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.