Chicago Cubs

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune , who seldom has a lucid baseball thought, has openly lobbied for longtime Texas Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo to come to town.

The former Rangers beat writer wrote this in a recent article:

Rumors are swirling around Chicago that the Cubs, who fired two hitting coaches during the 2009 season, have strong interest in former Texas Rangers coach Rudy Jaramillo.

Jaramillo's resume stands on its own merits. During his 10-year tenure in Texas, 17 Rangers won Silver Slugger Awards. He gets a lot of the credit for the Rangers being an offensive powerhouse over the last decade.

But my interest in this rumor is deeper than a great hitting coach being available...

Disclaimer: I am an enormous Cubs fan who still spends months dreaming about Opening Day at Wrigley Field. I love the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs have an incredible fan base, one that many teams would give their best player to have at any home game.  No matter the weather or the team's record, over the last 15 years the team has packed the house almost every single day.

But I have a beef with Cubs' Nation.

There are a lot of Cubs fans that love the game of baseball.

Hey Jim Hendry, don’t mean to wake you, but I have something to tell you:

It’s only 174 days until opening day 2010!

Yeah, I know, that sounds like a long time. But when you are trying to do a chemistry makeover on a team with so many expensive, long-term contracts, there's no time like the present. 

Over the coming weeks, there will be a number of tough decisions made on the north side of Chicago. Now that it appears the ownership issue will be settled soon, the business of baseball can begin again.

One decision that needs to be made is regarding free agent pitcher Rich Harden. Harden, who was acquired at the trade deadline in a move that directly countered the Milwaukee Brewers' acquisition of CC Sabathia, might have been the best Cubs starter down the stretch this past season.

News on Tuesday afternoon is that Major League Baseball has approved the sale of the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts Family.

Much like the 2009 season, a process that took way too long and left a lot to be desired is now finished. The Cubs have a new owner, with a new vision (assuming the Tribune Company ever had a vision), and a new set of expectations for the 101-year loser.

So after scouring Cot's Baseball Contracts, we have come up with a number of hypothetical trades for the Cubs and Zambrano this offseason that might, or might not, make sense.

Cubs acquire: Francisco Cordero

Reds acquire: Carlos Zambrano

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Why this makes sense for the Cubs

-Cordero is one of the elite closers in baseball coming off a fantastic 2009 season

Filed:Sept. 16, 2009

The Chicago Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano (Cubbie Nation/file)

Stop it. Everybody.

So after scouring Cot's Baseball Contracts, we have come up with a number of hypothetical trades for the Cubs and Zambrano this offseason that might, or might not, make sense.

Cubs acquire: Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Prospects

Mets acquire: Carlos Zambrano, Aaron Miles

In 2008, as the Chicago Cubs were well on their way to winning 97 games and being declared the best team in the National League, something suddenly happened. The team started struggling and completely laid an egg in the playoffs.

We now know that something was pressure.

The weight and burden of expectations from media, fans, and management for a team that hadn't been to the World Series since 1945 was just too much to bear. They collectively looked like deer in the headlights come October.

They CHOKED.