It sure was a rough first half for the Cubs and no doubt just as rough of a first half for their fans. A 39-50 record has the team down in the standings behind the Cincinnati Reds and 9.5 games out of first place. Is 9.5 games to much to overcome for this 2010 Cubs team? The way they (attempted too) hit the ball in the first half I have a hard time arguing that it is damn near impossible for this team to get back into contention.

So where did things go wrong in the first half? It was the terrible hitting by Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. Both of these “veteran” players should be able to work out of a slump and not have it take three months. I know that players go through slumps during the season, but they don’t last an entire half of a season. Sure Aramis has been battling an injury but that doesn’t mean he can’t at least make contact on the ball. Lee, I don’t know what is going on but swing the bat with some authority and hustle down the line just a little bit more. Both of you guys can learn something by watching the way Marlon Byrd plays the game!

As the Cubs are on the outside looking in, there is a lot of talk about who is going to be traded. It’s hard to tell right now due to the fact that the Cubs have signed some of these “veteran” players to pretty lucrative contracts. What team wants to eat the contracts of Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome etc. Any deal involving those three players will have the Cubs not getting much in return and also eating a lot of that money in the contract. Don’t expect to see Alfonso Soriano mentioned in any trades as he is due way to much money for 97% of the teams to take on.

So who could the Cubs look at trading? My thoughts are Xavier Nady (needs regular playing time), Marlon Byrd (nice contract and I don’t want to see him go), Ryan Theriot (nice knowing ya), and Ted Lilly. I full expect Lilly to get moved as a team in contention would love to add a left-hander of his pitching caliber. I wouldn’t mind seeing Theriot move on and the same for Nady.

My hopes for the second half of the season is that the team just relaxes and has some fun. Oh yeah, and HIT THE BALL. Right now I can’t stand watching a full game the way the offense has been going. Who knows though, a quick five game winning streak to start the second half just might get the fans back into it and more people inside of Wrigley Field. You win seven out of ten games and you just never know what might come of this “lackluster” team we call the 2010 Chicago Cubs…

It’s been a while since I posted a blog entry here and frankly, can you blame me? Watching the 2010 Cubs has been as exciting as watching paint dry and as pleasant as a root canal. Aramis Ramirez is either hurt or mired in a season long slump, Derrek Lee’s perennial “slow start” has extended into late June, the league has figured our Randy Wells, Lou Piniella benches Geovany Soto and his .404 OBP far too often for Koyie Hill and his inferior bat and probably equal defense, and most recently, Carlos Zambrano still hasn’t grown up. Sure, there are bright spots like Carlos Silva and Marlon Byrd, but all in all, the successes of 2007 and 2008 seem like they were decades ago and the Chicago Cubs as they are, are heading down a downward spiral to nowhere. So the question is, what changes need to be made? Here are my thoughts:

Manager: Lou Piniella needs to go. 2007 and 08 were fun years but Lou’s constant awful lineup and in-game decisions are a recipe for disaster when combined with this already struggling team. Whether or not this mess is Lou’s fault, sometimes you just need to fire the manager, and this is one of those times.

C: Geovany Soto is the franchise catcher – and he needs to be treated as such. After an awful sophomore season following his 2008 ROY campaign, Soto’s .264/8 HR/18 RBI season has been more than a satisfactory rebound, yet Piniella continues to almost platoon backup Koyie Hill, who hasn’t had a good stretch with the bat since early 2008, and whose supposed “superior defense” hasn’t been there either.

1B: Derrek Lee has openly made it known that he’d prefer to stay in Chicago, but it may be time for the Cubs to explore other options. Not only have Lee’s power numbers dipped this season (a trend we’ve seen in the past), but his average is down and that has to be a big time warning flag. I’d be for moving Alfonso Soriano to 1B eventually, but now may be too soon, and with little organizational depth at the position (Micah Hoffpauir), hopefully the Cubs will explore the market.

2B: Ryan Theriot has little to no value as far as I’m concerned. He’s virtually a singles hitter with no power, no patience, and bad baserunning abilities. That little power surge in 2008 upped his worth a bit, but he hasn’t gone deep since June of last year. Oh, and his range in the field is awful too. Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker should be platooning right now, and probably should in 2011.

SS: Starlin Castro. It amazes me how Lou can trot out Koyie Hill every other day and not give the rookie ONE day off from his call-up in mid-May until June 24th. Hopefully Starlin can shore up his glove and develop a little more power and he should be the Cubs shortstop for years to come.

3B: I’m not going to lie, Aramis Ramirez is my favorite Cub. I wish there was some explanation to his struggles here in 2010. Even after that hideous shoulder injury last year, he hit very well in the last bit of 2009. This year has been a disaster for Rammy, but I hope he sticks around – I think he’s got a lot left in him. Down on the farm, top 3B prospect Josh Vitters is nowhere near ready.

LF: Alfonso Soriano is having a fairly solid season much to my surprise and delight. It’s a shame that it will not mean anything in the end. LF is set.

CF: Marlon Byrd has been Hendry’s best signing since Mark DeRosa. He’s everything Milton Bradley isn’t for the most part. I hope Marlon gets to partake in a winning team with the Cubs next year.

RF: Kosuke Fukudome has done it for 3 seasons now: have a blazing hot April and tail off slowly as the season goes on. Combine this with the emergence of Tyler Colvin and you’ve got trade bait. Kosuke should be the #1 guy (just ahead of Theriot) that the Cubs should be looking to unload at the upcoming deadline. Platoon Colvin and Nady the rest of the way and by 2011 I think we see Mr. Colvin as the starting right fielder for this team.

SP:

Zambrano: After yesterday’s tirade, Big Z has to go. Unfortunately, there probably won’t be many takers for him. If he HAS to stay, suspend him until he learns, and just leave him in the rotation and let everything sort itself out – guy’s got talent. He just doesn’t know how to use it.

Dempster: If you as me, Demp is the team’s true #1. He’s been so consistent since the Cubs moved him into the rotation and most importantly he takes the team deep into games.

Lilly: With Ted’s contract coming to an end, I hope he’s shopped around at the deadline. He’ll give you a chance to win 9 times out of 10, and that will help a contender in the stretch run. Thanks for the memories, Ted.

Silva: Talk about a trade that worked out. Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley is looking like the infamous Lou Brock swap so far this year. Silva’s been the ace – so keep him around until he proves otherwise.

Wells: I guess the league has figured out Randy Wells. Lou’s “he knows how to pitch” just doesn’t fly anymore as Randy’s been lit up like a Christmas tree in 2010. Luckily he’s still young and has been successfully in the past, so he’ll probably be here for 2011 – I’d try him in the pen sooner rather than later.

Gorzelanny: Much like the once wronged Sean Marshall, Gorz deserves a spot in the rotation that he’s just not getting right now. There’s been talk of dealing him this season, but I think he’s a guy that the Cubs could really use in next season’s rotation. He should be in it right now, for Z or Wells.

Bullpen:

Carlos Marmol is the man, Sean Marshall’s solid, Bob Howry shouldn’t have been signed, John Grabow was overpaid, Andrew Casher shouldn’t have been brought up.

Sorry to anyone I forgot. The pen’s not as bad as it’s been in the past, and we’ll probably see a lot of young guys like Jeff Stevens and James Russell in the near future. Hopefully Casher gets some starts.

So there you have it, things need to change on the north side. 2008 was this core’s “shot” and the shot was well wide as it’s been for the past 102 years. So fire Lou, trade Fukudome, Theriot, and Lillly, let DLee walk, and see if can avoid year #103, please?

So I really did try to think of something positive to say in this blog update but I could not find one positive thing that is going right for the Chicago Cubs. Defense, offense, pitching, everything absolutely sucks and you might as well be call this team the laughable losers. Dumb errors, terrible hitting, and costly wild pitches has this years Cubs and also their fans pulling their hair out.  (If you actually have any left 2.5 months into this season)

This team might as well put a fork in the 2010 season in my opinion. There are rumors that Aramis Ramirez is breaking up the clubhouse and not even wanting to suit up as he sits on the disabled list. (A move that should have happened a month ago). You have the pitchers wondering when in the hell the offense is going to start hitting the ball instead of a bunch of single A players. Sorry pitchers, but these bats are cold and they are going to remain cold. Enjoy trying to win games when you only have one or two runs on the scoreboard.

Before to long, you are going to have players wondering if they are going to get traded as the team slides down in the standings. Yes I’m talking about Derrek Lee (please waive that no-trade clause), Kosuke Fukudome, Tom Gorzelanny and Ryan Theriot. This could be the year that the Cubs and new management change the team and start building for the future once again. Because 2010 is not the Cubs year.

How much blame can you put on Lou Piniella? If you ask me a lot. If it is true that Aramis Ramirez and some of the other Latin players are in one group int he locker room and all the other guys in another group you have lose your clubhouse. If the club house is not one team, then you can not expect to win games. That all falls back on the manger and I have a feeling that Lou is just playing through the season before he leaves the city and says “Keep on Waiting Cubs Fans”.

So Cubs fans, is the season over before the All-Star break? I’ve already gave in for the most part. Who’s with me?

The 2010 season has been down right awful for the Chicago Cubs. Fans are getting upset, players are not having fun and you can bet that manger Lou Piniella is getting pretty pissed off and is about really to explode on a player or umpire if they don’t pull things together down in Houston this weekend.

Hell, the Cubs can’t even beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road. Zero hitting, bad bullpen at times, and some questionable managerial moves by Piniella have everyone thinking if the Cubs can actually turn things around or if there will be a fire sale with the likes of Derrek Lee or Xavier Nady being traded.

There were reports coming out of LA that the Angels might be looking at Lee or Nady to fill in at first base have Morales went down with his broken leg. Lee does have a no trade clause and I’m not sure if he would accept a trade to LA but then again a change of scenery just might help him at the plate.

So what has happened with the Cubs offense? Aramis Ramirez is down right TERRIBLE. The guy should have been put on the disabled list and played some rehab games down in Triple-A. Of course A-Ram would never do that because he thinks he can discover his swing with 10 at bats in spring training. Yeah that sure helped ya Aramis!

You aren’t going to win very many ball games when you only score one or two runs like the Cubs are currently doing. They need Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, Geovony Soto, and Lee to step up and get their swings back. Work with the hitting coach some, I don’t care how well you know your swing, it’s been two months and you are still not hitting the damn ball!

So I predict that Lou erupts down in Houston this weekend as the team continues to struggle and only win one out of three games against the Astros and fall further behind in the Central division. This just isn’t the cubs year I’m afraid.