Futility & Frustration

At this point, I wonder: in February, would the Cubs have been better off buying a lead-off hitter or an MRI machine? I mean, they've pumped enough money into MRIs at Northwestern Memorial and other hospitals that it would have paid for itself by now. Yet, while there was no way to see the vast accumulation of injuries coming, there have been plenty of vulnerabilities on this team that have been clear every step of the way, and the Cubs have yet to act with foresight to compensate for them.

I'm turning on Dusty. It's up to players to perform, but it's up to managers to play them to their strengths. He just doesn't seem to see what everyone else does. Tonight he brought in Novoa in the 8th inning. He had other options, including a decent veteran in Remlinger. Compounding the situation was the mistake he made in the first game, using his best setup reliever of the season (Wuertz) in a game where they were already down 6 runs. Not that Wuertz has been perfect, or Remlinger for that matter, but Novoa has yet to prove himself up to this sort of a challenge. The writing was on the wall before the inning ever happened. Hell, he could have even taken a page out of Tony LaRussa's book and used Dempster in the 8th.

A skid like this is no time to risk putting in a rookie -- especially a rookie with a brief but consistent history of shaky outings and fleeting control. Not only did he not come through, but he's probably going to feel awful about losing the first game the Cubs had a chance to win in over a week. Why would Dusty risk this? It hurt the team on so many levels.

This isn't hindsight. It was obvious at the time. In fact, it's been obvious all season that Dusty does not know how to use his bullpen. Or write out a good lineup, for that matter. Except, Dusty doesn't seem to be watching the same team we are.

Listen: this team has demonstrated that it's a team of streaks. They're an aggressive lineup top to bottom, which leads to streaky production. I don't know whether Dusty has tried to coach them in this, but maybe too many of these guys aren't willing to let someone coach them. We can't know that, so we don't know who to criticize in that respect. That said, there's still the possibility that the Cubs will get hot and rattle off 8 out of 10 to get back in (gulp) wild card contention. Streaks work both ways.

But the mark of a good manager isn't if he can win when his players are overachieving, or even when talented guys are just playing at a normal level. It's in finding ways to win when his players are underachieving, or when the talent doesn't pan out. With Lee out, that includes pretty much everyone except Ramirez. Dusty Baker has yet to demonstrate that he can help orchestrate close wins. That does not bode well for this team.

I think I'm one of the last to turn on Dusty. Knowing that any time a team starts losing the manager is reflexively blamed, I prefer to let longer trends develop before I pronounce such a judgment. Right now, though, enough is enough. There's no cohesion, no camaraderie, and no wins. I'm fed up. I could handle a losing streak like this one a lot easier if I thought that the manager positioned the team to win every game as best he could, but that's not the case. Even with the injuries, this team has the talent to be better than 4 games under .500 through 84. Too often managers are held responsible for events that they could not really affect, but not here. Dusty needs to figure it out, and soon, or it's time to find someone who can.