The Going Will Only Get Worse

The Chicago Cubs have already had a dismal season. The only problem is that the Cubs still have four months remaining on their schedule. In most cases, that would be reason for optimism as the team could hope for a run to bounce back in contention. But these are the Chicago Cubs we are talking about. The team that has yet to win three games in a row at any point this season. The loveable losers have returned. The only issue is that this current batch of Cubs are not too loveable. Between the albatross that is Alfonso Soriano and questionable leadership in manager Mike Quade and general manager Jim Hendry, the current residents at Wrigley Field are enough for any sane person to go into a deep state of depression. But it is the Cubs, we are supposed to be optimistic. Ha! Good joke!

Now matter how bad the Cubs have been on the field this season, it seems that everybody is trying to make an excuse for their poor play. The obvious excuse would be injuries. True, the Cubs did have an unusual amount of injuries during the first two months of the season. But, those injuries are nothing but a little blip on the radar screen. The real problems for the Cubs have been: Their opening day starter having an ERA over 6, their cleanup hitter only having two home runs, and the word fundamental not being in the dictionary of Mike Quade. Funny, because wasn’t the main reason Quade was hired because he was an excellent teacher of the fundamentals of the game.

ESPN analyst John Kruk and Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly had the two best assesments of the 2011 Cubs. During a recent edition of Baseball Tonight, Kruk was asked what was wrong with the Cubs. Kruk simply replied, ” May be they are just bad. The Chicago Cubs are a bad baseball team.” There really is no arguing with that sentiment. At 13 games under the .500 mark, the Cubs are among the bottom three teams in all of baseball. Don’t be fooled. Even the Pittsburgh Pirates are better than the Cubs this season. That is no fluke, either. Brenly, however, put the frosting on the cake. For the second straight season, Brenly called the Cubs a “deadass team.” Once again, can not argue with that assesment. I do not know if it was possible, but the Cubs already appear to be “going through the motions” despite the fact that it is only the beginning of June.

If their current pace keeps up, the Cubs will be lose 100 games this season. Obviously under no circumstances would you want the team that you root for to lose that amount of games, but at the same time, that may be best for the long term future of the Cubs. Hear me out. If the Cubs lose 100 games or close to that mark, chairman Tom Ricketts would have to make a change. Because if the Cubs miracously end up around the .500 mark, Jim Hendry will not be going anywhere. Besides at this point, it is not like wins or losses really matter. The only thing that matters is the development of the Cubs farm system and the arrivals of the Cubs top prospects.