The Cubs are not in a good spot right now. Their offense has been terrible. Ryan Theriot has the best batting average on the team with .282. Supposed leadoff man Alfonso Soriano is hitting .095 in the last 7 days. I think that no matter if the Cubs turn it around a bit or not, I think the Cubs have some pieces that they can sell as we approach the trade deadline.

The biggest of the sell candidates is Alfonso Soriano. He started hot this season, but for the last month or so he’s been non-existent at the plate and in the field. It seems like he’s totally disinterested in playing baseball. The whole team has struggled at the dish, but leading off every game with one out is a pretty big handicap. He can’t hit the low slider from the right handed pitchers. And now everyone is throwing him that. He can’t lay off. I think before he proves he’s totally finished, the Cubs should ship him off to some team who thinks he’s the answer to their left field needs. Someone who needs a bat in their outfield to help them make the push to the post-season. Right now I think that the Los Angeles Angels might be the best fit for him. He could give them some pop and maybe even bring a little bit of speed to their line-up. I think it’ll have to be a bigger market team to absorb some of his salary.

I actually don’t care too much where he goes. And I think it would be fine if the Cubs paid most, if not all of the rest of his salary this year and some percentage of it for the duration of the contract. I think that Jake Fox or Micah Hoffpauir could fill-in in the field and give a little more consistency at the plate. I’d like to see the Cubs get a handful of prospects for him.

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Welcome to a new feature here on Vigilante Sports. It’s called Making the Trade. I’ll be going over potential trades, trades sent in from readers and trades that are proposed to me in my various fantasy leagues. If you have a trade that you’d like advice on, email makingthetrade@vigilante-sports.com and I’ll give you my opinion.

I’m in an ESPN Standard 5×5 Head-to-Head Roto league. I got this proposal from a fellow owner after I had proposed a similar trade that he didn’t go for. I needed to change up my pitching staff (I waited until the 10th round of the draft to start drafting pitchers – and my stats were starting to show it). My pitching stats have been terrible, so I decided that I needed to make a change to my pitching roster philosophy. I decided I needed to start going after Saves, WHIP and ERA and to do so, I needed to stock up on closers. My current staff of closers was a little thin. I recently picked up Scott Downs who is filling in for injured BJ Ryan. I have George Sherrill and Francisco Rodriguez was my star pitcher. I knew I was going to have to give up value to get value.

When the other owner proposed the trade, I was really hesitant to give up Frankie (as he now prefers, over KRod) and Chipper Jones. Chipper has been a long time favorite and has been a consistent fantasy player pretty much his whole career. But Chipper is 37 years old and has been in and out of the lineup already this season. I worry about his ability to stay healthy. Not to mention I have some depth at 3B. I have Garret Atkins, Mike Lowell and Melvin Mora when he comes off the DL. Carrying 4 3B is too many, even though we do have a corner infielder slot in the starting lineup. For me, Scott Downs is a throw in. It is possible that he keeps the closer role after BJ Ryan comes off the DL, but the Blue Jays are paying Ryan an awful lot. I think he’ll get every opportunity to close games when he gets healthy.

In my mind, this trade came down to giving up Frankie and two guys that are not long term contributors on my team for 3 quality closers. The age and injury question is definitely there for Mariano Rivera (I think he’s been closing games since Billy Martin managed the Yankees). Troy Percival does not have the healthiest track record either, but he’s on a quality team that will have it’s share of save chances. For me, the jewel of this trade is Heath Bell. Granted, the Padres are not going to win very many games. But when they do, they’ll probably be close. That means a lot of save opportunities for Bell. And he’ll be closing half of his games in Petco which is a  very pitcher-friendly ballpark. Bell has already been really solid for the Padres already this year (7 saves, 0 earned runs and a 0.65 WHIP).

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1. LA Angels – These guys are going to run away with division. They should clinch by Sept. 1. The addition of Bobby Abreu only solidifies their hold on the AL West. The loss of Mark Teixiera will hurt the Angels offense, but they should have no trouble winning the division. One big question mark for the Angels is how the youngsters (Dustin Moseley, Shane Loux and Nick Adenhart) brought in to fill out the rotation will perform  until the regular starters (John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar) return from injury. When their rotation gets healthy, that’s the beginning of the end for the rest of this division.
2. Oakland Athletics – Looking at this lineup, and this pitching staff, the Athletics don’t really scare me. Matt Holliday is definitely a huge addtion to this club, but remeber, he’s moving away from hitter friendly Coors Field to the American League. Miguel Cabrera had a tough transition to the AL last year and he’s a much better hitter than Holliday. Dana Eveland is the only starter who has extensive experience (and most of that experience has been bad). But of course, Billy Beane has put this team together and it will probably compete for first until around the All Star game, then fall off, like usual.
3. Seattle Mariners – Last year I picked them to wiin the West. Ooops. They were horrible. Jack Zduriencik has already made moves to make this team better. The trades to get Endy Chavez and Franklin Guiterrez will provide 2 solid defensive outfielders to patrol the spacious Safeco outfield. Of course, the move that most people concentrate on is bringing Ken Griffey Jr. back to Seattle. I think this was a money making, feel good move. He’s definitely still able to contribute, but expecting anything substantial from him at the plate is just silly in my book. After this year the Mariners will have some money to spend on bringing in new talent. Right now a ton of money is tied up in the dead weight of Carlos Silva, Kenji Johjima and Jarrod Washburn. When those contracts expire look for the Mariners to be a team on the rise.
4. Texas Rangers – Woeful. Same old story with the Rangers, good offensive team and a terrible pitching staff. And the beat goes on. Kevin Millwood is the “ace” of this staff. He had an ERA over 5 last year. FIVE. The feel good story of the first half last year, Josh Hamilton faded badly down the stretch.

1. Philadelphia Phillies – Cole Hamels is hurt to start the season. That’s a bad thing. But he’ll be fine, and the World Champs will ride their powerful offense all the way to the NL East division title. I think the addition of Raul Ibanez will improve an already potent Phillies lineup. They play in a very hitter-friendly ballpark. Ibanez is a butcher in left field, but his offense in that park will definitely make up for it.
2. New York Mets – Another New York team that’s always supposed to win. And they would have the past two years except they fell apart both years. GM Omar Minaya’s goal of the offseason was to shore up the porous bullpen.He definitely did that. He signed not one, but two top notch closers, Francisco Rodriguez and JJ Putz. KRod will handle the closing duties and JJ will set him up. Seems like quite a luxury to have 2 guys like that at the tail end of your bullpen. Minaya had to do it.He was going to be run out of town if he didn’t take care of the ‘pen. Unfortunately I don’t think they have enough to compete with the World Champs.
3. Florida Marlins – Good and young. They just seem to always be around. Ricky Nolasco is poised for a break out season. Hanley Ramirez is bigger and stronger and ready to take this team on his very capable shoulders. The Marlins biggest problem is that they play in the very tough NL East. They are probably a year away from competing for the division title. But it will happen.
4. Atlanta Braves – On paper this team looks pretty good. A strong core of talented players and mix of emerging and veteran pitchers. One problem I see is a lack of power and speed. If you’re gonna play small ball, you need a lot more speed than the Braves have. Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are the only guys in the lineup capable of approaching 20 HRs. I doubt both will do it this season. Derek Lowe is a gamer, and Tom Glavine the consumate professional but I have to wonder how long either of them are going to be able to pitch this year. I don’t think either one of them makes more than 20 starts.
5. Washington Nationals – They have pretty good offensive talent, but their pitching staff is brutal. They just can’t get it done in this division with those pitchers.

1. Minnesota Twins – The big question mark for the Twins (as with every other team) is health. Over the last few years, injuries large and small have hampered Minnesota from emerging as a contender. Their young outfield (Michael Cuddyer, Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young) could all emerge as All Star quality guys. On the mound Fransisco Liriano sets the pace for the club. Joe Nathan gives them a closer they can depend on. This is a tough division, but the Twins have what it will take to win.
2. Kansas City Royals – Baseball’s sleeper team this year. The Royals have bludgeoned the the ball this spring and have a pitching staff of aces in waiting. The waiting should be over this year. Gil Meche and Zack Greinke provide a 1-2 punch that is the best in their division. Their infield (Jacobs, Teahan, Aviles and Gordon) knocked 73 HR last season. That number will climb this year. Joakim Soria in the bullpen will give them 40+ saves again this year.
3. Cleveland Indians – Travis Hafner has to be better than last year, right? Maybe. Probably couldn’t be much worse. The Indians raided the Cubs pantry this offseason signing Kerry Wood and trading for Mark DeRosa. I like the addition of Wood. He’s a top notch closer when healthy. I think the Cubs fleeced the Indians in the DeRosa deal. He’s coming off an offensive career year and will probably never hit that well again. He’s still a solid ball player, but probably not a key offseason acquisition.
4. Chicago White Sox – Who knows when Ozzie Guillen will flip out again? That makes the White Sox fun to follow. But that’s about it. It should be fun to watch theire young players Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin and Chris Getz. Beyond that, this team is old. I forsee a lot of DL time for Konerko, Thome and Dye. Danks and Floyd give their pitching staff some youth but not enough talent to stay with the other teams in their division.
5. Detroit Tigers – Last year was a train wreck. This year might be more of the same. The top of their lineup is scary. Granderson, Cabrera and Ordonez all will probably have bounce back years. Cabrera killed it the second half of last year after starting slow. Granderson never seemed to get on track either. Coming out of Spring Training, all the talk is about the health of their pitching staff. Bonderman and Willis are hurt and Verlander struggled (to put it nicely) last year. One bright spot for Detroit fans is they’ll get to see their top prospect Rick Porcello on the mound in Detroit. That being said, if all goes well in Detroit, they could take the division.

1. New York Yankees – I know everyone is picking the Yankees. They should. The Yankees spent $400 trillion this offseason. If they don’t win, everyone should be fired and the Yankees should start from scratch. I don’t think that’s going to happen. No matter what happens when ARod comes back (and I don’t expect too much from him this year), the Yankees have a solid lineup top to bottom, and a pitching staff that is strong (but not a terribly deep bullpen – hey I have to poke holes where I can).
2. Tampa Bay Rays – Strong core of young players and craft vets make last years Cinderella team no joke. Evan Longoria and BJ Upton alone are reasons to be excited about the Rays. Add in their staff of solid pitchers (David Price won’t even make the Opening Day roster) and you’ve got a Wild Card potential team.
3. Boston Red Sox – I know everything points to them challenging the Yankees for the AL East crown, but I have a gut feeling that the BoSox will disappoint this year. I can’t find too many holes in this team, but I just feel like they don’t have it this year. Great balanced lineup, really tough pitching staff with one of the best bullpens in the game, but I’m just not feeling it.
4. Toronto Blue Jays – An old not very good anymore infield, a fairly young, potentially great outfield, starting rotation that is very top heavy, and a bullpen that has good depth. What’s not to like? They play in a very tough, very deep division. I think the Blue Jays will be good, but not competitive in this division.
5. Baltimore Orioles – I feel a little bad for the good players on this team, because they’re going to be dreadful. The Orioles pitching staff is rough. Nick Markakis and Aubry Huff are established solid players and Adam Jones and Felix Pie have “potential” but other than that, the Orioles pin their hopes on their young catcher Matt Wieters who will start the year in the minors. A lot of pressure for a kid. Maybe he should ask for better pitching for his 23rd birthday in May (probably around when he will get called up).

1. LA Dodgers – Will Manny be the Manny of the 2nd half last year? Or the dope who wrecked the Red Sox clubhouse? I think the answer to that will impact how the Dodgers do in October, but either way, they’ll get there. This is a team stacked with young talent. Kemp, Ethier, Martin, Loney and the additions of Orlando Hudson at 2nd base makes their offense top notch. The Dodger’s pitching is a little questionable without much help in the rotation behind Chad Billingsley. If Clayton Kershaw can step up and be a #2 starter for them, they are very dangerous.
2. Arizona Diamondbacks – Another team that has a ton of young talent with emerging stars Justin Upton, Stephen Drew and Max Scherzer. They are very young. They do have a solid rotation with Webb, Haren, Garland, Davis and Scherzer. That will keep them competitive.
3. San Francisco Giants – Obviously the Giants pitching staff will have to carry this team. Tim Lincecum (whose arm could fall off at any moment), Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Randy Johnson (hopefully no back trouble) are definitely capable. The offense is untested to say the least. A mix of veterans (Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria and Bengie Molina) and young players (Pablo Sandoval, Travis Ishikawa and Kevin Frandsen) could prove to be very streaky. A team definitely rebuilding around their top two starters (Lincecum and Cain).
4. Colorado Rockies – Still sufferering from the letdown of the 2007 playoffs. They caught lightning in a bottle and now seem to be a tailspin because it didn’t last. Suck it up and make your team better. Just not happening. There is some emerging talent here too with Ian Stewart, Chris Ianneta and Ryan Spilborghs. They just seem to have young talent that just never matures into dominant players.
5. San Diego  Padres – A team in a bad spot. New ownership should help, but they are strapped and the only bright spot is Jake Peavy (pretty bright, but not enough).

1. Chicago Cubs – I think the Cubs are far and away the best club in this division. Their improved lineup and consistently good pitching staff (led the majors in strikeouts for the last 8 years) make this a no-brainer. Now, when it comes to the playoffs, my confidence vanishes. Lou and the boys will need to show me that they can win a playoff game before I crown them the kings of baseball. But they have the talent. And they better win it all this year, because the studs on this team are getting a little long in the tooth.
2. Milwaukee Brewers – A pretty fashionable pick here. A good team. Good offense, but they really need to sort out their pitching staff. With young hitters like Braun and Fielder, it’d be a shame to waste that on a team with no pitching. Yovanni Gallardo is one bright spot for Brewers pitching.
3. Cincinnati Reds – I think this team has a chance to challenge for 2nd place, but I just couldn’t make myself pick a Dusty Baker coached team. If Dusty doesn’t ruin the arms of Edison Volquez and Johnny Cueto, the Reds have a solid pitching staff for a long time. Add in a recovered Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and you’ve got something there. On the offensive side, the emergence of Jay Bruce will continue. The Reds are becoming a solid ballclub. A year away.
4. Houston Astros – The Astros seem to only be able to put together halves of years. I’m sure this year will be no different. They have a lot of holes. Definitely have some talent on this club with Berkman and Oswalt but not enough of a supporting cast. I think Hunter Pence will continue his progress, and become a potential All Star.
5. St. Louis Cardinals – The Cardinals are kind of mess. Another case of great talent wasted. Albert Pujols is the best hitter in baseball, but the Cards can’t seem to put a team around him. The addition of Khalil Greene and the return of Chris Carpenter will help, but just don’t have the horses.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates – Perrenial basement dwellers. The Pirates are a small market team that just can’t compete. It’s actually a little sad.

Gonna try something new this year. We’ll be doing a free ESPN Roto league with just the power categories. For hitters it’ll just be home runs and for pitchers we’ll be tracking strikeouts. Each team will have 4 hitters and 4 pitchers. Daily roster changes, no bench. Pretty simple stuff. We’ll also be doing an auction draft. Should go by very quickly.

To top it all off, the winner will get a new iPod Shuffle out of the deal. We’re looking for 11 other brave souls to jump into this with us. If you’re interested, leave a comment and we’ll invite you to the league.

Is it “Next Year” yet?

I sure hope so. Getting swept out of the playoffs was pretty rough in 2007. To see it happen again in 2008 was just inexcusable. The Cubs agree. They have taken steps to ensure their ball club can compete in October. Below is the projected starting lineup for the 2009 Cubs. It looks a little different than last year, but also has a lot of familiar faces.

Numbers in parenthesis are my projected stats for 2009.

Catcher – Geovany Soto (.290/25 HR/90 RBI) – Reigning Rookie of the Year will improve on a stellar rookie campaign. He will have protection in this lineup so he should continue to see good pitches. I think another standout year as the best offensive catcher isn’t out of the question for Soto.

First base – Derrek Lee (.300/18 HR/78 RBI) – Entering his 13 MLB season DLee has some mileage on him. I would say that as a hitter he’s on the downside of his career. His 2008 stats .291/20/91 were about the same as his 2007 stats .317/22/82. I think that he’ll stay close to those numbers but there will be a slight decline.

Second base – Mike Fontenot (.295/12 HR/60 RBI) – Fontenot’s playing time was limited by the presence of Mark DeRosa. Fontenot only played in 82 games, starting only 49 of those. So this looks like it will be his job to lose. The Cubs brought in Aaron Miles to be a utility infielder. He would fill in if Fontenot falters. Fontenot is a bottom of the lineup guy, but he’s shown that he can get the extra base hit. Of his 74 hits last year, 32 of them went for extra bases. Last year he had an OBP of .395 and SLG of .514 putting him in the top 20 in the National League for both of those stats. Pretty impressive for a 5′8″, 170lb second baseman.

Shortstop – Ryan Theriot (.302/30 SB) – In 2008 Ryan Theriot learned how to take a walk. His walk rate jumped from 49 in 2007 to 73 in 2008. This helped boost his OBP from a shabby .326 to a solid .387. He also improved his batting average from .266 to .307. The Riot looks like he’s learning to be a Major League hitter. He’ll never knock your socks off with his offense, but if he can get on base, he is able to steal a few bases (averaging 25 over the last two years).

Third base – Aramis Ramirez (.305/32 HR/115 RBI) – Aramis has shown that when he presses, he’s a lot less effective. When DLee was hurt he had to step into a role as a leader. He pressed and his play suffered. Thankfully for the Cubs, there are more guys around him to help pick up the slack if someone should go down. With heavy hitters like Soriano, Bradley and to a lesser degree Derrek Lee, he doesn’t have to provide all of the pop for the Cubs. When he’s not pressing, he can straight crush it. There were MVP whispers last year. I think they’ll continue this year.

Rightfield – Milton Bradley (.315/20 HR/80 RBI) – It was a questionable move bringing in Bradley. First off, the guy can hit. Can he effectively patrol rightfield at Wrigley? I don’t know. He’s only played more than 100 games in the outfield once in his 9 year career. And then there’s his maturity level. Here is where I hope having a manager like Lou really helps. Maybe he can work with Bradley and give him some guidance. We know Lou has experience with some pretty tough customers.

Centerfield – Kosuke Fukudome/Reed Johnson (.270/12 HR/60 RBI combined) – Kosuke Fukudome fell off the face of the planet the second half of 2008. Let’s call it his transition to MLB. I think he’ll make a strong return in 2008 in a new OF position due to the aquisition of Milton Bradley. Reed Johnson is suitable to platoon in centerfield with Fukudome. This will be an interesting place to watch. If both Fukudome and Johnson slip, Joey Gathright, another offseason signing, is ready to play every day.

Leftfield – Alfonso Soriano (.285/32 HR/90 RBI/15 SB) – The 33 year old Soriano is bound to start showing his age. It might not be in his power stats, but in the field, and on the basepaths the Cubs will see a decline. He’s still a dominant force in the Cubs lineup (whether he hits leadoff or lower in the lineup). Health is a major concern as well. He has had extended periods on the DL in recent years. If he can stay healthy most of the season I expect a monster year from him.

Starting Rotation – Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and one of any number of #5 starters. There will be pretty tough competition for the fifth spot in the rotation between Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, Garrett Olson and maybe even Rich Hill if he can ever find his command. If the top 4 can maintain their form the Cubs starting rotation will be one of the best in baseball. Dempster and Lilly had career years last year, so I expect that there will be a drop off from them. Carlos Zambrano had offseason laser eye surgery and he has continued to mature so I think he’ll have a solid year. I always worry about Big Z’s innings but hopefully Lou will be worrying about that too. They have a good (potentially great) rotation, but it’s not super deep. They have some servicable arms to come in if there’s an injury but no one that’s beating down the door to make a name for himself.

Bullpen – Carlos Marmol, Kevin Gregg, Luis Vizcaino, Jeff Samardzija and a whole host of others make this a real strength for the Cubs. They lost a very important piece of their team and bullpen in Kerry Wood. He will be missed on the field and in the clubhouse, but the guys manning the pen will hold up just fine.