While the St. Louis Cardinals have been making moves of late, and the Milwaukee Brewers continue to look for another starter, don’t expect the Cubs to make a big splash at the trade deadline on Friday, July 31.

But don’t fret, Cubs fans. We don’t really need a whole lot of help. In fact, our most pressing needs are to get healthy and to continue to get improved play from the big guns. Read the rest of this entry »

I’d like to introduce you to someone. His name is Ryne Sandberg. Yes, that Ryne Sandberg. Yet, no, not that Ryne Sandberg.

For you don’t know this Ryne Sandberg. This Ryno is charging, my friends.

Ryne Sandberg, who seldom, if ever, had a thought as a Cubs player, seems to really have found his personality since ending his playing days. Read the rest of this entry »

Cubs and White Sox fans have a unique love-hate relationship. Basically, we love to hate each other.

Oh sure, I know there are the so-called “Chicago fans”, and while I’ve never really understood not having an allegiance to one team or the other, I do know a good baseball manager when I see one.

That manager would be one Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios.

I have tried awfully hard to never let the die-hard Cubs fan in me cloud my ability to be objective.

Sox fans who have been spoiled by the success of the 2005 team may ask, “what has Ozzie done for me lately?”

Read the rest of this entry »

In the spirit of David Letterman, I present to you the Top 10 signs that your favorite baseball team might not be winning the World Series any time soon. As a Cubs fan, I am all too familiar with the warning signs, unfortunately, so I know what I’m talking about.

WARNING: This list is NOT politically correct, so if you can’t take a joke, then do yourself a favor and don’t read this. But if you can laugh at life, then please enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

I know that this is a Chicago Cubs blog, but with the amazing play from the Chicago Bulls, I felt it would be necessary for any Chicago blog to include at least one article of coverage, so here is a piece I wrote for Bleacher Report about the amazing Game 6 of the Chicago Bulls-Boston Celtics series, one of the best of all time.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. I can say that a million more times and it won’t capture the excitement I had last night after watching another great game in part of the most intense first round series of all time.

I think that I can say that with some confidence now, after three more overtimes were added on to an already record-breaking amount, and with one more game to go, I can’t find any flaw in this series besides officiating.

But hey, don’t you wanna hear what I think about last nights game, I mean, it was only the best game of the postseason so far.

Joakim Noah, where did you come from?

It seems like just weeks ago I was writing articles calling out your lack of production on all sides of the ball, now you and Tyrus Thomas both are making me eat an entire humble pie.

Where do you get off grabbing 15 rebounds last night and being the center piece of one of the Top 10 Bulls plays of all time?

I’m not going to say I don’t appreciate all of your production this series. Hell, I’m loving it, but where was it all season. At least you know the right place to step up. Read the rest of this entry »

We Cubs fans often think of ourselves as the best baseball fans in the world, and with good reason.

We stay loyal to our team, despite going 100 years without obtaining the holy grail.

But in recent years, Cubs fans have become much more impatient. The tease of 2003, and the 97 victories last season, have left us salivating like Pavlov’s dog for more.

The fact that we’re 0 for our last nine in postseason play isn’t helping to calm our nerves one bit.

We’ve seen this impatience demonstrated in many different ways. Through talk radio, certainly, but more demonstratively at Wrigley Field, where we’ve booed the likes of Carlos Zambrano for his meltdowns and Derrek Lee for grounding all those double plays.

And it’s with this thought in mind that I ask you, the Cubs fans: Which player will be public enemy No. 1 in 2009?

My money is on Kosuke Fukudome.

We need to see an immediate and noticeable turnaround, or the masses will be vocal in clamoring for the hard working Reed Johnson in center field.

But a close second on the enemy list could be Lee. While still a good hitter for average, and a fine defensive first baseman, we’ve not seen evidence of the power that earned him his $13 million per year.

In 2005, Lee hit 46 home runs in 594 at-bats. Since then, he’s hit 50 homers in 1,365 at-bats.

And his frustrating inability to produce hits when they mean something is part of the problem.

I don’t know about you, but if I see one more double play from Lee in the first couple games of the season, I will scream.

And please don’t bore me with how well he hit in the playoffs. I know he hit three doubles and batted .545, but it was the quietest .545 I’ve ever seen.

He made no impact when it counted. Zero runs batted in.

But back to Fukudome for a minute.

After a hot start last year, which resulted in a starting spot in the All-Star game, to say he cooled off after that would be an understatement.

The pricey Japanese import hit only .217 following the break. And he looked foolish in doing so.

His swings made us cringe. He lunged at the outside fastball, which resulted in such an awkward and off-balanced follow-through, it became a joke.

But the joke is on general manager Jim Hendry. He still owes Kukudome $38 million over the next three years. That is why the Cubs are giving him a second chance to show that he is lineup-worthy, platooning him with Reed Johnson to start the season.

But since Fukudome bats left-handed, he will see the majority of the action while Johnson, a fan favorite and solid hitter, will be spending more time on the bench than a sitting judge.

And that won’t sit well with impatient Cubs fans.

Of course, another Cubs player with a target on his back could be Alfonso Soriano. Many fans would already rather see Ryan Theroit or Mike Fontenot bat leadoff, so there’s one strike against Soriano.

His silly little bunny hop is another strike, especially when he drops a fly ball.

The third strike is that, because of injuries and his lack of discipline at the plate, he just doesn’t produce like you expect from a guy making $18 million a year.

We all remember his pathetic performance against the Dodgers last October.

So, while we love our Cubbies—unlike the White Sox “faithful,” who only come out to the ballpark if their team is winning—our tolerance has been tested in recent years.

The confines of Wrigley Field may not be so friendly this year if we don’t get off to a hot start and certain guys don’t perform well.

Here’s hoping for the best for Fukudome and Lee. But if they falter again, hide the children.

They just shouldn’t hear that kind of language, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja

So the Chicago Cubs newest outfielder, and the switch-hitting savior who will take us into the postseason with a vengeance, Milton Bradley, wasn’t always that hurt last year when he couldn’t play.

At least that’s what one could surmise form Bradley’s latest comments to the Fort-Worth Star Telegram.

Here is the damaging quote:

“If I’m being paid, and I’ve got the commitment to me that I give to them, you make more of an effort to be out there every day. When you’re on one-year deals constantly, you’ve got to put up as good numbers as you can. When you have days where you’re not feeling like you can contribute, you’re not going to go out there, because you’re not going to want your numbers to suck. So, if you’re in a situation like I am now, if they want me to go out there when I’m feeling a little banged up, I’ve got no problem doing that because they’ve made the commitment to me.”

So, he was not really that hurt but just didn’t want to mess up his stats since he was on a one-year deal? Well, he may get points for honesty but is that really an advisable thing to say?

From a PR standpoint, something that The Game clearly has never concerned himself with, the comment seems self-serving and portrays him as a selfish player.

Can you imagine A-Rod being this blunt?

“Yes, I took steroids, ever since high school, in fact. And I still take HGH and some designer ‘roids that are undetectable by MLB testing. I knew exactly what I was taking; I did plenty of research and made sure to pick chemicals that wouldn’t bulk me up that much. Am I sorry? Only that I got caught.”

Or should we be glad that we can now expect Bradley to be more available for the Cubs due to the commitment they have shown him?

Look, from the start I thought this was a questionable signing. Mostly due to health concerns, but also because of his volatile personality.

I worry about clubhouse chemistry without Kerry Wood and Mark DeRosa and with a Milton Bradley.

I worry about how the Wrigley Field faithful will treat Milt if he doesn’t perform well or says the wrong thing. Remember, we love our players but we can be a tough crowd at times.

I was at games where Carlos Zambrano was strongly booed.

I attended games when I thought some fans were going to come out of the bleachers and physically assault Jacque Jones.

And Jim Hendry needs this signing to work out, especially since his last two major free-agent deals haven’t worked out so well thus far (Soriano and Fukudome).

Meanwhile, no matter what happens, we are likely going to have Bradley for three years. All he has to do is play in 75 games in 2009 to guarantee the final two years of his three-year deal.

Why did Jim Hendry agree to only 75 games? Does he consider that a fair return on his investment? Is that the break-even point for earning $10 million per year?

Can you imagine going to a perspective employer and telling him you will work less than half of the year for a full year’s pay?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Bradley’s OBP and his edginess may actually be good for a team that was perhaps too nice last year, if that makes any sense. We could use some fire and passion.

But most of all, we need a healthy and productive Milton Bradley. But better watch that third year when he’s on the last year of his deal, come to think of it.

Judging by his comments, he may get the “Blue Flu” a lot in 2011.

-Bob Warja

Pat DeMarco is a new writer for The Daily Cub. He will bring some more experience and insight to The Daily Cub.

With just about half of spring training behind us, I thought it would be a good time to look at the Cubs battle for the No. 5 starter’s job.

The battle for the final starting pitcher’s job is turning into a great battle between Sean Marshall and Aaron Heilman. About a month ago, I wrote an article stating that Heilman won’t succeed as a starter.

Heilman is doing everything to prove me wrong. The 30-year-old has given up just one run in eight innings while striking out 12.

I’m not saying that he should win the spot, but his stuff has been electric this spring. That won’t be ignored. Can Heilman be last year’s Dempster? Time will tell.

Sean Marshall has matched Heilman pitch by pitch this spring. The 26-year old is 1-0 this spring with a 1.00 ERA. Marshall has allowed just 6 hits while striking out 5 in 9 innings.

Heilman has been outstanding this spring, but I still believe Marshall will win the number 5 spot. Then again, I also wrote this article 6 weeks ago.

Both Chad Gaudin and Jeff Samardzija have pitched well in spurts, but it’s doubtful that Piniella will choose them over Marshall or Heilman. If this is truly a wide open battle then Heilman and Marshall are clearly ahead of Gaudin and Samardzija.

It’s very difficult to get a read on players during spring training. That said Marshall and Heilman look like they’re in mid-season form. Marshall is doing a great job of changing speeds and turning his pitches over.

Heilman’s slider is very sharp this spring, and his fastball seems to have much more pop then years past. Both pitchers are keeping the ball down and throwing strikes. That’s a very difficult thing to do in the thin Arizona air.

This great battle for the No. 5 starter’s job will come down to the wire. I give the edge to Sean Marshall but not by much.

-Pat DeMarco

I’ll be honest, I don’t particularly like the more mellow Lou Piniella. I long for a return to the days when “Sweet Lou” was an oxymoron, and not an appropriate description of the man.

Just the other day, Lou got mad about the Cubs losing six straight spring training games. Now that’s more like it. Sure, it’s only exhibition season, but Lou doesn’t want the team to start getting used to losing.

Makes sense to me.

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much of that Lou since he became the Cubs manager Sure, he had that one infamous explosion during the 2007 season, which seemed more like an orchestrated fit than real madness, but it was good theater nonetheless.

And the Cubs performed better afterwards.

Now, I understand enough about the game of baseball to know that having a lunatic as manager isn’t going to guarantee you anything. In fact, it’s not necessarily even a good thing.

For it’s a long season, and a marathon and not a sprint as the cliche goes. So some even-handed temperament is probably in order.

But dammit, part of Lou’s allure is his fiery demeanor and the occasional meltdown. It let his team know he meant business and wouldn’t accept losing.

But the conversion from madman to reasonable guy has been a slow, steady process.

As a player, Lou was so intense he once tore down a fence surrounding the outfield. He routinely destroyed water coolers and other assorted dugout assets.

Then, as a manager, Lou calmed down a bit. Yet early on in his managing career, Lou was famous for throwing the occasional base and wrestling with the occasional relief pitcher.

Maybe it has to do with his advancing age, but Lou slowly got more mellow as time went on. Sure, he still cares about winning and playing the game the right way.

But last Sept. was a perfect example of what was missing from his arsenal as manager.

The Cubs did not play well down the stretch, but instead of kicking them in the ass, Lou made excuses. He even said not to expect the team to go to the World Series.

In short, he did not get the team ready to play postseason baseball. I don’t want to revisit that time, but where was Lou’s intensity then?

After game one of the playoffs, when the Cubs not only lost but played embarrassing baseball, Lou said not to worry.

He wasn’t even worried after the game two loss. The Cubs did not just lose, they played terrible baseball. As they choked away the playoffs, there was simply no sense of urgency from Sweet Lou.

Look, I realize sports teams have won with fiery leaders like Mike Ditka and with laid-back coaches like Tom Landry.

And the players are grown men, professionals who make a ton of money, and they shouldn’t need someone to babysit them.

But teams take their cue from their leader. It’s a fact. The team’s “personality” often reflects the person in charge.

If nothing else, the occasional meltdown will entertain us as fans. As would the occasional win in November.

I want the old Lou back, come to think of it. The only sweetness this town has ever needed was a certain Hall of Fame running back for Da’ Bears.

-Bob Warja