Chicago Cubs

Starlin Castro , arguably the Cubs' top prospect, is flashing the potential to hit at the big-league level early in the season. The Tennessee Smokie shortstop is currently hitting .342, with a .500 slugging percentage helped by his two triples in eight games.

It's only mid-April, but there are plenty of people already discussing who on the Cubs roster should get traded.

The discussions always center around what those players are doing on the field—obviously an important part in discussing potential trades, but are usually short on providing full context.

Trades are much more complex than, "Well, I have this guy that I want to get rid of and you have this other guy that I want. Any chance you want to make a swap?"

It isn't easy being a Cubs fan.

Everyone who knows baseball knows that.

Everyone who can count to one hundred knows that.

The Cubs' misfortune isn't just unlucky, it's cruel.

It's like that sign that restaurants and bars love to hang on their walls which reads: "Free Beer Tomorrow." Most patrons understand the joke. Tomorrow never comes. Don't forget your wallet.

The Cubs have a similar sign that reads: "Wait 'Til Next Year."

The problem with the comparison? For other teams, next year finally did come. And for Cubs fans, it isn't funny.

The Cubs (4-5) missed out on a sweep against the Brewers Thursday, but another sweep-worthy team, the Houston Astros, comes to town starting today at 1:20 p.m.

The offensively challenged Astros (1-8) got their first win of the season against St. Louis yesterday, but the Cubs should have no problem getting back on the winning track with a three-game weekend series against the ‘Stros.

The ball jumped off the bat of Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, a burning one-hopper a step to Aramis Ramirez's left. Aging outfielder Jim Edmonds began lumbering toward second base, but as Ramirez (whose reaction to the ball, hit nearly right at him, was characteristically slow) took a jab step toward the ball and reached out to collect it, an inning-ending double play seemed nearly certain.

Hope springs eternal. Alas.

Chicago Cubs fans are resiliently optimistic. They’re also habitually disappointed. More than a century after the Cubs’ last World Series win, the locals are still praying for a miracle in the Windy City—which would be better news if earthly prayers weren’t so apt to blow away in a stiff breeze.

Faith means believing that anything can happen.

Fatalism, on the other hand, means knowing that it usually doesn’t.

Game No. 11 in our journey to score 162 games this baseball season featured the Brewers and Cubs in an exciting finish at Wrigley Field.

Previous Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight updates:

After a matchup between two relatively awful teams left Cubs fans with high hopes Monday, deeper problems still plague the mind of seasoned manager Lou Piniella.

Piniella may have made his best decision so far in the young season when he decided to start 24-year-old Tyler Colvin in replace of the struggling Alfonso Soriano on April 8. The result? Colvin belted his first career home run in his first at-bat of the season. 

After a tough first week that saw them go 2-4 on a six-game road trip, the Chicago Cubs came home to the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field to face the Milwaukee Brewers in their 2010 home opener Monday. Behind starter Ryan Dempster, the Cubbies earned a 9-5 victory.

New Cub Xavier Nady, getting a start in right field against Milwaukee's left-handed starter Doug Davis, broke a third-inning tie when he belted a three-run home run, and Chicago never looked back.