Shake it up

My first reaction to the debacle in round one -- is to shake it up. I think that this team is good enough to continue to win, or come close to winning the division. I don't think it's a championship team, as was exposed by the Dodgers. We are considerably better than we were pre-Piniella. No question. Some of that is due to Lou. Some of that (a lot of it) is due to Hendry and the players we have now. We have a pretty good team. Kansas City would be proud. We're not KC, and after the loyalty we've shown, and our forefathers have shown, to this team...we deserve a little more.

So, bring on Mark Cuban. Or whoever it is that will be the next Cub owner and let's get started building the team to the next level. The next level being championship caliber baseball. Able to win a playoff game caliber.

Soriano's comment was very odd. I'm half paraphrasing because I don't have the exact quote in front of me, "we're built for a marathon, not a sprint." I think he meant that this team isn't good enough to win a short series against another real good team. Perhaps he meant that this team can run farther than other teams, but not faster. Who knows? After all, he's an idiot. Or is he?

I have said all year that it boils down to our inability to hit good pitching. Most teams have that problem, sure. Good pitching usually beats good hitting. It beats us more than it should for our payroll. That's the imbalance. We need to beat the Billingsleys of this league. We went into that series hoping and praying that our pitching would shut out LA for three games, didn't we? And when Dempster imploded, we all went "uh-oh"...and then the infield all lost a bet to the devil and went out there with their gloves on the wrong hand for the next game and we all went "oh no...here we go again"...and then we reenacted the Night of the Living Dead Offense and it was over.

So what to do? We must add a hitter or two that will stabilize our offense. Tough outs. We need a couple of tough outs. Name a tough out on the Cubs. Can't, can you? There isn't one. There is not one single person on this team that makes an opposing pitcher (I mean the good ones) really worry. You can pitch around every guy on our team if you have a plan, and yes, it seems that OTHER teams have plans. (Quick, somebody get us a plan.) Number one, we need a table setter tough out. That's a huge advantage for an offense. Soriano? No. Theriot? Not tough enough. Look at Furcal, working walks, bunting for hits, has some pop...tough out. Look at guys like Jimmy Rollins, Brian Roberts, Ichiro, Jacoby Ellsbury, Johnny Damon, Jose Reyes, and several others I'm forgetting at the moment. Then you need a middle of the order tough out -- a Manny, an Ortiz, a Berkman or Carlos Lee...even a Cecil. Guys you don't want to face late in the game. Guys that make you pitch different three of four batters earlier...we don't have that guy. We need that guy. Go get that guy.

Pitching is our strength, but with Sabathia, AJ Burnett and a few others on the market...I'd play in that pool, too. Add to the starting rotation. Big Z, Lilly, Harden, Dempster and one other front line starter isn't too shabby.

I heard this rumor -- DLee and Big Z to San Francisco for Lincecum. Then we go sign Teixeira. Thoughts? Who'd you rather have? Lee and Zee? Lincecum and Tex?

Well...I'm sure that I can find other things to think about.

best to cb

Sherm