Bruce Miles wrote up his game story today with the following opening line:

It might be too late for this year, but nobody wants to talk about next year on the Cubs.

Well, when Chris Iannetta homered in the 11th inning for the Colorado Rockies last night, the Cubs were eliminated.

All that's left to talk about is next year.

Even this season's last 5 games won't show much. Kevin Gregg and Rich Harden have been shelved, so there's no more scouting to see if they'll earn a new contract for next year (they won't). Angel Guzman is out for the rest of the year. Aramis Ramirez is likely done. Jake Fox has been hidden on the bench to keep any trade value he has from slipping away. Alfonso Soriano has been gone for months and Milton Bradley was never really here (even though he says he felt like $30 million).

If seeing Jeff Samardzija start excites you, well, perhaps there's that left.

Many of the the Cubs are already done for the year. Fitting.

Given that, and despite Bruce's intro, the focus from here on out is 2010.

As it has been since August.