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I was laying low the last couple days just to make sure the Palmerio Saga was finally over. And thankfully he will not be coming to Chicago. Well and i was in a deep depression after the Dodgers series and Houston opener also.

I shouldnt be surprised to see the Cubs get shut down against half way decent pitchers. Its been happening all season. Like other people i scratch my head at why Dusty Baker plays Karros when we need a lefty bat in our lineup. Were so right hand dominated its pathetic and its no wonder we get shut down alot.

Zambrano has really stepped up his game in the 2nd half and quickly making himself staff ace 1AA. Tonight he pitched a brilliant 3-0 shutout of Houston to get us back to 2.5 games out. If we can buck up and win the next two games we can be .5 a game out. Seems like every start were waiting for Estes to mess up and lose his starting job, but all of the games have been important so we still want him to win. But with every start that he does half way decent it pushes Cruz further and further out of the picture. Since Prior has come back Cruz hasnt pitched in 11 days. And thats a shame. But then thier is a strange quote from the Tribune....

"Baker said Cruz has some arm soreness, and Hendry said he needs to pitch."

Clark & Addison Chronicle thinks its the writer getting a subtle jab in that thier is still a disconnect between Baker and Hendry. Which is probably true. Cruz probably isnt hurt its just a Baker excuse not to pitch him. Because if Cruz was truely hurt he wouldnt be on the team, he would be in Iowa on the DL or something. And certainly Hendry would not be saying that he needs to pitch. My guess is Hendry wants him to pitch but Baker is doing exactly what he did with Bobby Hill, dump him at the end of the bench and forget about him. After all Hendry can call them up, but Baker doesnt have to play them.

And sad to say i am not a Dusty Baker believer. I didnt want him as our manager. The last thing the Cubs need is a players manager. They need a manager who can kick them in the head and take charge and lay down the law. Buck Showalter would of been my choice as he wouldnt put up with half ass playing.
He has a proven track record of developing prospects into major league players. He helped rebuild the Yankees and helped the D-backs become contendors out of the gate. He may not be the holy grail of managers like Baker was. But Baker is more suited to coach veteran laden teams that need that extra push to get to a WS. The Cubs on the other hand needed a manager capable of working with the rookies. We just flat out got the wrong guy.

On another note. The Cubs declined the contract extension on Sammy Sosa and ofcourse speculation around message boards and blogs is the possibility of Sosa opting out and becoming a free agent. Whether Sosa does that or not remains to be seen but he would be bashed either way by the anti-Sosa folks. 1) Woohoo that loser and his 16 million are gone now we can get some "real" players. 2) What a ego maniac Sosa is opting out of his contract thinking he can get more money. Its all about the money for Sosa.

I dont know what people think good baseball players go for. But thinking you can get 2-3 good players in exchange for Sosa's salary is a pipe dream. Sosa is worth every single dollar we are paying him. And he will not opt out i think after this year. Its just a common sense approach to contract negotiation. What does it hurt to ask for one? If the Cubs say yes. Its a win win. If the Cubs say no. He lost nothing.