The Cubs were the runaway preseason favorites to capture their third-straight NL Central title, but they entered Thursday's action nine games back of the first-place Cardinals. The chances of the Cubs making the playoffs at this point, are about the same as Marvin Harrison coming back to the Colts for a significant pay cut - it's not happening.
Since Chicago is widely regarded one of, if not the biggest disappointment in baseball, who should get the blame?
Fans were singing the praises of Lou Piniella after he immediately turned Dusty Baker's bottom-feeders into playoff contenders. Now, he's drawing criticism for being two years too late in moving Alfonso Soriano out of the leadoff role, and questionable bullpen management.
General Manager Jim Hendry was lauded for acquisitions like Soriano, Rich Harden, and the development of promising youngsters like Geovany Soto. But, Hendry dumped $30 million on Milton Bradley, a loose-cannon who is known more for his mouth than his ability to help his team win games. He then let the do-it-all Mark DeRosa, one of the most popular players in the clubhouse walk, and tried to fill the closer vacancy left by the departed Kerry Wood with Kevin Gregg - the same Kevin Gregg who blew nine saves in Florida a year ago. None of those moves have worked out.
The Cubs lineup is littered with underachievers. Bradley's OPS has dropped from .999 in Texas last year to just .797, not to mention an embarrassing RBI total of just 35 in 105 games. Soriano has been mired in a year-long lump, and is batting a career-low .240 with just 19 homers - the worst since hitting 18 in his rookie season in 2001. Soto showed up overweight and has battled injuries all year long. He was a .285/.364/.501 guy last year and has followed that up with a .218/.323/.381 this season.
There's plenty of blame to go around, but the bulk of it has to go to the offense which ranks 22nd in runs (539), 27th in hits (1,037), 26th in batting average (.254), and 29th in steals (45).
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