Sniffle Sniffle

By: Clay

Hey Cubs fans, let's learn from this. We fall in love with players too quickly, as does our management and front office.

We placed Zambrano on a pedestal after the 2006 season when he posted monster stats, finished 5th in the Cy Young voting, won a Silver Slugger and became an All-Star for the second time. Big Z's 2006 stats look like this: 16-7, 214 IP, 3.41 ERA, 210 k's. Following the 2007 season, Z received a nice fat contract and hasn't done shit since. But we thought he was worth it because of what he did that season. Now, we couldn't get rid of him quick enough. We always excused his behavior by saying, "Oh, he's just a competitor. He wants to win". Well, I don't believe that's all. This guy has got some serious problems that aren't gonna be resolved by suspensions or trades. He needs some mental help and he needs it as a clause in a contract for any future employment. Or maybe just a prescription for Lexapro.

Apparently the current Cubs roster, the clubhouse is more relaxed and free of tension. So I doubt they would want to welcome him back if he does return. One option that could work is to trade Zambrano to San Francisco for Barry Zito. The Giants would also have to send about $46MM to help cover Zito since he is under contract through 2013. And I CLEARLY remember Cubs fans, including myself, hoping that Zito would sign with the Cubs after the 2006 season. At this point both guys are back end of the rotation guys.

They are a few other scenarios that could work out and you can read them here(http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/08/unloading-carlos-zambrano.html).

As much as I would like to win with Zambrano, it just can't happen. The Cubs had a window of opportunity to with with the core group of Z, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome from 2003 to 2008. The window has closed on these guys. Some have moved on, other remain because of unmovable contracts and poor performance. We have to move on from these guys. Let's build around Starlin Castro, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol and Matt Garza before it's too late. We can't keep this bad contract shit up and we sure as hell don't want to be the Yankees by keeping guys around years after they should have retired (Posada, Jeter, Rivera...).

I don't really now what to say. Same Old Shit. From me. From the Cubs players. From the front office. From the Fans. I don't know why we bitch about it. Apparently we like the misery because we aure as hell aren't doing anything about it.

We choked in 2003, underperformed in 2004, had the league MVP in Derrek Lee in 2005(I will NEVER let that go), and then laid too big, stinking piles of shit in the 2007 and 2008 playoffs...with basically the same core group. See? There i go feeling sorry for myself. Thank Science it's football season. I'm in the mood to watch the Bears O-line give up a handful of sacks each game and see some kickoffs go out of the endzone. Well looky there, more things to bitch about.

Rebuild or Compete...How About "Commit"

As I sit on the pot, I can't help but wonder what exactly the Cubs are going to do this season, in preparation of next season. By signing Carlos Pena and trading for Matt Garza, the Cubs showed they were going to make an attempt to compete this season. Hendry and Ricketts believed the 2011 NL Central to be a winnable division for the Cubs. I'm begining to think not.

Rather than a half-assed attempt, I would have much rather seen the Cubs play Soriano in right and at second in hopes to improve his trade value to an AL team in need of a DH with some versatility. And i certainly would have liked to have seen more playing time for Tyler Colvin. Why not play the guy as much as possible and see what production you can get out of him. It worked for Starlin Castro and is working for Darwin Barney.

I understand that the contracts for Fukudome and Soriano are so bad that they are unmoveable. Now, this is partly Hendry's fault and partly the player's fault. At the time of each contract signing, I was pumped and excited thinking about what these two could help bring the Cubs. What I (and Hendry) didn't expect was for Soriano and Fukudome to both be so damn awful at times that it could actual cost the team wins.

Granted, the Cubs organization has made some bad moves over the past few years and alot of fans are calling, and have been some time, for Jim Hendry to be fired. I don't agree. Hendry cannot predict if a player is going to live up to his contract. Everything Hendry has done for the Cubs has been with the purpose of creating a winning team. He put together the back to back division champs a couple of years ago. First time the Cubs went back to back since the 1907 and 1908 seasons. Hendry has commited to winning.

Ricketts, on the other hand, had committed to rebuilding. And yet, he gives Hendry to green light to sign Pena and trade for Garza. Please fellas, agree on one thing. Win now or rebuild. Don't half ass this Pujols/Fielder free agency period.

I'm starting to wish the Reds or Brewers would just run away with the damn division so the Cubs can start working in these younger guys. We need to see what we have left for 2011 that can help ultimatly bring a championship to the north side in the coming years.

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