Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Why They Keep Doing This to Me is a Question All Cubs Fans Must Ask Themselves This Offseason

This all started in July. The situation we currently are in as Cubs fans started in July. Hell, it even started earlier when the sneeze from hell sidelined Sammy Sosa for a month. Then Sammy got bad, and everyone else was doing good, but Sammy kept the team down, not down enough to where they were out of a playoff spot, but down enough where they easily got knocked out of the Central Division title. Then Sammy, not realizing he is past his prime, declines to take one for the team, like a real captain would, and move down in the order to let the guys who are having awesome years succeed. It all started there. Then it moved to the end of September, when Moises Alou, Kent Mercker and others complained about the broadcast team giving credit to the teams that were beating the Cubs, instead of worrying about what they had to do on the field. Kent Mercker single handedly brought the Astros back from the dead when he started a bean ball war with Roy Oswalt that the Cubs couldn't finish. Moises Alou complained about every called strike against him and stopped hitting in the clutch. Sammy Sosa had stop hitting a long time ago before that. Corey Patterson was tiring as a lead off man, injuries caught up to Nomar and while all of that was happening, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood were hitting their stride, just like last September. But this year was different, because this team had no heart. That's right I said it NO HEART. PERIOD! What is Moises Alou gonna do to me, yell at me, complain about the strike zone. What is Kent Mercker gonna do, call Steve Stone telling him that what I said was unnecessary. That team had no heart, that is why they lost. Okay, they had heart, somewhere. The following players are exempt from the above statement: Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux and Glendon Rusch, and Clement though he isn't here anymore. Remlinger has heart, but he's old. Offensively, Patterson, plays hard all the time, Hollandsworth, D. Lee, Walker, Nomar, Barrett and Ram. The guys that didn't have heart, well, lets take a look at them. The closer of the distant future, Kyle Farnsworth has no heart. LaTroy Hawkins, has all the skill in the world, but his head is in the clouds and his ego makes Kobe look unselfish. And of course, the captain, the guy who is supposed to be the heart and soul of the team HAS NO HEART!
Now, let's move on to this offseason. The Cubs had a couple of holes to fill. One of them was closer, and they let the two best free agents for that position sign in Detroit and San Francisco. They thought they had a trade with Milwaukee for their All-Star closer, but here come the Braves and now their team is 10 times better than last years team. So, they need two things a left fielder to replace the outgoing Moises Alou and a closer. Now, leaving the Cubs money to this was Alou ($11 million), Mark Grudzielanek ($5 million), Matt Clement ($6 million) and Kent Mercker ($2 million). Do the math Cubs fans, that is $24 million in free money the Cubs have. Now, 2 million is going to Glendon Rusch, to replace Clement, still, that is $22 million. Now, since Carlos Beltran made his Wrigley Field debut, Cubs fans have wanted him on the team. He has the heart and the left handed bat that is missing from the Cubs. He singlehandedly carried the Astros to and through the playoffs. His agent asked for a 10 year 200 million dollar deal. Do the math Cubs fans, that would be $20 million a year. The Cubs have enough to sign him with that free money left behind by Alou, Grudz, Matt and Merck. And what do the Cubs do, sit back, claim they are trying to trade Sammy so they can get Carlos even though they have the money to do so now, and the Astros are offering him the world and the Yankees are offering the world, the moon and a planet to be named later. What are the Cubs gonna do about it, most likely nothing. They have until January 8th to deal Sosa, and the more time passes, the less likely it is to happen and the more likely Beltran will not be a Cub. I'd hate to see him back in Houston and would hate it more to see him go down to the Bronx where he, next to Bernie Williams will be the toast of the Puerto Rican community in the Boogie Down. And what are the Cubs gonna do about that open spot, Maggs Ordonez. That would be nice, I'll be honest, to take the heart and soul of the White Sox and place him in the friendly confines where we can chant "Ooo-eee-ooo Magglio!" But realistically, we will be stuck with our two best bench players (Hollandsworth and rookie Jason DuBois) to replace a guy who hit 39 HRs and had 106 RBIs. So, I plead to the Cubs management to bring us a player that will take us to the next level. I also plead to my fellow Cubs fans to help make a difference and show that we will not take being just another team lightly.
-Sincerely, Luis, the World's Biggest Cubs Fan

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