(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

I have been reading a lot of articles over the past few weeks that have been throwing Jim Hendry under the bus.

In turn, over the same time period, I have put a lot of thought in to who is really to blame for the Chicago Cubs struggles.

While many didn't like his moves this past offseason, is it really his fault?  Or, is it possible that the personnel isn't holding up their end of the bargain?

Yes, they let longtime Cub Kerry Wood walk and traded fan favorite and super versatile Mark DeRosa.  They then replaced Wood with Marlin Kevin Gregg and moved Mike Fontenot to number one on the depth list at second base.

Is this what has brought the Cubs from top of the National League to bouncing between third and fourth in the National League Central?

This is a very easy answer.  No.

I understand that Mike Fontenot has not performed the way he should, but this is still not the reason the Cubs have struggled.  Fontenot has moved between second and third base, the same thing DeRosa would have had to do.

So lets compare their numbers thus far.

Mark DeRosa

235 AB, 41 R, 11 2B, 10 HR, 23 BB, 50 K, .346 OBP, .451 SLG, .277 AVG

Mike Fontenot

176 AB, 17 R, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 22 BB, 38 K, .327 OBP, .409 SLG, .244 AVG

Yes, Mark DeRosa has had the better season thus far, but I believe that there are many reasons for this.

The first reason is that, while DeRosa is always prepared to move positions, Mike Fontenot didn't expect to have to play this much third base.  The injury to Ramirez almost immediately put extra pressure on Fontenot. 

The second, and what I believe to be the most devastating, is that the middle of the lineup has not hit well at all.  I will evaluate this more later.

So, the difference in closers has to be the reason, right?

Wrong again.

Kerry Wood

2-2, 4.84 ERA, 8 Saves, 2 Blown, 22.1 IN, 4HR, 13BB, 27K

Kevin Gregg

0-1, 4.28 ERA, 10 Saves, 2 Blown, 27.1 IN, 5 HR, 13BB, 29K

Both pitchers got off to bad starts this season, but have improved drastically.  Looking at their numbers, there isn't a whole lot of difference outside of ERA.  Even if you chalk this up to the AL vs. NL difference, they are both very close statistically. 

So, it isn't the loss of Derosa or Wood that has the Cubs sitting at .500, what could it be?

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