In the first inning, the White Sox were able to put four runs on the board, mostly thanks to Carlos Quentin’s three run homer that brought in Alex Rios and Paul Konerko.

Zambrano was noticably livid heading into the dugout, the episode ending in being taken into the clubhouse by Lou Piniella and Alan Trammel and being taken out of the game.

ESPN is now reporting that Zambrano has been suspended, but they don’t have information on how many games the suspension is.

The altercation overshadowed another outstanding performance by Jake Peavy on the White Sox, who went seven scoreless innings, bringing his consecutive scoreless inning total up to 21.

As for the Cubs, the bullpen did a great job of stopping the bleeding, only allowing two runs throughout the next eight innings. Tom Gorzelanny was fantastic allowing just one run over the next three and a third innings.

The Cubs bats were silenced as they only had six baserunners throughout the game. Meanwhile, the White Sox were able to score six runs on seven hits and two walks.

The White Sox now lead the crosstown rivalry 3-1 on the season, and the Cubs are going to have to win these next two games to pull off another tie on the season.

It is going to be tough, however, as the White Sox have won 10 strait games since losing the series finale to the Cubs in their last meeting, going 14-1 over the last 15.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are nine games below .500 and are 2-4 over their last six.

I’m Joe W.

On a night when we learned that Carlos Zambrano will be returning to the starting rotation shortly, a different Carlos was able to steal the show by pitching six scoreless innings before allowing a two-run home run without recording an out in the seventh and being taken out.

After going 2-9 in an 11 game stretch, the Cubs have been able to pull off three strait wins after taking the finale against the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates and sweeping a two game series against the Colorado Rockies.

The Cubs were helped offensively by young shortstop Starlin Castro who put the Cubs up 2-0 on a fielders choice in the fourth to help give the Cubs some early insurance on the Rockies.

Then, in the eighth, he knocked in Tyler Colvin, who scored twice and stole his first career base, on an infield single to put the Cubs up 4-2. Later in the inning, the Castro scored on a Ryan Theriot single along with Geovany Soto to give the Cubs the final score of 6-2.

The bullpen, which has been an issue for the Cubs this season, pitched very well last night, allowing just one hit and one walk over the last three innings.

After Silva was pulled, Esmailin Caridad came in and walked Miguel Olivo. Caridad was immediately replaced by James Russell, who struck out two and finished the inning.

Sean Marshall pitched a scoreless eighth and Carlos Zambrano pitched a perfect ninth while striking out two and finally having a good outing in the bullpen.

Zambrano received more good news when he found out later that night that he would be returning to the rotation after a few long relief appearances.

With diminished velocity and poor performances, the bullpen experiment has been a complete failure. The only problem is, who will Zambrano replace?

The starting rotation has been the only positive for the Cubs and the only reasonable suggestion for the Cubs may be to move to a six man rotation. Although there is no definitive ace on the staff, there is also no weak spot in the rotation either.

Adding Zambrano, will likely give the Cubs one of those two things.

Zambrano’s velocity has been his mark in the past, but over the past two seasons his fastball has dropped from the mid 90’s to the high 80’s, reaching the around 90-91 on occasion. Without his fastball, he has lost his edge and hitters are taking advantage.

This season, Zambrano came in laid an egg in the season opener against the Atlanta Braves, getting pulled after just 1.1 innings and allowing eight runs.

That one start, however, was seemingly his only bad start. Over his next three starts before getting put in the bullpen he pitched 18 innings and allowed eight runs. That isn’t ace material, but it’s an ERA of 4.00 through three starts, which isn’t worthy of being put into the bullpen.

Since going to the bullpen, Zambrano has allowed six runs in 9.2 innings, but five of those runs came in two appearances while he has six scoreless appearances.

Zambrano was moved to the bullpen in hopes that he could find his velocity and give the Cubs a legitimate set-up man for Carlos Marmol. It appears that Marshall will be moving into that spot for the remainder of the season.

Although Zambrano is no ace, he will get a chance to prove that he should be a starter when he gets back into the rotation.

It was a great night for Cubs named Carlos, now it’s time to see if guys named Carlos can make a great season for the Cubs.

I’m Joe W.

All was well in Wrigleyville.

Fast-forward to present day and the Cubs are 14-20 and coming off of being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates (14-19) and about to suffer the same fate against the Florida Marlins (16-17) pending tomorrow’s matinee as the Cubs try to stop their four game slide.

So one big question continues to pop up in my mind, as I always love to play the blame game. That question is…

Who is at fault for this horrible excuse for a team that takes the field in Chicago Cub uniforms?

It certainly isn’t Marlon Byrd, who I didn’t expect to repeat his numbers last season, but who is surprising me by playing well game in and game out. He is batting .339 with six home runs and 23 RBI.

It surprisingly isn’t Carlos Silva, who could have destroyed the Cubs every five games. He is 3-0 with a 3.50 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.17.

It isn’t Kosuke Fukudome, who is batting .330 with five home runs and 18 RBI.

Alfonso Soriano? Batting .311 with seven home runs and 18 RBI.

It’s not Tom Gorzelanny. Despite being 1-3 his ERA is just 2.83 and he is striking out 9.86 batters every nine innings.

You can’t blame Carlos Marmol, the up and down pitcher has yet to allow a home run, saved four games in five attempts, and has an ERA of just 0.61 in 14 appearances. He would just love to close out more games for the Cubs but he doesn’t get the chance.

So who are the people that are most deserving of the blame if it isn’t all of these guys who could have easily laid a goose egg this season instead of being the only people playing well?

It’s Ted Lilly. He’s 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA, his second highest since his third season in the pros.

It’s Carlos Zambrano, the “ace” who has pitched so bad this season that he has earned himself a spot in the bullpen. He would be known as the other Carlos if it weren’t for his nearly $19 million salary. If you aren’t happy about your new bullpen spot, try getting your ERA below six.

It’s Aramis Ramirez who is batting just .156 with three home runs and said today that he was his own hitting coach. He may want to fire his hitting coach.

It’s Derek Lee, who must have hired Ramirez as his hitting coach. He’s batting just .220 this season with four home runs.

Although Lee and Ramirez have decent RBI numbers this season, it’s hard not to when you have Byrd, Fukudome and Ryan Theriot in front of them. Those three have no problem getting on base, and would have less trouble scoring if it weren’t for the production behind them.

It’s the defense, which has 28 errors already this season, tying for second with the Detroit Tigers in the entire MLB. This also puts them alone in second in fielding percentage this season thus far.

With every person who needed to play at their best doing just that, you would expect the Cubs to be above .500 and surprising every analyst who expected the Cubs to be a flop this season, instead, every player who was actually expected to play well decided to take the season off.

Sorry Silva, Soriano, Fukudome, Marmol, Gorzelanny and Byrd. You did everything you could to prove your haters wrong. If you keep doing this, maybe those who were expected to play well will use you as an example instead of the other way around.

I’m Joe W.

Here are a few stories that have happened over the past few days.

Aramis Ramirez returns to the diamond

Ramirez has missed some time this spring because of a sore right tricep, but he returned on Tuesday against the Royals as a DH and went 2-3 with an RBI. He hasn’t played since March 13th, but he looked like he hadn’t missed any time in his three at bats.

Lou Piniella wanted to get Ramirez 30 at bats before the season started, but Ramirez doesn’t think that’s necessary.

“I don’t need 30 at-bats,” Ramirez said. “Five more and I’ll be ready to go. I haven’t played in 11 days, 10 days, and I felt pretty good today. I don’t need that many at-bats.”

Although Ramirez missed significant time last season, this injury doesn’t appear to be linked to that one, and there shouldn’t be any cause to worry about Ramirez having injury trouble this season too.

Ted Lilly far ahead of schedule

Piniella expected Lilly to be back by May 1st when he originally hurt himself, but with the way that he has been progressing, he is expected to be back well before then. This would be big for the Cubs starting rotation, as Lilly has had some of the best years of his career with the Cubs.

Although he isn’t going to be making a Cactus League start like originally planned, he will be pitching in the minors this weekend. He is expected to return about halfway through April now.

Tim Kurkjian gives the Cubs a legit chance for the playoffs

Although all of the talk in the NL Central has gone to the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols, the Cubs aren’t looking to just roll over and concede the division, and Kurkjian says that they do have a shot.

He cites Carlos Zambrano’s new health, stability at closer with Carlos Marmol, Ted Lilly returning early, Rudy Jaramillo’s impact on the offense and Kosuke Fukudome making the switch to right field as reasons whey the Cubs should be optimistic for the season.

These are all great reasons why the Cubs, despite making very few changes to to their lineup, should be feeling a lot better this season than they did last season.

Greg Maddux gets rave reviews from Jim Hendry

Although Jaramillo will be helping the offense, Maddux will be working with the pitchers in some capacity, as he works with different people throughout the Cubs organization working on finding a job that he would be able to do in the future.

According to ESPN, Maddux has worked with Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny and Sean Marshall this spring, which could have a big impact this season, as these are four of the pitchers that the Cubs need to step up this season, along with Carlos Marmol.

If Maddux’s impact on the team is as big as Hendry thinks it is, then the Cubs could see big improvements from their pitching staff.

I’m Joe W.

Part one is going to be break down the Chicago Cubs’ pitching, after this article I will be taking on the infield, outfield and bullpen.

The Cubs have been known for having solid starting pitching, and this season should be no different. Here is the expected rotation:

1. Carlos Zambrano
2. Ted Lilly
3. Ryan Dempster
4. Randy Wells
5. Tom Gorzelanny
Others who could start games: Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Silva.

Who Needs to Step Up: Carlos Zambrano

Who Could be the Biggest Surprise: Randy Wells

Looking at what each of these pitchers did last season, the Cubs are seemingly set at the top of their rotation. None of the top four pitchers had an ERA above 4.

However, the Cubs supposed ace of the staff, Carlos Zambrano, was, if anything, the fourth best starting pitcher for the Cubs last season.

His ERA was fourth highest among the five expected starters, and he was just one strikeout away from being third in strikeouts, instead he was second with 152. He also finished fourth in WHIP.

But although the Cubs don’t have a legit ace, they also don’t give opposing teams a break, as none of their pitchers are exactly bad either.

After facing Carlos Zambrano, they face Ted Lilly, who had a 3.10 ERA last season, struck out 152 batters, and had a WHIP of just 1.06.

However, Lilly will likely won’t be back until some time in early May. He is trying to be able to be back in April, but the Cubs aren’t going to risk anything, and if he has to miss an extra two starts to make sure he doesn’t miss serious time, nobody will complain.

This opens up an opportunity for a few Cubs pitchers to try to jump in and take his place. Chances are that Carlos Silva, Jeff Samardzija or Sean Marshall will be the fifth starter for the first month or so.

The Cubs don’t have an especially difficult schedule at the beginning of the season, so although Lilly coming back should be a priority, his health should be a bigger one.

Until Lilly comes back, Dempster will be directly following Carlos Zambrano in the rotation.

Last season, Demster’s stats dropped from his magical 2008, but he was still very impressive holding an ERA of 3.65 and a 1.31 WHIP while striking out 172 batters, leading all Cubs and finishing 15th in the NL.

Randy Wells was a big surprise last season, as he came out of nowhere to tie for the most wins on the Cubs with 12. He also lead all starters with an ERA of 3.05.

If Wells is even close to as good as he was last season, the Cubs will be greatly benefited during the absence of Lilly. However, last season was just his first full season pitching in the majors, but in about 10 major league innings before last season he didn’t allow a single hit.

The favorite for the fifth Cubs position when the rotation is healthy will likely be won by Tom Gorzelanny, who came to Chicago from the Pirates last season.

Despite his ERA being 5.55, he was able to find ways to win, going 7-3. If you look at Gorzelanny’s season last year, you will see amazing inconsistency.

However, when he was able to establish himself, he was outstanding. In every game that he was able to pitch more than five innings, he never allowed more than two runs and went 4-0.

If he can channel what he did in those starts where he pitched a high amount of innings, then the Cubs will be very pleased in the former Pirate.

When looking at the other players who could start games for the Cubs, there isn’t much talent to chose from. There is amazingly over-paid Carlos Silva who is consistently beyond horrible.

Silva belongs in Double-A at best, but his highly inflated contract could keep him floating between Triple-A and the majors.

Jeff Samardzija is another option, and the Notre Dame product has shown some good pitching chops, and although I prefer to see him in the bullpen, he could give some short-term relief as the fifth starter.

Sean Marshall has been good in flashes as a starter through a few seasons, but he has never really gone met his potential despite never really being bad. He hasn’t had an ERA over 4.50 in the last three seasons, and like Samardzija, could be a good short-term option.

Overall, the Cubs don’t have anybody that really stands out in their starting rotation, but they also have very few people who fall into the background.

Although they aren’t anything special, the starting rotation shouldn’t lose the Cubs too many games.

I’m Joe W.

His batting average over the past five games has been a measly .095, and he hasn’t gotten a hit in his last 15 at bats.

However, today, he went 2-5 with one gigantic RBI.

The Cubs started the day locked in an outstanding pitching duel between ace Carlos Zambrano going up against White Sox stud Gavin Floyd.

Neither team scored a run until the sixth inning, as a clinic was put on by both pitchers. However, the White Sox were able to work on a home run by Alexie Ramirez, who homered in each game of this series, and were up 5-1 by the eighth inning.

The Cubs were down to two outs in the eighth when Derek Lee sparked the comeback with a 3-run homer to pull the game to 5-4, a manageable score.

Then, Geovany Soto, who has been batting .188 over the past five games, belted another home run to tie the game with two outs in the eighth inning.

All four runs that were scored in the eighth were unearned runs, thanks to an error, and all were scored against White Sox pitcher Scott Linebrink.

“I didn’t make pitches. You’ve got to make pitches against guys like that — Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto — those guys can hurt you,” Linebrink said. “And the last thing I want to do is go out there and put them in a situation where they can get back into the game.”

The Cubs used their momentum and came into the ninth still tied, and after a Reed Johnson single and Andres Blanco sacrifice, the aforementioned Soriano knocked a two out bloop single to give the Cubs the game with a score of 6-5.

“Truthfully, he’s too talented to have a valley as big as he’s been in. You can have some peaks and valleys, but he’s been in a gorge,” Lou Piniella said. “Look, for us to be a good offensive team, we need Soriano to hit. Let’s be perfectly clear about that.”

The walk-off tied the season series between the Cubs and Sox at 1-1 after the first game of the series was postponed.

The Cubs needed this win desperately after they dropped the first game of the series.

However, all of the Cubs’ problems weren’t fixed with this game, they were just 2-8 with runners in scoring position, an aspect of the game that they have been struggling with as of late.

The Cubs also needed this game to avoid falling further under .500, and with the win, they were able to get back to even at 31-31.

They also avoid falling further behind Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, as they are 0.5 games behind the Reds and four game behind the Brewers for the division lead.

Kosuke Fukudome went 0-3 on the day, bringing his hit-less streak up to 21 at bats.

The win was given to Kevin Gregg, who is 1-1 on the season. The loss was charged to Matt Thornton, who is 4-2.

The Cubs travel to Cincinnati over the next three games for a crucial series that could move them up in the NL Central Division rankings.

-Joe Willett

However, they have struggled mightily this season and they have been unable to live up to the high expectations that accompanied a seemingly unstoppable pitching rotation and batting order.

As of late, the Cubs have been even worse, as they have gone 3-5 in the month of May.  What the problem has been for the Cubs is an inability to be consistently strong.

When they have great offensive days, they have been accompanied with great pitching days, and bad offensive days have been accompied with dismal pitching.

In the Cubs three wins this month, they have scored 7, 10 and 11 runs in each game, but in their five losses, they scored 0, 1, 3, 2 and 2 runs.  Compare that to the 2, 3 and 3 runs allowed in the three wins and the 3, 7, 4, 8 and 7 runs in the losses.

The Cubs need to be able to put together more wins, and that starts with both sides of the ball being held responsible when both sides are dismal in the same game.

One of the main reasons for the Cubs woes so far this season is the awful offensive production by players who were looked at as people who needed to contribute for the Cubs to be strong.

Mark Bradley, who was brought in to give the Cubs a strong left handed bat, isn’t averaging a hit for every 10 at bats, and has hit just one home run in a Cubs uniform.

Derek Lee is hitting just .200 with only one home run so far this season, he also has just 10 RBI’s and hasn’t stolen a base this season.

Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, Geovany Soto, is batting just .111 and hasn’t hit a home run.  This adds to the fact that he has missed five full games this season and has accounted for just five runs (2 RBI’s, 3 runs).

But their hitting isn’t the only problem for the Cubs this season, their pitching has been just as bad, if not worse, than the hitting.

More Cubs have an ERA over 6.00 than one under 3.00 (four to two).

And, the Cubs vaunted starting pitching, which was supposed to be one of the best starting fives in the MLB hasn’t lived up to the hype.

Every starter has an ERA over 3.00 and the Cubs top two pitchers are pitching the worst in the lineup.

Despite a quality start last night, Carlos Zambrano’s ERA is 4.64 and Ryan Dempster’s is 5.40.  This is the opposite of what you want from what was supposed to be one of the best starting lineups in all of baseball.

The two “quality pitchers” in the Cubs bullpen, who were in the heated closing competition all spring, are both having dismal seasons.

Carlos Mamol’s ERA is 6.75, and Kevin Gregg’s is 6.23.  Who knew that Neal Cotts would be having a better season than both of these two.

The only pitcher with over 10 innings pitched and an ERA under three is Aaron Heilman, who has a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings of work.  He also has as many wins as Zambrano, Rich Harden and Ted Lilly, and more wins than Ryan Dempster.

The Cubs need to finally get their stuff together, and they need to start playing up to their full potential.  The Cubs are a team that needs a lot of production out their power spots in the lineup, and they just haven’t gotten that this year.

Without the pitching to make up for it, the Cubs may be in line for a mediocre season without much winning.

Then again, there are 142 games left for the Cubs, and anything can happen.

-Joe Willett

Fresh off of a Blackhawks shutout over the Detroit Red Wings (I had to watch hockey today with my family) the Cubs will try to add another win for Chicago tonight.

I have been pretty dormant lately and I figured I could offer a few thoughts on the Cubs through the first five games of the season.

We are only 3-2 and the start has not been that impressive

Sure, we could easily be 4-1, but that will be talked about a little later. This Cubs team can look amazing (see the eight run first two innings against the Astros) but they haven’t been able to put together a full game yet.

I am a little scared that we haven’t been able to pull together a dominant performance even with the stout pitching and amazing hitting we have on paper.

Milton Bradley may only have one hit, but he has been impressive

If you look at Bradley’s raw hitting, it isn’t too impressive, but when you take into account each time he has walked to the plate, he still almost always finds a way to get get on base.

Despite being one for 16 at the plate, Bradley has an OBP of .318 thanks to five walks and a hit by pitch. He also has scored three runs thus far this season.

Oh, by the way, his one and only hit was a solo home run.

Besides Lilly, the starting pitching has been fantastic

Cubs starters continue to put up quality start after quality start thus far this season.

Carlos Zambrano has started two games this season, pitching 12 inning, allowing four runs, for a 3.00 ERA. Ryan Dempster’s last outing was strong, with six innings pitched and just two runs scored, he had a very successful showing in his season debut.

Rich Harden was lights out in his debut, allowing just one earned run on three hits in six innings.  Harden even struck out a ton, as usual, fanning 10 in an impressive start.

The only bad outing has been thrown by Ted Lilly, who was backed up by 11 Cubs runs, allowing him to avoid the L despite allowing five runs in five innings.

Kevin Gregg scares me as the closer

Listen, he had a great Spring Training, and I am trying to take nothing away from his ability, I just don’t trust him to hold down the fort in the ninth inning.

He has already blown one save this season as the Brewers were able to tear him apart in the ninth inning two nights ago, and the fact that he led the majors in blown saves last year is a big red flag.

I think that Sweet Lou should start throwing Carlos Marmol in the ninth and moving Gregg into the eight inning, everything would probably go a lot smoother and everybody would pitch better under those circumstances.

Kosuke Fukudome anybody?

The man was looked at as a possible major liability to this team, with a monster contract and seemingly not enough talent, the Asian Sensation was seemingly done in the MLB.

Then, something crazy happened, he had a great spring. Then, unlike Gregg above, he brought that momentum into the regular season.

Fukudome is batting over .400 with two home runs, three RBI’s, and one stolen base. More good news for Fukudome, Piniella just announced that he will no longer be lifting the surprise player for defensive purposes.

-Joe Willett

When the Cubs are on, they are one of the better teams in the majors, and that has been shown throughout the spring, even though the players aren’t playing full games.

They have won two of their last three games by over 10 runs (13-2 over the White Sox and 20-5 over the Athletics) which is quite a staggering number, and with players playing longer and longer each game, each of these games become more and more of a prediction of how the season will go.

Carlos Zambrano pitched just two games ago for six innings, striking out six and not allowing a walk in a 5-3 win over the Mariners.

The Cubs are, at the time of this article, 13 days and 20 hours away from their first game in Houston against the Astros, and they are starting to get their players accustomed to playing full games, which is exactly what they are doing.

Cubs players, however, are ready to get to Houston and start playing games that count.  Derek Lee has said that he wants to shorten the current Spring Training schedule, which consists of 39 games.

“I don’t think anybody needs that long to get ready. So it’s nice that soon there’s some games that are going to count,” said Lee of the current Spring Training system.

Sweet Lou Piniella has said that he is getting ready to start shortening his roster, as he plans to have the team down to 30 players by Tuesday, which is when he will start playing his starters with much more frequency.

Piniella has also said that he wants Ted Lilly back to the team as soon as the World Baseball Classic is over, and has him slated to pitch a simulated game the day after the WBC finale.

The Cubs fear that he is falling behind on his workouts and would be better off with the team, Lilly hasn’t pitched since March 17th.

The closer position, which seemed to be suited better for Carlos Marmol, is now looking more wide open, as former Marlin Kevin Gregg hasn’t allowed a run this spring, but the fact that he led the majors in blown saves last year leaves the Cubs weary of handing him the reigns.

A much more slept-upon position battle is for the second catcher spot on the team.  Paul Bako, a former Cub, is back with the team and has plenty of experience, but Koyie Hill is batting over .400 this spring and has looked fantastic.

Piniella has said that he doesn’t feel that the decision on that spot needs to be made anytime soon, however, and he might wait a while before choosing who gets to stay in the majors.

The Cubs are playing well, and they look like they could have a great season.  Are they World Series ready?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

-Joe Willett

For the record, it’s now a 100+ years but the Cubs are expected to play deep into October because they’re one of the most talented teams in all of baseball.  The expectations have nothing to do with their World Series drought.

There’s no doubt that playing for the Chicago Cubs comes with a lot of pressure and high expectations. That said, the 2009 Cubs are as talented as they’ve ever been.

The fans, media, and front office are not asking the Cubs to do something they’re not capable of doing.  The 2009 Cubs have a surplus of talent and very few question marks.  The Cubs could certainly use another left-handed arm in the pen, but that will likely be addressed sometime down the road.

Assuming everyone plays to their expectations and stays healthy, this should be a great season for the Cubs. One through five their rotation is one of the best in all of baseball.

Some will argue the Cubs don’t have a legitimate number one starter.  I tend to disagree with that, I am comfortable with calling Zambrano my number one starter.  With a career record of 96-61, it’s difficult to say big Z is not a number one starter.

For years, number one starters were identified by 20 game winners.  There are very few 20 game winners in today’s baseball. All I know is Zambrano has thrown the ball extremely well in the postseason the past two years, despite going 0-1.

The Cubs pen will miss Kerry Wood, but the addition of Gregg will prove to be a solid addition.  Carlos Marmol and what appears to be a healthy Kevin Gregg are battling for the closer spot.  Gregg has a total of 61 saves the past two years. He struggled mightily last August while battling a knee injury. Gregg is throwing the ball well this spring and appears to be close to 100 percent.

The other option is Carlos Marmol.  Marmol spent much of last years second half as both the Cubs setup man and closer picking up th slack for Wood who was sidelined for over a month with a blister. Marmol had 4 saves while giving up just 12 hits in 35 innings during the second half last year.

Despite winning 97 games in 2008, Cubs GM Jim Hendry went out and made a very right-handed lineup much more balanced.  The moves have been debated all offseason, but the reality is the Cubs went out and spent a lot of money to become much more balanced.  Some have called it careless spending, while others have applauded Hendry for being aggressive.

The Cubs opening day lineup will feature three left-handed bats.  Milton Bradley, Mike Fontenot , and Kosuke Fukudome will likely be in the opening day lineup.  The Cubs will certainly miss the versatile Mark DeRosa, but they’re confident they can get that versatility from Miles.

The switch hitting Miles hit .317 in 2008 starting at third, second, short, and left field. The Cubs will look to Bradley and Miles to replace DeRosa’s offensive numbers.

Bottom line, the Chicago Cubs have one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball.  They have one of the highest paid managers in Lou Piniella, to go along with 10 all stars on their 25 man roster.  If that’s not enough, the Cubs will make another major move at the trade deadline.  While most baseball teams find themselves subtracting, the recession proof Cubs continue to add on.

Other then major injuries, there’s no reason why this team shouldn’t be playing come mid to late October.  There’s a lot of pressure, but that comes with the territory.  This Cubs team can beat you so many different ways.  They can out slug you 10-8, beat you 1-0, or beat you with small ball.

There’s a lot that goes into winning a World Series Championship, but there’s no reason why the Cubs shouldn’t be part of the conversation.

-Pat DeMarco