Honestly, can it get much worse for the lovable losers?

Yesterday, the Cubs got shutout by a pitcher who WAS OUT OF BASEBALL for three years and before he left the game he wasn't even a pitcher, he was a SHORSTOP.  So, essentially, the Cubs were shutout by a shortstop.  Of course blowing another one of Sean Marshall's good starts--one of the only bright spots for the team this year.

How can one player make that big of a difference as Derrek Lee?  The Cubs won 7 games in the month of May, worst in the NL.  Everybody but Ernie Banks has hit 3rd for the Cubs since Lee went down.  They have to put 4 foot tall Todd Walker at first because Jim Hendry found it unnecessary to get a first baseman.  Our best hitter before Lee went down, Michael Barrett, couldn't hit anything in May except for AJ Pierzynski, and now he timed his comeback perfectly with an ensuing suspension.  Aramis Ramirez is hitting .240 with 10 home runs.  Juan Pierre, the multi-million dollar leadoff man gets on base about just as much as Greg Maddux does.  Neifi Perez is hitting a whopping .192 and to solve our problems, Jim Hendry picked up Tony Womack, who was in the minors for a month of the season.

Prior and Wood still lead the league in simulated innings pitched and Zambrano is the most inconsistent pitcher in baseball.  Even calm and collected Greg Maddux can't keep his cool.  Ryan Dempster, the only reliable pitcher during the slump, blew his fair share of saves.  Right now the only bright spots I can see are: Jacque Jones, Ronny Cedeno, Matt Murton, and the middle relief.  But us Cub fans have been spoiled in the past 8 years.  They made the playoffs twice and almost made the World Series.  Every year since 2003 expectations have been sky-high and we forget how bad the Cubs have been and are supposed to be.  Sometimes we have to remember that it's not that odd to say 'Wait 'till next year' in June with the Cubbies.

So, what should they do?  Well trading Mark Prior won't do anything.  Look at Corey Patterson since he left the Cubs, he leads the AL in stolen bases.  I'd rather Prior turn out to be a decent 2 or 3 starter for the Cubs for his whole career than be a Cy Young winner for another team because I'm sick of the Cubs giving up talent.  We can trade Wood, but what the Cubs need is offense, and lots of it.  In 2003 when the pennant race was in full gear, the Cubs went out and got Randall Simon and Aramis Ramirez--and we weren't even in panic mode.  I think it's safe to say the Cubs were in panic mode for a while and all they got was Tony Womack.  Now we're in 'win one game a week' mode. 

Let's not spoil ourselves as Cub fans and remember that they're supposed to be awful.  Yes, we should be optimistic, but I'd rather prepare for failure and hope for a surprise than be disappointed. 

Hey, how can the Cubs complain though?  There's still 40,000 at Wrigley everyday.