Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Preview, Sunday 5/29, 1:20 CT

i’d put Soriano there with Pena behind him. Then Ramirez.

It’s so bad, those drivel-spewing motormouths on espn radio (mike murphy & fred hubner) just threw something out there that actually might make sense.

Soriano for Dunn. Both have contracts expiring in 2014. Balance up the money differential if necessary (and knowing Reinsdorf, it be necessary).

I’d jump at if if I were the Cubs. I’m still trying to figure out why Sox might want to do it. The espn guys are saying that Dunn is just miserable as a DH and it’s obviously affecting his play. Haven’t heard that from anywhere else though.

Also, Soriano obviously has a NTC – no idea how he would feel about being a DH. So I give it about a 5% chance of happening. But I think it would be a “big-market” type of move that would actually make sense.

I admire Al’s ability to find the silver lining in the darkest cloud, without going over the line into either Pollyanna or TJ. But let’s face facts – this team, as it is currently constructed, is going nowhere fast. There is nothing to be excited or happy about.

This is the closing of an era that saw some pretty good runs with this group of players – no, not good enough to win a WS, but certainly good enough to keep all but the most jaded fans entertained.

We all knew that if this season was going to end up in a playoff appearance, there were a lot of factors that had to go just right. They needed one more year of clutch production with Ramirez. Soriano had to play at least league average both offensively and defensively. They needed Pena to up his average/OBP just a bit. They couldn’t afford a lot of injuries.

But time and injuries seem to have caught up to a lot of the players. Ramirez seemed resigned that he was not coming back all the way back during the Cubs Convention. Pena is hitting exactly as we thought/feared he would, crushing the occassional homer, providing solid defense, and even some laughs by bunting his way on.

There are a few bright spots. Castro, of course. Marmol, when we get to see him. Baker is playing well enough to find himself traded to contender for a AA-pitching “prospect” who will never pan out. We can hope that Garza figures out how to pitch in the NL.

So, yeah, this year is going to continue to suck. A Giants-like rebound is not real likely. But in the end, it could be worse. We could be Mets fans.

“Be my friend… Godfather. "

Oh well.

We can’t even take comfort in the small things, because we also screw those up.

Castillo can take refuge in the fact that while his big opportunity has now passed him by, there was literally nothing on heaven or earth he could have done in order to get some MLB PT. Have fun riding those buses, Beef!

I doubt this game gets played.

Christ, I could homer off Danks today.

It’s sheer idiocy to think they can get a game in today.

I don’t understand why they even tried today. Do the Cubs REALLY want to pitch Rodrigo Lopez tomorrow? Just call the bloody game at 9am and send the Pirates to the airport, and play two in September and hope that the Pirates have traded McCutchen by then.

You have a big ol bow echo heading at you per radar and it’s libel to get REALLY windy pretty shortly.

jump