Whats going on everyone? Spring training is under way down in Mesa and the Mike Quade has the squad pretty much setup for opening day and the 2011 season. I really don’t start getting excited for the season until I start buying tickets to games and that all started today.

I don’t mind spending the extra 15%-20% to get tickets early. A lot of times it’s your only chance at getting some tickets in certain sections of the stadium so I feel the mark up is ok to pay. I came away with the Yankees and White Sox tickets that I wanted pretty easily through the virtual waiting room. It took me exactly seven minutes to get selected and once I was in, I could continue placing orders one after another.

So how did everyone else do? Get the tickets you want? Waiting until the on-sale on Friday and hope you get lucky? If you  happen to strike out, head on over to Ticket City and get the tickets that you need. They are a sponsor of the blog, and we do enjoy working with them.

The Chicago Cubs didn’t necessarily attract a lot of A-listers to their team this off season but according to general manager Jim Hendry, the team accomplished what it set out to do.

At the beginning of the offseason,  Hendry set forth three goals: sign a left-handed hitting first baseman, a right-handed reliever and acquire a front line starting pitcher. MLB analysts, Cubs fans and sports betting enthusiasts have seen them pick up Carlos Pena, Kerry Wood and Matt Garza, so Hendry does get three check marks on his to-do list.But there’s still a lot of skepticism regarding the Cubs and whether that’s enough help for a team that finished with just 75 wins and 16 games out of first place in the National League Central.

For starters, Pena needs to have a strong rebound season. He was the 2009 American League home run champ as he cranked 39. Last season, he had just 28 and that’s with more games played and more at-bats than 2009. The bigger concern might be his batting average, which was .196 last season and just .227 in 2009.

Beyond that, the Cubs are still looking for a traditional lead off hitter and they need to stay healthy, which was a problem for them in 2009. Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Tyler Colvin all must return to form. The Cubs did finish 24-13 down the stretch of the season but looking up and down their roster, they simply don’t look like they are good enough. They have been lapped by the Cincinnati Reds in the Central and the St. Louis Cardinals are always steady. The Milwaukee Brewers acquired an ace in Zack Greinke, which trumps anything the Cubs have done this off season. They accomplished their goals but overall, the Cubs are still considered to be a few bricks short of load.

The trade deadline has come and gone and even though the Cubs are attempting to dump contracts and rebuild the team, only two guys were traded before the deadline. Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot were both shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Blake DeWitt and two minor league pitchers.

I like that both players will be on a team that is in contention no doubt. I’m not mad that either player is gone, but something just feels weird about the move. Lilly I can see being moved even though I would have loved to possibly get a “sandwhich” pick out of him in next year draft. Theriot, well he can go wherever and take his average arm and terrible range with him. I will say that Theriot gave it his all when he had the Cub uniform on but on most teams he is not a everyday starting infielder. Utility man at best.

The main guy coming over to the Cubs should be the everyday starter at second base. Blake DeWitt’s OPS this year is almost 100 points higher than Theriot’s and he is also two years younger than Ryan. He won’t hit for power but also shouldn’t get picked off every week like Theriot seemed to do.

The next two months you are going to see a lot of younger players on the major league roster. General manager Jim Hendry has been quoted as saying “Cubs will have a “wave” of players come up soon from Iowa and then again in September.” That means plenty of veteran players will be put on the waver wire and more than likely a few will get picked up.

Pack your bags Xavier Nady because you are about to get shipped out. Maybe they are already packed and ready to go. Especially the way the team played in Denver just now as they were just swept by the Rockies. I hope you packed longer than for this current road trip!

Let’s all take the last few months and see how these younger players do. It won’t be your normal Cubs team but give the kids a chance because they could be on the big league roster next year without question. The season sure hasn’t went the way we all thought it would but then again, “There is always next year”

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…