Goodbye again

Most of the talking heads are raving about what a great deal this was for the Cubs - they get rid of a future Hall of Famer, but nonetheless a future Hall of Famer who was having a great deal of trouble getting people out over the last two months, and they upgrade their middling infield defense at the same time. And I guess from that standpoint it does make sense.

Except that the Cubs aren't going anywhere this season, and Cesar Izturis - a pretty good fielder with the bat of Bucky Dent - isn't doing anything to change that, even if he doubled and scored in his first at-bat as a Cub. The infield may indeed have needed upgrading, but Greg Maddux isn't just a spare part, even at his age. The Cubs made a terrible mistake letting him go once. Obviously it's pretty much impossible for the same thing to happen again, short of the Dodgers winning the World Series this year (and even then, it's not like keeping Maddux would have made the Cubs this year's world champs), but from a fan's perspective, I still think it was a mistake. The pundits kept saying how the Cubs owed it to Maddux to trade him to a contender. Why? The guy has a ring, and future HOFers retire without championships all the time. There was no reason Maddux had to leave Chicago, and after all the heartache caused by his initial departure and subsequent success, there was going to be something cleansing about him finishing his career at Wrigley Field. And now that won't happen. Sure, he's going into the Hall with an A on his cap no matter what else happens, but we could have had him retire as a Cub, the same way he started. It was going to work. And then it didn't.

I suppose I should really blame the team for being so bad that Maddux - and, oh yeah, Todd Walker - "had" to be dealt. There needs to be an overhaul of that pitching staff in the offseason - one columnist suggested the Cubs go after Barry Zito, and that probably wouldn't be the worst idea since they need an impact pitcher of some sort to go along with Zambrano, and it might as well be a lefthander - and the addition of another bat to the lineup before this team can prepare for possible contention in 2007. For all the griping about injuries and bad luck, when you look at this year's team, does it really seem like a pennant winner on paper? Probably not. But only a handful of changes are really required to make that leap, as long as everyone currently there stays healthy. (Snicker.)

Wait till next year.