Lou Piniella today offered himself up to criticism for the Cubs’ 2009 struggles.  According to ESPN, Lou had the following to say: “You want to blame me? Take your shots. It doesn’t bother me one bit, OK?”

Many of the fans will certainly blame him.  Lou has shown no signs of intelligent life down there in the dugout this season.  His facial expressions and post game comments alone signal that he seems not to care about the team’s performance whatsoever.  He denies it though and instead says he is still trying to do the best he can every day but it is hard not to notice his lackadaisical attitude and call his bluff.

Among other things, Piniella is at fault for two obvious mistakes:

1. Keeping Soriano in the lead off spot for way to long after he had already been a struggling mess.  Lou even kept Soriano at the lead off spot when his average was at a dismal .224.  Plain and simple, that was bad managing.
2. Failing to remove Kevin Gregg from the closer role after his 3rd blown save.  It was clear at that point that Gregg did not have the right stuff to be a good closer.  (As if 9 blown saves in 2008 was not a good enough indication.)  Gregg got on a bit of a role with saves after his 3rd blown save of 2009, but many of his outings were shaky and he was rarely in control on the mound.

After the poor managerial display this season Lou should be looking for a new job this winter.  It might even be time for him to hang it up completely.  He has brought great success to many teams during his managerial career and has at least a shot at the Hall.  Now though he seems to have lost interest and just looks like he is going through the motions and a future with the Cubs does not sound like a good option for either party.

It has been pretty obvious for some time now that this 2009 Cubs season is nothing more than a dead end road to nowhere. For those fans who are still sipping the kool-aid it is time to wake up and realize that this season is over and last night’s embarrassing 15-6 loss to the Nationals is all the evidence you need.  The Cubs currently stand 9 games back in the division and 8.5 games behind the hot Rockies for the wild card.  It’s time to pack it up and look towards next year.

My thoughts at the beginning of the year were that the Cubs would miss the playoffs.  I based this on 3 things:

1. The Cubs are the Cubs
2. It is tough to win a division in 3 straight years
3. They missed the window in 2008 and it closed

The first two are self explanatory.  Regarding number 3, I really thought that last year was the best chance for the Cubs to bring home a title and they failed to deliver.  While I don’t think their 2008 regular season performance was a fluke, I simply felt they would not be as dominant this season and would struggle to even win the division.

Looking towards next year it isn’t easy to determine what is needed to make this ball club a legitimate contender.  First things first, I think Lou needs to go.  He seems uninterested in the team and he couldn’t manage his way out of a wet paper bag right now.  His post game comments as well don’t seem to show much care or dedication to the game.  He simply likes to say, “Hey, what can I say?”

Secondly, I really feel the Cubs need to address the starting rotation.  Ryan Dempster clearly had a career year in 2008 and I don’t think he will perform even close to that next season.  He will likely regress back to his mediocre status similar to this season.  Also, Randy Wells will not be as good in 2010.  He has had a great season thus far in 2009 and has a shot at NL Rookie of the Year, but I think next year Wells will struggle as more batters become familiar with his pitching.  Regarding Zambrano, he needs to start pitching like a true ace, or it is time for the team to bring one in.

Third, the Cubs need to dump Milton Bradley.  The experiment was a good try but it failed miserably.  Hendry needs to admit his mistake, get rid of Bradley, and replace him with a more reliable option.  The Cubs still need a lefty bat in the lineup so Hendry needs to keep working on that if he still has his job after the season.

Also, the Cubs would benefit greatly from a good hitting second baseman.  Mike Fontenot, Aaron Miles, and Jeff Baker are not the answers.  Baker has shown some good potential as of late but the team still needs someone who brings more than potential.

It will be interesting to see if the ownership wants to part ways with the current management setup.  Jim Hendry should be held accountable for this past season’s debacle but whether or not that means he will be fired is a different story.  Maybe he should get one more year as GM.  If he fails to turn this mess around then it will be time to let him go.  Regardless of what happens with Hendry this Cubs team needs a lot of improvement in order to contend in 2010.

Although it was only against the Nationals, a four game sweep is impressive no matter what.  For the Cubs, this series sweep couldn’t come at a better time as they now sit in second place in the division.

The Cubs played some pretty good baseball this weekend, with good pitching and timely hitting leading the easy sweep of the Nats.  Maybe more importantly though is Alfonoso Soriano hitting homeruns on both Saturday and Sunday.  If his bat is finally starting to heat up, this Cubs team is going to roll like none other, especially with Derek Lee in the groove that he is in.

Today, Jake Fox went 3 for 5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.  He really needs to be in the lineup more often, even though his defense can be a bit shaky.  Maybe he could get some games in at right field with Milton Bradley struggling.

Again, it may only be against the Nationals, but a 4 game series sweep was the perfect way to start the second half of the season.  Next up is a 3 game series in Philadelphia and then back to Chicago for a nice 7 game homestand against the Reds and Astros.  The Phillies should be a good test to see how the Cubs pitching can hold up against a very strong offense.

The All-Star break is finally here.  Meanwhile, both Chicago baseball teams are struggling to play good consistent ball and take control of their respective divisions.  The Cubs and Sox have both clearly underperformed this season, but they are both in position to make a run in the second half of the season.

I just don’t see it happening for either team though.  If the Cubs can get their offense rolling, they should be able to capture the division because it is so weak.  However, I fear that their offensive struggles will continue for the remainder of the season.  Analysts keep saying that it will turn around, but I think that is just blind hope.  The struggles could very easily continue.  As far as the Sox are concerned, they just need to play more consistent baseball, starting with their starting rotation.  Floyd and Danks have been under performing a bit, and Contreras is shaky at best.  Contreras has had some good starts recently, but over the course of the remaining season he will continue to struggle.

Mid-Season Awards

MVP: Jermaine Dye.

Jermaine Dye is hitting .302, with 20 homers and 55 RBIs.  How he didn’t make the All-Star roster just goes to show how ridiculous the voting is, especially when Josh Hamilton got in with his .243 average, 6 home runs and 24 RBIs.  Dye has been on a roll all season long, and is one of few bright spots that the Sox offense has this season.

Cy Young: Ted Lilly

As Matt Williams wrote at Blog Chicago Sports, Mark Buehrle has the edge in the win loss stat (9-3 vs 9-6), but Lilly has the numbers in most other categories.  Ted Lilly has the advantage in strikeouts, walks, ERA, WHIP, and BAA.  Lilly is holding batters to a .242 average compared to Buehrle’s .260.  Also, each pitcher has started 18 games, with Lilly earning 14 quality starts and Buehrle only 11.  Arguments will be made for Buehrle, but looking at the numbers, you can’t argue against Lilly.

Rookie of the Year: Randy Wells

This one is a no brainer.  Wells has simply been great for the Cubs this year, posting a 2.72 ERA, a 4-4 record, and a WHIP of 1.12.  The win-loss record is deceiving though.  In Wells’ first two starts he did not allow a run and did not factor into the decision due to a lack of Cub hitting.  In his next two starts, he allowed a combined 5 runs (all earned) in a combined 14 innings.  Early on he just wasn’t getting the run support from the Cubs offense.  If the offense was able to get him some support, he could easily have a 6-2 record or even better.

Most Improved Player: Paul Konerko

After a disappointing season last year, Konerko has turned it around and is again a serious offensive threat.  He is batting .302, with 16 long balls and 60 RBIs.  He is only 3 RBIs away from passing his 2008 total of 62.

Coach of the Year: None

Lou Piniella does not have a shot at this award, especially after leaving Soriano in the lead off spot well after his struggles were beyond embarassing.  Ozzie Guillen also does not deserve consideration simply because when his team is struggling he feels it is more important to be criticizing other ball parks and teams.  That’s definitely great managing.

As the Cubs struggles continue, so have the hitting troubles of Alfonso Soriano .  As of now he is batting .231, with 14 homers and 32 RBIs.  What is with this lack of production?  Well, among other things, maybe Soriano is older than his listed 33 years of age.  Keep in mind he is from the Domincan Republic, the same country that Vlad Guerrero and Miguel Tejada are from.  If you recall, Vlad and Miggy were caught a few years back for shaving years off their ages.  This is actually pretty common among Domincan.

Perhaps Soriano is a bit older than 33, maybe as old as 35 or 36.  Players at age 35 and 36 can still be quite effective, evidenced by Miguel Tejada at age 35.  However, Soriano could have been affected differently by the aging process and his skills might have started to deteriorate at an accelerated pace.

Again, this is pure speculation, but it is definitely something that could prove to be true since it is such a common theme among the Domincan players.  I do feel his struggles at the plate have a lot more to do with other factors, but a false younger age could have a legitimate effect as well.

Earlier this week, I heard that the Cubs were in talks with the Indians regarding former Cub Mark DeRosa.  As amazing as it would have been to see DeRosa in a Cubs jersey again, that ship has likely sailed as Mark DeRosa was traded to the Cardinals on Saturday.

Unfortunately this means the Cubs will have to face the fan favorite for two more series before the year ends.  Hopefully this doesn’t come back to bite the Cubs.  The NL Central division race could be a close race in September when the Cubs and Cards will match off for a three game series.  If DeRosa proves to be a key factor in a key series against the Cubs, I truly wouldn’t be surprised.  How bad would the move to dump DeRo look then?

It’s really too bad the Cubs couldn’t find a way to get him back.  He would definitely provide a nice spark.

I really think the Cubs needed this win tonight.  The team has been playing very well over the past week, and a win tonight over the AL Central leading team would have been big.  Instead, Kevin Gregg blew the save in the 9th after serving up a 2-run shot to Ryan Raburn, who was batting .225 coming in to tonight’s game.  This game should have been in the bag.

With the season we have had so far, and the way I see it continuing, the Cubs can’t afford to lose many games resulting from blown saves.  Unless someone runs away with the division, there are only going to be a few games separating the division winner and second/third place teams.  Given this, every win the Cubs blow in the 9th inning will come back to haunt them.

Gregg simply isn’t the guy to get it done at the closer position.  He just is not overpowering enough to dominate and get three quick outs.  When he does get a save, the performance is shaky at best.  However, I’m not calling for Gregg to be dumped just for having a bad outing tonight.  My point is that I don’t think he has the stuff to be a good closer in what will be a close race for the division this year.  So, what do the Cubs do?

There is no clear solution to the problem.  I think Marmol should get a few cave opportunities to see how he does.  He has been battling control problems all season, but he doesn’t get hit too often and could potentially be quite effective in the role.  I would at least like to see him get a few chances and see if he makes the most of it.  Maybe the Cubs can work a deal before the trade deadline to acquire a more consistent closer.

I’m just not comfortable with Gregg as the closer and I really think in the long run this season he will do us more harm than good.

Finally, Randy Wells is able to enjoy his first major league win.  I’m sure he was sweating a bit in the 9th when there were 2 runners on, but Gregg was able to close it out for the win.  Congrats to Randy Wells.

There were more good signs of solid offense today.  Soto went deep, Lee kept his hit streak going with a nice RBI, and Jake Fox delivered a big RBI double in the 5th inning.  Milton Bradley also seems to be heating up now, going 2 for 3 today and extending his hit streak to 10 games.

The Cubs have been playing some very good baseball over the past few days.  The starters have given good performances, the bullpen has been holding opposing offenses down, and the offense is really coming alive.  If this continues, there is no reason why the Cubs can’t make a serious run to the top of the division.  There is still a lot of ball to play this season, but some good signs are finally starting to emerge from the Cubs.

The Cubs just finished up a 6-5 victory over the Indians.  This marks 3 straight victories, but more importantly, shows signs of life are emerging from the Cubs offense and general playing.  Today’s win was great all around.  Lilly pitched well enough to keep the Cubs in it, the bullpen shut down the Tribe for almost the remainder of the game, and the offense was hitting at the right times.

Also, I am excited to see some stolen bases attempted by Cubs base runners.  Good things can happen when you get the runners moving.  In our case today, Fukudome was able to get to third on a bad throw when he stole second.  He was then able to score the tying run on Andres Blanco’s single.  As the Cubs move forward this season, I hope to see more of this type of baseball.

Derek Lee Celebrates His 2-Run Homerun

I’ve been pretty hard on Derek Lee lately.  For now, I’m going to take it easy on him since he has been hitting everything and coming through with big home runs when needed.  Hopefully he continues this and the Cubs can ride this offensive surge to a nice streak and gain some ground on the Brewers.  Fukudome and Theriot also are showing signs of breaking out of their slumps.  Getting those two going is essential to the Cubs success, because Lee can’t do it all himself.

Alfonso Soriano is still in a bit of a funk, going 0 for 5 today.  He needs to snap out of this and start hitting soon so that offense can really get moving.

Overall, great wins the last three days.  I am starting to feel a bit more confident when the Cubs are down by a  few runs late in the game.  For well over a month it has been tough to watch the Cubs down by even one run.  You almost knew the game was over.  Now, they seem to have the confidence and ability to battle back and win those close games.

Still, one thing bothers me.  Why did Lou put in Marmol with the bases loaded in the 7th inning?  He has walked 32 batters in 32 innings this season.  Playing the numbers, you had to expect Marmol to walk in a run with the bases loaded.  That was a dumb call by Lou if you ask me.  Lou must be having memory problems and can only remember Marmol in his dominant stages of early 2008.  Carlos Marmol does have some good stuff out there on the mound, but right now he is just too wild to bring in with a one run lead and the bases loaded.

Fortunately the Cubs were able to put the Indians away in extras.  I’ll take the win however it comes, including a passed ball with a runner on third.  I’m glad the Cubs are starting to get those types of breaks and take advantage of them.