The Chicago Cubs are approaching the century mark without winning that elusive World Series Championship title. Meanwhile, the White Sox and Redsox have managed it. Even the Marlins have managed it.
The boys in blue fizzled in the 2007 playoffs, but I don't think any of us thought they would do otherwise. However, some of us fans were buoyed by the second half of the season. A decent club that could be tweaked and massaged into something a little more ready to compete.
So, the Cubs went out and traded Jacque Jones for infielder Omar Infante, then followed up with the blockbuster Craig Monroe deal. Admittedly, fans were down on Jacque for not being quite a superstar. Realistically, he did a fairly decent job, though situational success was not all it could have been. Monroe is declining from whatever mediocrity he peaked at and was due to be jettisoned to the free angent market anyway, so the Cubs gain the much sought after Player To Be Named Later for what otherwise was a complete loss.
The real worry is that this mild moves presage yet another winter of stocking mid-tier talent. Everyone needs that, for sure, but the Cubbies need another superstar bat and, really, another top flight starting pitcher. A Carl Crawford deal appears dead. Kosuke Fukudome is a great sounding name, but what? Felix Pie looks to be a fine discipline challenged bat. I don't hear much else from the Cubs' camp, but perhaps they can muster something up.
Let's hope so. Otherwise, it'll be another long season.
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