This is the article I wrote about the Cubs before the start of the season. And after two months, I must say I've been dead on.
But the season is long, they can rebound. But when your 140 million dollar roster gets owned by Pittsburgh, it doesn't bode well.
By Brian Kush
March 21st 2010
2010 Cubs: Just more of the same
Every year at this time I have friends who are Cubs fans that try to get me pumped up for the upcoming season.
Every year I give them the same negative response. I've been told I'm the type of Cubs fan that likes to be miserable. That if the Cubs actually won it all I wouldn't know what to do with myself because I couldn't complain.
I just like to think of myself as a realist. And this is my realistic look at the 2010 Chicago Cubs.
It's more of the same.
It's basically the same team that has failed to have any playoff success.
The Cubby core of Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano have failed to get it done. And I have no reason to think 2010 will be any different. It's the same group of players, just older.
I'll give credit to GM Jim Hendry for this -- at least he didn't make the team worse in the offseason like he did heading into 2009.
But the moves that were made really don't have me leaping to drop 50 bucks to sit in the Bud Light Bleachers.
One of the main reasons I feel this way is Carlos Zambrano.
I came to the realization over this offseason that he just isn't a No. 1 starter.
I've defended him through the blowups and even through the fight with former catcher Michael Barrett. But after his mediocre 2009, which featured another one of his blowups, I've jumped off the Big Z bandwagon.
The problem with Zambrano isn't his stuff. We've all seen him dominate. And when he's on, there are few pitchers better. But he's not on enough. That's the problem.
No. 1 starters, especially the ones with Zambrano's price tag, don't have stretches of poor play. Even in Zambrano's good seasons he would have extended periods of poor outings. That's not supposed to happen when you're the ace of a team trying to contend for a World Series.
The occasional bad outing, maybe consecutive bad starts -- sure. But Zambrano has the ability to go into a 1-month funk, and that's just unacceptable from your No. 1 starter.
Then there's the Cubs' offense. It can get hot and it can get equally cold.
Guys like Lee and Ramirez are fine offensive players. But both are entering their seventh full season as cornerstones of the Cubs' lineup and what do they have to show for it? Six straight playoff losses in the Lou Piniella era. Nine straight for the franchise if you want to go back to 2003.
So I don't expect much from the 2010 Cubs. I find that to be the best approach as a Cubs fan -- don't expect anything.
But to end on a positive note, I expect Soriano to have a bounceback season and Carlos Marmol to make the all-star team.
