Chicago Cubs and Bulls

Chicago Bulls guard Chris Duhon had surgery on his lumbar spine Wednesday.

The procedure, which went well according to the Bulls, was to remove a herniated disc. He is expected to rest at home for the next several days before beginning rehabilitation.

Duhon, who is expected to be ready for next season, averaged 8.7 points and 5.0 assists in 74 games last year. For his career, Duhon has averaged 7.3 points and 4.9 assists in 156 games in two seasons.

John Mabry agreed Wednesday to a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs worth $1,075,000.

The 35-year-old batted .240 with 24 extra-base hits and 32 RBIs in 112 games for the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

"I feel great," Mabry said, "excited to join the Cubs and excited about changes they're making, excited about being in the Central and challenging for the Central division title."

Mabry's signing came on a day in which the Cubs landed leadoff hitter Juan Pierre in a trade with the Florida Marlins. The Cubs bolstered their bullpen last month, signing right-hander Bobby Howry and lefty Scott Eyre.

Mabry appeared in 49 games in right field (25 starts), 23 in left (12 starts), 18 at third base (12 starts) and 14 at first last season (five starts) - his 12th in the majors. He batted .265 in 34 pinch-hit at-bats.

The Cubs are his seventh team.

Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest isn't ashamed to confess to his one addiction.

''I love Survivor,'' he says of TV's original reality show.

What a happy coincidence. Because for the past two weeks Beinfest has spent much of his time voting players off the Marlins' island.

Center fielder Juan Pierre was the latest to have his torch go out Wednesday when Beinfest traded him to the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco and Reynel Pinto.

''I'm happy and I'm relieved,'' said Pierre, 28, who is eligible for salary arbitration after making $3.7 million last season. ``It's been a tough two-week stretch now, just sitting and waiting to see if I'm the next one traded.

``But at the same time it's mixed emotions because I had a lot of good friends and memories [in Miami].''

The Pierre trade, which was completed just before midnight Tuesday but not announced until Wednesday afternoon, was the fifth major deal Beinfest has negotiated since Thanksgiving. And while those moves have trimmed more than $40 million from the Marlins' projected 2006 payroll while netting them 14 top prospects in return, it also left the team with just one starter -- third baseman Miguel Cabrera -- from the 2003 World Series team.

''It was very tough,'' Beinfest said. ``[Pierre] may have transformed us in '03 arguably as much as anybody else did. He changed the whole look of our team. He taught this organization what hard work was. He's done a lot of things. So it was very, very difficult. The flip side to that, though, is again we are getting quality players that we're excited about. And we're going to move forward.''

Pierre, whose work ethic is legendary, did not miss a game during his three years with the Marlins. He averaged 99 runs a season and led the National League with 221 hits in 2004 and the majors with 65 stolen bases in 2003.