A cornerstone's value

Let's see... Aramis Ramirez, your up.  All opposing pitchers, tread lightly.

 Continuing my Around the Horn review of the Chicago Cubs roster, I move from the mound to the hot corner.  WAy back in 2003, the Cubs middl eof the order and third base defense had a huge void.  And by huge, I mean EPICLY huge.  And then, Jim Hendry, the Cubs GM, pulled off what could only be described as highway robbery.  Some call it "raiding the pantry", but the Pirates, wanting to blow off some cap space and get some youngsters some playing time (when do the Pirates NOT send in youngsters?), traded players like Kenny Lofton, Lenny Harris, and Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs.  Since that trade, Aramis Ramirez has been nothing short of amazing.  He's put up All-Star quality number or close to it every year he's played and been relatively healthy.  He's worked hard to get his legs healthy, he's playing hard and quelled talk of him being lazy, and is hitting homer after homer and knocking in RBI after RBI.  Although, if you ask him, he'll say, "It's my job".  Gotta love that from a legit All-Star contender.

Recently, Aramis has been hitting hte cover off the ball.  low balls, high ballss, outside, inside, and especially down the middle.  Nothing has been getting by him, and he's hitting it hard.  If he can stay on an extended hot streak, it will do wonders for the Cubs.  With the recent string of injuries, including Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Reed Johnson, Scott Eyre, and Kosuke Fukudome, Having Ramirez as hot as he is will take a lot of the pressure off of Derrek Lee.

Ramirez is exactly the Cubs need at 3B.  He's got above average defense which has drastically improved since he came to Chicago.  He can hit for power, as I think we all know.  More surprisingly, he can hit for average as well.  He's been up around .300 for the last month of so, and even though he got off toa slow start, Aramis is one of those players that you cannot possibly hope to keep down for long.

 A big July from Aramis will help immensely to get the Cubs into October.

On Deck: Ted Lilly; In the Hole: Jim Edmonds