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The Brewers and Cubs took over the National League Central's high-rent district this week with their acquisitions of CC Sabathia and Rich Harden.

Jerry Hairston Jr. will enter free agency at season's end, but he appreciates the young nucleus his Reds possess. And he respects Cincinnati president of baseball operations/general manager Walt Jocketty, the architect who helped build St. Louis into a World Series champion in 2006.

"We understand where Milwaukee's at and where Chicago's at," Hairston said. "And hey, you know, I don't worry about what Milwaukee's doin'. I don't worry about what Chicago's doin'. I worry about what the Reds are doin', you know, and I like where we're at."

The Naperville North graduate had to leave about 19 tickets at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, and received a day off Wednesday. After batting .261 with a .336 on-base percentage in 114 games for the Cubs in 2005, he was traded to Texas in May 2006.

Hairston remains close with Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, and has been reunited in Cincinnati with former Cubs manager Dusty Baker.

"It's unfortunate, Dusty really got a bad rap here. It's just one of those things where...it's amazing," Hairston said. "Dusty didn't have that payroll over there - let's get that straight. They're extremely talented over there (and) they kind of stacked that team, you know, Dusty didn't have that over there. The team they did have, everybody was always injured.

"It just didn't work out."

The Brewers are betting big on CC Sabathia, and the 290-pound pitcher's impact will be felt on the North Side of Chicago, where the Cubs suddenly find themselves in the National League's most compelling division. Of all the potential ramifications to this trade, here's one that rippled to Aurora and Waubonsie Valley. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports:

In the past few days, according to a source with knowledge of the talks between the Indians and Red Sox, Cleveland did not come down from its request of one package headlined by right-hander Michael Bowden, the other featuring the Sox' best position-player prospects, including Lars Anderson, Jed Lowrie and Josh Reddick.

Shortly after 11 a.m., during his pregame briefing, Ozzie Guillen was asked if he could ever manage the Cubs. At first the White Sox manager wavered, "No, I don't know man."

Guillen then refocused and joked that he'd have to wait until White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf dies before he'd even consider managing on the North Side.

"Then, I'll take a look at it," Guillen said. "I'd never do that to Jerry Reinsdorf. I'd never do it to (general manager) Kenny Williams."

This is quite possibly the worst vocal performance I've ever heard, and I sat through the video of Karl Rove rapping and John Ashcroft singing "Let the Eagles Soar," which I suppose wasn't bad so much as it was just odd. Still, unlike Tony Romo, the Zooker remembered all the words and was pretty enthusiastic. I give him points for that.

The Red Line is a weekly feature about Chicago baseball, talking about what is going on both at the Addison stop in Wrigleyville and at the 35th Street station on the South Side.

So now that the Toronto Blue Jays have cut Frank Thomas, one has to wonder how the future Hall of Famer will end his career. The career home run leader in White Sox history was given his leave a day after complaining that he was being benched because Toronto didn't want him to get enough at-bats to trigger a $10 million bonus.

Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi said it was more about him hitting .167 through his first 60 ABs this year.

"I told Frank our decision is based on performance," Ricciardi said, "and his decision is based on not being able to be in the lineup.

The Jays are still on the hook for roughly US$8-million of Thomas's 2008 salary, whether or not he signs with another team.

Either way, Frank Thomas is available. The Big Hurt has a bat (and $8 mildo of Blue Jay dollars) and he certainly could be an asset for a playoff team despite being nearly 40 years old.

Bad Kermit over at hirejimessian.com is betting that the Cubs will undearchieve in the run-scoring department this season and asks the question, "Will the Cubs score fewer runs than the Naperville Central Redhawks?" So far, the Redhawks are trailing 63 percent to 37 percent in the poll. What do you think? To vote, click here.

CHICAGO - The crowd at U.S. Cellular Field chanted "Ozzie! Ozzie!" on Monday afternoon. The White Sox manger had jumped from the dugout in the third inning to argue balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi and was promptly ejected.

"I'm here for my players," Ozzie Guillen said. "That's my job -- to protect them."

After a 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, and feeling good overall about the club's 5-2 start, Guillen was notably restrained, opting to keep quiet and not criticize Cuzzi.

"One thing about this business," Guillen said, "if I say what I have on my mind, I might lose a couple days."

At this point Guillen's players still appreciate his willingness to cover them, and his ability to create a certain atmosphere around the organization.

"Ozzie's our leader," third baseman Joe Crede said. "He's a guy that really makes us feel loose out there, especially in the clubhouse and in the dugout. That's one of the biggest things that everybody, you know, rallies around."

How do you see the next six months playing out for Guillen and his players? How will the 2008 season end for the White Sox and their combustible manager?