As for the Houston series, what can you say, more of the same, which is to say more dumb moves by Piniella, more sloppy, indifferent play, less clutch hitting or any hitting at all in most cases. The Cubs won the first game in high style facing essentially a left-handed AAA middle reliever. These are the sorts of guys Soriano feasts on and uses to build up his stats. He did not disappoint. In the second game the Cubs faced Brett Myers, Houston's second best pitcher next to Oswalt, but really not any great shakes. He seems, however, to have the whammy on the Cubs for sure, dominating them for the second time in a week. For some reason, Lou trotted out what has become his everyday lineup, rain or shine, righty or lefty. This lineup is Colvin leading off and all right-handed hitters from there on out (in this case, however, Hill replaced the injured Soto).
Anyway, why you would start this lineup against a right-hander who dominated the same lineup a week before is baffling. The game was a pitchers' duel until Lilly weakened in the sixth, but still winnable before Lou unaccountably left Cashner in long enough to give up a grand slam to Berkman after demonstrating to everyone but Lou that he had no command. The problem I have with not making a clean break with Piniella when he announced his retirement is this, you can do a lot of damage to players in two or three months, especially young players like Cashner, for example.
Today, even though the Cubs have an off-day coming up on Thursday, Lou decided to rest four regulars. I don't mind resting a few players, but I rather thought the idea was to win two of every three games through the rest of the season and playing against a genuinely mediocre pitcher might have merited a greater effort. Anyway, they left nine men on base, going 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Wells pitched very well until he lost it in the sixth. Again still a winnable game, but Piniella went to Schlitter and Howry to finish things off, so five runs later, it was 8-1.
Now in and of themselves, different decisions by Piniella might not have resulted in victories or even closer games, but there is no doubt that this is a mediocre team on the verge of becoming a really bad team and this is bound to have a deleterious effect on everyone around, especially the young players. You need to find out now also whether you have anybody at AAA who could move up next year to fill any openings you create by trades, for example, but the Cubs are rapidly reaching the point of a complete train wreck where any performance, positive or negative, through the remainder of the year is going to be suspect. The real point is this, that Piniella and the Cubs in general manage and act as if they were a genuine contender preparing for the long haul rather than a conglomeration of mismatched veterans and untried rookies hanging on for dear life to some measure of respectability.
Now, as to trade rumors. Apparently Derrick Lee has vetoed any possible trade, in this case a move to the Angels. My initial assessment is that although he has a right to do so, he is being both selfish and dumb. Selfish for obvious reasons, dumb because the only way he is going to get a good multi-year contract is to play well for a team that playing well for makes a difference. My own take on Lee as a player is that right now, and maybe for longer than people are willing to admit, he is an effective hitter only when he has Aramis Ramirez or someone of similar skills batting behind him. It is only then that he gets pitches he can hit. Dangling Lee means it is pretty certain the Cubs will not offer him another contract, so I have got to wonder what the payoff is for Lee to remain other than avoiding the necessity of moving twice in a single year. The Cubs should think about benching him anyway and getting a look at LaHair if they can clear a roster spot.
The other good trade rumor has been Lilly for the Phillies' lefty J.A. Happ. This is a no-brainer. Happ is 28 years old and is already a better pitcher than Lilly. He throws harder and has better stuff. He had a minor elbow injury earlier this season, but he seems to be recovered. The Cubs should take this deal before the Phillies have time to think about it if there is any truth at all to the rumor.
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