The deadline for the Cubs to make waiver deals for Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman has passed with neither man being traded.  Another option was to release them outright, but the Cubs, I guess feeling they still have a shot at the Wild Card, have decided to retain the pitchers instead.
Paul Sullivan’s observation is typical of what is being said about the non-trades:
No White Flag, no prospects, no start of a purge.
It might’ve been different had the Cubs not woken up today just 5 1/2 out of the Wild Card.  Still pretty depressing that, with a month left in the [...]

A sweep of the Mets would’ve been a very encouraging development for a Cubs team that needs all the positive energy it can get.  Alas, it was not to be.  Game 3 went New York’s way, by a 4-1 score.
The culprit was once again a lack of offensive punch for the Cubs.  And it didn’t help that Carlos Zambrano stunk up the place for the second straight start.
Despite the loss, the Cubs ended the day still 5 1/2 out of the Wild Card, which is now led by San Francisco and Colorado.  The Cubs have no more games remaining against [...]

You might want to hold off on writing that obituary for the 2009 Cubs.  Their playoff hopes may be on life-support, but vital signs are strengthening, and today there is a shred of hope that a recovery is possible.
Those who gave up on the team so thoroughly that they stopped even bothering to check the standings may be surprised to discover that, as of Sunday morning, the Cubs were only 5 1/2 behind the Rockies.
Granted, there are three other teams the Cubs will have to climb over to get to the Rockies, but still:  5 1/2 games out with 35 [...]

The Minnesota Twins have been identified as the team that claimed Rich Harden after he was placed on waivers by the Cubs.  The clubs have until Monday afternoon to work out a trade.
Don’t know if the Twins will be willing to give up the large ransom the Cubs will be asking for Harden, who as a type A free agent would fetch them plenty of draft pick compensation were he to be signed away in the off-season.
Aaron Heilman, it’s also been learned, was claimed by the Giants.  There’s also a report out that several more Cubs were placed on waivers [...]

Phil Rogers has read the quotes, he has watched the play, he has witnessed the helmet throwing tantrums…and he thinks it is time for Milton Bradley to go.
“There are three possible solutions for the Cubs,” writes Rogers.  “…continued patience and hope, endless headaches while hoping some team is silly enough to deal for him or pay him his money and send him home.
My recommendation: Release him.”
Rogers points out other instances where organizations took decisive action with well-paid players who had become liabilities, namely, the Angels‘ decision to jettison Jose Guillen and Josh Byrnes several years back, and the Diamondbacks‘ move [...]

Any hope that the flame still burned in the 2009 Cubs should’ve been snuffed by their 5-4 loss to the Nationals on Thursday.  Dropping 2-of-3 to the lowliest of the lowlies is all the proof anyone should need that this club has packed it in emotionally, and will not be making any kind of miracle run to get back in the postseason race.
The front office signaled their surrender in no uncertain terms anyway, by placing Rich Harden on waivers for the purpose of testing his trade value.  This is no guarantee that the Cubs will trade Harden, but it does [...]

The Cubs have placed both Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman on waivers, and both players have been claimed, reports Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com
Neither claiming team is known, though it has been revealed that Heilman was taken by a National League club.  The Cubs now have until Monday to either work out trades for the players, let them walk for nothing or pull them back.
Rosenthal points out that, given the big compensation the Cubs would receive by keeping Harden till free agency then letting him go, they would likely ask for an arm and a leg in any trade.  The Dodgers, [...]

Stick a fork in the Chicago Cubs, because they are indeed well and truly done.
There will be plenty of time for post-mortems – months of time, in fact – but for now all we need to know is this:  the Cubs came back from a hard road-trip needing to thrash the Washington Nationals, a team they’d handled without trouble just a couple months before, and somehow lost the first game of the series 15-6.  With Carlos Zambrano back on the mound.
And that was with an off-day in between.  So no excuses about their being tired.  They just didn’t bring it.
That’s [...]

Carlos Zambrano returns Tuesday night after spending several weeks on the DL with a strained back possibly related to his overzealous batting practice swinging habits.  He gets to take a little dip in the kiddie pool (pitching against the Nationals) before diving into the big boy pool in his next start (pitching against a real major league club).
The words “too little, too late” leap to mind while pondering Zambrano’s return.  Instead of riding in on a white horse to save to the day, it feels like he’s arriving to survey the bloody aftermath.
The Cubs were right in the thick of [...]

The Cubs‘ West Coast trip was disastrous, but at least it wasn’t completely humiliating.  If they’d been swept by the Dodgers…that would’ve made it humiliating.
But, thankfully, the Cubs were able to avert the sweep, by hanging a 3-1 win on L.A. behind Ryan Dempster, Jake Fox and a dominating Carlos Marmol.
Fox got the offense cranked up, going 4-4 with a solo bomb in the 2nd off Chad Billingsley.  Lou Piniella gave Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley the day off, and played Fox in left and Sam Fuld in right.  The result?  Victory.
The season is pretty much lost anyway, so I [...]