Wood, Contreras, Posada on DL

Three more down.

In a season that seems to have seen more players spend time on the disabled list than not, Kerry Wood, Jose Contreras and Jorge Posada are all headed to the DL, which means it's time to scramble to the wire for a replacement.


KERRY WOOD

The Cubs closer is dealing with a blister problem from the last week of June. Suspiciously, he had been given an extra day off here or there, but on July 5, a day after picking up the save against the Cardinals, Wood's blister popped as he blew the save in St. Louis.

This isn't the first case of blisteritis, as the Goatied Wonder fought through blisters in 2000-2002 seasons, but never anything too seriously.

The Cubs, who mysteriously kept this thing hush-hush for the past three weeks, were hoping taking the All-Star break off would cure him, but after warming up in Houston, the issue was stilling bubbling and so Wood heads to the DL, but can come off Saturday.

Replacement: Carlos Marmol, who has struggled lately, will get the first shot, but if he falters, look for Bobby Howry to step in. Marmol's worth a pickup, as the blister problem could linger longer than Saturday. And after all, this is Kerry Wood who seems very comfortable spending time on the list.



JOSE CONTRERAS

The White Sox righty couldn't throw his splitter or slider because of elbow tendinitis. Nice, huh? Even better, he didn't tell the training staff he was having issues, which you know sat well with Ozzie Guillen.

Yeah.

Anyway, for those of you who have suffered through the Ageless Hurler's 8.60 ERA in his last seven starts, I feel ya. He was probably long gone in most mixed leagues, but painfully, I suffered as Contreras was lit up like Times Square.

Replacements: Since he was probably only owned in AL-only formats, your options for pickup may be very limited. Consider Vincent Padilla (Texas) or R.A. Dickey (Seattle), who will take over for Erik Bedard's spot for a few weeks.

JORGE POSADA

What a difference a season makes. Last year, he's hitting .338 and making 144 appearances. This year, Posada is headed to the DL for the second time with a shoulder injury and he could be done for the year.

“It’s just really, really tough,” Posada said. “Right now, I’m going through tough times.”

Well, at least he got the fat contract last year. How tough can it be, right?

Replacements: Dioneer Navarro, who has come back to earth after a hot start, still hits in one of the better lineups in Tampa. Jeff Clement is starting to show signs of life in Seattle. Ramon Hernandez has 4 HR and 13 RBI the past month.