Hot Seat Getting Warm

In his column today, Barry Rozner reminds everyone of the parallels between Don Baylor in 2002 and Dusty Baker in 2005. Don't believe for a minute that Baker's job is safe. And that means you can expect to see Baker continue to burn his starters so long as he fears using the Fuel Air Explosive better known as the Cub Bullpen.

Dusty's job is on the line. That's fine. It's also the reason why this weekend's series with the White Sox is a no-lose scenario for the Cubs and their fans.

If the Cubs manage to take 2 or 3 games in the series, then it might be argued that they are back in the hunt. They'd be as high as a game over .500 and winners of 5 or 6 out of their last 8.

If they lose 2 or 3 games, then the Dusty Death Watch starts ticking. There's no way that Andy McPhail and Jim Hendry are going to waste $100 million in payroll and a year on the arms and free agency clocks of Carlos Zambrano and Mark Prior.

So, if a Sox fan and his three teeth try to get in your face this weekend, remember a few things: There is only upside to come from this series, and you don't have the end of Chinatown playing out nightly in your living room.