Let the questions start rolling.  Theo & Co. have traded their most reliable reliever, 29-year old Sean Marshall, to the Reds for lefty starter Travis Wood.  Not sure how this makes the Cubs better, but is clear that Theo & Co. value starting pitching above relief pitching and that the Cubs intend to try to acquire younger talent to continue building from the ground up.

Wood is 25 years old.  In 2011, Wood made 18 major league starts, going 6-6 with a 4.84 ERA (he also made 10 starts at Triple-A Louisville).  His rookie season was much better – in 2010, Wood made 17 starts, going 5-4 with a 3.51 ERA.  But the 200+ innings in 2010 may have taken a toll on his body thereby limiting his effectiveness in his sophomore season.

Marshall was one of the best left-handed relievers in all of baseball in 2011.  He had a nasty 2.20 ERA and his 34 holds was 2nd best in all of baseball among lefties.  The 34 holds was a Cubs record.  Marshall was set to make $3 million in 2012 and he was eligible to test the free agent market following season, so the Cubs struck first while the iron was hot.

The bullpen is going to be a wreck next year with this move.  Maybe with an improved starting pitching staff, there will be less pressure on the bullpen, but taking Marshall out of the mix leaves a huge void for that lefty set-up man.  You can’t tell me that James Russell, Scott Maine or John Gaub are going to be the guys to step right in and become reliable or dependable all of a sudden. I just don’t see it.

But I guess this is the time where we just have to trust the observations, research and decision-making of Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod.  We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything new.

Carlos Zambrano struggled for the 2nd straight start since calling out closer Carlos Marmol for blowing a save in which Big Z stood to get the win back on June 5th against the Cardinals.  Since then, Zambrano has given up 12 ER on 16 hits and 9 walks to the Phillies and Brewers, both games which the Cubs have lost.  After having some impressive outings earlier this season, Big Z has been a mess of late with his ERA rising to 4.59. So much for trading him when the iron was hot.

On a side note – maybe we’ll see Prince Fielder in a Cubs uni next year?!?!

Jeff Baker homered in the 1st to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead and Reed Johnson cut the Brewers 5-1 lead to 5-4 with his 3-run bomb in the 4th inning, but it wasn’t enough.  Johnson, Blake DeWitt and DJ Lemahieu each had 2 hits in the loss.  The Cubs committed an error for what seems like the 50th game in a row.  It led to 2 unearned runs off of James Russell in the 7th inning that increased the Brewers lead to 7-4.

News Flash – Cubs defeated the Brewers today 12-7 to take 3 of 4 from the Brewers this week at Wrigley…

With another storm heading towards Chicago, each team knew they had to score early and often to be ahead in a game that was certainly going to be rain-shortened at some point before 9 innings were played.  The Cubs took a 4-1 lead after 1 inning of play courtesy of 2-out, 2-run doubles from Reed Johnson and Alfonso Soriano in a clutch hitting performance.  But Casey Coleman and Justin Berg gave it right back by allowing the Mets to take command with a 5-run 2nd inning.  Coleman recorded only 4 outs in his start — 6 ER on 7 hits and 1 walk.  Why is he still in the rotation?  Manager Mike Quade went with young gun Justin Berg to get Coleman out of the 2nd inning jam, but what did he do?  Berg literally threw 12 pitches – all balls – to walk in 2 runs in a miserable effort.  James Russell came on to save the day and keep the game close by striking out the final 2 batters of the game with the bases loaded and only 1 out.  Sure the Cubs trailed 6-4, but it could have been worse.  With the rain coming, the Cubs knew they needed to score and score soon, but they could never muster anything else off of Dillon Gee the rest of the way.  The game was eventually called after 6 full innings of play.

It was another frustrating loss in another frustrating year for the Cubs…

Ouch — what an ugly loss – 15-5, 4 more errors from the Cubs defense.  Just when you thought they might make a turn after winning 2 over the Marlins in Miami this week, they go back to their “old” losing ways in Boston.

Doug Davis was downright bad – 7 ER on 8 hits and 3 walks with 3 K’s in just 3 2/3 innings pitched.  Scott Maine recorded just 1 out in his work durnig the 4th and 5th innings.  He gave up 3 ER on 5 hits with 1 walk. And Jeff Samardzija had his 1st bad outing in a while, turning a 10-5 laugher into an embarrassing 15-5 riot.  He gave up 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks in the bottom of the 8th inning.  All in all, the Red Sox pounded out 19 hits including 2 home runs.

James Russell was the only effective Cubs pitcher as he tossed 3 scoreless innings in the middle of the game.

Jeff Baker did have a good night at the plate – 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored.  Aramis Ramirez followed that up with 3 hits and an RBI.  Alfonso Soriano and Reed Johnson each had 2 hits in the loss.

The pressure is now on Carlos Zambrano and Matt Garza to try to salvage the series against the Red Sox at Fenway park in Boston this weekend.

The Dodgers defeated the Cubs 5-2 on Monday night in Los Angeles.

James Russell lost for the 4th time in 5 starts.

Alfonso Soriano hit his major-league leading 11th home run in the loss.

Go Cubs Go!

The Cubs lost to the Rockies 4-3 in a familiar storyline that is getting oh-so-old.  After jumping out to a 2-0 lead on a Jeff Baker single that scored Starlin Castro and on a Troy Tulowitki error on a ball hit by Geovany Soto that scored Darwin Barney, the Cubs could not figure out a way to hold onto the lead and win.

James Russell is just not getting it done in the rotation – 4 IP, 4ER on 3 home runs and 3 walks.  Not good.  The bullpen kept them in the game with 5 scoreless innings of relief, but the Cubs couldn’t muster another run until the 9th inning when Alfonso Soriano led off the inning with a home run.

The Cubs have now lost 3 straight and sit at 10-13 on the season, 2 games back of the Cards and Brewers for 1st place in the lowly NL Central.  The Cubs are just 6-8 at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

After Reed Johnson’s dramatic walk-off home run to left field propelled the Cubs to a 2-1 win of the opener, there was hope that the Cubs would be able to pull off the sweep.  But it wasn’t meant to be as the Padres exploded for 3 home runs against James Russell in the game’s first 5 innings to rush out to a 4-0 lead.  The Cubs cut the lead to 4-2 on an RBI double from Reed Johnson and an RBI single by Darwin Barney in the bottom of the 5th inning and then again to 5-4 on Alfonso Soriano’s 2-run home run to deep left center field in the bottom of the 8th inning, but they didn’t have another rally left in the tank in the 9th.

After his heroics in the 1st game, Johnson made the most of his start in Game 2.  Johnson had 3 hits and an RBI, but was thrown out at 3rd base in the 5th inning on an overly aggressive base-running blunder that probably cost the Cubs a much-needed run.  After he was thrown out for the 2nd out in the inning, the Cubs started a 2-out rally with consecutive singles by Jeff Baker, Kosuke Fukudome and Barney.  If Johnson had been on base, who knows what would have happened with only 1 out and those 3 singles…  Fukudome hit lead-off and had 2 hits in 5 at-bats.  Barney had 2 hits as well and Starlin Castro went 1 for 4 as the team’s 3rd hitter in the lineup.  Castro had a rough day at the plate in the double-header – 1 for 9 with 5 runners left on base.

With the split, the Cubs were tied for 1st place in the NL Central with 3 other teams – the Brewers, Reds and Cards – all with 9-9 records…

Bret Myers was finally rewarded for another good start as the Astros raced out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back.  Michael Bourn and Angel Sanchez each reached on bunt singles to start the game, making starter-turned reliever-turned starter James Russell look like he had never practiced fielding a bunt before.  Each player came around to score later that inning.  Bourn also had 2 stolen bases, while the top 3 Astros in the lineup – Bourn, Sanchez and Hunter Pence – went a combined 9 for 15, with 7 RBI’s and 7 runs scored.  Ouch.

Russell ended up lasting just 1 2/3 innings in his spot start for Andrew Cashner. He gave up 4 ER on 7 hits and given the outing, the Cubs should really try to figure out a way to use just 4 starters for as long as possible when they can with some off days coming up.  Jeff Samardzija wasn’t all that much better – 2 ER on 3 hits in 3 innings of work.  His season ERA is 7.50 and his season WHIP is 2.17.  Since Samardzija doesn’t have any options, he is going to either have to get better in a hurry or the Cubs may be forced to outright release him.  And John Grabow continued to pitch poorly as he recovers from a 2010 injury.  Grabow gave up 3 ER on 5 hits in the 8th inning and now has a 2.31 WHIP and 8.31 ERA.

The Cubs did manage to have 11 hits, but scored just 2 runs, one on a solo home run by Tyler Colvin.  Marlon Byrd is on fire after a slow start.  He had 3 more hits and has a .391 batting average.  Starlin Castro had 2 more hits and is hitting .367.  If only someone else in the lineup besides the first 3 batters would start hitting, maybe the Cubs could put together some sustained rallies.

Carlos Zambrano and Wandy Rodriguez square off in the rubber game of the series tonight in Houston…

WOW – what an ugly win for the Cubs over the White Sox on Thursday.  There were some positives, but also a LOT of negatives.

It was great that the Cubs hung on to win, but the White Sox actually out-hit the Cubs 16-8.  Ouch.  Good pitching was clearly not on display yesterday in Mesa.

I’m still waiting for Matt Garza to have that breakout start that shows it was a smart decision for the Cubs to unload 4 top prospects for the big righty from the Tampa Bay Rays.  Garza started off well with 3 straight scoreless innings to start the game.  But he ended up giving up 3 ER on 8 hits and 2 walks which actually lowered his ERA to 8.68 for the spring.  But a 2.0 WHIP during a game is never good, even if you end up winning.  Not sure if Garza is still fine-tuning things and working on pitches no matter what the situation in the game, but I really hope that he starts pitching for real before the season starts.  He has 1 more start next week before he makes his Cubs debut next Sunday at Wrigley Field, so it would be nice to see a stellar outing out of Garza early next week.

The bullpen didn’t fare much better.  Braden Looper gave up a run on 3 hits and a walk in his 2 innings of work and is out of the running for being the Cubs 5th starter.  James Russell gave up 2ER on 2 solo home runs in the 8th inning, but will likely still make the opening day roster as a lefty reliever.  And Carlos Marmol gave up a run in the 9th inning but managed to shut the door on the White Sox to preserve the 1-run win for the Cubs.  All in all, it was a horrible showing by the pitching staff.

The bats finally came to life in the win.  Alfonso Soriano had a solo home run and had 2 RBI’s on the day.  Darwin Barney continued to show Manager Mike Quade that he deserves a shot at starting at 2B this season.  He had 2 more hits including a triple and he drove in 2 runs and scored 1 run.  Marlon Byrd continued his torrid hitting and had 2 RBI’s.  Satrlin Castro had a double and a walk and scored 2 runs.

When these guys are being patient and swinging the bats well, the Cubs are capable of putting up some runs each game.  But is a matter of consistency and hoping that guys like Carlos Pena, Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto all don’t go into prolonged slumps at the same time.

It’s a week away from opening day – can’t wait for another fun MLB schedule to begin…

Will Carlos Silva be on the Cubs opening day roster when camp breaks at the end of March – that is a key question.  With the quality starts by Randy Wells all spring long and the emergence of Andrew Cashner as a viable 5th starter, the Cubs could be looking to move Carlos Silva when camp breaks at the end of March.  Lucky for the Cubs, they have some suitors.  The Washington Nationals and New York Yankees both have had scouts watching all of Silva’s starts this spring.  Both teams are in need of a 5th starter to round out their rotations and the Yankees could easily absorb all or a portion of Silva’s whopping $12 million salary for the 2011 MLB schedule.  Despite 2 rough starts to open up the spring and a dugout squirmish with Aramis Ramirez after a dreadful 1st inning in which Silva surrendered 6 runs when his defense committed 3 errors, Silva has put together 2 good starts and clearly still has what it takes to pitch at the major league level.  Silva even pitched 5 innings in his last outing and is building up his arm strength.

This would be a great coup for the Cubs if they can find someone to take Silva, even they end up paying for part of his salary to get a deal done.  Silva is not in the Cubs long-term plans and by moving Silva for something (a prospect, draft pick, saving some cash), it would be much better than outright releasing the big righty.  It would also free up a spot for Cashner to open the season as the Cubs 5th starter.  And even if the Cubs have an injury problem or Wells or Cashner struggles out of the gate, they still have some other young options to fall back on with James Russell and Casey Coleman who will most likely start the 2011 campaign starting in the minor leagues.