The Chicago Cubs are in the process, with their play over the past couple of weeks, of trying to convince the average outsider that the team will not only be capable of contending in the 2013 season, but hope should not be written off for the 2012 season just yet.

The Cubs are 15 and 21 on the season, and currently are sitting in last place in the National League Division–six games behind the St Louis Cardinals. However, the Cubs are 5 and 5 in their last month, and have been the second best team in the NL Central during the month of May with a record of 7 and 6.

The Cubs turnaround from irrelevancy to somewhat relevance is largely attributed to the success of the starting rotation. Behind the efforts of Paul Maholm, Jeff Samardzija, Ryan Dempster, and Matt Garza. In addition to those four starting pitchers, first baseman Bryan LaHair has been one of the more prolific run producers for the 2012 season.

There is no question that the Cubs semi-turnaround is encouraging to see. It should give further credence to the reputations of both Cubs president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer. However, one thing that Epstein and Hoyer are unlikely to do is lose sight of the main goal of the organization. That goal does not revolve around the 2012 season. Rather that goal falls more in line with the seasons to come, and the organization’s ability to turn short term assets into long term assets. Through this process, the Cubs hope to build a Major League team that is capable of contending on a seasonal basis.

Coming into the season, it was not determined if LaHair would be a short term asset or a long term asset for the Cubs. Through the first month and a half of the season, LaHair has the look of a long term asset. LaHair is hitting .352/.445/.713/1.158 on the season with 10 home runs and 21 RBIs. While no one expects LaHair to keep this pace for the entire season, it is entirely possible that LaHair turns out to be the late-bloomer that Epstein suggested he could be.

Even though Epstein was a supporter of LaHair, the Cubs president did not go without giving the organization an insurance policy in the event that LaHair faltered. That insurance policy happens to be the team’s first baseman of the future. The Cubs’ first baseman of the future if Anthony Rizzo, whom was acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres this past off-season. Rizzo knew all along that he would start the season with the Iowa Cubs. Though, Rizzo’s stay in Iowa would be dependent on how the first baseman fared with the Iowa Cubs, and how LaHair started with the Cubs. As we know, LaHair is off to an impressive start with the Cubs.

Meanwhile, Rizzo is off to a similar start with the Iowa Cubs. Rizzo is hitting .359/.420/.704/1.125 with the Iowa Cubs in 37 games to go along with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs. From a pure numbers perspective, Rizzo is essentially screaming that he is ready for the Major Leagues.

The Cubs front office has taken notice. In fact, a report from Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times suggests that Rizzo could be called up to the Major League level within the next couple of weeks. A move that would signal the long-term movement for the Cubs’ organization. Wittenmyer’s report goes on to mention that there is not much left for Rizzo to prove on the Triple A level, and that the Cubs front office have begun to discuss scenarios that involve both Rizzo and LaHair being in the same lineup for the Cubs.

Such a lineup would see Rizzo, who has gold glove potential, play at first base and LaHair being moved to the outfield. Where exactly in the outfield is an intriguing question. Alfonso Soriano has failed to put up any display of power while being the team’s starting left fielder, though Soriano’s contract likely keeps him in the lineup. Tony Campana has received the bulk of the starts in center field since Marlon Byrd was traded, and the quick center fielder is hitting .333 since being given that opportunity. David DeJesus, who is the team’s leadoff hitter, is hitting .273 on the season and has scored 22 runs.

Do the Cubs sacrifice speed by taking Campana out of the lineup while moving DeJesus to center, and placing LaHair in right? Do the Cubs make DeJesus a reserve, and simply replace him with LaHair? Do the Cubs bite the bullet on the Soriano contract, and replace the veteran with LaHair? The Cubs front office faces a lot of questions with the call up of Rizzo looming. Taking Campana out of the lineup does not make too much sense at this point, in addition, the Cubs would have to face the same question once top prospect Brett Jackson is deemed ready for the Major Leagues. Neither do I think the Cubs will take DeJesus out of the lineup, as the right fielder is the team’s leading run scorer. Meaning the only option would appear to be the Cubs biting the bullet on the Soriano contract and waiving the veteran left fielder–if unable to find a trade partner–and naming LaHair the starting left fielder.

The Cubs organization has long been in the search for a left handed run producer. Now, in a mere two weeks, it is possible that the Cubs lineup will feature two left handed run producers in Rizzo and LaHair.

Anthony Rizzo’s Time May Be Near - Cubbies Crib - Cubbies Crib - A Chicago Cubs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

It’s like those awkward moments when you’re talking to someone really good looking or a celebrity and you just fumble over your words. Your tongue becomes play-doh in your mouth and all that comes out is an inaudible gurgle-grunt type thing.

The best thing to do is play it off like you speak some exotic language and you can all laugh about it later. It’s a great ice-breaker.

But sometimes you just straight up say the wrong thing.

Dale Sveum had one of these moments during a press conference where he discussed a controversial call to get Starlin Castro to lay down a bunt against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 14th.

If you weren’t tuned in to the game, here’s the situation:

Runners on first and second, none away, Sveum signals to Castro to bunt in order to advance the two runners to second and third.

This should already be chiming off warning alarms to most people. When on earth do you make your #3 guy in the batting order bunt?! But moving on…

Bryan LaHair (who is arguably the fourth best batter in baseball right now) would have been due up next, and Cardinals’ pitcher Mitchell Boggs would have almost certainly given him the intentional walk. Pending everything working out for the Cardinals, the end result would have been not letting the hot-handed LaHair even have a look at hitting the ball and the double play that Sveum wanted to avoid with the sacrifice bunt in the first place, would have been there anyway.

May 15, 2012; St. Louis, MO. USA; Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum (33) talks with umpire Ed Rapuano (19) after center fielder Tony Campana (not pictured) was called out on a foul bunt in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Photo: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

Castro listened to his manager, laid the bunt down and ended up bunting into a double play thanks to a heads up play by Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter.

Essentially, Castro wasted an AB thanks to a poor call by Dale Sveum.

Now I’m not one to criticize the team I love so dearly. I’m usually pretty optimistic and take the brightest outlook on any situation, but I have never screamed so much at my own TV in my life. My throat is sore today from cursing Sveum’s name.

I’m certain I wasn’t alone in this either.

The twitterverse exploded with “WTF’s” and other explicit language that my editor would probably not be happy to see published. People were outraged and rightfully so.

I began to ponder if maybe Dale Sveum was a little bit… you know…. nutty. I had total faith in him as a rookie manager and I never really questioned many of his oddball calls or lineup choices. I always thought that he’d had a “bigger plan” in his back pocket and his slightly unconventional strategy was just part of the new Cubs regime.

Trying to think nothing of it, I watched the Cubs news conference today and Sveum had a few pungent answers for the Catro-bunt questions.

You can go on and on about the goods and the bads of all of these things. The bottom line is I’m the one that make the decisions. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t.

Strong words, but words that had to be spoken none the less. He has to keep his authority and confidence or else he’ll lose control of the team as a whole. The press conference continued:

You wanna talk about cybermetrics, then OK. Then you talk about the team that has more people on base during the course of the game is going to win way more games than the other teams. You want to keep intentionally walking guys and all that? Then the odds gradually come (the opposing team’s) favor to win the game. If (the opposing team’s) third, fourth and fifth hitters get up five times in a game, you’ve got a chance of losing that game at an alarming rate.

Cyber… cyber what Dale? Did you really just say CYBERmetrics?!

I literally had to scrape my jaw off the floor. Was this guy serious? Sveum was already on my radar, but this was just sensory overload for me.

After I was done losing my mind and cleaning up my spilled bowl of mini-wheats (with fruit filling!) I tried to collect myself.

“There’s no way he meant it. It must be a joke! Maybe he lost a bet? God, there is milk all over the place….”

The more I think about it now, the more I realize it cant be real. The Cubs are known for being a sabermetrics based team, especially now with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer at the helm. They’ve even partnered up with Bloomberg sports to create a stats engine specifically designed for the Cubs.

Numbers and SABERmetrics are literally the backbone of this team. Could it be that such a disconnect exists from the head office to the dugout?

Dale Sveum isn’t a moron… not by a long shot. He’s been involved in baseball for many years and he can still manage a baseball team better than most of us arm-chair fans sitting at home can. No contest doesn’t even begin to cover it.

But I cant help but wonder what on earth possessed him to say Cybermetrics?! Maybe Dale just had a slip of the tongue. Maybe Dale is sitting at home laughing his head off at all the Cubs websites and media outlets who are doing the same thing as I am right now. Who knows.

One thing is for certain though: Dale Sveum scared the crap out of me, a lot of fans, and hopefully the front office.

Sveum Flexes His “Cybermetric” Knowledge - Cubbies Crib - Cubbies Crib - A Chicago Cubs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

What Went Right: Jeff Samardzija continues to cement his status as a legitimate starting pitcher. Despite only going five innings, he did rack up six strikeouts while only allowing one run on three hits.

The top of the line up duo of David DeJesus and Tony Campana went a combined 5 for 10 while accounting for three of the eight Cubs runs. Having proper table setters is always a key to sparking consistent offense, and hopefully the pair of outfielders will turn their production into a trend.

Ian Stewart’s power numbers are starting to take off, as he hit a solo shot in the fifth, his fourth homer of the season. Reed Johnson had a pinch hit jack in the sixth to give the Cubs a short lived 2-1 lead, and the offense proceeded to score in every inning for the rest of the game. When the dust settled the Cubs had scored eight runs and pounded out 13 hits. It was pretty much an eye for eye performance after the Cubs lost to the Brewers by the same score the day before.

What Went Wrong: Shawn Camp was not able to tally a hold to preserve the W for Samardzija’s stat line. But to be fair, he was able to limit the damage and overall this season, he has been a fairly reliable option in a bullpen that has seen Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood struggle with control issues. The Cubs defense also committed a pair of errors, an issue the team has not quite been able to resolve from last year.

What Was Interesting: Despite Aramis Ramirez changing teams and the Cubs having already played one series with the Brewers, Cubs television analyst Bob Brenly found it hard to break the habit of ripping on Ramirez. Many of you may recall that the former Cub third baseman registered a rare stolen base on his old team during the series at Wrigley Field. On Sunday, the slugger with a bit of a reputation for not running hard on ground ball outs was seen advancing to third on a heads up base running move on a wild pitch that did not get too far from Cubs catcher Geovany Soto.

Brenly believed that Ramirez was motivated from playing his former team, and noted that Cubs starting third baseman since 2003 would probably still be in blue pinstripes if the now Brewer had provided that same level of effort in all facets of his game. Ramirez was rubbed the wrong way by Brenly’s comments on the corner infielder in 2012, and with 10 more games left against the division and geographical rivals, it will be interesting to see if the Brewer third sacker will have a rebuttal for Brenly through the media.

The Cubs continue their road trip with a pit stop two game series in St Louis starting tonight.

Wrap-Up: Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers (5/13/2012) - Cubbies Crib - Cubbies Crib - A Chicago Cubs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More