Chicago Cubs Ticket Blog

 It’s been a frustrating year to say the least in Wrigleyville this season, but it’s all over Cubs fan. It would be unfair not to point out a few positives in the ball clubs’ first season under the Ricketts ownership. A handful of young stars joined the Cubbies’ roster including Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin, and Andrew Cashner. Whoever takes over the Cubs’ manager job will have to focus on developing these starlets next season into top MLB players. The acquisition of Marlon Byrd paid off as the former Texas Rangers outfielder was a shining example of consistency throughout the year. The Cubs, however, were mostly poor this season. Although Alfonso Soriano had a much improved season for the Northsiders, Aramiz Ramirez and Derrek Lee both had bad seasons. Lee was traded away to Atlanta, while Ramirez has committed his future to the Cubs. The first matter of business for the Cubs is naming their next manager, but Jim Hendry will need to do some serious roster retooling if the Cubs want to return to playoffs in 2011.

The Chicago Cubs are 20-11 under Mike Quade which has prompted some to ask if the Cubs’ interim manager is a good candidate to take over job full time. Quade has the Cubs playing some of the best baseball they’ve played all year (be it as a team that’s out of the playoff picture). Owner Tom Ricketts told the media that he is in no rush to hire a manager, but as the season’s end draws near the pressure to name a head man will rise. Former World Series-winning manager and Cubs T.V. analyst Bob Brenley recently took himself out of the running, leaving Wrigley Field favorite Ryne Sandburg, Eric Wedge (formerly of the Cleveland Indians), and Quade officially in the running. The possibility of Joe Giradi leaving the Yankees could be lingering in Cubs management’s thinking as well. Being born in Evanston, Quade is a Chicago guy which certainly doesn’t hurt his candidacy. Quade has 17 years worth of experience coaching in the minor leagues, but this is his first managing job. If the team continues to play well and the Cubs decide to go another route for next year, the 53-year-old could become a candidate for future MLB managing jobs outside of Chicago.

Cubs fans have long expected that one day that Wrigley Field legend Ryne Sandberg would one day manage the Northsiders. That day may be rapidly approaching with the franchise actively searching for Lou Pinella’s replacement for next season. Appointing Sandberg would be a incredibly popular decision, but is it the right thing for the team? Sandberg detractors point to the Hall-of-Fame second basemen’s lack of experience coaching in the MLB. Those campaigning for a more seasoned MLB manager point to former Arizona Diamondbacks skipper/current Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenley and Yankees manger Joe Giradi. It may be a different undertaking getting Brenley out of the booth, and if Giradi wins another World Series it’d be hard seeing him leaving New York. Sandberg has been sharpening his managerial skills in the minor leagues over the past three season. Moving from the class-A Peoria Chiefs to Double-A Tennessee Smokes to Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Sandberg knows the Cubs minor league system better than anyone and many believe can succeed in managing the franchise’s young prospects. Judging by the play of veterans Aramis Rameriz and Alfonso Soriano it becomes easily apparent that the future of the organization will rest largely with youth. In my opinion  - now is the time to hand the franchise over to Sandberg. Unless Giradi suddenly becomes available, hiring Sandberg is a home run.

The 2010 Chicago Cubs season looks to go down in bitter disappointment as the North Siders will likely finish ahead of only the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs’ roster is in need of a serious make over despite having the third highest payroll in the MLB in 2010. Wrigley said goodbye to both manager Lou Pinella and first baseman Derrek Lee as the franchise looks to move in a new direction. If general manager Jim Hendry is unable to make the necessary changes in the offseason he could be out of job. The Cubs payroll this season was $146,859,000 while the NL West leading San Diego Padres is only $37,799,300. Run production is the Cubs biggest problem heading into next year with Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano no longer able to carry the team. There has already been talk of power hitting Cub-killer Adam Dunn moving to Wrigleyville. Players like Marlon Byrd, Starling Castro, Geovany Soto, and Soriano all should be key contributors next season, but the team will need to bring in a few RBI producers in the offseason if they want to compete for the division.

The problem with the Chicago Cubs boils down to one simple fact: Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, and Derrek Lee making a combined $49 million in 2010. As of today neither Soriano, Ramirez, or Lee are hitting over .265. The Cubbies simply haven’t got it done at the plate this year. Soriano leads the team in run production with a measly 57 RBI’s. The 34-year-old is really actually having a better year that 2009, but his play on the field doesn’t even come close to earning his $19 million paycheck. Aramiz Ramirez has been the Cubs most consistent run producer for the past seven years, but 2010 has been a nightmare for the third baseman. The former All Star’s batting average is hovering at .228 as Ramirez continues to struggle with injuries.

Derrek Lee, however, has been the biggest dissapointment in Wrigleyville this season. Lee was one of the only bright spots on the Cubs roster in 2009, hitting .306 with 35 HRs & 111 RBI’s. In 2010, Lee has been pitiful at the plate. Unless Lee catches fire at the plate over the last two months of the season, the 1st basemen will finish the season with his worst batting average since 1999. After this season, Cubs ownership will need to take a hard look at the huge sum of money their spending on these three under-performing stars, and act accordingly. The Chicago Cubs cannot continue to be weighed down by some of the most inflated salaires in the major leagues if they want to win a World Series in the near future.

Lou Piniella announced this week that he would retire from baseball at the conclusion of the Chicago Cubs’ 2010 season. Sweet Lou plans to go back home to Florida and spend more time with his family. The 66-year-old has had a distiguished career in baseball, both as a player and a manager. How will Lou be remembered in Chicago? Historically, Piniella will go down as one of the most successful Cubs managers in history. He led the Cubs to NL Central titles his first two seasons in Chicago, but lost both years in the NLDS. The 2008 Cubs won 97 games, the most since the Northsiders 1945 World Series team. If the Cubs can find a way to get on the right side of .500 by the end of the year, Lou will end his tenure in Chicago without ever having a losing season. No matter what happens at the end of the year, Cubs fans should tip their hat to Sweet Lou. He may not have put the Billy Goat curse to an end, but he’s done a good job in his time in Chicago.

June was a tough month for the Chicago Cubs, but Lou Pinella’s men got off to positive start on Monday in their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubbie bats came alive to aid struggling starter Tom Gorzelanny in the 9-4 victory over the Diamondbacks. Lead off man Kosuke Fukudome opened the game with solo home run that traveled 425 feet over the center field wall at Chase Field. Gorzelanny walked six batters in just five innings of work, but amazingly only gave up three runs. Catcher Geovanny Soto continued his good form at the plate with three hits and two RBI’s in the game. Soto raised his batting average to .277. Pinch hitter Alfonso Soriano put the game to bed in the 9th, blasting a two-run home run off of Diamondbacks reliever Juan Gutierrez. The homer was Soriano’s 14th of the season. The Cubs and D-Backs meet again tonight in Phoenix for game 2 of the series at 8:40 CT. Cubs ace Carlos Silva will pitch against Arizona youngster Barry Enright.

The Chicago Cubs are struggling. The lead between the Cubs and NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals is now nine games. The team ranks 22nd in the MLB in runs batted in and there’s already plenty of talk of the team shopping some players around the All Star Break. One thing that can put some wind back in the Cubs’ sails is winning their interleague series with the Chicago White Sox this weekend. The ever-interesting Carlos Zambrano will take the mound in the first game at US Celluar Park on Friday for the Cubs. Zambrano started the season opener as the ace, got moved to a relief role after struggling, and moved back to the starting rotation this month. Big Z has pitched pretty well in his two starts this month going 2-2 with a ERA of 3.63. A commanding performance against the White Sox could give the Cubbies much needed momentum. Carlos Silva and Ryan Dempster are scheduled to start the following two games of the series on the Southside.

When the Cubs signed former Texas Ranger Marlon Byrd they were hoping the outfielder would hit the ball consisently and bring his good attitude to the clubhouse. The 32-year-old certainly has surpassed expectation so far this season. As of today, Byrd has the best batting average (.329) in the National League. Byrd has been aggressive at the plate all year with 34 RBI’s, 21 doubles, and only 8 walks. Manager Lou Pinella has commended his hard working style calling him “our best hitter”. The historically more dependable hitters Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee have struggled this year. If Byrd keeps up his impressive display at the plate you can expect the journeyman ball player to make his first all-star appearance.

It’s been over a month since Carlos “Big Z” Zambrano has taken the mound as the Chicago Cubs starter, but the fiery hurler will start tonight against NL Central worst Houston Astros. Despite being the Cubs opening day starter, Zambrano was moved to the bullpen by manager Lou Pinella after a poor start to the season. Pinella said the purpose of the experiment was to see if Big Z could aid the Cubs’ ailing middle relief, but the three-time all-star didn’t look great in that role. Sean Marshall has developed into the Cubs go-to-set up man after going 17 consecutive appearances without giving up a earned run. The Astros have won three games in a row heading into tonight ballgame at Minute Maid Park. Zambrano, however, has historically been very good against the Astros with a career ERA of 2.54 against Houston. The Venezuelan has  pitched much better at night this season (night ERA 3.07 vs day ERA 8.66, so the 8:05 ET start time should favor Zambrano. The Cubs will play three in a row against the Astros before heading back to the Midwest for a series against the struggling Milwaukee Brewers.