Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

What was one of the few bright spots going into the season was their starting rotation. But the loss of Wells and Cashner for a significant amount of time will prove costly. Casey Coleman did alright for five innings on Sunday to keep his team in the game, but the bullpen gave up the go ahead runs in a tough loss. Tuesday’s pitcher by committie was a joke. Russell and Samardjiza should never see a ML pitchers mound ever again. I’ll swear, on one of Samardjiza’s pitches, he was trying to hit former president George Bush in the face.

In another of Hendry’s great off-season moves, Carlos Pena is showing us all how he hit .196 last year. And Matt Garza was pissed after his last start because Soto was calling too many curveballs. He said curves are not part of his game. Excuse the fuck out of me, but Garza fastballs usually wind up over the wall for home runs.

It’s gonna be a long year!!!

I’ve been waiting until the conclusion of spring training to post anything on the upcoming season for the Cubs. There were a few positives that came out of training camp. Castro had a great spring  offensively, but needs to play better on defense. We cannot forget that he just turned 21 last Thursday, so I think the defense will turn itself around with experience. I project him to be a Hanley Ramirez type player or better.

Byrd had a good spring both on the field, and in the clubhouse. He mentored some of the younger guys like Brett Jackson on what to expect at the big league level.  Darwin Barney also had a great spring, and should be starting at 2b.  Baker should be used as a starter against LHP and backup at 1st and 3rd. DeWitt sucks.

One move that blows my shit away is why Wellington Castillo bats nearly .700 in the spring, but the .043 hitting Koyie Hill wins the backup catching job. He’s not that good of a defensive catcher to warrant a roster spot. He’s never impressed me with his ability to throw out a runner trying to steal. Hill is just a wasted roster space from someone else that can do a better job.

The one person to blame for all this is Jim Hendry. This is his fucking mess.  It’s  sad to see a team with a 140 mil payroll year after year fail when you see teams with half that budget go all the way.  Hendry has been a players GM.  Sure he is. The players he signs are richer than their wildest dreams, but after the ink has dried, they don’t have to play to their expectations.

The Cubs will never get better until Ricketts realizes that Hendry  is a piss poor evaluator of talent.  Stop worrying about fucking bison burgers and bathrooms. Let’s get a winning team on the field!!

I hope you have a great day. Sorry that I have not been able to deliver that World Series Championship present to you for the last four seasons. Do you have another 100 years left in you?

Quade would be a great choice if the Cubs are looking in the short term.

Sandberg would be the best choice if the the Cubs are looking ahead to years beyond 2011.

Tom Ricketts hired a stat guru to help in evaluating talent in future trades, free agent signings, and drafts. Could this be the beginning of the end for Hendry?

For many seasons we have had to witness Aramis Ramirez dogging it due to injury. He is currently sitting out a few games due to a bruise on his thumb. My take on this is…grow some balls motherfucker!!!

After watching Duncan Keith get seven teeth knocked out and return to the conference winning game ten minutes later is a testament to just how much of a lazy ass pussy Ramirez is.

Anyone care to chime in on this?

The Cubs are under new ownership, but after the first four games it seems like more of the same. Hendry didn’t do a fucking thing during the off-season other than clean up the mess that he created the year before. Lou has already used his famous “Whatta ya want me to do” phrase a couple of times. Rothschild has the bullpen in a complete meltdown. Theriot is no leadoff man, or shortstop either. I could go on and on…..Year One is gonna be a very bad year. Ricketts decided to trust the usual suspects that got the Cubs into this shit to pull themselves out. It’s not going to happen.

Ricketts top priority for 2010 is to make the sheeple more comfortable. The product on the field will be left on the backburner for a few more years. Ricketts really has no choice. He has to wait until all of Hendrys no-trade contracts run out before he can work on improving the roster. How in the fuck Hendry keeps his job is beyond me.

I have been finding it very hard to get excited about this teams chances of  doing well and making the playoffs. The window for the Cubs was 2008, but they couldn’t get it done. The window is closed. I am just hoping that Ricketts has enough sense to see Hendry for what he is, and fire him.

Hendry has spent countless of millions on players that haven’t produced to expectation. He has a fetish for signing players that have  injury issues, and try to rehabilitate them to where there were. The newest victim is Nady. Hendry shelled out over 3 mil for a player that might not see the field until June.

The Cubs are preparing for a new season of hopes and dreams. The off-season was rather quiet as Hendry spent most of it trying to undo all of his mistakes from the season before. What he got in return is nothing to get excited about.

The key to any success for this team lies with the overpaid underachievers playing to their potential or better. I leave Derrick Lee off this list. He was the only position player that earned his keep last year.

The way that Hendry has configured this team rests on the core players staying healthy and producing in order to compete for the division. The starting rotation and bullpen remain an issue going into the new season.

The Blackhawks will be arriving  in Raleigh late Friday afternoon following their great overtime victory against the Sharks. They have a game on Saturday with the Hurricanes. If you are free, could you take Patrick Kane and his friends anywhere in your fine city that they desire. It seems that Kane gets himself in a little trouble when he takes either a cab or limo.