Since I attend a few Cubs-Reds games in Cincinnati a year, I'm somehow on the Reds mailing list.  Just got this in my inbox, and thought it was interesting.

I've been a lifelong Cubs fan, so the goings-on of a small-market team has always intrigued me.  A letter to fans?  Has anything like this ever come from the Cubs?

The part about a "proven winning manager" got a chuckle out of me.

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Courtesy Yahoo! Sports

With the team from the NL West looking primed to play the best team in the NL in the first round of the playoffs, it's not good when the best team in the NL West gets better.

As already noted, other teams are making moves too, with the Astros (giggle) getting Randy Wolf today.  

So, how will this trade season go--busy or have we seen the height of the trades?  Will the Cubs make a move for bullpen help?

Dat's right.  With this team in a mini-slide, having lost 3 of 4...we need a good performance from Jason Marquis tonight.

Sure, this slide has been about the bats.  Our pitchers have been dealing, or at least been adequate.  But, with the bats in a slump, it's even more important that Marquis doesn't revert to his early season form.  Plus, as some of you have already noted today, there's a good chance that one of our big bats gets a rest tonight to end a slump...whether it's Aramis or Derrek.

So, what happens tonight with Marquis?  Last game, against the lowly Giants, Marquis was good: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 4 K.  He's gone 7 innings in 4 of his last 5, the anomoly being vs. Baltimore on June 26 when he lasted only 4 innings.

The good news: we've been giving Marquis good run support to the tune of 5.65 runs per game.

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As a kid, I always counted the Red Sox as my second-favorite team.  They didn't play the Cubs, so I was never in danger of torn alliances.  They had a similar feel to my Cubs: rich history, cool older stadium, ravenous if tough-luck fan base.

Flash forward to this morning's ESPN SportsCenter: the DirecTV Play of the Month (or some similarly named advertorial segment).  3 choices for the month of May:

1. Big Brown winning the Derby and Preakness in impressive fashion. (Probably belongs, outside the horses=athletes debate)

2. Jon Lester's no-hitter. (Definitely belongs, great story, great drama, and it's a no-no)

3. Manny Ramirez' catch. (Uh...Lucky play by a poor defensive player, attention paid because it's 'Manny Being Manny' and he high-fived a fan)

Seriously, it's a month where baseball is going full boar, the NBA finals are on, NHL might (might) be relevant again, and every spring NCAA sport is wrapping up and our choices are 67% Red Sox for a Play of the Month?  I'm not saying RJ should be in there, but compare Manny's catch to Reed's, look me in the eye, and tell me Manny made a better play.

/end rant.

So, here's my question: if certain things happen for a certain ball club in a certain midwest city in a certain fall month, what will the Cubs become?  It's the 2nd or 3rd media market in the country, and we have a national fan base. Will the seats of Wrigley Field be filled with crisp, newly purchased Soriano jerseys and Cubs hats in every color of the rainbow except royal blue the following season?  Will we annoy every man, woman and child who actually follows baseball?  Will we be watching Monday Night Baseball (not Sunday night...Morgan/Miller...yechhh) and see live cut-ins to Wrigley whenever Zambrano grooms a cuticle?

I suppose the bigger question will be: will we care?

Ok, this isn't worthy of a FanPost.  Sorry.

But, I'm moving and am trying to figure out whether to go cable or DirectTV.  I live in Central Indiana.

If I get the SportsPack that includes Comcast Chicago, will I get to see the Cubs games or will I be blacked out?  Is buying MLB Extra Innings the only way I can get non-WGN/ESPN games?

Thanks...I'm cheap.  After I get my answer, feel free to delete this.

Ok, so this is a BIG if.  However, half the fun of participating is a blog is dreaming things up.

This note on Yahoo! Sports today:

May 15 Tracy Ringolsby, of the Rocky Mountain News, reports the Colorado Rockies could try to trade OF Matt Holliday before the trade deadline if the team continues to struggle and if the team cannot agree to an extension with him. If the team does not find a favorable deal before the deadline, they could revisit trading him in the offseason.

 

I know we've visited this a million times, but allow me to be 1,000,001.  Would we ever consider an outfield that has Kosuke Fukudome in center field?  Holliday is a left-fielder, would either he or Alfonso Soriano play right?  Is the sacrifice in defense worth it?  Is Matt Holliday worth it?

I think that, certainly, we'd have the prospects to make this deal work for Colorado.  Just at first glance, they could use pitching.  It appears they also need middle infielders.  We've got one wasting away on our bench.  Hoffpauir to replace Helton?

Anyway, I know this is a bit of a pipe dream.  But what are your thoughts?

I've enjoyed the 2008 version of Onedec immensely.  He hits in clutch situations.  He's been pretty solid defensively.  No baserunning gaffes to write home (or BCB) about.

For this reason, many have been pining for Lou to play the hot hand and give Ol' Ynnor some starts.

But: can we expect the hand to be hot?

Last 10 games:

May 7, 0-4

May 6, 1-4

May 4, 0-1, R

May 2, 1-1

May 1, 0-0 (PH BB)

April 30, 1-1, 2 R

April 27, 1-4

April 26, 3-5 (or, as I like to think of it, the night Ronny became Ynnor.)

April 25, 0-3

April 24, 0-0, R

So, what can we learn from this?  Onedec's had 55 at bats since April 24.  That's not a lot.  But, he's been pretty clutch in PH duties, perhaps not as sparkling as we remember when he starts.

But, whatever.  Those are just stats.  The point is, I think Onedec's hot, he probably thinks it himself, and a lot of fans feel the same way.  There's a power in that kind of confidence, and many have called for Lou to exploit it and put Onedec on the lineup card.

Here's my point, though: would the Ronny Cedeno Starting Experiment be a doomed one?  Are our expectations too high?  More importantly, would Lou's or Ronny's expectations be too high?  Here's a guy that has been branded "hot" but has been given little in the way of consistent at-bats.  We came into this season knowing Ronny had few chances left, mostly because expectations USED to be high and he didn't perform.

So, if started consistently over the course of a week or so, is Cedeno doomed to fail?  Does it matter that he hasn't had much consistent playing time?  Has time on the bench cooled him off?

There's been much debate in the post threads about who should be our everyday shortstop.  I'll reserve who I think should be the everyday guy, but the debate is interesting, if nothing else.

Using our GM hat, and not our Fantasy GM hat, who should be the Cubs SS?  Do we have him on our roster currently?  Remember, as posted on this site a few days ago, you can't just "click, click and click" and trade for a blue-chipper. 

Here's some players that would just be silly to mention, because of their value to their current team.

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Jose Reyes
3. Derek Jeter
4. Jimmy Rollins
5. Troy Tulowitzki
6. Stephen Drew

That leaves a smattering of names out there that could be a solution.  Granted, I'm not saying trades with the other team would EVER work out. 

1. Rafael Furcal
2. Miguel Tejada (the argument for this would be "should have pounced in the winter)
3. Michael Young
4. Edgar Renteria (daily spikings of Mike Fontenot may spark the little man for another one-month binge)
5. Orlando Cabrera (see Tejada, Miguel)
6. JJ Hardy
7. Jhonny Peralta
8. Khalil Greene
9. Felipe Lopez
10. Julio Lugo

I'm pretty sure I've included all names that would be considered better or equal to what we have in Theriot/Cedeno.  Feel free to correct.

I'd love to see replies that include who you think we should have gone after in the winter/who we should go after this year, and what you think it would take to get those guys.  Also, I'd love to see replies the other way on why you might think we're good with what we have (along with whether you favor Theriot or Cedeno).

How is it working for you?

I have not gotten Silverlight to work, despite 3 re-installs.  I can't find the option to use the old version, either.

I get 2 seconds of air, then "error" where the "buffering" message gets shown.

So, Mac users: working? not working? Lemme know...

I called MLB.com yesterday and they simply told me to reinstall Silverlight.  ARGH!  I've already done that a few times.

It's really starting to get frustrating.

if you're a hater.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=miHHT5jxrWk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugmDyQlXd9c

Seriously.  All of you Alfonso haters need to realize that the man you're booing will hit .300, have 30 HR, and will get hot when the weather gets hot.  We'll see many more YouTube worthy moments from Alf this year.  And Woody.  And Rammy.

I've been a life-long Cubs fan, attended 5 or so games a year for a while now, but listen or watch to probably 140 games a year.  True, I don't see every game in person.

However, I can't tell you how much of a disappointment it is when I finally get to drive 3 hours to go to Wrigley and hear fans booing our own players.  What does that benefit?  I get that this Cubs team has the most talent for a long time (My fandom hit its stride during the Kevin Orie years.  I know bad Cubs teams.), but none of these players has done ANYTHING to show that they don't live and die for the Cubs.

Did you expect Alfonso to become less of a free swinger when he became a Cub?  Do you expect Rammy to ignore the trainer and go all out (and play only 80 games a year because he hurts his legs)?  Do you expect Felix Pie to suddenly turn into Willie Mays? 

No.  Even though we have talent, so does every team in the league (except maybe the Cardinals).  Give it time.  Let's pray for a heatwave--when the weather gets hot, so does this team.  It's happened.  And, it's gonna happen.

You're a Cubs fan.  Take the good with the bad, support the team at ALL times, drink your beer and shut up!