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 show that the organization has moved out of “what can we do about turning it around this year” mode to “what can we do about setting ourselves up for 2010.”

I could make a few friendly suggestions about how to set up for 2010.  But I’m not in the mood to rag on Alfonso Soriano again today so I’m just going to let it slide.

I will, however, happily rag on Milton Bradley, who has once again made himself the center of attention for his remarks and his play.

Dear Milton:  If it’s true that you feel “hatred” from Chicago fans, perhaps your approach should be to better ingratiate yourself with them, rather than more thoroughly irritate them.  That starts with not engendering a “me vs. them” relationship through the media.  And the next step is to stop bunting into pop-outs in the first inning with the team down 3.

It’s become obvious that Milton, for whatever reason, needs to create hostility wherever he goes.  It’s apparently how he fuels himself competitively.  He has a profound persecution complex.

That might work in, say, Texas, but in Chicago, where people actually pay attention to what you say in the papers, it’s a terrible way to go about your business.  Milton has been here almost a full season now and he still hasn’t learned this?  Then when will he ever learn it?

Actually, who cares if he ever learns it.  Trade him to some pipsqueak market and let him antagonize the fans there.  Problem solved.

Why am I not the general manager?