Carol Slezak Is Putting Lou On Notice

Not to be outdone by Phil Rogers and his stupidity, Carol Slezak is calling for Lou Piniella to be fired in today's Sun Times.

"Unfortunately, Lou Piniella, the man charged with providing that leadership, seems as lost as his players. He just isn't getting the job done. If the Cubs can't turn it around before the All-Star break, it will be time for a change at the top."

That seems fair, I mean hell, she's giving him two weeks to turn it around.

"When Piniella arrived in 2007, there was no doubt he was in charge. When he led the Cubs to 97 wins last season, there was no doubt he was in charge. But he has seemed lost this season. Is he burned out, sick of the managerial grind? Has he failed to recover from the Cubs' second straight three-and-out postseason experience? Has the pressure of trying to lead the team to a World Series taken its toll on him?

I can't answer these questions. But I know for certain that the 2009 Cubs shouldn't be struggling to play .500 baseball. If Piniella can't motivate this team, the Cubs need to find someone who can."

Maybe his roster just sucks? I'm not sure why Slezak feels that a team that has Miles, Freel, Fox, Blanco, Fontenot, Patton, Heilman, Fuld and sometimes Scales on the roster should be running away with the division?

Now With 1% Less Suck!

ESPN Radio is reporting that the Cubs will place Aaron Miles on the DL today. The step stool (pictured) that he has to use to get himself up onto the trainers table sure is getting a lot of use this year.

Hooray!

Misery Would Love Some Company

Prepare yourself for the latest eye-rolling news from Milton Bradley. Bradley has nobody to talk to about his struggles because, well, he has no friends.

"This isn't me," Bradley told the Tribune before his confrontation with Piniella. "I've always excelled at playing baseball, and to come here and suck like I have, it's just not a good feeling. And there's really not one guy who I can sit and talk to. I've been on teams where I have guys I know, or somebody I can just vent to."

Derrek Lee has a locker next to Bradley and they speak frequently. So why not vent to Lee?

"We just don't have that bond," he replied. "'D-Lee' is cool. He's quiet. But things change. I had a good rapport with [fired hitting coach Gerald Perry]. I trusted Gerald and I could talk to him, and he's gone. I think I clicked with [ex-Cub outfielder Joey] Gathright, and he's gone. So you just kind of feel like you're on an island, and trying to stay afloat."

If your excuse is "they got rid of Perry and Gathright so I have nobody to talk to," then I'm sorry but you are going out of your way to "be on an island." If however, by some small chance, there is truth to this and the Cubs rid themselves of anyone you click with, I implore you to befriend the following people:

1. Aaron Miles
2. Jim Hendry
3. Kevin Gregg
4. Aaron Heilman
5. David Patton
6. Ryan Freel
7. Carlos Marmol
8. Neal Cotts
9. Yourself
10. Albert Pujols

Let's Hope This Week Goes A Little Better

In one of the most active weeks for celebrity deaths in some time, last week saw us lose the likes of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, and Mark DeRosa. On Sunday, we added the Cubs offense to the list and the whole 2009 season seems to be on suicide watch.

Phil Rogers Actually Gets Paid To Write This Stuff?

I'm not sure if Phil Rogers is trying to be clever, controversial, or funny but he only comes across as stupid in his latest article. Apparently, Phil took it personally that Big Z hit two White Sox batters on Sunday but he has blessed us all with this steaming pile of crap:

"As Lou Piniella was saying on Friday, enough's enough. Get Carlos Zambrano out of here, even if the Cubs have to give him away. He's not the guy you want as the ace of a curse-busting team, and at this point, it's wishful thinking that he'll ever mature into one.

First thing Monday morning, put Zambrano on waivers. If anyone claims him and the $62.75 million left on his contract which runs through 2012, immediately trade him for whatever is being offered, from a bag of balls to a 32-year-old minor-leaguer.

Unfortunately for the North Side drama queens, their ace once again reported for work wearing size 30 shoes and a red rubber ball on his nose. Zambrano pitched badly and lost his cool for about the zillionth time, venting his frustrations on White Sox hitters en route to a 6-0 loss."

I'm assuming Phil doesn't see the irony here as he's venting like an emotional idiot over a guy he thinks vents like an emotional idiot. Also, if I made a list of everything that bothered me about the Cubs loss on Sunday, I'd probably have Zambrano's performance somewhere around #37, right behind "why do they still let Aaron Miles sit in the dugout" at #36. One day, when I'm telling my grandchildren about a thing called newspapers, I'll gleefully point to this article while explaining to them why the industry died.

Edit**(6/29/09 10:15 AM) You have got to be fucking kidding me.

Can Aramis Shoulder The Load?

After another dismal offensive performance against the Tigers last night, Cub fans everywhere continue to count the days until Aramis Ramirez returns. The Cubs 1 for 15 effort with runners in scoring position brought them to an impressive 1 for 29 with RISP for the road trip. With numbers like that, how much can Ramirez really help? Will he help enough to finally start taking advantage of the outstanding starting pitching that the Cubs have been getting? Will he help enough to make you forget that the back end of the bullpen, in Marmol and Gregg, is an absolute mess? Will he help enough to finally have this team takeoff and leave .500 in the rear view mirror? Are you concerned that you might not see the same Ramirez once he returns, that a shoulder injury will hamper his production?

Ramirez is reportedly expected to take batting practice for the first time tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes well and we'll have a better timetable for when he will be back on the field. We'll be holding our breath while waiting to learn that not only is his shoulder healthy enough to get back into the lineup, but that it's strong enough to carry the load into October.

Sandberg Sounds Off About Sosa

Ryne Sandberg appeared on ESPN 1000's "Waddle and Silvy Show" today and shared his thoughts on steroid users and the Hall of Fame.

"I don't think so," when asked if Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame. "They use the word 'integrity' in describing a Hall of Famer in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are gonna be quite a few players that are not going to get in," Sandberg said. "It's been evident with the sportswriters who vote them in, with what they've done with Mark McGwire getting in the 20 percent range."

"I was around Sammy for about five years before I retired, and there wasn't anything going on then," Sandberg said. "I did admire the hard work he put in. He was one of the first guys down to the batting cage, hitting extra. I figured he was working out hard in the offseason to get bigger. It was just happening throughout the game, that even myself was blinded by what was really happening, maybe starting in the '98 season."

"I think it's very unfortunate. I think suspicions were there as they are with some other players. Those players are now put in a category of being tainted players with tainted stats. I think it's obviously something that was going on in the game. Players participated in it and as the names have come out I think that they will be punished for that."

Sandberg said that punishment should include being banned from Cooperstown.

"I think it has to be spoken very loud and clear on the stance, and baseball needs to stand as they have. I'm very, very satisfied with the testing program they have in place now. For a guy who's tested positive today under what happens now like Manny Ramirez, it almost takes an idiot to participate in that. For the society, for the up-and-coming players and youth out there, I don't think those guys should be recognized at all."

I Like Your Thinking Lou

Courtesy of Dave Van Dyke of the Chicago Tribune:

Shortstop Ryan Theriot and third base fill-in Mike Fontenot have suffered most from lack of rest. Theriot has started 63 of the Cubs' 66 games.

"Once we get Ramirez back, it will be much easier to rest the infield," Piniella said. "We have a little more depth in the outfield than we do in the infield.

"Once we get Ramirez back, it's easy for me to put [Andres] Blanco at shortstop and move Fontenot to second."

I'm not sure Lou even remembers that Aaron Miles is on the team, which is a good thing.

Rick Morrissey Thinks You Should Get Over DeRosa

Rick Morrissey has a clever article in today's Tribune that makes fun of Cubs fans and their love of Mark DeRosa. Oh, and by clever I mean douchey.

"Sure, if you want to get all technical about it, he was with the team for only two seasons. But what a sublime two seasons! He averaged about 16 home runs and 80 runs batted in while hitting .289. He played six positions in each season and had a total of 22 "unfortunate events" -- a designation many of us prefer over the word "errors" when it comes to DeRosa.

And, as we all know, the Cubs won the World Series both years.

OK, I'll stop with the sarcasm, but only if everyone at least attempts to move on."

Personally, I see nothing wrong with cheering for DeRosa. It's like Cubs fans can't win, we get called out in the papers for booing players and now we get called out for showing appreciation to a former player. I liked DeRosa when he was here. If I went to Sunday's game, was I not supposed to cheer for him because the fans on Friday already did that? Fuck you. Quit telling me who I'm allowed to like and who I'm supposed to hate.

Bruce Miles Is Fair & Balanced

I'm fully aware that everyone in the world hates Soriano except for BLT.com, but it amazes me how columnists don't even try to hide it anymore. Enter Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald:

"In the fateful 10th, Soriano also showed some flashes from days gone by. He walked with two outs, and this former basestealer swiped second, bad knee and all.

That set the stage for Theriot, as the Cubs came from behind for a second straight day for a walk-off winner."

So even when Soriano draws a two-out walk (his second of the game) and steals second base to put himself in scoring position as the winning run, we still take subtle shots at him? "From days gone by" and "former basestealer?" Didn't he do all the things in the 10th inning that you want your leadoff hitter to do? I'm not saying that this excuses Soriano's poor performance in the leadoff spot so far this year, but if you're going to complain even when he does EXACTLY what you've wanted him to do all season, it makes you seem small and petty.

Kerry Wood Returns To Wrigley

Those were not raindrops this morning. It was just God's tears because Kerry Wood is returning to Wrigley Field today.

I can't help but think that the best outcome today would be for Kerry Wood to get a save opportunity. I'd love to see him make the slow walk from the bullpen to the mound so the crowd has the opportunity to give him his proper ovation. Of course, once he toes the rubber, more than 40,000 in attendance will be rooting for him to blow the save, which I think would also be cool.

Now The Cubs Are Just Being Stubborn

Remember the old adage "a walk is as good as a hit?" Well, the Cubs do, which is why they've decided to stop doing that too. Check out their impressive plate discipline since interleague play began last Friday.

Friday: 1 walk, 12 strikeouts

Saturday: 2 walks, 8 strikeouts

Sunday: 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

Wednesday: 0 walks, 11 strikeouts

I'm sure Von Joshua will be busy for awhile, but he might want to address this first.

One For The Record Books?

A day after the news broke that Sammy Sosa failed a steroid test in 2003, Ivan Rodriguez set the record for most games caught as a catcher.

"It's an incredible accomplishment," said Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who caught 1,395 games for the Dodgers from 1980-92. "The erosion rate of catchers has really accelerated because of the demands of the position. Those catchers who have caught a long time and maintained their skills is extraordinary."

That really is extraordinary. If only there was something a player could take that could not only slow down the erosion rate, but make you stronger as well.

While Rodriguez's name has not yet surfaced for failing a 2003 drug test (we might have to wait a couple of days) he was once implicated by a man who has been surprisingly accurate with his accusations to date.

So now, not only do we have to figure out which records are "real" and which ones are "chemically enhanced", but now someone has to explain to me why on some days we admonish steroid users and on other days we congratulate them?

Raise Your Hand If You've Used Steroids

The day that everyone knew was coming is finally here. According to the New York Times, Sammy Sosa failed a drug test in 2003. Another one of baseball's stars have crashed and burned.

It's said that society likes to build people up just so we can tear them down, yet baseball's biggest stars have not needed our help. The news today was predictable, expected, and doesn't register on the shock meter. Sosa is just the latest to fall in this house of cards, joining the man who helped baseball's resurgence in 1998.

I'll never forget the summer of '98, when Sosa and McGwire pushed each other in pursuit of Maris, it was absolutely captivating. Now it's equivalent to when I was a kid and my grandpa used to pull half dollars from behind my ears. I'm wiser now and I know how it was done, but it was entertaining and I'll always have the memories. Hopefully, someday in the very near future, we can all go back to believing in the magic on the diamond again.

Cubs and Sox Washed Out

Tuesday's opener of the Crosstown Classic was postponed due to rain and according to Tribune.com, no makeup date has been announced.

Because of the rainout, Carlos Zambrano will now pitch on Thursday against Gavin Floyd. Ryan Dempster gets the nod for tomorrow and he will be opposed by John Danks.

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Crosstown Classic: It's Like The Playoffs, Only With Less Talented Teams

Today is the calm before the storm as the Cubs and White Sox prepare to start a three-game series at Wrigley tomorrow night. For some strange reason it's not a weekend series. I can't believe that MLB would ever schedule their precious Yankees-Mets rivalry on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but somehow this series gets the shaft. The schedule is surprising considering how many ways this series is like a Cubs playoff series:

- There is a buzz in the ballpark that only the playoffs can rival.

- Tickets are hard to come by.

- Ted Lilly won't get a chance to start a game in this series either.

- Much like the playoffs, this series will only last three games.

Theriot Should Be Fine In Time For White Sox Series

The Cubs were given a scare today shortly after Ryan Theriot drove in the winning run with a single to right field. As the players rushed the field to celebrate, Theriot jumped into the arms of Milton Bradley. Bradley, in yet another moment of lost focus, promptly turned around and fired Theriot into the right field bleachers. Theriot is listed as day-to-day.

Gerald Perry Is The Fall Guy

The Cubs fired Gerald Perry Sunday morning and hey, what do you know, they won a game. One probably has nothing to do with the other, but Jim Hendry felt somebody needed to take the grenade. Such is life as a hitting coach. Last year he was the coach of one of the best offenses in baseball and they didn't exactly fall all over themselves signing Perry to a long term deal. This year, he was presiding over an awful offense and he didn't even make it until mid June. It makes you wonder though, if Perry got the axe for an early bad stretch of offense, how in the hell did bullpen coach Lester Strode keep his job into June?

Don't Forget To Breathe

Let's just all take a deep breath, shall we? I know that a lot of people are upset with Milton Bradley and rightfully so, but let's try and remember that his bonehead play didn't cost the Cubs the game. For that matter, it didn't even cost them a run. What's really bothering me now is how the mainstream media is covering this. Yes, Milton had a brain cramp and lost track of how many outs there were. He also had a brain cramp and ran into an out at third, something we've seen players on this team do a lot. It's a mental error, that's it. Please stop comparing it to when he got suspended earlier in the year. Please stop comparing it to when Bradley hurt his knee while arguing with an umpire. Please stop comparing it to his incident with a fan at Dodger stadium.

In fairness to Bradley, he has been a real stand up guy about the whole thing. He stood at his locker and faced the media when the easier alternative would have been to duck out without talking to anyone.

"These people have high expectations, and I have high expectations for myself," Bradley said. "I've never made a mistake like that in my life. Sue me."

"I just made a mistake. I've never had that happen before. I guess I'll be in the bloopers with Larry Walker now. There are worse people I could be with."

You can talk about what a bad signing this was all you want, how you always preferred Raul Ibanez or Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu instead. It doesn't matter, and I won't believe you anyway. The fact of the matter is, Bradley is our right fielder and will be for sometime, and the Cubs aren't going to win anything until he turns it around. If he happens to turn it around in time to have a big series in next weeks Crosstown Classic, nobody's going to remember this happened anyway.

Peavy Says "If I Can't Play For The Cubs, Then I'm Not Playing!"

Jake Peavy, in an attempt to show his unhappiness with the Padres, has finally faked an injury in order to get out of playing for San Diego. Despite numerous statements by Peavy expressing his desire to play for the Cubs, San Diego GM Kevin Towers has yet to make this happen. Peavy will now sit out for at least the next month while faking an ankle injury according to MLB.com.***

***What I said is all true, don't even bother clicking the link.

X Marks The Dumbass

Ah, home sweet home. The Cubs opened up their 9-game homestand about as crappy as they ended their recent 8-game road trip. For the first time all year, Randy Wells has nobody to blame but himself. Well, maybe some terrible offense, dumb baserunning and laughable defense contributed somewhat. In a game full of just about everything, here's the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good: The Cubs offense exploded for 4 runs. O.K. That's not really an explosion but if they had done that on the recent road trip, that would've been good enough for six wins.

The Bad: Just about everything else. While they did score 4 runs, they did so on a measley 6 hits. Wells had his first bad outing of the year and the Cubs hitters struck out 12 times while only walking once.

The Ugly: Milton Bradley scored his first hat trick as a Cub. He made a terrible baserunning mistake in the 6th inning, running into an out at 3rd on a ball hit right at the thirdbaseman. In the 7th, he lost a flyball in the sun, but he topped it all off in the 8th. With two on and one out, Mauer hit a flyball to Bradley who caught it (hooray) and then turned around and flipped it into the bleachers (boo).

In all honesty, the bonehead play didn't hurt the Cubs today. The run that scored was going to score on the sac fly anyway and the other runner on base died there. Still, it's a play that could hurt the Cubs down the road. The Wrigley crowd really let Bradley hear it, and deservedly so. Bradley has admitted pressing of late and trying to do too much. Lou has said that sometimes players in slumps try to get it back all in one swing. I can't imagine that Bradley's brain cramp will allow him to settle down and relax now that the fans are even more upset with him then they were last week.

Road Trip Mercifully Ends

How disappointing was this eight game road trip? Let's look at the numbers.

-The starters had a combined ERA of 1.47 during this road trip.

-The Cubs finished the trip at 4-4.

-The Cubs played 5 extra inning games on this trip.

-Their record was 2-3 in those games.

-They outscored Houston 9-5 in the three game series.

-They managed to lose two out of three anyway.

-The Cubs offense scored 28 runs in 88 innings.

-The Cubs offense left 77 men on base.

I think it's obvious what the problem is. The Cubs starters have to stop giving up runs in bunches.

Raul Ibanez Full Of Rage

In today's Philadelphia Inquirer, Raul Ibanez addressed the concern that his incredible numbers this season are the result of him using PED's.

"I'll come after people who defame or slander me," he said before last night's game against the New York Mets. "It's pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there."

"There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother's basement. It demeans everything you've done with one stroke of the pen."

Not only does Ibanez demean a lot of people on his way to making his point that it's not nice to demean people, he also fails to take a step back and acknowledge the elephant in the room. When a 37-year old hitter puts up numbers like never before, it raises eyebrows in this era, rightly or wrongly. While every fan is rooting for the feel good story, we are also quietly bracing ourselves for another one of our baseball heroes to disappoint us.

Ibanez has every right to defend himself, he has never failed a drug test. But to act hurt and to get indignant with the fans does nothing to assure us, only time can do that. It's a shame that it's come to this...

Larry Rothschild Is A Genius

If you've ever wondered how Larry Rothschild has kept his job through the years even though the Cubs have gone through a couple of managers, the answer is, he's a genius. Look at how he was able to identify Marmol's problem and instantly come up with a corrective measure:

If it sounds like Piniella is short on specific remedies, maybe that's because pitching coach Larry Rothschild said they've run through just about all the applicable fix-it plans.

The one thing they had Marmol start doing during this road trip was use all eight warmup pitches on the mound before starting to pitch, instead of his usual routine of using just half what he was allowed.

Piniella: "Larry, I thought you said you worked with Carlos before the game?"

Rothschild: "I did, we got him throwing 8 warmup pitches instead of 4."

Piniella: "He still looks wild to me."

Rothschild: "I've pretty much done everything I can do here."

Meet Your Newest Cub

With the 31st pick in the first round of the 2009 draft, the Cubs selected Brett Jackson from the University of California Berkeley.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blogging...

A Decade of Drafts

The MLB’s first year player draft is set to get underway tomorrow, so why don’t we take a look back at the Cubs last 9 drafts to get an idea of what we can expect from the new recruits. I went back and listed the first five or so draft picks from each year this decade and then also grabbed some notable names that were selected later. For each pick you can note which round they were selected, where they are this season (along with this year’s numbers) and their fate if they are no longer with the organization.

The Tim Wilken Era

Tim Wilken was brought in as the Cubs’ Scouting Director after the 2005 draft to try to turn around the team’s farm system. He is widely respected within the industry and has been the man at the helm for the last 3 drafts. In the other major sports leagues you hear a lot that 3 years is the point in which you can begin to evaluate a draft class, in baseball that timeframe is extended a bit. It’s hard to draw any conclusions yet about Wilken, but we can only hope that he does a better job than his predecessor, who followed Andy MacPhail to Baltimore. Further explanation why Baltimore seems so desperate to try to make failed former Cubs prospects work. It is said that Wilken and the Cubs currently, as an organization, prefer and emphasize drafting “athletes”. I guess that’s a good thing, baseball is a sport right?

As expected there's been a lot of failed top picks. See for yourself.

2008 Draft

I know I said it was too early to judge, but in my world this is draft was a universal failure since now we have to hear about Brenly’s kid during EVERY Cubs game.

1- Andrew Cashner - P
2009- Single A- 0-0, 1.75 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 22 K, 10 BB
Ranked 4th Best Cubs Prospect by Keith Law
1-Compensatory- Ryan Flaherty - SS
2009- Single A- .241 AVG, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 21 R, 4 SB
2- Aaron Shafer - P
2009- Single A- 4-2, 5.17 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 20 K, 10 BB
3- Christopher Carpenter - P
2009- Single A- 4-2, 4.22 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 24 K, 22 BB
4- Matthew Cerda – SS – Converted to Catcher
2009- ?
5- Justin Bristow - P
2009- Single A- 2-2, 4.88 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 21 K, 10 BB
6- Josh Harrison - IF
Single A - .348 AVG, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 32 R, 8 SB
9- Jay Jackson - P
Double A- 3-3, 3.35 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 48 K, 21 BB,
Ranked 2nd Best Cubs Prospect by Keith Law
15- Casey Coleman - P
Double A- 4-2, 2.91 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 30 K, 21 BB
36- Michael Brenly - C
Single A - .265 AVG, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 12 R
He’s a 36th rounder, stop talking about him!

2007 Draft

The first 2 picks of this draft could help us get Peavy and Harden, I’m cool with that.

1- Josh Vitters - 3B
Single A- .351 AVG, 13 HR, 35 RBI, 35 R, 3 SB
Ranked Top Cubs Prospect by Keith Law- It’s a shame he wasn’t taken a few years ago so he could save us from our Aramis slump this year.
1-Comp- Josh Donaldson - C
Traded to A’s in the Rich Harden Deal – Makes this a good pick
3- Tony Thomas - 2B
Double A- .280 AVG, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 33 R, 5 SB
4- Darwin Barney - SS
Double A - .333 AVG, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 22 R, 5 SB
5- Brandon Guyer - RF
Double A- .174 AVG, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 17 R
6- Casey Lambert - P
Double A - 3-4, 3.62 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 17 K, 14 BB
29- Andrew Cashner - P – Unsigned
As you’ll notice, the Cubs are persistent: They take the guys they couldn’t sign the first time over and over…except for the ones that turn out really good.

2006 Draft

The first Wilken-led draft didn’t give us too many high picks as it was the year of Hendry’s spending spree.

1- Tyler Colvin - LF
Double A - .375 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R
5- Jeff Samurai Ninja - P
Triple A- 2-2, 4.43 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 35 K, 13 BB
Ranked 3rd Best Cubs Prospect by Keith Law – Good value round-wise, but you have to keep that monster contract in mind. It was considered risky by some at the time considering he could’ve chose football, but that is no longer a concern. He made an immediate impact and hopefully he improves on last year.
6- Josh Lansford - 3B
2009- ?
7- Steve Clevenger - SS – Converted to Catcher
Double A - .364 AVG, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 12 R,
8- William Muldowney – P
2009- Single A- Injured
9- Cliff Anderson - CF
Single A - .232 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 6 R
10- Jacob Renshaw – P
Player to Be Named Later in Steve Trachsel deal
13- Matt Camp - CF - Converted to 3B
Triple A- .302 AVG, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 11 R, 2 SB
19- Jeremy Papelbon - P
Double A- 0-3, 4.61 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, 24 K, 9 BB
He’s lefty and doesn’t throw as hard (or as well) as his brother, but as long as he isn’t a Riverdancing douche, I’ll be happy.

Pre-Wilken Era

Around the time the team was dispatching Andy MacPhail and Dusty Baker, they also overhauled the scouting department and inserted Wilken to oversee it. The first 5 drafts of the decade were run by the previous regime. The results are coming in from many draft classes from these years.

2005 Draft

Looking back, it was fitting that this was the last draft of the old guys. It doesn’t appear likely that any player drafted by the Cubs here will make it to the big leagues for them. Veal made it, but he provided no value to the Cubs and probably only is in the majors this early because he was a Rule 5 pick. Makes me wonder if the team was going to force ShamWOW onto the roster as a Rule 5 pick, maybe they should've have brought up Veal and gave him the shot instead. At least he’s lefty…

1- Mark Pawelek - P
Cut this Spring- Signed with Reds
2- Donnie Veal – P
Went to Pirates in Rule 5 Draft – The most recent untouchable prospect that never returned anything.
3- Mike Billek – P
Released in 2007
3- Mark Holliman - P – Unsigned
Selected by Brewers in Rule 5 Draft
4- Dylan Johnston - SS
Single A- .186 AVG, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 18 R
5- Scott Taylor – P
Released in 2008
6- Kyle Reynolds - SS
Double A - .088 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 21 G, 4 R, 1 SB, 0 R
43- Michael Brenly – C – Unsigned
Our first shot at Little Brenly!

2004 Draft

Mitch Atkins seems to be pretty highly touted within the organization, but we all know that means nothing. We’ve seen a few of the others in the majors, and a couple of them helped net Harden.

2- Grant Johnson – P
Released during Spring Training
3- Mark Reed - C
Double A - .100 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI,
4- Chris Shaver – P
Released in 2008
5- Adrian Ortiz - CF - Unsigned
6- Tim Layden – P
Released in 2008
7- Mitch Atkins - P
Triple A - 3-7, 7.73 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 60 K, 25 BB
8- Eric Patterson - SS
Traded to the A’s in the Rich Harden Deal
9- Walter Norwood - 1B
Released in 2007
10- Sam Fuld - CF
Triple A - .253 AVG, 6 HR, 20 RBI, 37 R, 10 SB
12- Sean Gallagher - P
Traded to the A’s in the Rich Harden Deal
16- J.R. Mathes - P
Triple A - 7-4, 2.95 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 21 K, 6 BB
19- Micah Owings - P – Unsigned
2nd Micah drafted in a 3 year span

2003 Draft

This draft gave us Marshall which makes him the most recent of all Cubs draft picks to provide regular contributions to the team. Not a very good draft, but it could’ve been amazing had they somehow been able to sign Lincecum and LaPorta. LaPorta’s draft position makes it look like the Cubs thought they had a chance to sign him…Lincecum, not so much.

1- Ryan Harvey – CF
Released during Spring Training
3- Jake Fox - C
Triple A - .424 AVG, 17 HR, 51 RBI, 41 R
Currently with the Big League Club, greatest Triple A hitter ever, also known as the Lefty Micah Hoffpauir
4- Anthony Richie – C
2009 - ?
5- Darin Downs – P
Released in 2008
6- Sean Marshall – P
Currently with the Big League Club
7- Kyle Bower - OF
8- Matt Lincoln – P
Released in 2003
9- Andrew Larsen – SS - Unsigned
10- Casey McGehee - 3B
Released after 2008
14- Matt LaPorta - C - Unsigned
24- Sam Fuld - CF
Triple A - I don't feel compelled to list the stats of...the MIGHTY Sam Fuld!
48- Tim Lincecum - P - Unsigned

2002 Draft

Lots of high picks in this draft, not too much to show for it. Rich Hill looked like a great pick until everyone realized he is scared of the majors.

1- Luke Hagerty – P
Selected by Orioles in Rule 5 Draft
1- Matt Clanton – P
Released in 2003
1- Bobby Brownlie – P
Released in 2007
2- Chadd Blasko – P
Released in 2007
3- Justin Jones – P
Traded to Twins in Nomar/Murton deal
2- Brian Dopirak - 1B
Released in 2008 - The Original Micah Hoffpauir
4- Billy Petrick – P
Released in 2008 – Briefly
5- Matt Craig – SS
Released in 2008
4- Sam Rick – C
2009 - ?
4- Rich Hill – P
The ultimate 4A player
Traded to Orioles for infamous Player To Be Named Later
5- Shawn Scobee – CF - Unsigned
6- Christopher Walker – OF
Released in 2008
9- Adam Greenberg – RF
The one pitch wonder
13- Micah Hoffpauir – RF
Poor Micah has been blocked by DLee for years and that doesn’t look to be changing.
14- Rocky Cherry – P
Traded in Steve Trachsel deal
22- Taylor Teagarden – C - Unsigned
38- Randy Wells – C – Converted to Pitcher
If he were eligible, he is the man with the lowest ERA in the majors. He is also tied for the least amount of wins in the majors.

2001 Draft

This was also the year they originally signed Felix Pie into the organization. This was a monster draft, by far the best of the decade. Unfortunately it didn’t shake out as planned.

1- Mark Prior
Sad.
2- Andrew Sisco – P
Taken by the Royals in Rule 5 Draft
2- Ryan Theriot – SS
The Riot was a second round pick? Then why is everyone always saying he had to prove everyone wrong and no one believed in him?
4- Ricky Nolasco – P
Traded in Juan Pierre Deal – Great season for the Marlins last year, this year so far, not so much.
5- Brendan Harris - 2B
Traded to the Expos in the Nomar/Matt Murton deal
6- Adam Wynegar – P
Released in 2003
7- Sergio Mitre – P
Traded in Juan Pierre Deal
8- Warren Hanna – C
Released in 2002
9- Alan Bomer – P
Released in 2002
11- Geo Soto – C
The Transformer took a while to get here, but he made an impact when he did. Whatever happened to that guy?
14- Khalil Greene – SS – Unsigned
Eww.

2000 Draft

Not too many of these guys directly helped the big league squad, but via trade this class was crucial to the 2003 playoff run.

1-Luis Montanez – OF
Cut by the Cubs in 2006, now in the Majors with the Orioles
2- Bobby Hill – SS
Player to Be Named Later in Aramis Ramirez/Kenny Lofton deal – Thanks Pirates!
3- Aaron Krawlec – P
Released in 2003
3- Nick Jackson – CF
Released in 2006
4- Todd Wellemeyer – P
Traded to the Marlins for 2 guys that never did anything, then cut twice more before catching on with the Cardinals
8- Dontrelle Willis – P
Traded to the Marlins in part of the deal to get Clement and Alfonseca
11- Jon Leicester – P
Made it to the big leagues in 2004, and then released after 2005
14- Jason Dubois - OF
Triple A - .306 AVG, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 17 R
Spent some time in Cleveland, he’s back in Iowa mashing.

Others Currently in the Minor League System- Acquired

Above, you can get a feel for how the Cubs farm system is currently stocked and any prospects that might be on their way. Just to give you a fuller picture, here some of the other guys rounding out the minors that the Cubs didn’t select in the draft, but acquired through other avenues.

Chris Robinson - C
Neifi Perez Trade
Triple A - .353 AVG, 1 HR, 26 RBI, 16 R, 6 SB
Brad Snyder - RF
Claimed off Waivers last September, Indians 2003 First Round Pick
2009- Triple A- .319 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI, 16 R
Kevin Hart - P
Acquired for Freddie Bynum
Triple A - 1-3, 3.43 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 45 K, 14 BB
Jeff Stevens - P
Acquired in Mark DeRosa Trade
Triple A- 0-2, 1.67 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 22 K, 16 BB
Josh Gaub – P
Double A - 2-1, 3.32 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 32 K, 14 BB
Acquired in Mark DeRosa Trade
Chris Archer – P
Single A – 2-1, 1.76 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 53 K, 26 BB
Acquired in Mark DeRosa Trade
Jose Ascanio
Acquired for Will Ohman - Punch in the face is part of the makeshift bullpen for now
Greg Reinhard - P
Triple A – 1-1, 3.28 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 46 K, 13 BB
Acquired for Jae Kuk Ryu
Triple A - 1-1, 3.48 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 43 K, 12 BB
Esmailin Caridad – P
Triple A - 3-7, 4.68 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 46 K, 23 BB
Signed in 2007 - Ranked 5th Best Cubs Prospect by Keith Law
Marcus Mateo – P
Double A - 1-3, 5.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 20 K, 18 BB
Acquired for Buck Coats
Kyler Burke – RF
Single A - .261 AVG, 7 HR, 41 RBI, 46 R
Acquired in Michael Barrett Trade.

Lee Thinks Cubs Should Honor Sosa

Derrek Lee weighed in on the Sammy Sosa for the Hall Of Fame subject in today's Chicago Tribune:

But first baseman Derrek Lee believes the Cubs organization should pay tribute to Sosa with a day in his honor after the retirement becomes official, as it did with Greg Maddux.

"I think he carried this franchise a long time," Lee said. "I think it would be fitting. Obviously he has had the [steroid] allegations against him, but nothing has been proven. I think you have to do something for him. "The guy was the franchise for a long time, put up Hall of Fame numbers, and put fans in the seats."

So what do you think? Should the Cubs have a "Sammy Sosa Day" and invite him back to Wrigley? Vote in our new poll in the sidebar.

Bradley To Miss Anywhere From 2 to 14 Games

According to Gordon Wittenmyer:

"The Cubs got the report on Bradley's strained calf just before game time, learning that the MRI showed a strain not severe enough to necessarily require a disabled-list move but not mild enough to assure he'll only need two or three days to recover."

Thanks for that helpful update Gordo.

Sammy Sosa Set To Announce His Retirement

According to ESPNdeportes.com (I'm an avid reader), Sammy Sosa will soon announce his formal retirement from baseball. Apparently, Sammy was the last one to know that he wasn't still playing.

When he's not speaking in front of Congress he's pretty easy to understand. Here's what he had to say about his legacy:

"Everything I achieved, I did it thanks to my perseverance, which is why I never had any long, difficult moments [as a baseball player]. If you have a bad day in baseball, and start thinking about it, you will have ten more," said Sosa.

"I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don't I have the numbers to be inducted?"

While I certainly think he has the numbers, I also think it may be quite some time before he is inducted.

It's Official: Cubs' Bullpen Hates Randy Wells

How do you turn a sure-fire win into a loss? Just walk out of the dugout and point to the Cubs' bullpen. It really doesn't matter who comes out, the result is usually the same. That's exactly what happened to Randy Wells again on Tuesday night, something he is becoming all too familiar with. Wells now has a sparkling 1.69 ERA in his 5 starts with the Cubs and still has not scratched the win column in 2009. Welcome to the Cubs Randy, better get used to the kicks to the groin.

After flirting with a no-hitter through 7 innings, he left in the 8th after allowing 1 earned run on 2 hits. The Cubs' bullpen took care of the rest. Marmol and Gregg combined to allow 4 runs to come across while allowing a grand total of 1 hit. 1 hit! Of course, the one hit was a 2-out, 2 run homer by Jeff Francoeur to send the game to extras. Angel Guzman came in to work a perfect 10th, and by perfect I mean he gave up 1 hit and 2 walks but hell, no runs. Lou finally decided this game had gone on long enough and he brought in Heilman to end it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009 Cubs' Bullpen: Where wins go to die...

June Is Going To Be Fun!

I’m having trouble understanding what’s going on below, which I pulled from Cubs.com.

From the headline and the comments below the headline, it appears to be all centered around a look of what is ahead for June, which makes sense since it is the start of the month. But then the picture they post is of the whole team celebrating with Aramis and the caption is that the team is looking forward to rallying around Aramis’ return. As we all know (and which if you open the article, it clearly states itself) Aramis isn't coming back until July.

So as a Cubs’ fan here is what you get to look forward to in June: Still no Aramis!!! Buy tickets now!

I would have expected this is what they would post a month from now when they are doing their July preview. Apparently the Cubs Marketing Department really misses Joe Camel…

At Least 592 Stupid People Read The Tribune

The Tribune has a poll on their website today asking which outfielder would you bench first. The results are staggeringly ridiculous:



Also note the misspelling of Kosuke Fukudome's name, you know, the guy everyone wanted to run out of town last year but is apparently this year's fan favorite.

Despite this stupidity, Soriano is still towards the top of yet another poll.

**Edit**- I just checked again and there are now 1,142 votes for Soriano, 45.4% of the vote.

Randy Wells A Safe Bet?

In today's Chicago Tribune, Dave Van Dyke has a piece about Randy Wells and his conversion from catcher to pitcher. He tells us about the day that Wells had his first bullpen session and his catcher was Jake Fox. Van Dyke then says:

"Both he and Fox are now with the Cubs, although neither is a catcher anymore. But it is safe to say that the career of the 26-year-old Wells looks much brighter than that of Fox."

Considering that Jake Fox had an OPS of 1.389 with 17 home runs and 50 RBI in 40 Triple-A games this season, I'd say that Van Dyke has some high expectations for Randy Wells.

Forgetting Sean Marshall

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Sean Marshall is making his long debated move to the bullpen. After easily winning the Spring Training battle for the 5th starter spot over Aaron Heilman and Jeff Samurai Ninja (who both openly campaigned for the spot), it appears he will be the team's lefty reliever for the foreseeable future. Marshall has made eight starts on the year with three bullpen appearances and has had mixed results in the season's first two months.

Until crapping his pants in the first inning of last night's nationally televised game Marshall has been solid for the most part. After yesterday's outing his ERA is now up to 4.73. The good news for Marshall is that he has a 31/14 K/BB ratio, which makes him a god among men when it comes to our bullpen. Look for that to change as soon as he takes a seat in the infected and highly contagious Cubs' bullpen.

We should point out that Marshall will be moved as soon as Harden is ready to return from his DL stint...which means Marshall might see another 12 starts before the demotion takes effect. To his credit, Lou acknowledged that it was the lack of the bullpen lefty that caused the move rather than a lack of faith in Marshall's ability to start. Filling in for the rotating injured and suspended Cubs pitchers, Randy Wells has pretty quietly been lights out. Marshall's blow-up last night coming at a time where Harden is (scheduled to be) coming off the DL gives the perfect opportunity for Lou to make the switch he's probably been waiting to make, without it looking like sour grapes. Unfortunately for the lefty David Patton, Jason Waddell, his stint in the majors appears to be short lived.

Hopefully this is the final nail in the coffin to this man's (and his mullet's) career with the team.