If nothing were to change during the off-season, and if all pitchers are healthy come Spring Training, the Cubs would probably enter the 2007 season with a starting rotation consisting of Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, Rich Hill, Sean Marshall, and either Angel Guzman, Juan Mateo, Jae-kuk Ryu, or Ryan OíMalley. In an interview with Len Kasper on WGN-TV last week, Cubs GM Jim Hendry was talking about 2007 and mentioned the need to upgrade pitching as (obviously) something he (obviously) would be trying to do. Obviously. With Ryan Dempster, Scott Eyre, and Bob Howry signed through 2008, and with four or five younger relievers (Will Ohman, Michael Wuertz, David Aardsma, Roberto Novoa, and Carlos Marmol) already on board and another half-dozen or so possible candidates (Federico Baez, Lincoln Holdzkom, Carmen Pignatiello, Clay Rapada, Andy Shipman, and Randy Wells, plus Guzman, Mateo, Ryu, and OíMalley if they don't start) likely to compete for a spot in the pen, I would imagine when Hendry was talking about addressing pitching, he was mainly talking about adding at least one veteran established healthy starting pitcher to the rotation, or possibly two.

I'm going to go watch football. GAME ONE HUNDRED-FORTY-THREE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (56-85, (Draft) 2nd, 2.5 GB) AT ATLANTA BRAVES (68-73, (WC) 7th, 5 GB) Turner Field, 12:05 pm CDT Weather: Partly Cloudy, 81 degrees, Wind from R to L @ 9 mph TV: WGN, DirecTV 734 Radio: WGN, XM 184

Lance Cormier, RHP 2-4, 5.26 ERA, 53 IP 27 K, 31 BB, 3 HR 304/394/436 against	Juan Mateo, RHP 1-2, 5.10 ERA, 30 IP 21 K, 11 BB, 4 HR 317/384/488 against
*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF *John Mabry, 1B Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS Juan Mateo, P	Willy Aybar, 3B Marcus Giles, 2B Edgar Renteria, SS *Adam LaRoche, 1B *Brian McCann, C Jeff Francoeur, RF Matt Diaz, LF *Ryan Langerhans, CF Lance Cormier, P
Cubs vs. Cormier: No Cubs with more than 10 Ab's	Braves vs. Mateo: No Braves with more than 10 Ab's

The much anticipated, season saving return of Wade Miller is tonight. Thanks for joining the club in such a timely fashion. Be sure to pitch really well so you can show off for your future employeer. Guzman once again pitched poorly last night, falling behind in the count and then laying a meatball right down the middle of the plate to avoid the walk. Sort of the anti-Marmol, but same cruddy result. Since the Cubs are playing for nothing and Guzman probably has the most talent in the Cubs farm system, you stick with him through the rest of the year and hope he can turn a corner sooner rather than later. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-FORTY-TWO IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (56-85, (Draft) 2nd, 3.5 GB) AT ATLANTA BRAVES (67-73, (WC) 6th, 7 GB) Turner Field, 6:05 pm CDT Weather: Partly Cloudy, 80 degrees, Wind from L to R @ 7 mph TV: CSN, DirecTV 737 Radio: WGN, XM 184

Chuck James, LHP 8-3, 3.65 ERA, 88.2 IP 60 K, 34 BB, 14 HR 232/311/423 against	Wade Miller, RHP (Guess the Year) 15-4, 3.28 ERA, 164.2 IP 144 K, 62 BB, 14 HR 249/322/387 against
*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Matt Murton, LF *Jacque Jones, RF Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS Wade Miller, P	Marcus Giles, 2B Willy Aybar, 3B *Adam LaRoche, 1B Andruw Jones, CF *Brian McCann, C Jeff Francoeur, RF *Ryan Langerhans, LF Tony Pena Jr., SS *Chuck James, P
Cubs vs. James: No Cubs with more than 10 Ab's	Braves vs. Miller: Edgar Renteria: 0-22, 000/185/000 Chipper Jones: 7-16, 438/500/813 Andruw Jones: 4-15, 267/333/333

I know Renteria has had his problems with Miller but how long ago did all that happen?

Two of our minor league affiliates were enjoying the thrills of post-season baseball, here's a quick update as the playoffs began this week.

There are some around here who jokingly believe that if (and let's hope it's more like when) Dusty gets fired we won't have much to talk about around here. I'm starting to believe it myself because I just can't imagine another manager out there who could say so many non-sensical things for us to debate. Dusty's latest foray is this gem courtesy of The Daily Herald when asked about the Braves 14 year playoff run likely coming to a halt this season:

"It's more weird for me not preparing for the playoffs than the Braves. The Braves, 15 years in a row, that's a heck of a run"

As Miles points out in his article, since the Braves started racking up division titles in the early 90's, it's Braves 14 and Baker 4 in the race to the postseason. I'll miss you Dusty, kind of like missing the crazy, drunk aunt at Thanksgiving dinner.

The almighty Braves have fallen, their miraculous run of division titles will likely come to an official end this weekend. They still have the faintest of hopes for a wild card birth, but obviously chances are slimmer than slim when your seven games back and trailing seven other teams. Makes you think Leo Mazzone really was the genius over there, but then you look at the Orioles who have given up the 2nd most runs in baseball. Enough about Hotlanta, the Cubs are a story in themselves, a story of pain, suffering, heartbreak, and an ending about as upbeat as one would find in a James Ellroy novel. Only 22 more games to endure. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-FORTY-ONE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] CHICAGO CUBS (56-84, 2nd, 4.5 GB) AT ATLANTA BRAVES (66-73, (WC) 7th, 7 GB) Turner Field, 6:05 pm CDT Weather: Partly Cloudy, 81 degrees, Wind in from RF @ 7 mph TV: CLTV, DirecTV 739 Radio: WGN, XM 184

Tim Hudson, RHP 11-10, 4.95 ERA, 189 IP 116 K, 66 BB, 21 HR 273/339/436 against	Angel Guzman, RHP 0-4, 7.05 ERA, 44.2 IP 50 K, 30 BB, 5 HR 297/408/451 against
*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS Geovany Soto, C Angel Guzman, P	Marcus Giles, 2B Edgar Renteria, SS *Adam LaRoche, 1B Andruw Jones, CF *Brian McCann, C Jeff Francoeur, RF #Willy Aybar, 3B *Scott Thorman, LF Tim Hudson, P
Cubs vs. Hudson: Jacque Jones: 10-32, 313/313/531, 6 K, 0 BB, 2 HR, 1 2B John Mabry: 4-16, 250/250/250 Juan Pierre: 3-13, 231/286/231 Aramis Ramirez: 3-10, 300/300/400	Braves vs. Guzman: No Braves with more than 10 Ab's

Nice to see Soto get a start and it does seem like Dusty is at least trying to get Murton and Theriot more AB's than Bynum and Pagan, although the discrepancy is far closer than I'd like. I'm more curious to see how Guzman does with Soto than anything Soto does with the bat.

With the end of the season fast approaching and the Dusty Era (hopefully) coming to a close, Cub fans far and wide have been looking toward next season. One big question on everyone's mind is, "who will the Cubs' manager be in 2007"? Fredi Gonzalez' name has bandied about quite a bit recently (and, actually, since the last time the Cubs were looking for a skipper), and he's Arizona Phil's odds-on choice. But strange things are afoot in south Florida. Last month saw a strange series of events take place between Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and manager (and Peoria native, Northwestern grad, ex-Cub) Joe Girardi, leading lots of Cubs fans to get excited about the possibility of Girardi coming to Chicago next year. In order to give us some idea what kind of manager he is for the Marlins and might be for the Cubs, we asked one of the best professional baseball writers out there, Miami Herald/ESPN columnist Dan LeBatard, to answer a few questions about Joe:

So this Rich Hill character has looked pretty good since his most recent call-up and if they do keep him around and he does perform like this for the next 5-6 years, the Cubs get a guy through all his prime years on the uber-cheap. I'll take that. As for today's game, I updated the previews to reflect our race for worst record in baseball. It seems more fun to watch us go for something we're only 5 games back of in September. Go Cubs or go draft pick...either way! GAME ONE HUNDRED-FORTY IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PITTSBURGH PIRATES (56-84, 2nd, 4.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (56-83, 4th, 5 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Sunny, 81 degrees, Wind Out to RF @ 9 mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 189

Sean Marshalll, LHP 5-9, 5.05 ERA, 108.2 IP 68 K, 48 BB, 16 HR 260/345/427 against	Shawn Chacon, RHP (NL Only) 1-2, 4.97 ERA, 21 IP 12 K, 21 BB, 5 HR 278/437/557 against
*Chris Duffy, CF Jack Wilson, SS Xavier Nady, RF Jason Bay, LF #Ryan Doumit, 1B Jose Bautista, 3B Jose Castillo, 2B Humberto Cota, C Shawn Chacon, P	*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B *Jacque Jones, RF #Angel Pagan, LF *Scott Moore, 1B Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS *Sean Marshalll, P
Pirates vs. Marshall: No Pirates with more than 10 AB's	Cubs vs. Chacon: Aramis Ramirez: 7-11, 636/667/2000, 4 HR, 3 2B

I think Ramirez has your number Chacon. Just can't stomach to give Soto a start, can you Dusty?

I never really thought we'd catch the Pirates or the Royals for worst record in the league, but honestly a top pick in the first three slots of the draft is usually a good thing especially since the Cubs don't seem to shy away from giving out bonus money. This isn't a team that's so young that any type of moral victory such as fifth over sixth place would mean anything, so might as well go for the high draft pick. The Royals are playing well so they're definitely catchable for the overall worst record. You want to see some of the kids on the team do well, I'm particularly interested in Murton, Theriot, Hill, Guzman, Marshall and Ryu and on a lesser scale Soto, Marmol and Mateo, but anytime a vet needs a break or what not, no reason to put them out there I say. Well maybe we should put Rusch out there, he'd definitely help with the losing. Go Cubs or go draft pick...either way! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-NINE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PITTSBURGH PIRATES (56-83 (Div) 5th - 18.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th -16.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (55-83 (Div) 6th - 19.0 GB; (Wild Card) 13th - 17.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 7:05 pm CDT Weather: Clear, 77 degrees, Wind in from RF @ 8 mph TV: CSN, DirectTV 745 Radio: WGN, XM 189

Rich Hill, LHP 4-6, 5.24 ERA, 65.1 IP 46 K, 30 BB, 12 HR 252/333/479 against	Zach Duke, LHP 8-13, 4.97 ERA, 179.1 IP 94 K, 59 BB, 14 HR 310/367/456 against
*Chris Duffy, CF Jose Bautista, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF #Ryan Doumit, 1B Ronny Paulino, C Joe Randa, 3B Jose Castillo, 2B *Zach Duke	*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Matt Murton, LF *Jacque Jones, RF Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS *Rich Hill, P
Pirates vs. Hill: No Pirates with more than 10 AB's	Cubs vs. Duke: Matt Murton: 8-14, 571/600/929, 1 HR, 2 2B Ronny Cedeno: 6-13, 462/462/462 Aramis Ramirez: 3-12, 250/308/500 Juan Pierre: 1-11, 091/091/091 Derrek Lee: 2-10, 200/200/300

According to Bruce Miles in the Daily Herald, the Pirates "commandeered" Wrigley Field for some extra batting & fielding practice prior to last night's game. So Bucs manager Jim Tracy apparently had a novel idea: How about some extra practice during the season? And Paul Sullivan in the Chicago Tribune reports that Cubs #1 prospect Felix Pie is upset that he didn't get a September recall, and that he is being sent to Fitch Park in Mesa to work one-on-one with hitting instructor Von Joshua and base-running instructor Bob Dernier instead of getting a chance to strut his stuff at Wrigley Field in September.

A break in the action here at work gives me some time to pop this up. Tonight's loser gets to be queen for a day, possibly longer. Go Cubs or go draft pick...either way! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-EIGHT IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PITTSBURGH PIRATES (55-83 (Div) 6th - 19.0 GB; (Wild Card) 13th -16.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (55-82 (Div) 5th - 18.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 16.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 7:05 pm CDT Weather: Clear, 72 degrees, Wind in from RF @ 4 mph TV: WCIU, DirectTV 744 Radio: WGN, XM 189

Juan Mateo, RHP 1-2, 4.15 ERA, 26 IP 14 K, 11BB, 2 HR 208/313/356 against	Victor Santos, RHP 5-9, 5.54 ERA, 112 IP 79 K, 41 BB, 16 HR 314/387/419 against
*Chris Duffy, CF Jose Bautista, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF Xavier Nady, 1B *Jeromy Burnitz, RF Ronny Paulino, C Jose Castillo, 2B Victor Santos, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B *Jacque Jones, RF Matt Murton, LF Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS Juan Mateo, P
Pirates vs. Mateo: No Pirates with more than 10 AB's	Cubs vs. Santos: Aramis Ramirez: 9-24, 375/400/750, 1 HR Derrek Lee: 4-20, 200/292/500, 2 HR Jacque Jones: 5-14, 357 /400/429 John Mabry: 3-13, 231/231/462, 1 HR Juan Pierre: 2-12, 167/167/417, 1 HR

The Cubs acquired AA pitcher Adam Harben from the Minnesota Twins to complete the Phil Nevin deal from last week. They also called up pitcher Jae-kuk Ryu and catcher Jose Reyes. To make room on the 40-man roster for Harben, the Cubs also put Jerome Williams on waivers and he was claimed by the Oakland Athletics. Sayonara Sir Williams! Harben was a 15th round pick of the Twins back in 2002 out of community college in Arkansas. Scout.com had him at #11 in their pre-season Twins prospect ranking but dropped him down to #38 when they revisited the list mid-season. Harben recently turned 23 and finished his AA season going 4-9 with a 3.96 ERA with 74K/67 BB/5 HR in 122.2 IP. I believe he's been shuttled between the pen and the rotation. Judging from his splits this year, he's pretty decent at getting righties out (.197 BA against) and keeps the ball on the ground (2.03 GO/FO ratio). Harben once threw in the high 90's, but his velocity starting taking a dip in 2005 and he throws in the low to mid 90's. He also features a slider and a change, both of which he seems to have trouble commanding. Sounds like he's about what you'd expect for an aging, one-month rental. A kid with some upside and tools, but all kinds of trouble putting them together. He was expected to go to the AFL for the Twins, so we'll see if the Cubs do some switching around. This will probably have to suffice for today's preview. Stupid job getting in the way. It's Juan Mateo versus Victor Santos. A loss and the Cubs take over last place in the division. Yeah 2006!

Before the servers crash again, some notes and preview.... - Barrett likely out for season, details too gruesome for 50% of the population to repeat out loud - Carlos Marmol activated, Scott Moore called up - Jacque Jones left early yesterday with an infection to his tear duct. Insert crying jokes here. - Z goes for his 15th win today, would tie him for NL league with Brad Penny Go Cubs or go draft pick...either way! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-SEVEN IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] PITTSBURGH PIRATES (54-83 (Div) 6th - 20.0 GB; (Wild Card) 13th -16.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (55-81 (Div) 5th - 18.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 15.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Overcast, 67 degrees, Wind in from LF @ 1 mph TV: WGN Radio: WGN, XM 189

Carlos Zambrano, RHP 14-5, 3.33 ERA, 191.2 IP 187 K, 100 BB, 19 HR 208/313/356 against	Paul Maholm, LHP 6-10, 4.84 ERA, 158 IP 70 K, 48 BB, 16 HR 261/327/428 against
*Chris Duffy, CF Joe Randa, 3B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jason Bay, LF Xavier Nady, RF #Ryan Doumit, 1B Ronny Paulino, C Jose Castillo, 2B *Paul Maholm, P	*Juan Pierre, CF Ryan Theriot, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Matt Murton, LF #Angel Pagan, RF Henry Blanco, C Ronny Cedeno, SS #Carlos Zambrano, P
Pirates vs. Zambrano: Jack Wilson: 8-31, 258/324/290 Jason Bay: 8-26, 308/419/769 Jose Castillo: 5-20, 250/286/400 Xavier Nady: 5-12, 417/417/750 Freddy Sanchez: 2-12, 167/231/167	Cubs vs. Maholm: No Cubs with more than 10 AB's

Promising lefty Sean Marshall returns to the mound today from his oblique injury. And your welcome back gift? Barry Bonds. Marshall faced the Giants earlier this season in what I believe was our first massive losing streak (So many, too hard to count anymore) and got shelled for nine runs over three and two-thirds innings pitched. Let's hope this one goes better. A fun little note on Marshall for those worrying that the Cubs burn through young arms like their tires at an Indy Car race. Marshall hasn't gone over 105 pitches all season and has topped 90 pitches in 10 of his 19 starts. Another mild interesting note is that the #1 and #2 hitters are hitting .320 and .417 respectively off Marshall, but no one else is hitting above .270. He seems to have more trouble with the table-setters than the power guys for whatever reason. Go Cubs! GAME ONE HUNDRED-THIRTY-FIVE IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT] SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (66-69 (Div) 3rd - 6.5 GB; (Wild Card) 5th - 2.5 GB) AT CHICAGO CUBS (55-79 (Div) 5th - 17.5 GB; (Wild Card) 12th - 13.0 GB) Wrigley Field, 1:20 pm CDT Weather: Sunny, 71 degrees, Wind In From CF @ 12mph TV: CSN, DirecTV 734 Radio: WGN, XM 189

Sean Marshall, LHP 5-8, 4.98 ERA, 103 IP 67 K, 46 BB, 13 HR 262/348/415 against	Matt Cain, RHP 10-9, 4.32 ERA, 150 IP 70 K, 48 BB, 16 HR 261/327/428 against
*Randy Winn, CF #Omar Vizquel, SS Shea Hillenbrand, 1B Barry Bonds, LF #Ray Durham, 2B Moises Alou, RF Pedro Feliz, 3B Eliezer Alfonzo, C Matt Cain, P	*Juan Pierre, CF *Freddie Bynum, 2B Aramis Ramirez, 3B Derrek Lee, 1B Michael Barrett, C *Jacque Jones, RF #Angel Pagan, LF Ronny Cedeno, SS *Sean Marshalll, P
Giants vs. Marshall: No Giants with more than 10 AB's	Cubs vs. Cain: No Cubs with more than 10 AB's

It's hard to believe that only two months ago I reacted to a Dempsterian meltdown by taking the time to figure out what to look forward to for the rest of the year. And that was after actually watching the game! I experienced this week's back-to-back 11th-inning disasters only via the coments here and ESPNews at the gym, and it was still enough for me to write a sentence that I really never thought I'd write: I'm done with this team for this season. Seriously, what is to be gained by watching this team over the next month? Jerry Seinfeld has a well-known riff about how rooting for a specific team is just rooting for laundry, and I gotta tell ya, this laundry sucks. I'm gonna torture this metaphor for a little while: the ownership needs to sort through the laundry, throw out a bunch of it, and get some new clothes, preferably a nice pair of flat-front slacks that can hit 30 home runs and plays a passable outfield defense. Maybe a snappy blazer that can play second base, too. Oh, and a new manager. Until that happens, I can't follow this team. All of my favorite players are either hurt or traded, with the exception of Derrek Lee, and Lee isn't enough to keep me paying attention. There's just too much negativity, too much suckitude, too much "clog-the-bases" anger-making bullshit for me to deal with on a daily basis. It isn't healthy. I'm working on tabulating the results of the "Wisdom Of Us" contest (remember that?), and I'll be unveiling the results throughout October. Hopefully that month will also bring us a few decent free agent signings and a new manager. For those of you who aren't as completely burned out on this team as I am, there's a little bit of actual content after the jump: