Cubs; New Ownership, Same Bad Management

Even with new owners who claim to be committed to winning, the Chicago Cubs are at it again this off-season doing everything wrong.

The poor off-season started early with the moves the Cubs did not make in a year of limited free agents at positions the Cubs needed to adress. After parting ways with Mark de Rosa last year, and allowing him to be traded back to the division rival Cardinals, the Cubs were left with a huge hole at 2nd base leaving Mike Fontenot the every day starter. The Cubs also have been missing a true lead-off hitter since Juan Pierre was driven out of town after just 1 season with the club.

On the market this year were two viable options to play second base and lead off. Chone Figgins was the spark plug for the Angels for the past few years consistently getting on base, putting pressure on the defense and scoring runs. He would have made a great combo up the middle with Theriot defensive and allowed for plenty of hit-and-run opportunities with the Riot hitting behind him in the order as a 1-2 punch. This pairing could have been the table setters thumpers like Lee, Ramirez, Soriano and Soto needed to be true run producers. According to several sources, the Seattle Mariners are close to locking up Figgins.

The next choice for the Cubs that would have made much sense was Placido Polanco. While he is not the typical speedy lead-off hitter, he works deep counts and carries a .303 career batting average and consistenly scores 80 to 100 runs a season. Polanco signed with the Phillies willing to accept a lower contract and move to 3B just for a chance at a winner.

Perhaps the Cubs passed on these 2nd basemen because the rumors of moving Theriot to 2B are true. Even so, moving The Riot to 2B just shifts the gaping hole to SS. Sure the young Andres Blanco looked very solid defensive and had a few clutch doubles at the end of the season, but with an aging team heavily invested in older talent, is this the year to start over at SS? I think not. The best SSs on the market this year were Orlando Cabrera and Marco Scutaro. Both of whom do not seem worth the money as Cabrera is getting older and Scutaro is coming off a possible fluke year. The Cubs already passed on Scutaro as he inked with Boston this week.

The Cubs also put alot of pressure on Aramis Ramirez for this season just as they did last year. Ramirez has never really been all that durable, with DeRosa spelling him occassionally in past years. Without DeRosa last year, the Cubs were lucky to have Jake Fox to fill in with his bat on the cheap. However, that insurance policy is no more. Fox and his $400,000 a year contract were GIVEN AWAY just to rid the organization of the awful Aaron Miles signing and contract. Miles hit .185 last season and was often paid to sit around and be 5 feet 8 inches tall.

In exchange for Fox, who had 35 Home Run potential, the Cubs received a few no-names and Jeff Gray, a 28 year old who has yet to establish MLB success. He seems to me just a cheaper and younger version of Aaron Heilman, who did not work out at all for the Cubs this season.

The Cubs have not addressed the problems with the most overpaid outfield in the major leagues. If the Soriano, Bradley, Fukudome outfield is still in-tact, it will still be making more money than the entire Florida Marlins roster with much less production. Fukudome has proven to be a terrible signing and the worst all star ever. Soriano is coming off his worst season as a pro and Bradley, well, we all remember him being sent home at the end of the season. I hate to say it but nobody is going to help the Cubs rid themselves of these problems. Therefore filling the hole up the middle was essential to bringing some change to the Chicago Offense.

The returning struggling offense will just put more pressure on the Cubs rotation. Carlos Zambrano who was inked to big money is coming off a mediocre year for a man making those kind of dollars. He will need to bounce back with an 18 win or better season if the Cubs hope to go anywhere.

Ryan Dempster regressed from his All Star year and was oft injured this season, including a freak broken toe. Knowing the kind of competitor Ryan is, he should work hard this offseason and bounce back.

The staple of the Cubs rotation has been and will be Ted Lilly. Lilly has been a rock and a slump stopper for the Cubs since being signed 2 years ago. He was finally shown the respect he deserves being named an All Star this season, tho he did not see game action.

Randy Wells will have to bring the same magic he brought last season. The tough luck pitcher still managed 12 wins with virtually NO run support and his 3.05 ERA was stellar. Wells, lacking the stuff of top tier major league pitchers has the guts to go after hitters, but will it be enough to maintain an established career as a winning pitcher? we can only hope so.

After that the Cubbies have a few question marks on the mound. Sean Marshall proved his weight in gold as both a reliever and a back-up Left Fielder to Alfonso Soriano and without lefty help down the left field line, the Cubs may be forced to leave him there. Tom Gorzelanny is still a project and we hope had can bounce back to his prior form but that remains to be seen. Jeff Samardzija looked terrible in his starts continually giving up long-balls and does not seem to be anything other than the 2nd coming of Kyle Farnsworth. One of these guys will need to step up and fill the spot as the Cubs fifth starter or the Cubs will have to look elsewhere.

With the money saved from finally letting Rich Harden walk, though a season too late, the Cubs are rumored to be looking at Vicente Padilla. Again I must wonder if the Cubs do their due diligence. Padilla made a whopping $12,000,000 in 2009 and is unlikely to sign for much less being sadly one of the better names in the free agent pool of pitchers this year. Padilla however really isn't anything special. He has a career record of 98-85 and a not so sexy 4.33 ERA, which has been inflating since he left the Phillies in 2005. This is one signing I hope does not happen

Hopefully this article is put to shame and the Cubs have something in the works to move Bradley and bring in another ACE or a true power hitting Right Fielder. It does not address the lack of a lead off hitter, but maybe, just maybe if Bradley and Fukudome can be moved for a stud in RF it opens the door for the young Sam Fuld to start in Center Field and lead off. He has shown his ability to play an above average defensive centerfield, he has shown he has the arm to play a stellar defensive centerfield and the man has the speed, patience and bat control to fill the void at the top of the Cubs order, all at a bargain. With no Chone in the future, let the Fuld era begin.