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.

Although getting rid of Milton Bradley was a great move and took money off the payroll, the Cubs still have a lot of money tied up in two out of the three outfield spots, and they need to start seeing some production from those corner outfielders.

They did make a move to bring in a centerfielder coming off of a career year, and they will need him to produce if they want to be competitive. But he isn’t the only guy that they have their hopes high on, with another free agent outfielder who will back up two out of the three outfield spots and battle for playing time.

Here is a look at the outfield:

LF: Alfonso Soriano
CF: Marlon Byrd
RF: Kosuke Fukudome

Alfonso Soriano comes at the highest price tag, and he has had his moments. He’s hit at least 20 home runs every year he has been with the Cubs, but his total has decreased every year as has his batting average. This season, however, he should be batting sixth all season, which is where he thrived last season.

However, he will need to turn it around a lot this season, after having career lows in average, runs, and RBI in seasons where he played at least 50 games. However, the lows in hitting come slightly surprising as he has done a better job of making contact when he swings this season—the ball just made it’s way to a defensive player’s glove more often than not.

At the other corner outfield position, Kosuke Fukudome has been a big disappointment, especially after he started off so well in his rookie season with the Cubs. Fukudome did a good job of being a more patient hitter while making this hits he did get count.

Although his batting average was nearly identical both seasons, Fukudome took more walks, increased his BB/K ratio, and decreased the amount of times that he swung at pitches outside the zone.

Fukudome also played well in the field when he played right field, and playing there all season should give him stability defensively. The confidence from improved defensive play could give him more confidence at the plate as well.

Marlon Byrd had a career year last season, and he was rewarded with a sizeable contract. But that could work against him in the eyes of the Cubbie faithful. Although he hit 20 home runs and 89 RBI last season, he has never come close to those numbers in any other season of his career.

To expect stats like that would be foolish, and he needs to hope that fans aren’t expecting him to repeat those numbers. Byrd is a good centerfielder and he should give the Cubs some stability at that position.

The Cubs also signed utility outfielder Xavier Nady over the winter, and he should see playing time at both right and left field. Expect him to even battle for a starting spot at right field against Fukudome, as Nady has been better throughout his career than Fukudome has been in his time in the MLB.

Expect Tyler Colvin to also see some time at centerfield. Colvin has had a great spring so far; he robbed Ryan Braun of a home run, he has been batting over .500, and he also has six RBI.

The Cubs have a lot of money tied up in the outfield, and they haven’t had too much production. If they don’t get any improvements this season, it could be another season where tens of millions of dollars were spent for below average play, offensively and defensively.

But maybe Soriano, Fukudome, and Byrd can put together a great season, and we can see some bang for our bucks.

I’m Joe W.

They were, however, able to get rid of last season’s big mistake. Milton Bradley will be ruining the Seattle Mariners this season, after his work of art in Chicago.

However, if you ask Bradley, it was Chicago that ruined him, not the other way around, just ask the wordsmith known as Milton.

“Two years ago, I played, and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good.”

So lets see if Bradley returns to “good” this season, it should be interesting.

However, the Cubs didn’t just get rid of Bradley, they also found a couple of players who will come in and be pivotal to helping the Cubs try to get back to the top of the NL Central.

There will likely be only one starter this season who wasn’t on the squad last season, and that is Marlon Byrd.

Although he is 32 years old, he is the player that we were hoping Milton Bradley to be. He hit 20 home runs last season, drove in 89 runs, and hit for average at .283.

Although you shouldn’t expect another 20 home run season, you can expect his average to stay consistent and he will be solid defensively, which is huge as he will be playing center field.

Another solid free agent signing was Xavier Nady, who will come in and compete with Kosuke Fukudome for playing time.

Nady is historically better than Fukudome, and has shown that he can hit more home runs, drive in more runs, strike out less, and get more hits.

The only thing that Fukudome really has on Nady is the fact that he is a more recognizable name and that he is making twice as much as Nady.

I expect Piniella to split time between Fukudome and Nady, but that is for a different article.

After making big moves in each of the previous three free agent markets, Jim Hendry was quite this off-season and decided to keep largely the same roster that got them 83 wins last season.

Expect a similar outcome this season, but don’t expect a huge drop off either. The Cubs will be competitive, but they won’t be turning heads.

Before the All-Star Break, the Cubs split a four-game series with the Cards. Since the break, however, the Cubs are 8-2. The Cardinals are 4-6 since the break, including losing two of three against the Phillies in their most recent series.

The Cards now go from facing the defending champions to facing this season’s best team, the L.A Dodgers, in a four-game series. The Cubs face the Astros, and have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division.

But what has caused the Cubs recent resurgence?

It starts with the starting pitching staff. Kevin Hart has been Randy Wells II, starting three games and not allowing more than two runs in any start.

With Ted Lilly on the DL, the Cubs will need him to continue playing at a high level, and if he does, then the Cubs may not even need to trade for a starting pitcher. But more on trades later.

Rich Harden has been struggling all season, but in his last three starts, he hasn’t allowed multiple runs to cross the plate. He has dropped his ERA from 5.47 to 4.55 in that span.

However, the pitching staff is not the only reason for the Cubs making waves in the second half.

Before the break, the Cubs scored an average of 4.1 runs a game, since the break, that number has been 5.6.

The reason for the sudden increase in runs has been the revival of Kosuke Fukudome, Milton Bradley, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez.

Fukudome was batting .255 before the break, in the ten games since, he has been batting .382 with an OBP of .477 and an OPS of 1.006.

Bradley was looked at as the disappointment of the century when he came to the Cubs and was essentially awful. However, since the break, he has been better in every facet of the game.

Bradley’s average, OBP, slugging, and OPS have all been at or above league average. However, you can’t look at this as just ten games for him, as these have come after he spent a few days out of the lineup and working with manager Lou Piniella on his swing.

Ramirez wasn’t exactly playing bad before the break, he just was out of the lineup. However, Ramirez has been having a career year in every offensive category that goes by an average.

His return has been a big part in the Cubs recent run, as they are 11-6 since he made his return to the lineup.

Soriano has been streakier than he has ever been this season, and he knows it. But his .444 average since the All-Star Break has been a big part of the Cubs coming back.

“I remember with the Yankees and Texas, I was also [streaky],” he said. “But what’s happened this season never happened to me before. I’ve cooled off for two to three weeks before, but never for a month and a half. That’s the first time in my life.”

But while all these players have been coming from virtually nowhere to make big contributions, the Cubs still will likely need to make a deadline to have a legitimate chance at taking their NL Central lead and turning it into a World Series.

They still have inconsistent bullpen play from most everybody besides Kevin Gregg, and could use another lefty bullpen arm. Despite Sean Marshall’s current 8.2 inning scoreless streak, the bullpen still lacks depth.

Bullpen depth could come with Baltimore Orioles reliever George Sherrill, whom the Cubs have been rumored to be interested in.

Sherrill has a sub-2.5 ERA and has 20 saves this season. A new arm in the bullpen is needed with the Harden, Wells and Hart in the starting rotation, who usually won’t give the bullpen a night off.

However, they are also said to be eying Orlando Cabrera, who can play both second or short stop. Cabrera, currently on the Oakland A’s, also has the Twins interested in him.

Cabrera would make a lot of sense for the Cubs, who could use some middle-infield depth, as Aaron Miles has been struggling in the minors and might not make it back to the majors this season.

Cabrera brings a consistent bat, solid defense, and some speed when he gets on base. He would solidify the infield and give Mike Fontenot a chance to play from the bench, where he thrived from last season.

However, the biggest potential move might not even involve a trade. With the recent signing of B.J Ryan, the Cubs are hoping that he can return to his dominant ways.

He has been working his way through the minors, and has been moved up to the AAA Iowa Cubs roster. Reports are that he has pitched well at every level so far.

“The guy has a good history and has pitched in the ninth inning in huge games,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “We wouldn’t ask him to do that. If it works, he can maybe add to the pen with ( Sean) Marshall.”

Whatever the Cubs do this season, they will need to continue their strong play, as the Cardinals just got Matt Holliday, and they won’t be playing the Phils and Dodgers every game.

-Joe Willett

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

Fontenot went 4-5 with two runs, one RBI and a home run.  Not a bad night for the birthday boy.

But Fontenot’s night was just a footnote on a night when the Cubs were finally able to break out of the funk that they have been in all season and pull out a 7-1 win over the down-trodden Astros.

The Cubs were finally able to capitalize on a strong pitching performance, giving Ted Lilly plenty of room to sit back and pitch without pressure, and he responded well to the run support.

Lilly allowed just three hits, two walks and no runs over six and 2/3 innings.  Lilly’s strong performance was yet another quality start for one of the most consistent pitchers in the Cubs starting lineup.

He also brought a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but had it broken up by Hunter Pence.

The Cubs put up three runs in the first inning, thanks to RBI’s by Kosuke Fukudome, Derek Lee and Geovany Soto to put the Cubs up before Lilly even had to step on the mound.

Ted Lilly led off the second inning hitting a triple, and helped his cause as he scored later that inning off of an Astro error.

Birthday boy Fontenot hit a solo home run the next inning to put the Cubs up 5-0, giving a sizeable lead to Lilly.

The Cubs shut the door on the Astros in the sixth when Andres Blanco hit a ground rule double to right with the bases loaded, bringing in Lee and Fontenot and giving the Cubs a 7-0 lead.

A Lance Berkman home run in the ninth was all the offense the Astros could muster, as they fell to the Cubs 7-1, dropping the first game in this series.

The Cubs were finally able to capatalize with runners in scoring position, a quality that they had been struggling with throughout the season.

Fukudome had two RBI’s and reached base four of six times (two hits, two walks).  Lee had one RBI, went 2-3, walked three times and scored two runs.  Geovany Soto broke out of his funk as he went 3-5 with an RBI.

Astros starting pitcher Brian Moehler pitched his shortest start since he sprained his knee against Pittsburgh.  Moehler pitched just three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits.

The Cubs are now tied for second place in the NL Central, 2.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs play the Astros tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.

Rich Harden is slated to make his return on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.

-Joe Willett

Photo from Associated Press

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

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

However, to move forward, you have to look backwards as well. The Cubs have had yet another busy offseason as they try to finally avoid a first round sweep (last year by the hand of the Dodgers, you gotta hate Manny being Manny).

First lets start with some of the moves that I disagree with. Just to get this out in the open and out of the way, I have to disagree with Jim Hendry on these few moves.

Letting Kerry Wood go was a big mistake in my opinion. The move hurts the Cubs bullpen which was finally getting strong. They could have kept the shutdown rotation of Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood, along with another reliever who will be talked about in a better section.

I just hate losing Mark DeRosa this offseason. He was a great player who everybody loved. The middle of DeRosa and Ryan Theriot just made every Cubs fan warm and fuzzy inside, although I don’t hate his replacement, I still love the player.

Now that we got that out of the way, time to look at some of the better moves to help pump up the 2009 Chicago Cubs.

Re-signing Ryan Dempster was ginormous (the only word I can use to describe his impact) in keeping the Cubs a World Series-caliber team. He creates a triple threat almost unrivaled, and he gave them a great third starter without having to give up everything but the kitchen sink (sorry Jake Peavy…I know you’re reading this).

Another pitching move to help the team is the addition of Kevin Gregg. He is going to allow the Cubs to move Carlos Marmol into the closer spot while keeping a good reliever to help as a set-up man. This still allows the Cubs to be set by the seventh inning.

Making up for the loss of Mark DeRosa, Aaron Miles will be a pivotal part in helping the Cubs offensively this season. He is a guy that can get on base consistently, as shown by his .317 batting average last season, higher than any player last season for the Cubs.

Now it’s time to get to the big signing of the offseason. Two years ago it was Alfonso Soriano. Last year it was Kosuke Fukudome. This year it’s Milton Bradley.

Bradley is going to have to keep his temper in check, which is the same for a lot of major parts of the Cubs team this season (I’m looking at you Carlos Zambrano and Lou Piniella). With all of these moving parts, the Cubs could implode at any point in time this season.

However, we could just as easily make it all work and have a dream season. Who knows, if the Red Sox can do it, so can the Cubs…right?

But anyway, the 2009 Chicago Cubs are looking to become the first team to pull it all together. Nobody likes waiting 101 years for a championship, but these new parts could be ready to pull it all together.

At least, lets hope so, I don’t want to jinx anything this early.

Be ready for the new Daily Cub, and hopefully, be ready for the new Chicago Cubs.

Pitchers and catchers report Friday, and I know that we are all excited, are you ready for some baseball?

-Joe Willett