It's been a turbulent fall and winter for the Chicago Cubs. They took a lot of hits for they way they treated Ryne Sandberg during the managerial process which eventually went to Mike Quade. The Ricketts family bungled the PR on trying to get public funding to fix up Wrigley Field.
I was not happy with how the 2010 season ended and not looking forward to the 2011 season. I believed and still feel that Jim Hendry has dropped the ball on many deals such as Soriano, Fukudome, Bradley, etc.
During the off season, the Cubs traded for Matt Garza, resigned Kerry Wood and Todd Wellenmyer for the bullpen and signed Carlos Pena to play first base. On paper these are pretty good acquisitions but only time will tell whether these acquisitions will work out or bomb like so many others that Jim Hendry brought in.
Last year I was cautiously optimistic regarding the Cubs chances for the season. I was worried about the unproven bullpen which ended up to be correct because during the beginning of the season it was awful. Once it was stabilized it still had issues. No one would have predicted Carlos Zambrano would have completely lost his mind and Aramis Ramirez would have been as awful as he was.
If Zambrano can keep his head on straight and Ramirez can stay healthy and hit the way he normally does, they will help the team be competitive. If Pena can hit .250 instead of .196 and Kerry Wood can pitch like he did with the Yankees they will help the team be competitive.
Going into the 2011 season the Cubs have a lot of questions regarding their new and old players. If all of these players can play to their potential I am cautiously optimistic that they can compete for the wild card or even the division if the Cardinals, Reds and/or Brewers falter. It will be an interesting 2011 season that I fully expected to not have any interest in at the end of the '10 season. Once again with a new season almost here hope springs eternal.
GO CUBS!!!!
