Last Week in Cubs Baseball

Since my last post, the Cubs lost three of four to the Cardinals, won two of three from the really awful Astros, then lost last evening to the really awful Brewers.  There isn't much you can say about these games that has not already been said about most of the other games.  The Cubs were competitive in all but one of the the Cards games, but they could not score runs.

The bigger news occurred off the field.  Earlier in the week, Epstein and Hoyer refused to blame Sveum for losing a bunch of games because of dumb decisions.  Essentially they said it was not his fault that he had an awful team to work with.  Of course, this rather begs the question of whose fault it is then, doesn't it?

The Cubs took one of the major sources of fan frustration off the board by designating Carlos Marmol for assignment.  Evidently the desire to employ his services in situations where the outcome of the game was on the line was something Sveum and his advisers found irresistible.  Better for all concerned to take it away.  I can't argue with the call, though.  Nobody wanted the guy.  Someone might sign him off waivers.

The other guy to suffer management's wrath was Ian Stewart.  I guess I don't understand some of the kerfuffle about his tweets.  I have to assume the Cubs made some promises to Stewart that just got steamrolled by his injuries.  In the same position, I suppose I would have assumed I'd get some playing time at Iowa, especially given the execrable performance of Josh Vitters there and in the big leagues.

Right now speculation is in high gear about who is going to get traded in July.  Everyone's favorite to go is Matt Garza.  Presumably he wants a better deal than Edwin Jackson, so that's got to be it, doesn't it?  I mean, he can pitch when he is healthy.  Jackson cannot.  So the choice is obvious.  Stick with Jackson.

Also, anybody who has had a half-decent first half is on the bubble because he has value that can be exchanged for prospects.  I've got nothing against a shrewd manipulation of your roster to build for lasting success, but, lets face it, Cubs fans, the record so far is pretty bleak for this regime, and no amount of chatter about master plans is going to make it better until we see results instead of promises.