For anyone who wants to write about how bad the Cubs are etc., just post it in here from now on.

at 5-3 theyre so great..yet they cant even hold a lead against pittsburgh and can barely beat them

the NL is so bad its not even funny...those last two teams the cubs have played (astros and pirates) are horrendous

I was in a bar last night and they played go cubs go two times in a row. It was a disgusting display.

i agree. thats why i hate how the media, radio people talk about how great they are. like if they are 20-10 theyll say how great they are-look at the damn teams they face! it really helps they play the reds, astros, pirates, cards, all season long. throw them in the west, east, see how great they are. itll show in the playoffs

Hey Hey! Holy Mackeral!

Honestly 13 and 15 innings in back to back games with the Pirates. Combo that with 3 times they gave up the lead.

Disgusting

Looks like they're going to sweep the Pirates. The Cubs have just enough talent to handle these terrible teams in the NL.

except the Brewers, go CREW

I like the Brewers, but their bullpen is a little worrisome.
They've definitely got a chance to win that division, but I'd feel a little better about it if they had a better option at closer than Gagne or Turnbow.

The odd thing is when Gallardo comes back they could use Bush in that role as he once was a control type of guy.

I make it a point to avoid NorthsideBaseball.com, however I checked out their game thread for last night (Saturday, April 12 vs. the Phillies) and ROFLMMFAO at all the comments late in the thread regarding the trash on the field at Citizen's Bank Ballpark.

Ted Lilly is some kinda awful right now. Most people, including myself, figured his 2007 was a fluke. The Cubs aren't sniffing the NL Central title if Lilly doesn't have a good year.

And nowhere near enough talent to handle the real teams in that league, such as what is happening to them this weekend. It is going to be tough for them to beat out Milwaukee in that division, especially if Sheets or Gallardo (yes even if only one stays healthy) in the 2nd half. If both were to somehow stay healthy in the 2nd half though, the Cubs are dead. And the wildcard isn't coming from the central this year either. Their biggest problem right now is the fluke season their 2 mediocre lefty SP's had last year are coming to roost as a mass regression to the means is in process. And Ryan Dempster's ERA won't stay below 1 all year (or below 4 IMO).

With all of the extra innings games the Cubs have played this week, its like they have played a whole extra game without it counting.

Cubs are back to getting so many bad defensive plays made against them. How many unearned runs have they scored this week? Unreal!

right now it is more than an extra game. 15 innings in the first game against pit, 13 innings in the second game, now they are in extras against the phils.

BTW, Bob Brenly had the dumbest comment by an announcer this year. He said the Cubs would rather have the lower part of the order up in extra innings instead of Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez.

Utley misses a game tying homer by a foot, and the Phillies eventually lose. Cubs are playing just awful right now, and somehow still have a winning record.

They just aren't very good, I'm not all that worried. The best team in that division won again today and their closer is starting to calm down. Phillies deserved to lose though, couldn't score in the bottom of the 10th off a pitcher who is currently awful, and Utley hurried an easy throw against a slow runner.

That's just looking at things through black-and-white shaded specs. Their offense will be one of the best in the NL and they have the makings of a great bullpen. Their rotation may be a bit shaky but again, what team in the NL doesn't have holes?

They have more than enough talent to be the top team in the NL Central. Like you said, the NL is so bad, there's only 2 or 3 teams that you figure will definitely be good. Piniella is managing his starting rotation very aggressively, and you wonder if that will hurt his bullpen in the long run. The Phillies deserved to lose today, as bringing in Romero to face Soto instead of Gordon against Pie is just awful managing.

I don't know if they're better than the Brewers, but saying with certainty that they are or they aren't is stupid as hell. Both of the teams are pretty good, probably true-talent 85-88 win teams. The Brewers have a chance to be a standout team, but both Gallardo and Sheets would have to stay healthy for a good portion of the year. It'll be nice once they get Cameron back -- not that Kapler has missed a beat, but with Hall at third and Cameron in center, they're set to be much better defensively than they were last season.

And I too was amazed at how much had to go right for the Cubs to win today... the mishap by Utley, the great play by Lee, Utley missing a homer by a few feet, but such is baseball.

They'll have one of the best offenses in the NL? They start Mark DeRosa, Pie/Reed Johnson, and Ryan Theriot and are relying on totally unproven guys like Fukodome and Soto to put up big years. Their offense is average, their rotation is average, and their closer is made of glass (plus, Howry is falling apart). They'll be in the race, but the NL is quite a bit better this year (still not good or near AL standards, but better) and so is Milwaukee. I honestly think they aren't going to play in October, although they'll admittedly be close since they are in the NL and a team that isn't very good can still win in the mid to upper 80's.

They're unproven? So what? That's a weak argument. Fukodome figures to be a good bat, "proven" or not. I'd really like for Soto to prove that last year was a fluke, but most projection systems don't seem to think so. Why is DeRosa a bad second baseman? He's pretty average, actually -- his last 1000 at-bats have been as a league average hitter, which is better-than-average for a second-baseman. He gives some of that away on defense, but overall he's average.

And they're not relying on Soto and Fukodome to have "big" years. They figure to be better than average or average at every offensive spot except SS.

The Brewers are looking really good. The cubs are struggling to beat anyone which is exactly like last season. Once Gallardo is back I think the Brewers will be the team to beat.

I would say watch out for St. Louis but they have played San Fran and Washington.

If Soto and Fukudome aren't good, their offense will be bad. Soto has a 7 year OPS of .780 in the minors and isn't a great fielder, and you can go ahead and like Mark DeRosa, but he's just a guy. And you think they will be better than average on offense in CF? They just aren't all that good, they are going to have to rely on injuries from Milwaukee to win that division. Now that's more than possible, but when you need that to even get to the playoffs, you aren't a very scary team.

Just saw the highlights on the news, DeRosa's home run was a foul ball

The Cubs are good only by NL central standards. Nothing more or less. The D-backs, Rockies, Phillies, Mets and Braves are unquestionably better, IMO. You could make an argument, although to a lesser degree, for the Dodgers and Padres.

The 1908 might be getting to them. Check out the kid with the cubs hat who is under 9 years old with the automatic gun.

Yikes

can we pin this thread? i think its likely to be a thread that people post in for the remainder of the year

That video is all kinds of funny.

Soriano got hurt doing his stupid hop. Sad to see that they'll miss Santana next week at Wrigley. I always wanted to see how he'd fare against the Cubs.

If there was ever a player meant for the DH spot, it's Adam Dunn.

Ryan Braun makes Adam Dunn look like a Gold Glover out there

That hop finally got him like Gramatica.

There was quite a discussion on boers and bernstein about the NL Central having the worst collection of defensive left fielders in the history of the game.

Cincinatti- Adam Dunn
Houston- Carlos Lee
Cubs- Alfonso Soriano
Pittsburgh- Jason Bay
Milwaukee- Ryan Braun
St Louis- Chris Duncan

Other than Jason Bay, those are all converted infielders who really have no idea what is going on. Funny how they all ended up in the NL Central

Atleast all the managers/GMs realize that LF is the least important spot defensively on the field, so they do what they can to get some offense there. It's not like starting Podsednik there for 3 straight years.

I still contend Carlos has got himself to average at worst. In that group he is a gold glover.

Soriano is a fine left-fielder -- I don't know why he's on that list...

Maybe because he is the only player in the league who can injure himself doing a stupid hop when catching the ball?

or because the only thing he does well defensively is throw the ball. His reads and angles are atrocious, he is afraid of the wall, if he thinks it is past him he doesnt sprint all out for the ball. to think last year that the Cubs REALLY wanted him to play center is laughable

Officially to the 15 day DL for Soriano.

haha sucks for the cubs...

is there a good reason why josh fogg is still not only a major league pitcher, but a starter? oh yeah the national league, thats right

That's irrelevant, but go ahead and try to argue it.

He's got a strong arm -- probably one of the best LF arms in baseball (top five I'd guess without putting a whole lot of thought into it -- I could certainly be wrong, though). Even if his reads are bad, his speed and athleticism does a lot to make up for that. He's rated above average in LF in Tango's Fan Scouting Report amongst both National and Cub fans, and I'm fairly certain John Dewan has him above average in LF.

He's not someone I think as one of the 'best' LFers (defensively) in baseball, but he's far from belonging on a list of the worst.

you would think the reds would get some pitching one of these years

He has one of the quickest, most accurate releases I've seen in a long time.

Between Volquez, Harang, Cueto, Arroyo, and maybe eventually Bailey...they're working on it. Seriously.