The Nationals Series

The Cubs took two of three from the Nationals. They got good or acceptable outings from the three starters. This is why they won. They should have won all three, or rather a good team would have won all three.

We are watching what amounts to a replay of last season. After the trade deadline, everybody relaxes. The Cubs pitching, never as bad as it seemed, comes around. Actually, they start to get really good pitching most of the time. The hitters hit just enough to keep the team in the game. Sometimes, actually more often than not, they win games.

Mike Quade, or whoever the manager is, starts to manage for next season, which for all other teams means finding out things about young players and doing some experimenting in what amounts to a lost year. In the case of the Cubs, though, it means managing to save your job, which means playing all your veterans all the time and, generally speaking, not taking any chances or rocking the boat in a way that makes your GM look like a dolt.

This is really my gripe with Quade and Hendry. For example, having traded Kosuke Fukudome to allegedly make room for Tyler Colvin in right field, Quade rarely plays Colvin, preferring instead the veteran Reed Johnson.

I've got nothing against Johnson. He's a good fourth outfielder, a good platoon guy. However, we know that, don't we? What's the point of playing this guy every day? We know that is all Johnson is ever going to be. We also know that the more he plays, the more likely he is to aggravate his chronic back injuries and wind up on the DL.

I'm pretty much resigned to the idea that Hendry will bring back Pena and Ramirez next season. You can make a case for this, but if that is going to happen, you need to figure out where you can improve.

I'm also pretty much resigned to the idea the Cubs are committed to Soto. This one is a little harder to swallow since they have two strong catching prospects at AAA now in Clevinger and Castillo who look ready to move up.

What I don't get, though, is continuing to play guys like Soriano and Bryd every day. Nor do I understand plugging DeWitt and Baker into the lineup, sometimes in the outfield. We know everything we need to know about these guys. We know they are players with limited skills, and we know what these skills are. We also know that in order for the Cubs to consistently succeed in winning games and scoring runs, most if not all of them need to be replaced by younger or faster or better players, whether it is from within the system or through free agents.

Now none of these guys were moved before the trade deadline when the Cubs had a chance. As a result, they are all around clogging up the roster until September, when the Cubs can call up some minor leaguers. This is a shame, because you really want to see what your better prospects can do before the roster expansion date against real major leaguers and not other roster additions.

The Cubs could still deal away some of the guys they know they need to deal away in August. This looks unlikely, though. One thing they could do is to find a way to bring up Brett Jackson, who looks like a can't miss prospect and is hitting over .400 at Iowa. Surely someone in Cubs management has noticed this and has also noticed that there really is no point in keeping Tony Campana on the major league roster when the last thing you need is a professional pinch runner.