Chris De Luca writes in today’s Sun Times about what went wrong this season. He traces this season’s problems back to the Cubs’ postseason loss to the Dodgers. Specifically, he says, Lou’s desire to get a more left-handed team was the problem. He says that the roster moves made to get more left-handed - getting rid of Henry Blanco and Mark DeRosa - hurt the team’s chemistry and hurt their offense. He also suggests they should have kept Jim Edmonds around. He then concludes by saying the loss to the Dodgers “was no reason to overreact and tear up a 97-victory team that could’ve been just as dangerous in 2009.”

Now, I’m not going to accuse De Luca of being a hypocrite. After all, it’s totally fair of him to accuse the Cubs of overreacting by seeking to get more left-handed even though he wrote on October 31, 2008, “The Cubs and White Sox reached the playoffs, but October only exposed their most glaring needs. For the Cubs, that is a speedy leadoff hitter, preferably one who’s a switch hitter or bats left-handed — anything that would allow them to move Alfonso Soriano out of the top spot.” The Sun Times’ Web site doesn’t allow you to view that far back in the archives, but believe me, I didn’t make that up.

But really, what did the Cubs tear up, anyway? Three Cubs hitters got more than 150 plate appearances and did not return this year: DeRosa, Edmonds and Ronny Cedeno. Nobody is seriously suggesting the Cubs would be better with Cedeno this season. So that leaves Edmonds and DeRosa. Edmonds is out of baseball, and the fact that nobody was interested in him as a 39-year-old center fielder tells me something. He was good last year, but keeping him would have been a Gary Gaetti-esque situation where you pull a fading veteran off the shelf and he gives you a few good months so you make the mistake of trying to get even more out of him.

So that leaves, in spite of De Luca’s protestations that he’s not beating this drum yet again, DeRosa. DeRosa would have been primarily playing  right field for the Cubs if he’d stayed, so he couldn’t have offset Mike Fontenot’s disappointing production and he couldn’t have played third every day when Ramirez was injured, at least without making Reed Johnson an every-day player, and given how Johnson’s played this year, you wouldn’t want that. DeRosa is hitting .256/.323/.456 this year. Part of that is due to an injury he’s playing through. His replacement, Milton Bradley, is hitting .261/.395/.399. Bradley is hitting for less power than DeRosa, but you might notice that his numbers are actually better than the guy he replaced.

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After the off day yesterday, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of last year’s team that is no longer on the Cubs and see what they were doing this season. I didn’t cover everyone who played for the Cubs lats season and is somewhere else this one, so the list is far from comprehensive. When the season is over I might compare players on this year’s team to their counterparts last year by value and final statistics, but for now this is just a snapshot of what they’ve done so far this year.

• Mark DeRosa - The greatest Cub who ever lived is off to a rough start in St. Louis. He’s hitting .185/.247/.457 as a Cardinal, bringing his season line down to .251/.321/.457. His season OPS+ (which measures his production relative to league average, adjusted to ballparks) is down to 100, which means in spite of hitting 20 home runs he’s been a pretty average hitter, because he’s not very good at getting on base.
• Ronny Cedeno - Ronny made his triumphant return to the NL Central at the trade deadline, going from the Mariners to the Pirates. In seven games as a pirate he’s hitting .296/.321/.407, but on the season he’s been awful, with a season line of .183/.227/.305. For a while I thought he should have been playing shortstop for the Cubs instead of Ryan Theriot. I was wrong, and the Pirates are going to find out he’s not a replacement for Jack Wilson, either. Ronny did break up Yusmeiro Petit’s no-hit bid a few days ago, for what that’s worth.
• Daryle Ward - Ward was just acquired this week by the Nationals. He had been playing for the White Sox AAA team in Charlotte, where he was hitting .255/.339/.397. The Nats assigned him to AAA as well.
• Felix Pie - So far the Cubs probably don’t regret getting rid of their next great center fielder. He’s OBPing under .300 with no power. He is playing excellent defense when he plays field, but with no bat whatsoever.
• Kerry Wood - The Cubs pen isn’t really missing Wood, who has been just as mediocre as every Cubs reliever has this year. His ERA is 4.89, and he’s blown five saves against fifteen converted. He’s not getting particularly unlucky, either, he’s just walking too many guys even against a lot of strikeouts - a story that sounds pretty familiar, but at least the Cubs are getting that kind of production at a fraction of the cost.
• Casey McGehee - Somehow, Casey McGehee, who was a complete non-factor for the Cubs in the majors or the minors, is hitting .316/.365/.526 with nine home runs for the Brewers. I don’t know how it’s happening, but a .345 average on balls in play might have something to do with it. I have to be honest, I don’t care much how it’s happening, either. McGehee was a .279/.332/.409 hitter in the minors over nearly 3000 plate appearances, and I’m pretty sure that’s closer to his real ability than a somewhat lucky 2009 season.
• Jason Marquis - Marquis leads the NL in wins and is sporting a nice 3.49 ERA, making him seem like the one who got away. He was never a terrible pitcher for the Cubs, but the ERA is surprising nonetheless. His BABIP this season is .268, a little below his career average of .283, so that might explain it a bit, but the most surprising thing is that in spite of playing in Colorado he’s not giving up home runs - he’s only given up 10 through 144.1 innings pitched, which is way below his career numbers in that category.

As soon as Aramis Ramirez went down, you could feel the pang.

The fear was there all winter, and all spring. Once Mark DeRosa was traded to Cleveland, the Cubs were thin at third base, lacking any type of reserve infielder who has both a semblance of a glove and a good stick.

Now, with the clean-up hitter injured, the Cubs really miss the one man that could have helped Lou move the right pieces in to the right places. Casey McGehee.

Say What?

The Milwaukee Brewers got a freebie from Jim Hendry.The Cubs picked McGehee in the 10th round in 2003, gave him a cup of coffee in 2008, and waived him just before Halloween. I should point out the Cubs currently have ample space on their 40-man roster, but there may have been a log jam in October/November.

The Brewers claimed the third baseman, and suddenly McGehee finds himself splitting time at second and third as a starter for Milwaukee. He even bats lead-off, filling a spot in the order, and the infield, once occupied by the injured Rickie Weeks.

Fangraphs estimates McGehee’s value for 2009 (to date) to be $3.4 million. That’s based on the approximate value of a win (as measured by WAR), and McGehee has accumulated 0.8 WAR, thanks in part to the value, and quality, of his defense. But mostly his bat.

McGehee has cooked up a slash line of 338/408/477. Not much power, but he gets on base. With the expected regression, ZiPS has McGehee wrapping up the season at 274/330/399.

How does that compare to the combined efforts of the 2009 Cubs third basemen? For the starters only (the linked report includes guys who started at other positions, I filtered them out) the slash line is 270/344/447. And that includes Aramis Ramirez.

Exclude Ramirez, and the starters at third have put up a 227/312/380 line. Let’s review, shall we?

• 338/408/477 McGehee so far
• 270/344/447 Cubs starters so far
• 274/330/399 McGehee final line projected
• 227/312/380 Cubs starters minus Ramirez

Before you ask, DeRosa has posted 277/347/459 in the tougher American League, and projects to finish at 280/353/444.

Including his poor defense, DeRosa has accumulated $4.2 million in value with 0.9 WAR. He’s also had more playing time than McGehee, but I won’t hold that against him.

What must be said, however, is DeRosa is set to earn $5.5 million this year while McGehee will earn $0.4 million. That’s quite a surplus for the Brewers. I wish the Cubs kept him. McGehee, that is.

I think a lot of folks may be coming around on some of these points, but there are a few things about the Cubs that I’d like to talk a little about.  My perception of the prevailing attitude, or conventional wisdom, may not be yours.  So my statements may be straw man arguments for you.

Milton Bradley is awesome. A bunt single to start a rally?  Thank you very much.  An uncanny awareness of the strike zone?  Maybe a little less of that could be in order, sure, but his zone judgment is phenomenal.  He plays the game with a 17 inch plate. Umpires are rated on a 21 inch plate. The league seems to play with a 24 inch plate. Respect Milton’s eye, it’s as good as any in the game since Barry Bonds.

Bradley he plays as hard as he can all the time, and wants to win, win and win. He also shows something a lot of folks lack - maturity. He owns up to his mistakes instead of offering faux-apologies. He’s showing a self-awareness he lacked as a younger man. Join the club, Milt.

David Patton was a good pick-up. Considering he’s made the jump from A-ball, even the limited success he’s had is impressive in that context. His breaking ball is impressive, but he needs to be more consistent with his fastball.  He’s got a long way to go, and when he shakes off a sign, I cringe. But he’s got a good looking short-arm delivery and could be a valuable bullpen member in the future. Ride the Rule 5 wave a while longer, folks.

Lou Piniella is in control of this team. The cry for him to lock down on his out of control players is silly. Ted Lilly has a long track record of being a hothead, shocker. Gatorade machines were made to be beat to a pulp. The out of control Cubs, led by Milton Bradley, is a figment of the media’s imagination. Big Z did lose his mind for a few minutes, though. That’s no one’s fault other than his own.

The Cubs do not need Mark DeRosa. Please, he was no one’s savior, and, for once, the Cubs traded someone when he had some value. The pitchers they got from Cleveland aren’t sure things, but they may not be far off from the Majors.

Kevin Gregg is more than adequate at closer. It’s hard for me to get revved about closers. He’s pitched well in a key role, and is far less scary than former fan favorites Joe Borowski and Rod Beck. RIP Shooter, my heart rate found new highs during your time as a Cub, but it was fun. Cut Gregg some slack. He may not have the blue collar panache of Joe and Rod, but he’s got the goggles and good enough stuff to close games.

That’s all, back to baseball….