plate. He's got an excellent change that he throws to right-handed hitters and his breaking ball is above average. He's getting guys out in Philadelphia the same way he got them out in Cleveland.

If I know this, shouldn't McCarver know it? After all, he is Fox's color commentator for the World Series. He's paid to know this stuff. I'm just a lowly sports copy editor at a newspaper in suburban Chicago. I shouldn't have more knowledge about baseball than these guys who have national gigs.

So, the 1-6 Illini host Michigan this week. Given that Illinois is 22-66-1 all-time against the Wolverines, I think I will select Michigan to win this contest.

At any rate, there was a thread on Illini Board this week where some silly fan "challenged" the student section to stay through the entirety of Saturday's game. His reasoning? There will be recruits in attendance, and it might make a bad impression if fans are seen leaving the game early. WHAT???!!!! Let me get this straight -- if the Illini get the crap beat out of them and the fans leave early, recruits are going to be more concerned about what's going on in the stands than on the field? Right.

Since we're in the business of issuing challenges, here's one to the Illini players and coaches: How about a competitive game on Saturday? Compete for four quarters and give the fans a reason to stay for the whole game. Illinois has lost all of its Big Ten games by 10 points or more. Why stay for that? People want to be entertained at the very least when they attend a football game.

In the meantime, here comes that fail train. ALL ABOARD!!!!

"I don't want to take anything away from the Bengals because they are a very good offensive football team with a great receiver, a great quarterback and a running back who's having a Pro Bowl year," Angelo said. "But what really surprised me was that we weren't able to make the needed adjustments in terms of slowing them down or stopping them. We let that go really throughout four quarters.

"We couldn't slow them down and make some stops or even force them to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown to keep us in the game where we could have some hope. That surprised me. I didn't expect to see that."

Translation: "Hey, Lovie! What the hell were you doing on the sidelines Sunday?!"

A comment like that is only going to fuel speculation that coach Lovie Smith's job could be on the line if the Bears continue to fall short of expectations. Smith has two years and $11 million remaining on his deal. Given the Bears usual way of doing business, it seems extremely unlikely they'd eat that money. But if there are any more crummy efforts like the one on Sunday, it could get interesting at Halas Hall.

What people have to realize is all these guys were let go for a reason. I'm sick of hearing about ex-Chicago players and their supposed "greatness," so I was pretty happy that Martin Havlat looked like crap last night in his return to the United Center as a member of the Minnesota Wild. Havlat, the Blackhawks leading scorer a year ago, had no points and only one shot on goal and was a minus-2 in the Hawks 3-1 victory over the last-place Wild.

Havlat is off to a slow start this year, with only one goal and four assists in nine games. He's an awful minus-10 and has been battling a groin injury.

Sound familiar, Hawk fans? Havlat struggling with an injury, playing well below his talent level. That's why the Hawks didn't meet his contract demands last offseason. I actually think Havlat is a damn good player. I'll never boo him and I have nothing against him. Most people in Chicago like him. But the Hawks don't miss him.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Havlat had his best season as a Hawk in his contract year. Now that he's got his money, he'll be less interested and less inclined to play through injury. He's on a losing team, just like he was when he first arrived in Chicago. He doesn't have any great offensive players around him. I'd be surprised if he duplicates the 29-goal, 48-assist season he produced for the Hawks last year. Either injury or disinterest will cause him to fall short.

Here's my question: What the hell was Bears quarterback Jay Cutler doing still in the game when it was 45-3 in the fourth quarter? What good could possibly come from that? The Bengals knew the Bears were going to pass on every down. Their defensive linemen were pinning their ears back and teeing off on Cutler -- and rightfully so. They were getting hits on him on almost every play.

Whatever chance the Bears (3-3) have of making the postseason this year, it all depends on Cutler's right arm and a developing group of young receivers. The running game isn't going to get the Bears to the playoffs. Neither is the defense. A healthy, effective Cutler is essential moving forward. Leaving him in Sunday's game was a reckless and stupid move by coach Lovie Smith and staff. If there was ever a situation where backup QB Caleb Hanie should have been getting the playing time, this was it.

Of course, as I read the media reports after Sunday's loss, it occurred to me why Smith left Cutler in. Say, hypothetically, that Hanie had thrown a meaningless TD pass in the fourth quarter. If that scenario had unfolded, we'd have a quarterback controversy in Chicago today. You know how things work around here.

Cutler actually did throw a meaningless TD toss to Devin Hester in the fourth quarter Sunday. He gets no credit for that, nor should he. But imagine if Caleb Hanie had thrown that exact same TD pass. The Superfans would be out, calling for the backup quarterback to get his chance.

"Did you see what dat Caleb Hanie did on Sunday? He took da team right down da field and gotta touchdown! He should be da starter!"

This column is likely to make Pompei the least popular man in Chicago. Turner is hated and despised by most Bears fans, and the denizens of fireronturner.com have already expressed their outrage.

It's pretty clear that the fans are going to want Turner scapegoated if the Bears fail to meet expectations this season. I struggle to form a strong opinion about Turner, because my perception of him is jaded from his days as the head coach at Illinois. There's no doubt Turner did a terrible job during his tenure in Champaign, but being a poor head coach does not necessarily make one a poor offensive coordinator. I have to find a way to put aside my leftover hate from the Illinois days when evaluating Turner's work with the Bears, and that's not always easy.

Sometimes, I think Bears fans blame the offensive coordinator as a kneejerk reaction. It's a Pavlovian response almost. After all, this is the franchise that brought you Gary Crowton, John Shoop and Terry Shea, all of whom were terrible offensive coordinators and all of whom were worse than Turner ever will be. Still, for better or for worse, the perception in Chicago is that all Bears offensive coordinators suck no matter what. I figure people are going to want Turner gone, even if the Bears make the NFC title game.

Looking at the "gripes" that Pompei enumerates, there is only one of his points that I would definitely agree with. The gripe: Turner is too conservative and he won't open up the offense. Pompei disagrees, saying that 22 percent of the Bears completions have gone for 16 yards or more. By way of comparison, the Colts are at 18 percent, the Patriots 15 percent and the Cardinals 14 percent.

Contrary to what critics say, I think Turner has always believed in the vertical passing game. I recall Turner's very first game at Illinois in 1997 against Southern Mississippi. Illinois kicked off and its defense got a stop. USM punted and Illinois took over first-and-10 from its own 25-yard line or whatever. First play from scrimmage of his tenure, Turner calls a bomb. Illinois quarterback Mark Hoekstra cranked it up and threw it as far as he could. The pass fell incomplete. As a matter of fact, I think it was underthrown and out of bounds. But the crowd rose as one and gave a standing ovation. The crowd loved the PLAY CALL so much that they applauded an incomplete pass by the home team. I had never seen that before and I've never seen it since in all the games I've attended.

Turner always believed in taking deep shots at Illinois, especially when he had Kurt Kittner and four future NFL wide receivers on his roster in 2001. This year, I think most Bears fans don't understand that opposing defenses are concerned about quarterback Jay Cutler's big arm, and they're trying to take away the deep ball. Combine that with the Bears shoddy pass protection and you can see why Turner is picking his spots on deep passes these days.

Aside from that point, I'll defend Turner no further. If the Bears fire him at the end of the season, it won't bother me. However, I'm not going to call for his head either, because I don't believe Turner is the guy preventing the Bears from making a Super Bowl run. In fact, the Bears weak offensive line and lack of a running game - along with an aging, injury-prone defense - will prevent the Bears from winning this year. Turner will just be the guy fans target when this is all over.

But I have a different reason for rooting against the Yankees this postseason. I can't stand Nick Swisher, former White Sox outfielder and current New York right fielder. The funny thing is I was in favor of the trade when the Sox acquired Swisher prior to the start of the 2008 season. Then, I had to watch Swisher play every day and I started to wonder what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking.

Swisher hit .219 with the Sox and struck out a whopping 135 times in 497 at-bats. Swisher gave himself the nickname of "Dirty 30," as he wore jersey No. 30 with the Sox. I thought "Dirty .230" was more appropriate, given that .230 was more in line with his batting average. Sure, he hit 24 homers with the Sox, but by the end of the season, Swisher was benched in favor of Dewayne Wise.

Yes, that Dewayne Wise. Amazingly enough, Sox fans all pretty much agreed the team was better off in the 2008 playoffs with Wise in the lineup instead of Swisher. That's how bad Swisher was.

I rejoiced when Swisher was traded to the Yankees. But ever since then, Tribune columnist Phil Rogers has been giving me an almost permanent case of nausea with his insistence that the Sox made a horrible mistake by trading Swisher. NO, NO, NO, A THOUSAND TIMES, NO, PHIL. Swisher stunk with the Sox and didn't fit in well. We should all be glad he's gone.

Given my distaste for Swisher, imagine my horror when "Dirty .230" stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs and the Yankees trailing 7-6 in Thursday night's Game 5 of the ALCS. Immediately, I thought of Rogers and how he'd probably have a joygasm if Swisher somehow delivered the hit to send the Yankees to the World Series.

Thank goodness, Angels closer Brian Fuentes retired Swisher on a popout to shortstop, and Los Angeles won to force a Game 6 Saturday night in New York. I, of course, almost had a joygasm watching Swisher fail in the clutch. My only regret is he doesn't strike out looking on a fastball right down the middle, as he did so many times with the Sox.

Swisher is now batting .103 in the postseason, and there are rumblings that the Yankees need to bench him. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it Sox fans? At the very least, it has to bring a knowing smile.

As the Illini fail train prepares to head to West Lafayette, Ind., for a game against Purdue this Saturday, we make note that Illinois is now ranked No. 9 in ESPN's Bottom 10 rankings. That's a move "up" one slot from last week. ESPN says, "When the Clowns Come Home": Has Ron Zook's circus act run its course at Illinois?" As an alum, I can only hope so.

Speaking of Zook, sportsline.com has moved him up to No. 2 on the coaches hot seat. Amazingly, Steve Kragthorpe from Louisville is still doing a crappier job than Zook. That's quite a trick.

It's an annual rite of fall: I turn up the criticism of the Illinois football program, and some posters over on Illini Board accuse me of being a "bandwagon fan." LOL. I've been candid in my assessments of the program and its direction, or lack thereof. If something doesn't change dramatically, I will not be renewing my season tickets for the 2010 season. I expect, ya know, actual value in return for my entertainment dollars.

And guess what? I'm here to tell you there is no Illinois football bandwagon. The program has sucked for nearly two decades. How the hell do you start a bandwagon if the team is never worth a damn? Quite literally, there is no bandwagon to jump on. Sure, the Illini have had a couple bowl bids here and there, but they haven't made back-to-back postseason appearances since I was in high school. That's pathetic, given that they let 6-6 teams into bowls nowadays.

I get sick of these people who lecture me about how "our student-athletes deserve your support." Baloney. Why do they deserve my support? Because they get blown out every game? Illinois hasn't been competitive in any of its five losses. They aren't entertaining to watch. They embarrass their university with inept and stupid play. These games are terrible. Maybe some of these apologists live in a world where intentions are more important than results. In my world, results matter.

I think it's very important that our "student-athletes" learn that there are consequences in the real world when you don't get results. In the case of this football season, the consequences for the lack of results are a loss of support from alumni, students and fans -- and the possibility that the entire coaching staff will be fired.

I don't feel sorry for these "student-athletes." They are being given a great education at a world-class university in exchange for their alleged ability to play football on Saturdays. Given their poor performance on the gridiron, they are basically stealing from the university community. They don't deserve anymore than what they're getting.

There are six games left in the season, and I promise that one of these three outcomes will happen: 1) Zook and the boys will get this turned around and win some games, or 2) Zook will guide this program to last place for the fifth time in seven years and get fired, or 3) JB will cancel his season tickets.

If neither 1 nor 2 happens, option 3 will come to pass. I guarantee it. It's time for some accountability in this Illini football program. If Zook goes 1-11 or 2-10 and somehow keeps his job, I call for ALL Illinois fans to boycott Memorial Stadium in 2010. It's time to send a message. The University of Illinois strives for academic excellence. The athletic department, and specifically the football program, should be striving for excellence as well.

My dentist, who is also a Sox fan, replied, "The Texas guy? Is he bringing his steroids with him?" LOL. That statement would serve as a good counter to any of the Cubbie glee that is being felt in association with this signing.

Jaramillo is highly-regarded in the game, but it is true that a number of his prized pupils have also had their names linked to steroids. Sammy Sosa, Gary Matthews Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez are among the players who have toiled under Jaramillo's tutelage through the years. None of those guys are/were clean.

In any case, I have no idea whether Jaramillo will help the Cubs, who slumped to ninth in the National League in runs scored this year. I do know that Jaramillo will be the third hitting coach the Cubs have employed over the last 12 months.

I also know that Jaramillo's presence will provide an endless parade of idiotic stories from the Cubbie-loving media next spring training. Every time a Cubbie player hits the ball hard, the press will scurry over to that player's locker and ask him how Jaramillo's genius helped him in finding a way to get the ball out of the infield. It will be both hilarious and nauseating.

Don't believe me? Look at all the dumb stories the Bears media have written about Rod Marinelli's influence this season. Every time a Bear defensive lineman uses the potty correctly, Marinelli gets the credit. You can expect the same thing with the Cubs and Jaramillo next baseball season.

I did some research on the 20 postseason games that have been played so far (including the AL Central play-in game between Detroit and Minnesota), and I determined that there have been 7 blown saves in the ninth inning or later in those 20 games. That seems like a really high number to me.

A few of these implosions have been of the spectacular variety, too. One of the things I learned in reviewing the box scores from these games is it's not a very good idea to put men on base when protecting a lead in the late innings of a playoff game. Walks, hit batsmen and bonehead errors have cost teams dearly during this postseason. Several of these rallies have occurred with two outs. Here's a look at the four most outrageous meltdowns of the 2009 baseball playoffs:

Oct. 8: Dodgers 3, St. Louis 2 -- The Cardinals possessed a 2-1 lead heading into the ninth inning and closer Ryan Franklin retired the first two men he saw. Then, all hell broke lose. St. Louis left fielder Matt Holliday misplayed a fly by James Loney into a two-base error. Franklin lost his cool, walked Casey Blake, surrendered a game-tying single to Ronnie Belliard, walked Russell Martin and gave up a game-winning single to the immortal Mark Loretta.

Oct 11: L.A. Angels 7, Boston 6 -- "Oh, Paps! How could you let us down like this?" cried ESPN and Red Sox Nation (Is that redundant?). Closer Jonathan Papelbon had never allowed a run in the postseason in his career. That is, until he tried to protect a 6-4 lead against the Angels in the ninth inning of this game. Papelbon retired the first two hitters. Then, he completely lost it. Erick Aybar singled. Paps foolishly walked Chone Figgins to bring Bobby Abreu to the plate representing the go-ahead run. Why would you walk Figgins? He's a slap hitter. Throw him a strike and the worst thing that will happen is he'll hit a single. He's not threat to tie the game. Anyway, Abreu doubled in a run. After an intentional walk to Torii Hunter loaded the bases, Vladimir Guerrero came through with a two-run single to give the Angels the lead. You lose, Paps.

Oct 12: Philadelphia 5, Colorado 4 -- Huston Street had a 4-2 lead and he seemed to be doing OK. The Phillies had Shane Victorino on second base, but two were out. As long as Street could keep the ball in the ballpark, you'd figure he'll get the save, right? Well, Street lost all conception of the strike zone and walked Chase Utley. Dumb move, as that brought Ryan Howard, the best RBI man in the National League, to the plate representing the go-ahead run. Howard lashed a game-tying double into the right field corner. Next, Jayson Werth singled to bring in Howard with the eventual game-winning run. Shouldn't have walked Utley....

Oct. 19: Philadelphia 5, Dodgers 4 -- This time, it was Jonathon Broxton's turn to gag. While trying to protect a 4-3 lead, he created his own mess by walking Matt Stairs and beaning Carlos Ruiz (pictured). That put runners on first and second and got the Phillies back to the top of their order. Broxton had two outs, though. Ehh...he blew it. Jimmy Rollins delivered a two-run double and gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the series.

A couple lessons learned from watching these playoffs: 1) It's not over until it's over, even with two outs in the ninth, and 2) Don't walk people with a lead, for cryin' out loud.

Surprisingly enough, the Bears (3-2) are performing reasonably well in those question-mark areas. The Bears did not sack Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan during Sunday's 21-14 loss, but they got enough pressure on him to knock down a couple passes and force him into two interceptions. The Bears have 14 sacks through five games. That's acceptable.

The Bears overall pass defense? Well, it's ranked 14th in the league. They've had some lapses, like the first half of the Detroit game when Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson torched young cornerback Zackary Bowman. But middle-of-the-pack pass defense represents an improvement for the Bears. Cornerback Charles Tillman, the Bears best player in the secondary, has overcome back surgery and is playing well. Again, I think the team's performance in that area has been acceptable.

Looking at the receivers, Bears GM Jerry Angelo assured us that the quarterback makes the wide receivers, not the other way around. Honestly, I can't quarrel with that right now. Johnny Knox has been the breakout star of the season. Devin Hester and Earl Bennett may not be Pro Bowlers, but with Cutler throwing them the ball, they look like NFL receivers -- a description that would not have been accurate last year.

But of all things, the Bears have a weakness that I never would have anticipated. Namely, their run game sucks. Matt Forte had only 23 yards on 15 carries in last night's loss. He fumbled (see picture) on back-to-back plays in the third quarter on a series where the Bears had first-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line and failed to score. The fumbles are on Forte, but it's hard to place the entire blame on the running back. Forte is getting hit behind the line of scrimmage way too often. The offensive line is poor right now.

Apparently, coach Lovie Smith is considering replacing Frank Omiyale with Josh Beekman at left guard. I hope Lovie pulls the trigger on that move. Omiyale is the weakest link on the Bears weakest unit.

It's going to be hard for the Bears to win cold-weather games later in the season if they don't establish a run game. It's hard to pass the ball when the wind is gusting in Chicago in December. Right now, Cutler is being asked to carry the offense. He made a lot of big plays last night. He didn't make enough of them. He also threw a couple interceptions. Chicago fans are whining about that today, but hey, you're gonna throw some picks when you're basically forced to throw on every down.

The Bears pass protection hasn't been the greatest either. Fans are complaining about offensive coordinator Ron Turner's unwillingness to call long passes. True, Cutler's ability to throw the deep ball is being underutilized with all these short drops and quick releases. But the fact is the Bears linemen can't hold their protections long enough for Cutler to drop back seven steps and unleash the long ball. He has to drop back on three steps and get the ball out, or else he's gonna get sacked.

In short, the Bears offensive line leaves a lot to be desired, both in run blocking and in pass blocking. I still think the team can possibly go 10-6 this year, but they're going to have to do a better job up front in order to attain their goals. At the start of the year, I never thought I'd be criticizing the Bears offensive line. However, that unit just isn't good enough right now.

Next, prized free-agent signee Marian Hossa skated Friday for the first time since his shoulder surgery in July. Hossa is expected to be back in late November, which should only make the Hawks offense more potent. Right now, the team leads the Western Conference with 26 goals scored.

"It feels like I'm on schedule, and the doctor is happy with the results so far," Hossa said.

As I've said, the Hawks have a good team - and they have a chance to become a great team. Adding a proven 40-goal scorer like Hossa to the lineup will be a big step in the right direction.