Odds And Ends: Sosa, Rhodes, Twins, Rays, Cubs

If that's your position, Jim Hendry, then screw you because you've just ensured that the Cubs will have yet another losing year. On the other hand, maybe it's good. Now that I know the Cubs have no chance, I no longer have to expend any more emotional energy this season watching their roller-coaster games and fretting. Now I can just concentrate on waiting till next year.

P.S. Jim Hendry, have you been watching the games in the last month or two??? The Cubs are no longer the team they were in April and May. They haven't been for a long time. Sorry, but they DO NOT have the juice or the personnel to win in the playoffs.

This may sound like sacrilege, but maybe the Cubs could trade Lee (plus some minor guy(s)) to get a bigger, MORE CONSISTENT bat from a team that sucks and is looking to rebuild. Lee will never be like he was in 2005. I don't know what happened to him, but he's no longer the slugger that the Cubs need him to be. Oh well, just wishful, angry thinking.

I agree, this team looks dead tired,D-Lee sucks, ARam cant hit water if he fell out of a f------ boat, Fufudummy looks lost.... Im thinking around this time next week the Cubs may be 5 or 6 games behind Milwaukee. CongraS to the Brewers 2008 CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPS! (O yeah I am a Cub fan by the way)

Let me also add Theriot only hits when the bases are empty, Soto looks tired, Soriano why bother! Howry sucks, Marmol is all over the place. They NEED to change something Quick! Hendry needs to make a trade for somebody , maybe trade Cedeno,Hill,Ceda and Vitters to Baltimore for Roberts and Sherrill.

"They NEED to change something Quick! Hendry needs to make a trade for somebody , maybe trade Cedeno,Hill,Ceda and Vitters to Baltimore for Roberts and Sherrill."

I hope you're not serious.

Top Ten Reasons why the Cubs will not win this year (btw, I'm a Cubs fan and deeply want to be wrong in this--permit me the use of this blog to voice my frustrations):

1) Their bullpen is TOTALLY UNRELIABLE (especially the mid-relievers);
2) They can't hit on the road;
3) The Cubs sluggers no longer "slug". Instead, the way they get runs is usually by stringing together walks and singles. When they get to the playoffs and start playing good teams with good pitching, these walks will not be forthcoming and its unlikely a good pitcher will give them 2-3 hits in a row. Thus, they'll score low--and in this type of close game, their bullpen (especially the midrelief and second-string end-men), honestly can't be counted on to keep them in the game;
4) Fukudome needs some rest and retooling;
5) Ted Lilly. He gives up WAY TOO MANY homers for any Wrigley Field pitcher (a situation made worse by the fact that if he's taken out in the middle of the game, the relievers put in will make matters only worse). If the Cubs go to the playoffs and play big homer hitting teams (especially in Wrigley), the Cubs are screwed. Lilly would be better suited to playing in a home park that has a deep outfield and no wind;
6) Pinella is stubborn and will never change the 3 & 4 spots in the order (or will move Soriano out of the leadoff position and, perhaps, make him the three hitter). No matter how much Lee and Ramirez may struggle, he will never move them;
7) Lee and Ramirez spend a hell of a lot more time "struggling" then they do "getting hot";
8) Pinella refuses to give Hoffpauir a chance to show his stuff (and he does have stuff). He'd much rather have a guy like Ward pinch-hit his way into a strikeout then give this potential star a chance;
9) Soto isn't given enough rest;
10) If the Cubs are going to win their games by playing more "small ball" than hitting homers like the White Sox, they need to play "small ball" to the hilt. You know like bunt more, do squeeze plays, try to steal more frequently, etc. Yet, little of this is ever done. A couple of starts ago Lilly was up to bat with 2 outs and a guy on third. Did Pinella tell him to bunt? Nope. I guess he thought a big slugger like Lilly had a better chance of getting a hit or a sac fly. Sigh....

The Cubs should try to sign Bonds. He's desperate and willing to be paid the league minimum, and if it doesn't work out, no biggie. He would be no worse than Ward as a pinch-hitter, and even if his reflexes aren't all that good anymore, he still has an intimidation factor that may psyche out many pitchers.

Hendry, get another reliever, and then go out and hire a sports-hypnotist (or Tony Robbins) to convince the Cubs players that there's absolutely no physical reason they can't win on the road.

I really hope you win this year Cubs, but unless you can start playing like you did in the first third of the season, forget it.

As much as I hate to say it, the White Sox have a much better chance to take it all than the Cubs do.

Here's to next year then, Cubs fans. Hopefully some rich, motivated dudes will buy the Cubs in the offseason and proceed to reave the free agent market with Steinbrenner-like cash.

Hey, doesn't Sabathia become a free agent after this season? How about big sluggers?

Signed,
1984 flashback traumatized Cubs fan

you know what? screw all you so called cubs fans. The season is very long, and just because the cubs are slumping now doesnt mean they wont find their way back on track.

But there is a typical cubs fan for ya, already saying the season is over when the team is tied for first and still has another 2 months of the season left, you all disgust me.

I think we all know how this story ends... After all, we're all "so called cubs fans"

Up yours "EdmondsforMVP", what are you, 15 years old? I've seen the horror of 69, 84 and 03 first-hand, in the ballpark. And 70, 77, 89 and 04 were pretty damn hard to take, too. A long-time Cubs fan has plenty of reason to panic at the first sign of problems, because it's all we've seen for decades. So STFU.

i think all the cub-haters are jsut jealous! they will make the playoffs and win! Dont hate cuz the cubs are good..well i have to go to Wrigley for the game now, so bye..trust me the W flag will be flying today!

"w"- GO CUBBIES

The Cubs fans have been traumatized and heartbroken for 100 YEARS by their team. THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT IN THE WORLD TO BE ANGRY WHEN THE CUBS START PLAYING LIKE CRAP, AND THE BIG PLAYERS CAN NO LONGER PRODUCE LIKE THEY'RE BEING PAID BIG BUCKS TO DO! EdmondsForMVP, it's blind Cubs fans like you that are one of the reasons for the Cubs sucking so much. The owners love fans like you, because no matter how bad the team plays, people like you will come and eat up whatever scraps they throw in your direction. I've been traumatized by this team more times than I can count, and I'm friggin' tired of it (and if I could be a White Sox fan I would--but that would be like joining a low class, thuggish street gang).

The Cubs aren't just going through a slump. What the Cubs are suffering now has been going on since the beginning of the year (though not as severely), and could be seen by any fan who has watched all the games and has been able to stay objective. The prob is except for Wood/Marmol, the relievers SUCK, and the big guns of the team, Lee/Ramirez, can't slug or stay consistent.

I think the Cubs still have a chance to win, but for this Hendry WILL have to make a move before the deadline. At the very least they need another RP (a consistent one, not some chucklehead who can't help but walk the lead off man or throw a homer). Also, if they could perhaps trade Lee and/or Ramirez for a stud with a bigger bat, that would be key too, but this is just wishful thinking and Hendry has a fool's faith in these two that simply hasn't been merited in a long time.

GO CUBBIES (and start calling for reinforcements because Milwaukee's about to flank our asses)!!!