Sizing Up the Chicago Cubs

Lou Piniella has finally begun to understand his team's strengths and weaknesses.

Examples: He sits Jacque Jones and Scott Eyre for underperforming, when Dusty Baker would've just kept playing all the veterans...and he lets second-year player Carlos Marmol become the closer-in-waiting and one of the main cogs of the bullpen.  

And has anyone else noticed that Mike Fontenot, the 27-year-old 2B thrown in on the Sammy Sosa trade, now has a better OPS than any second baseman in baseball Chase Utley included?

The only thing keeping the Cubs from winning the NL Central is the fact that the Milwaukee Brewers are a good team who've put it all together. The Cubs COULD catch the Brewers but I think they're in a better position to compete for the wild card.

If you look at the Brewers lineup, it's awfully hard to find a weak spot:

RF Corey Hart .383 OBP.

SS J.J. Hardy Ridiculous first-half numbers.

3B Ryan Braun Totally overshadowing K.C.'s Alex Gordon, who got more press before the year.

1B Prince Fielder Early MVP candidate, outpacing Pujols AND Ryan Howard.

CF Bill Hall Numbers have dipped a little since moving to CF, but will still reach 30 HRs.

C  Johnny Estrada The only one who's scuffling, but has a great track record.

LF Geoff Jenkins Always good for 25 HRs and 90 RBI, and Ned Yost has figured out that you've got to sit him against lefties to maximize his production.

2B Rickie Weeks Nothing but upside.

The defensive edge goes to the Cubs, as does the rotation advantage (especially with Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan regressing, Chris Capuano injured, and Ben Sheets about three weeks overdue for his tri-annual trip to the DL).  With Francisco Cordero at closer, the Brews get the nod in the bullpen. 

The Cubs and Brewers don't play each other again until August, which means both will get to beat up on inferior opponents in the Central. I see Milwaukee taking the crown while Chicago laps LA (no power) and Philadelphia (no bullpen) for the wild card.

(Arizona doesn't even factor in here; their kiddie corps has overachieved to this point.)

The Cubs have their work cut out for them, but they're off to good a start with Fontenot and speedy CF Angel Pagan getting regular action. Catcher Rob Bowen has had a rough first two weeks but at least he can work the count, which is more than I can say for the Henry Blanco/Koyle Hill tandem.

In any event, these are my suggestions for the rest of the season:

1. Run Soriano and Fontenot one-two in the lineup until the wheels fall off...then push one of them down to number six. Right now, they're clicking ridiculously well.

2. Play Fontenot and Mark DeRosa as the everyday 2B/SS combo neither Ryan Theriot nor Cesar Izturis seem to hit lefties, so platooning Fontenot or DeRosa doesn't make sense.

3. Make a move for a CF, as minor-league star Felix Pie clearly isn't ready. I know some people will point to the fact that the Cubs are 183-22 when Pie is in the game, but the kid is an offensive black hole. My suggestion: Kenny Lofton, who still gets it done at the plate and on the basepaths, even if his defense has gone downhill. Check out his stats if you don't believe me; he's probably among the top-10 best leadoff hitters in baseball, on pace for 110 runs scored. No joke.

P.S.  Please don't say I'm contradicting myself by arguing that Pagan and his speed-defense should stay but Pie and his speed-defense should go back down. I admit that I think Pagan will fall back to being a MEDIOCRE hitter (probably his career .265/.330 OBP numbers), but that's still a lot better than Pie as a TERRIBLE hitter.

P.P.S.   Anyone else notice that 2006 burnout Ronny Cedeno really wants to come back to the big leagues? He has like a 1.050 OPS at Triple-A Iowa and more walks than strikeouts...Also!: Anyone else notice that the Cubs now have a bargaining chip in 1B Micah Hoffpauir? The guy's on pace for 30 HRs and 120 RBI...Finally, not sold on Eric Patterson as a Triple-A All-Star. I still think the guy has no plate discipline plus, he's related to Corey Patterson, so I have to hate him. It's a Chicago rule.