Chicago Cubs Championship Window Will Remain Shut

The Chicago Cubs championship window has closed, after strong but disappointing 2007-2008 campaigns. After all, the Cubs are the lovable losers for the last 102 years. The team began to unravel in 2009 and has had poor on-field efforts from its stars. And unfortunately, the team has a few years of being a bad to mediocre team because of poor decisions. Here are some reasons why the Cubs have forfeited a competitive team the next couple years:

1)  Coaching Situation Is Uncertain

Lou Piniella should never have been allowed to manage after he announced retiring from baseball July 20. For more than a month, Piniella’s heart was not in the game, which is understandable do to his uncle’s death and his mother’s ill health. However, general manager Jim Henry should have told Piniella the Cubs needed a new manager right away for the future.

Now, interim manager Mike Quade has 37 games to audition for next year, but is this really an accurate assessment? No.

Quade is managing games the players are winning when it does not matter. He also did not bench underachieving veterans Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez for poor fundamentals while sitting rookie Starling Castro. What does that say for young players about expected effort? That coaches treat high-priced players with a double standard.   

Finding a skipper this off-season will be interesting. Top target Joe Girardi will probably not leave a good situation with the New York Yankees. Ryne Sandberg will be a good coach, but he lacks major league coaching experience, so his first couple years might be rough. Bob Brenly would be rusty since he last coached in 2004, and coaches like Eric Wedge and Fredi Gonzalez have failed before in Cleveland and Florida. Don’t forget new pitching, hitting and bench coaches are also needed.

Henry must look for a manager who wants the challenge of winning with young, inexperienced athletes and underachieving, lazy veterans. He will have a hard selling point even without the 102-year albatross of non-championship baseball.

2) Bad Contracts Prevent Rebuilding

Hendry is the one to blame for this. The Cubs would love to move Soriano, Ramirez, Kosuke Fukudome and Carlos Zambrano to start rebuilding, but that is easier said than done due to ridiculous contracts and no trade clauses.

These four players comprise $64.1 million for 2011’s projected $140 million payroll, thus preventing the Cubs from pursuing top free agents for immediate improvement.

Ramirez, who has a player option for $14.6 million in 2011, has stated no attention of not fulfilling it. And why not? Ramirez has not performed as a $14.6 million athlete the last couple years and wants his money. In 2009, Ramirez missed 80 games and had only 65 RBIs. This season, he is batting .243 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs. These numbers are not bad, but through June when the Cubs had a fighting chance, A-Ram batted .179 with 23 measly RBIs. All he did was pad his stats.

Fukudome has only 318 at bats this season and has mostly been a non-factor with journeyman Xavier Nady platooning with him in right field. For the last three years, Fukudome is averaging 11 homers, 50 RBIs and a .262 batting average. The former hot Japanese free-agent is getting paid $13.5 million for 2011 for average results. Who would want him even during next year’s trading deadline? 

Zambrano has slowly unraveled from the Cubs pitching ace to one of the worst league starters since 2009. Zambrano is 17-13 with a 3.82 ERA. These numbers seem to be mediocre, but they are inflated. Zambrano has won his last four decisions. He had a 5.66 before he was suspended June 25 after yelling at teammates for perceived poor fielding. He also was in the bullpen from April to late May. Still, he has $36 million, a no trade clause and tremendous mental baggage for a suitor to seriously consider.

Soriano’s contract is a different beast. He has four years left in a $136 million deal. Soriano has missed 158 games since 2007 and has batted .250 since 2009. Strikeouts versus walks have been troubling, with Soriano averaging 114.5 whiffs to 35 walks a season. He also had 14 steals since 2009, mostly due to bad quad injuries robbing him of his speed. Unfortunately, Soriano will most likely ride out his contract.

3)  Ownership Showing Incompetence

The Ricketts family loves the Cubs, but is that enough to produce a winner? Majority owner Tom Ricketts is in his first season, but he is not relieved Henry from his general manager duties and expresses full confidence in his abilities.

Remember, Henry signed former manager Dusty Baker who burned out Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, unloaded Mark DeRosa for nutty Milton Bradley and arrested the team’s finances with Ramirez, Fukudome, Zambrano and Soriano. Felix Pie and Corey Patterson were busts and team fundamentals have been lacking for years.

Ricketts sighted Henry’s strong hand in improving the farm system with Castro, Colvin and Andrew Cashner, but his free agent gaffes should be part of the job evaluation.

Ownership did not force Piniella out when he initially announced his retirement. Rickett did not see Andre Dawson’s Hall of Fame induction and was not clear where Harry Caray’s statue was being moved. The Yankees would never allow these poor decisions to happen. These managerial mistakes and faux pas show an ownership that might be inept at making the Cubs a winner.

While the Cubs fan’s slogan is “Wait until next year,” the team’s coaching, payroll and ownership situations should continue this sad tradition.