Indictable

While Cub Nation swoons over the arrival of Angel Guzman and his 6.61 Iowa ERA, some people will ignore this blurb from Paul Sullivan's piece in today's Tribune:

The Cubs offense has regressed thus far in 2006, even with Lee playing 14 of their 16 games. Going into Saturday's game, they had dropped from second in National League home runs in 2005 to 13th in 2006, from second in slugging percentage to 13th, from 11th in on-base percentage to 15th, and from ninth to 12th in runs. They still rank dead last in walks, just as in '05.

The only improvement has been in stolen bases, from 13th to fifth, primarily because of the addition of Juan Pierre.

Will someone please explain to this writer why Jim Hendry deserved a contract extension?

At least there are some in Cub Nation that understand that Jim Hendry is a failure. Over at 1060 West:

the cubs have long suffered for a lack of quality in construction which makes injury a ready excuse for collapse. Good teams can and do work through this kind of thing -- does anyone remember the cardinals losing scott rolen, reggie sanders and larry walker all for more than half of last year? and winning 100 games anyway? does it seem so much to ask the cubs to be a team that could win 85 in spite of lee's loss?

And over at Desipio:

What the Cubs have cornered the market on though is their inability to cope with a serious injury. The last time I checked, the season is six months long. If you lose your best player for a third of that, you need to go find another player. The Cubs do not seem intent on doing that. This is why they lose. Not because somebody gets hurt, but because they patch the hole with a collection of mediocrities and wonder why it doesn't work.

Several other places are just simply sad about the state of affairs. That doesn't cut it. Unless we fans hold the teams we love to a higher standard, we get what we deserve.

And the bulk of Cub Nation is getting it alright.