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Cubs Fri Aug 12 2011
Cubs Continue To Roll
The Cubs have now won three consecutive series for the first time all year. A feat that seemed almost impossible a few weeks ago as it took 100 games before they won three in a row. They beat the Nationals 4-3 in a makeup game Thursday for their ninth win in 11 games. Ryan Dempster has turned around his season after starting off the year 1-3 with an ERA of 9.58.
The Cubs offense continued its power surge as the two-headed monster of Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena hit back-to-back home runs to secure the Cubs victory. It'll be interesting to see if these two factor into the Cubs' plans next season. It'd be foolish not to at least consider them as options.
While it is nice to see them winning, it is a moot point. They're out of contention and the pressure is all but off. It would've been nice to see this team play this way earlier in the season, you know, when it actually mattered. Not when they're 16 games under .500 and 16 games out of first place.
I hope this doesn't distort reality for Cubs ownership. This team is bad and needs to be fixed. Don't let this last week and a half fool you by any means. Changes are needed from top to bottom. Just like last season the Cubs went on a run and brought a few potential contenders down with them. If they plan on doing the same thing again this year they can start in Atlanta over the weekend. The Braves currently occupy the top spot in the NL Wild Card race.
The only downside to the Cubs recent success is they slip further down for next year's draft. I'm not saying they should lose just to get a better spot in the draft, but it couldn't hurt to net a decent draft pick for the future. After all this is going to take a few years before the Cubs can sort this whole thing out. Why not snag a few good players along the way? It'd only make more sense to stock the farm system with talent especially since they'll be shedding a few big contracts in the next few seasons.
