Your Random Cubs Post: Sammy Sosa vs. Alfonso Soriano

It's Sunday.  I should be solely focused on football, beer and grilled meats.  However, last night's Yankees-Angels classic ALCS late-night, extra-inning showdown got me to thinking about the Cubs.

Specifically, Alfonso Soriano.  It all started from a Twitter post from sports blog(ger) Souvenir City (@SouvenirCity for those of you keeping up on the Twittersphere.) that read, "Why would you ever throw Vlad or Soriano a strike? Aren't they Sammy Sosa but 8 years later? #ishouldbeanadvancescout" during the Yanks-Angels game.

It was the reference to Soriano that got me thinking, "@SouvenirCity #Cubs fans in 2002: "Remember when Sosa was a 30-30 guy?" Cubs fans in 2009: "Remember when Soriano was a 30-30 guy?" Hmmmm..."

It's like in Ace Ventura realizes Finkle is Einhorn and Einhorn is Finkle.  Without that whole kissing a dude thing.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella has pined for a slugger in the middle of the order in the past and will do so again this season.  However, Piniella will get his wish -- kind of -- when Soriano is placed in the sixth spot in the order once the 2010 campaign begins.  In his first two seasons with the Cubs, Sori has hit 62 home runs and posted an OPS of .887.  Most of that has come out of the No. 1 spot in the order.  After a hot start in April, Soriano cooled considerably in the lead-off role before being bumped to the sixth spot where he looks to have found a home.  He hit .268 as the team's No. 6 hitter (.214 everywhere else in the order) with a .319 BAbip (Batting Average of balls put in play) (.277 everywhere else).

Early in his career, Sosa was a top-of-the-order guy.  Then he came to Chicago and was moved to the middle.  Even though he hit 355 home runs from 1993 to 1998, Sosa was also a threat on the basepaths swiping 150 bags -- including a pair of 30-30 years.

But after his 66 home run season in 1998, Sosa only stole 17 bases from 1999 to 2007.

Early in his career, Sosa Soriano was a top-of-the-order guy.  Then he came to Chicago and led off for two more years before being was moved to the middle.  Even though he hit 355 205 home runs from 1993 to 19982001 to 2006, Sosa was also a threat on the basepaths swiping 150 208 bags -- including a pair of 30-30 years three 30-30 years and one 40-40 campaign.

See the similarities?  Just a bit of selective editing and a couple of strikethroughs show that Sammy Sosa is Alfonso Soriano.  This is where things get interesting for Cubs fans.

After Soriano's epic 40-40 year, he signed an eight-year, $136 million free-agent contract with the Cubs.  Since signing that contract, he has only stolen 47 bases.  That's only six more than he stole in the entire 2006 campaign.

Like Sosa, Soriano put up some eye-popping numbers in the power and speed departments over a six year period.  Slammin' Sammy put his numbers up from ages 24 to 29.  Soriano did so between ages 25-30.

And unless his legs can completely heal after season-ending surgery, Cubs fans should no longer expect Soriano to steal upward of 20 bases -- let alone the 41 he swiped in 2006.  However, the much-maligned left fielder can still be a productive member of the Cubs line-up as he still has five years and $90 million remaining on his deal.

In the six seasons with the Cubs after Sosa decided he no longer felt the need to wear out the basepaths, Sammy hit 301 home runs and drove in 730 runs from 1999 to 2003 before being shipped off to Baltimore.  For better or worse, Sosa transformed his game as he focused on the power part of his game as he posted OPSes of 1.002, 1.040, 1.174, .993, .911 and .849.


While it would be wrong to expect Soriano to average 50 home runs and 121 ribbies like Sosa did in the six years after he forgot the art of the stolen base, he could still find a way to earn what's left on his deal by doing his fair share of heavy lifting in the middle of the order.

The average No. 6 hitter in the National League posted a .259/.333/.423/.756 line in 2009 while averaging 19 home runs and 78 RBIs.  Soriano hit 20 dingers and had 55 ribs in 117 games in 2009.  A healthy 2010 could bump those numbers.  Adjust Soriano's small sample size in the sixth spot over a 161 game season (via baseball-reference.com) and he hits 23 home runs and drives in 86 runs.  And with a little luck at the plate and on the trainer's table, a 30-100 season for Soriano wouldn't be too far-fetched.

Despite his flaws at the dish and in the outfield, Soriano has proven to be a tireless worker in the regular season and off-season as well.  After a disappointing year, nothing would make Cubs fans embrace Soriano quicker than driving in Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.

Still, it leaves the Cubs with a big hole to fill in the fifth spot of the order.  And that, my friends, should be GM Jim Hendry's No. 1 priority ... along with finding a top-of-the-order guy for the big boppers to drive in.  Here's hoping he doesn't sign a guy who hasn't hit more than 22 homers or driven in more than 76 runs expecting him to hit 40 and bring in 100 like he did before the 2009 season.

FAILblog Of The Day: Who Is Derrick Lee?

The Cubs have won back-to-back games and Milton Bradley is out of the picture.  Screw it, let's hold a fire sale.  Fumigate the whole thing.  Back up the truck.  Blow it up.  Scorch the earth and start a-new.

Let's start it by trading a guy who does not exist.  Or maybe he does and this is part of a grand plan to trade a guy named Derrick Lee to the Red Sox for arguably their most prized pitching prospect.  Maybe Theo Epstein will think, "Wow, we're getting Derrek Lee, who's one helluva first baseman" when they're really getting Derrick Lee, a Chicagoland plumber.  Better idea, let's trade Carlos Zambrano to the Rangers for not one, not two, not three but four(!) failed prospects.  That's a wonderful idea.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's do it with shoddy spelling, grammar, punctuation and more run-on sentences than a novella by a third grader.

Congrats, kid.  You'll probably be getting a job analyzing the Cubs before I do.  You can't be worse than Dave Kaplan, right?


Mock Trade Analysis Derrick Lee. [The Cubs Analyst]

Mythbusting: The 2009 Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have fallen and can't get up!

Contrary to popular belief ... a blog about disproving theories floating around Wrigleyville and the blogosphere.

Adding Milton didn't have to mean saying bye to DeRosa, Marquis

The Cubs did not have to get rid of Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis to make room for Milton Bradley. DeRosa and Marquis made a total of $15.375 million this year. The first year of Bradley's contract was only worth $5 million. And with DeRosa and Marquis coming off the books after the '09 season, the two remaining years at $10 million each for Bradley would make sense.

Bradley = Edmonds, not DeRosa

The most polarizing right fielder since the last No. 21 to roam around the ivy-colored walls didn't replace Mark DeRosa at second, in fact, he hasn't played infield all year. Bradley, in essence replaced Jim Edmonds.

In fact, Hendry failed as soon as he targeted Bradley as a run-producing lefty stick. Bradley posted career highs in home runs (22), runs batted in (77) and OPS (.999) last season in Texas. His previous career highs in those categories came in 2004 with the Dodgers (19 HR, 67 RBI) and a .923 OPS in 2003 with Cleveland.

Despite the Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu love, the right choice was (and always has been) Adam Dunn. Hendry couldn't even put the blame on Dunn's defense, seeing that Crazy Uncle Milt touched the outfield as often as Mel Rojas converted saves for the Cubs in 1997. Jim Hendry takes responsibility for the suckfest that has been the 2009 Cubs. For most fans that means he's taking responsibility for Milton Bradley's slow start and lack of power.

Dunn has averaged 40 homers and nearly 100 ribbies in his big league career. At Wrigley, he owns a career 1.003 OPS and .286 batting average. Signing Dunn would have saved Hendry a few precious breaths of air when he laid this lollipop B.S. answer for the media about Milt's slow start, "'For whatever reason, we've had a history of guys who've come in the first year of their deals and it takes awhile."

Replacing DeRosa at second base was Mike Fontenot, who was coming off a season in which he hit .305 with 9 home runs and a .909 OPS in only 284 plate appearances and was scheduled to make $5,070,000 less than DeRosa in 209. But unlinke middle-infield partner Ryan Theriot, Fontenot had not yet seen the rigors of a full season. Aaron Miles was signed to a two-year deal to play second, short and third in a pinch. He was coming from a division rival, but also coming off a career-year. Hendry should have been wary of those factors before replacing DeRosa with the unknown.

There is, nor was there ever justification for the Kevin Gregg trade

The Kevin Gregg trade is even more puzzling than not replacing DeRosa with a proven major leaguer or signing Bradley. Trading away years of controlled Jose Ceda (a prospect once deemed untouchable enough to hold back in a trade for Brian Roberts) for one year (and $4.2 million) of a closer who faltered in a pitchers ballpark without much pressure. In a hitters park and the monumental weight of replacing a fan-favorite, Gregg absolutely collapsed. The Cubs had their closer-of-the-future waiting in the wings in Carlos Marmol and an up-and-coming Angel Guzman. Hendry's bullpen really faltered when they acquired Aaron Heilman ($1.625 million) while not being able to find LOOGY help in the process.

And really, it's not like Kerry Wood (15 saves, 1.381 WHIP, 4.71 ERA) is tearing up the world in Cleveland. Still would have been nice to get some compensation out of losing him to free agency.

Breaking up Blanco stunted Geo's growth

Letting Henry Blanco go sucked, but he hasn't come close to duplicating last years numbers. Neither has Geovany Soto, come to think of it. Maybe separating those two was like breaking up a group with two strong voices in unison, but two "meh" voices when apart. Bringing in Paul Bako is like asking your line-up to have an automatic out in it.

Demp dump

The biggest money-mistake was bringing back Ryan Dempster to the tune of $8 million in '09 and up to $40 million in the next three years. Want to know why there's no Jake Peavy on the North Side? There's part of the answer. There is no way to justify handing $52 million to Dempster who hadn't made at least 30 starts since 2003, while posting his most wins since 2001, most strikeouts since 2002 and lowest WHIP since 2000. Long story short, Dempster hadn't been a legit starter since the early part of this decade. Yes, Dempster had a great 2008 regular season, but when the pressure was on in October, Dempster's carriage turned into a pumpkin. So did the Cubs.

So, are Cubs fans right to call for Hendry's head? Of course. He spearheaded the dismantling of a 97-win team for the sake of change. (At least he manned up and took the blame for it.) Still, that kind of ignorance is a fireable offense. Here's hoping that Tom Ricketts sees it that way, too. If not, get ready for a rebuilding process at Wrigley that doesn't involve falling debris.

Though, in essence, it might as well.

When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong: Blogosphere Edition

One of the best things about sports blogging is that anyone can do it. One of the knocks on sports blogging is that because anyone can do it, there are those who do it without insight or know-how and then come across as know-it-alls.

So what happens when someone from the inside blogs? Censorship, of course.

Colorado University senior cornerback Ben Burney dipped his toe into the blogosphere Thursday with an entry titled "The Sad Goodbye" which promised to present readers with an inside look at the life of a college football player. Apparently, part of the look was a lil' bit too inside for the powers that be.

Part of it had to do with a meal that destroyed toilets, preseason speeches and (set your phasers to "stunned") encounters with the "girl of the night."

Bruney's defense? He's just trying to keep it real.

"I was just trying to portray how it is. I wasn't trying to be risqué or anything like that. I was just trying to make it realistic. I guess it was too realistic."

Haven't the folks over at CU ever heard of the term road beef or come across sites like Deadspin or With Leather?

If this is breaking news to anyone that has been on a college campus, then I would run a brief background check to make sure that they did, in fact, attend college.

And taking Burney's lead of being real, allow me to be "real" with you, my respected readers. The "girl of the night" scenario on campus isn't limited to athletes. Surprise! Heck, a night that starts with a cheesy pick-up line, includes a smattering flirtatious battering of the eyelids, busting a few moves on the dance floor and a little bit of liquid courage could land you a special someone.

If only for one night.

It's almost disappointing to see Burney get censored, so here's my pitch.

Ben Burney, if you want to blog about what's going on in your life, I would like to extend to you an invitation to The Big Dead Sidebar. You want to blog about special lady friends, be my guest. Dinner food got you in the dumps? Have at it on this forum. Want to go the Vince Young route and enshrine yourself in football's Hall of Fame, come on down.

CU Buffs Nix Player Ben Burney's Blog After Risque Entry [Colorado Daily]
CU Buffs Let Player Blog About Reality Of College Football, Reconsider After Player Blogs About Reality Of College Football [Denver Westword]

Reason #8621 why people hate Cubs fans

Stupidity.

I'm not sure why I constantly run upon this site which runs down Cubs rumors and such. It gets plenty of hits and only because it has the magic search words "Cubs" and "rumors." Makes me wonder why I've been slacking on trying to get The Big Dead Sidebar some advertising dollars. Maybe it's because I'm busting my ass every day as the sports editor/beat writer of many sports at a daily student newspaper with a circulation of 22,000 while only having two sports writers.

Rant over.

Anyway, this specific post has inspired this upcoming rant:

"Foxsports has the Cubs listed 6th behind the Yankees, Rays, Phillies, Red Sox, and Mets. Wow, do not let your west and east coast bias show that much! I can see the why they would stack most of those teams ahead of us but the Mets??? They are awful and chock artist. To have them ahead of the Cubs is appalling. Lets keep in mind that only the Rays matched the Cubs in win total in 2008 that is in the top 5 of that list. I also want to say to the Yankees, you can not buy chemistry and I would be surprised if they won above 90 games this season."

Let the record show that Fox Sports' studios are on the west coast. Hard to have east-coast bias when you're located in the Pacific Time Zone. And I'm trying to figure out the west-coast bias when there's only three teams west of that really long Midwest river in the Top 10.

I digress.

And as much of "chock artist" the Mets are, note that the Cubs won 97 flippin' ball games and steamrolled through the National League before wetting the bed against the Dodgers.

As a self-proclaimed die-hard Cubs fan, I hate when my fellow fanatics pop off at the mouth and not do their research and are not honest with themselves. So let's be honest, completely honest. The Cubs lost Mark DeRosa, Kerry Wood and Henry Blanco and replaced them with Aaron Miles, Kevin Gregg and Paul Bako.

I don't even have to open baseball-reference.com to know that losing three important pieces to a team that won 97 games last season is a major downgrade.

Sure, the Cubs also signed Milton Bradley, but Jim Edmonds put up similar numbers in his time with the Cubs (save for the batting average) as Bradley did with the Texas Rangers. And Crazy Uncle Milton got a multi-year deal.

As for the five teams ranked ahead of the Cubs in the Fox Sports power rankings. Well, they have better talent than the North Siders. Plain and simple.

1. Yankees. Added CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeira ... and now that A-Rod has cleaned his conscience, he's going to club 60 homers and drive in 200 runs. Book it!
   
2. Rays. Added Pat Burrell, the right-handed power stick they've been clamoring for. Giving David Price a bigger role makes them one of the favorites in the AL East.
3. Phillies. Added the underrated Raul Ibanez and are coming off a friggin' championship.
4. Red Sox. Added John Smoltz, Brad Penny and Takashi Saito and returns the AL MVP, Big Papi, The Papelboner, Beckett and Lester.
5. Mets. The Metros rid themselves of bullpen stink by adding K-Rod and J.J. Putz. They have more proven closers than the Cubs have.

So there you have it. The Cubs are actually deserving of this power ranking if you take off your Cubbie-blue tinted glasses.

NOTICE: Jake Peavy isn't coming to the Cubs

Jake Peavy is not a Cub.

He is a San Diego Padre.

Chances are very high Peavy will be the Padres' opening day starter. He will wear No. 44 on his back with SD on his cap. OK?

I don't want you to dissect every move he makes and every word he says and twist it to the point where it sounds like a Peavy-to-Chicago deal is imminent.

It isn't.

So if you the Cub fan isn't happy with Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden and Nameless McFifthstarter manning the rotation, then, well, get prepared for a season of underachieving on the North Side.

Not that you're not accustomed to that anyhow.

The End of An Era Pt. I (FJM Edition)

Say it ain't so, Joe.

The folks over at Fire Joe Morgan are calling it quits after countless posts of burning poor sports journalism at the stake to do whatever they probably did before they started FJM.

Insert sad face.

I guess the Hollywood writers have something better to do with their lives. It's a shame, now I don't know where I'm going to get my criticism of sports writers who are much worse than I am.

Oh well, I guess I'm going to have to do it myself.

Never has a blog taught me so much. The value of VORP, OPS and grindy of a grinder David Eckstein is.

A hat tip to you, FJM, the best sports blog that doesn't use pictures of half-naked women to grab my attention.

Maybe one day they will return after hearing my cries.

Until then: You'll be missed.

Photo Credit: ESPN.com

Why the idiots shouldn't run the asylum...

Media credit: [mattrosenthalblog.blogspot.com]

Bloggers have come a long way from the days in which they sat in their parents basements, going on internet dates and plotting out another sequel to "Revenge of the Nerds."

Except for this guy.

It's frustrating because as a Cubs fan, I go to his site not to get a hot stove update, but instead for a laugh.

I really didn't want to do this, but this post was the last straw.

I guess we can start with the top half of the post in which he incorrectly spells CHRIS DeLuca's first name - which he spells correctly in the first line. Now this could be just an oversight, but it happens all the time. It's frustrating. I know I'm not perfect, but there are too many grammatical and spelling errors that frustrate the heck out of me.

OK, now that we've got that little pet peeve of mine out of the way. Let's get to some content. He wants the Cubs to think about a deal acquiring Javier Vazquez and/or Nick Swisher of the Chicago White Sox.

First of all, why would you want to pick up a player in which the manager calls out said player for not being a big game pitcher. Especially when your goal is to win the ultimate big game: The final game of the World Series.

But I'll get over that because if you can throw out Vazquez's talents over 30 starts in the regular season you're going to get a pretty good season out of a very talented arm.

But let's move on to Swisher.

"Nick Swisher is also a very interesting scenario. Swisher is a switch hitting First Baseman and Outfielder that could really benefit the Cubs."

How? As a first baseman? Is he really better than Derrek Lee? No. Next question.

"He does not hit for a high average, just a .244 lifetime hitter, but does have a decent OBP of .354 throughout his career. He is a good power hitter( hitting 21+ homers since 2005) that would look nice batting anywhere in the lineup. He is a decent fielder with a .991 fielding percentage throughout his career. Ichiro's is .993 to do a comparison."

Oh no he didn't!

Look the .354 career OBP is less than inspiring. Want to know what's even less inspiring? The .332 OBP he posted last season. He's a decent fielder? Did he really just compare Nick Frickin Swisher with Ichiro, who can play right field and center field, has a cannon for an arm and "more range than a Texan" as rapper Ludacris once eloquently put it.

Swisher doesn't have the range to play center and he's not that much better at first.

"He would be a solid addition to this team and the Cubs should add him to their list of guys that consist of Giles, Hermida, Abreu, and Ibanez."

.219/.332/.410 sounds like a great addition for a team that didn't hit, get on base or slug anything but a water heater in their brief playoff appearance (if you would call it that) against the L.A. Dodgers.

Let's bring back Cesar Izturis while we're at it.

He goes on to note that Swisher is owed $20.05 million over the next three years. Sounds like money well spent for a guy who is just a "good clubhouse guy."

I hope Kevin Millar looks at this post and basis his free agent contract based off what he learned about Swisher's contract in this post.

That's it. I'm done. I've got to go to class.

Breaking up a 97-win team, Pt. 1

I'm sorry Derrek, your Gold Glove defense and steady bat are no longer welcome here.

This is what happens when failure occurs.

People jump off the deep end in search of a quick fix. Why? Because no one is happy with themselves anymore.

It makes no sense. Sure, the Cubs choked. They did it badly and on a national stage with Dick Stockton presiding over the death of a nation (and good ratings in future playoff rounds).

But it doesn't mean you have to blow it up and start all over. This blog comes close. What it takes him 3,500 words to write, I will attempt to do in 500 or less.

But that will come later, for now, enjoy this teaser.

"We'd take that, of course, but the lesson is: when the Yankees were winning titles, they did it through putting a fine team on the field that had, in large part, been developed in their own system, complemented with good role players (Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill), instead of simply trying to put an All-Star team on the field. It is worth noting that as soon as Alex Rodriguez left the Mariners, they had several of the best seasons in their history -- and as soon as he signed with the Rangers, they had three of the worst in theirs. Following his signing with the Yankees, they ended a run of appearing in six World Series in eight years -- they haven't been there since. Now, I'm not blaming A-Rod for the Yankees' failures; the point is that simply salivating after someone because he's on a free agent list and puts up gaudy statistics doesn't make a team a winner."

Great point! Who needs a career OPS of .967? How about 553 career home runs, most of which came while he was as a shortstop. Not this team. Not any team. I don't know why the Yankees have him around anymore, maybe they should just trade him to the White Sox for the Grinderball 101 Instruction Manual.

"I think it's time for the Cubs to say goodbye to Derrek Lee. D-Lee is a class act and has given us five (mostly) good years. He will be 34 next September, has two years left on his deal, and a year from now I suspect will be almost untradeable. With that, unload him to the Giants. D-Lee is a native of northern California (Sacramento); the Giants seem to like getting hold of older players who still have something left in the tank; and they can afford him. In return, I'd like Matt Cain and lefty reliever Alex Hinshaw. Don't slot Cain into the rotation yet, though; I'll explain why later."

Another great idea! Let's trade our All-Star, Gold Glove first baseman and one of the two hitters that showed up for this postseason for a guy who would fit in as the Cubs' No. 3 starter - who by the way you wouldn't start. Genius! Let's see how this plays out.

"To replace Lee, it will require a trade and a free agent signing; I'm going to suggest a platoon, and there's a reason for that. First, acquire Aubrey Huff from the Orioles."

Let's assume that the Cain-for-Lee deal went down and the Cubs wouldn't have a first baseman. The first thing I'm doing isn't trading for Aubrey Huff. If I'm trading with the Baltimore Orioles it's for their SECOND BASEMAN Brian Roberts, not their defensively-retarded designated hitter.

I won't even go into the idea of acquiring Luke Scott to play right field and signing Kevin Millar. How many games did the Orioles win this season? Not enough to make the playoffs, that's for sure!

But wait, there's more...

"Jason Marquis, who was the best fifth starter in the game last year, will, under my scenario, bid a fond farewell to the Cubs and re-emerge in his hometown, New York, for either the Mets or Yankees, both of whom could use an inning-eater like Marquis. In return for one of the Big Apple teams taking over the $9.875 million left on Marquis' contract, all the Cubs require is to get a face-saving prospect or two."

Nobody wants Jason Marquis! Not the Mets. Not the Yankees. Not his parents. Not Dusty Baker's little league team. No one. And if by the grace of God that somebody wants to give you something for the Grand Marquis, what about that fifth starter spot that is empty because you're not going to start Cain and you already traded Sean Marshall for Luke Scott and Aubrey Huff.

"And that leaves the fifth spot open. But you're saying, having read my epic saga so far, "Wait! Didn't you trade for Matt Cain 17 paragraphs and a blockquote ago?"

Yes, I did, but Cain isn't going to pitch a single inning in a Cub uniform. Instead, he's headed to the Marlins, along with Felix Pie (told ya I'd get to that!) in exchange for Ricky Nolasco.

Finally, getting Nolasco back, just at the time he's probably headed to his peak years (he's 26 in December) would right the massive wrong Jim Hendry did when he sent him away for Juan Pierre three winters ago."

Yes, the same Ricky Nolasco that the Cubs traded for Juan Pierre. And why does this make sense? Because Nolasco isn't the best guy, instead, he's the "right" guy.

This is baseball, not "Make Up To Break Up." Ugh!

"I'm not going to get into specific dollar amounts, but just looking over what I've done here, I have removed $13 million of Derrek Lee's deal (and Bob Howry's $3 million and the $1.2 million Daryle Ward earned is gone too); that's $17.2 million gone, probably eaten up with the additional money paid to Johnson, Edmonds, Dempster and Wood (above and beyond what those men made in 2008, a total of $15.5 million -- it'll take about twice that to retain those four). In addition, subtracting the $11.5 million that was due to Kosuke Fukudome in 2009 and Jason Marquis' $9.875 million should cover Aubrey Huff's $8 million and whatever is paid to Luke Scott and Ricky Nolasco. That might make this roster cost virtually the same as the 2008 team, something that ought to be manageable given the uncertain state of the sale of the team and the overall economy.

And that, I believe, is how you build a team. Not "blowing it up", not throwing multiple millions of dollars at a free-agent dartboard, but carefully, taking advantage of the assets you already have to keep a team performing at a high level, and take it to the next one."

Long story short: Same payroll. Worst product. GENIUS!

I'm done. I've got a story to write about college football. And I promise it will be less than 3,500 words.

I'm not the only one who's pissed about this

Photo credit: The Chicago Tribune.

Looking for a new point of view on this whole Cubs collapse thing? I'm glad I can help. Thus, concluding Black Friday.

Here's hoping I don't have to do this again next year.

I'm Done: I'm done with Lou!!!!!! Taking the pressure off yourself and putting it on your players. I'm done with you Lou!!!!!!!!! I hate you!!!!!!!! I'm done with you Aramis and Soriano!!!!!!!!!! You are not men.... You don't know what being clutch is. You're are a couple of choke artists. I hate you both. I will not acknowledge anything you do during the regular season. I'm done with you Fukudome!!!!!!!! You piece of shit.. Free agent bust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worst free agent since Tood Hundley. You make Jaque Jones look like Ted Williams. I'm done with you Cubs convention!!!!!!! I've already cancelled my room. I'm done with it!!!!!! I'm done until they win a playoff series!!!!! I'm done with MLBTRADERUMORS.COM. I'm done with it!!!!!! I could care less what they do in the off season.. I'm done with Hot stove baseball talk!!!!! I'm done. The only thing that matter is October.. I'm done!!!!

[Ghost of Ed Litzenberger]

F$%& The Cubs, F$#* The Culture of Losing, F#*$ Manny Ramirez, F#*% Aramis Ramirez, And F@#& You: The headline says it all, doesn't it?

[Not Qualified To Comment]

Not With A Bang, But a Whimper...Again: Pathetic. Just pathetic. The Cubs aren’t a kicked dog. At least a kicked dog has a chance of putting up a fight. They’re a goldfish, gasping for oxygen and flopping on the floor after flinging itself out of its bowl because it tried to reach the stars. They’re a turtle on its back, flailing its legs and roasting in the hot sun after trying to climb a mountain. They’re helpless, heartless, and hopeless .... I don’t know. I’m still pissed. I’m embarrassed. I’m disgruntled and disillusioned. I’m not going to pretend to swear off the team. I know I’ll recover, and I’ll be excited again in February when pitchers and catchers report. But for now, I’m going to take at least a little break from baseball and the Cubs...

[Hire Jim Essian]