Vigilante Sports

With the first half at our backs, we sit at the All Star Break. The Chicago Cubs, after a monumentally disappointing first couple of months have reeled off enough wins to pull within 4 1/2 of the languishing Milwaukee Brewers. As I said after the Cubs swept the White Sox (and yes, I do just love writing that), the Cubs have reduced the gap to below 5 games. We all know that the Brewers are a good team, but I think we can all see that they have holes. They’re not the dominant team that they played like the first half. They limped into the All Star break going 3-7 in their last 10. They are vulnerable. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Brewers in 3rd place by the end of the season. I think they peaked about 4 months too early.

The Cubs on the other hand have seen their share of troubles. They’ve had their internal fist fights, gotten rid of the bad apple, and have righted the ship. With Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, and Aramis Ramirez holding down their lineup, the emergence of Mike Fontenot, and the yeoman effort of Mark DeRosa, the Cubs offense hasplayed very well. The Cubs pitching staff has pitched very well. There has been some worry lately at the tail end of the rotation. Rich Hill, and Sean Marshall have fallen on some rocky times. They’re young. I look for them, especially Hill, to bounce back in the second half and continue their strong efforts.

So what do the Cubs need out of the second half? Well, I’d say a consistent bullpen. This is where Jim Hendry needs to concentrate. The trade deadline is approaching at the end of this month, and Hendry has the money, the prospects, and the team in the hunt that is every general managers dream. Why not fleece the Pirates again and pick up Matt Capps. That would be a great addition to the club. Another great addition would be a solid right fielder. The name Bobby Abreu just came to my mind. Not sure I want him, but someone like that from a team thats out of it. Who do you think should the Cubs should pick up for the second half run?

This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Baseball, Chicago Cubs, MLB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.