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I guess yesterday’s news involving Lou Piniella ending all doubt and saying he will not be back next year is good news for me. I won’t have to write anymore “fire Lou Piniella” columns.

But why is he still in Chicago? What is to be gained by that?

The team he has managed is going nowhere. They have been lifeless all year, and now they are playing for a lame-duck manager.

What is there to inspire them to play hard the rest of the way?

They know Piniella won’t have any say if they’re around next year. Jim Hendry will be evaluating them, and according to Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, he will be back next year.

I don’t know how much hope that inspires in Cub fans, along with the news that team president Crane Kenney will help with the managerial selection.

Despite the fact that everybody was brought back last year, I was hoping for wholesale changes after this dismal, disappointing season.

Unfortunately, the new owner is grading on a curve (Funny note: I first typed curse by accident. We know there are no curses here).

He’s not judging on the past, and like his “Year One” ad campaign, I guess it’s also Year One for Jim Hendry, so past failings are swept away and he started with a clean slate.

Ricketts is impressed with the offseason moves of adding free agent Marlon Byrd and acquiring Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley.

He is also impressed by the farm system that is finally starting to bare fruit after a two-decade slumber. But are there any stars in the system?

I know, I shouldn’t be greedy.

Starlin Castro has had a nice rookie year so far, and Tyler Colvin has exceeded everyone’s expectations, including the guy who drafted him, Tim Wilken.

While interviewing Wilkin in 2009, he mentioned that Colvin was a disappointment, and he sounded like he didn’t think he was much of a prospect anymore.

The Cubs didn’t either, and that’s why they signed Xavier Nady.

Colvin shocked them coming out of spring training and they were forced to add him to the team.

That’s one of the problems with this organization. They can’t even evaluate their own talent.

Geovany Soto was not even considered a prospect at one time. Ryan Theriot was close to being cut while he was still a switch-hitter at the Cubs’ request. On his own, he decided to just bat his natural way, right-handed, and he became a prospect.

Back to Piniella. He didn’t even want to play Colvin more than a couple of games a week until he got into a run-in with former Cub announcer Steve Stone, who criticized him on a local sports show for not playing Colvin more.

The Cubs are allowing Piniella to retire on his own terms because of the respect they have for him and his career. But what respect has he ever had for the organization?

He constantly refers to the Cubs as “they,” as in “One day, they’re going to win it all,” or “They have a nice team here.”

Does that sound like a guy who has been connected to the team? He has little contact with the players in the clubhouse, preferring to let his coaches interact with them.

Even though he’s retiring at the end of the year, it seems like he’s been retired for at least the last year-and-a-half.

What has he done here to earn respect? Win as many playoff games as everybody reading this.

He came here to take the Cubs to the World Series. Just making the playoffs and surrendering meekly to inferior teams wasn’t what he was brought here for.

He harassed the media anytime they asked him a difficult question in postgame press conferences, like, “How dare anyone question the great Lou Piniella.”

Well, I have news for him. He’s not so great as a manager.

He doesn’t deserve respect and he shouldn’t still be managing this team.

My choice would be Ryne Sandberg, who went down to the minors and rode the buses for three and a half long years to have a chance to manage the team he was a Hall of Famer for.

He’s hungry and he wants it. Looking at Piniella, I think his appetite has been satiated for a long time now.

I loved Sandberg’s Hall of Fame speech, where he talked about playing the game the right way. Sandberg played the game that way, and I’m hoping he would be able to impart that to his players.

He managed a lot of them on his way up through the organization, so they would feel comfortable and would want to play for him.

I haven’t seen anyone that seems to want to play for Piniella.

Piniella is looking forward to spending more time with his family. He’s been in the game for 50 years and says he is tired.

Jim Hendry was quoted at the press conference as saying, “He’s earned the right to go out the right way.”

Piniella said yesterday, “I want to go home.”

That’s what I think he’s earned, and he earned it a long time ago, so send him home now.

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For those who remember the old Lou Piniella, Tuesday’s new conference was a sure sign that the one-time volatile skipper had mellowed.

Today, Lou Piniella, after 46 years on the baseball field as a player and manager, quietly decided to retire at the conclusion of this season.

“Why make this announcement now,” Piniella asked in a prepared statement. “[GM] Jim Hendry asked me in recent weeks regarding my future with the team and I told him I had made the decision to retire at the end of the season. Since my decision has now been made, I don’t want to mislead anyone about my intentions when asked in the future.”

“But more importantly, announcing my decision now is what’s best for this organization in the long run. It gives Jim Hendry ample time to find the next manager and he doesn’t need to do so in secrecy. The Cubs are one of the greatest organizations in baseball. I care very deeply for this organization and want nothing more than for it to experience present and long-term success. I’m proud of our accomplishments during my time here and this will be a perfect way for me to end my career.”

The Cubs, who he managed to consecutive playoff appearances for the second time in their history, have largely been a disappointment this season. They currently sit at 42-52 going into Tuesday’s game, 10.5 games behind first-place St. Louis.

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear: our work is far from over,” Piniella said. “I want to keep the momentum going more than anything else and win as many games as we can to get back in this pennant race. I’m going to give every effort I have to help this team win and that will remain my sole focus through the rest of the season.”

When asked what his reasons for retirement were, the skipper cited a wish to spend more time with his family, but didn’t deny the possibility of an advisory position for the Cubs.

“I couldn’t be more appreciative of the Cubs organization for providing me the opportunity to manage this ball club,” Piniella said. “I’ve had four wonderful years here that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. I’ve grown to love the city and the fans but at my age, it will be time to enter a new phase in my life. It will enable me to spend more valuable time with my family—my wife, my kids and my grandchildren. God has blessed me to have been able to work this many years in the game that I love.”

Piniella, who won a World Series in 1990 with the Cincinnati Reds, was one of baseball’s famous fire starters through much of the 90’s and into this decade. He is currently tenth all-time in ejections. He later went on to manage the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Devil Rays before coming to Chicago in 2007.

It was during his time in Seattle that the Mariners tied the all-time regular season record for wins, with 116, and made seven of the franchise’s eleven playoff appearances.

He currently has a career record of 1,823-1,689, and is fourteenth on the career wins list.

Possible candidates to replace Piniella for next season include former Chicago Cubs star Ryne Sandberg, who currently manages the Triple-A Iowa team. Sandberg has been more than eager to accept the position, if offered.

“That’s where I spent my entire career,” Sandberg said. “This has been my dream minor league job. So at the major league level that would be a dream come true for me. But I’m also open to getting to the major leagues wherever that opening or phone call would come from.”

Sandberg also said that Piniella had “a heck of a managerial career, that’s for sure. I hope he goes out on a good note. I hope the team can do well for him from here on out.”

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Let the speculation begin.

Lou Piniella will retire at season’s end, meaning there will be no shortage of rumors swirling around Wrigley Field in regards to their new manager.

It won’t be LeBron James-caliber of rumors, but you’ll expect to hear the names Ryne Sandberg, Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, Bob Brenly, and, for that matter, Phil Jackson, over the next three months.

Piniella seemed defeated long ago, even before the 2010 season began.

His Cubs’ career began with such promise, but, like all things Cubs-related, it will end on a sour note.

Sweet Lou said and did all the right things when he was hired by the Cubs to manage, and his first two seasons on the north side resulted in division championships.

It was a golden age (how sad is that?) for Chicago Cubs baseball for those first two seasons; the team was winning and the words “World Series” were a distinct possibility.

But, again, like all things Cub, his third installment was nothing short of a disaster.

The Cubs were overwhelming favorites to win the NL Central and possibly advance to the World Series in 2009, but Piniella’s squad stumbled out of the gate and was blitzed by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central Division.

A year later, they’re still stumbling.

Not much has gone right in 2010.

The team is currently fourth in the NL Central standings, sitting a robust 10.5 games out of first place.

They’ve cashed in with players like Marlon Byrd and Carlos Silva, yet remain so far back, you wonder how bad it would look if those two players performed like, say, Marlon Byrds and Carlos Silvas typically perform.

Carlos Zambrano?

Disaster.

Aramis Ramirez?

What happened?

Derrek Lee?

Are you serious?

Sure, Piniella can’t be blamed for the entire 2010 mess, but he’ll be the first one to take a trip to the guillotine when game No. 162 is completed.

Piniella’s tenure ultimately will be deemed a failure, because it didn’t result in a World Series, pennant, or even a playoff victory.

People will criticize his lack of aggression over the last season and a half, but at his age, what do you expect him to do?

Yelling at 35-year-old men who have been employed by Major League ball clubs for 15+ seasons only gets you so far—eventually, the players are responsible for the performance on the field.

Lou Piniella cannot catch, pitch, hit, or throw.

He can only use a pencil to write nine names in a lineup card.

His nine names have failed more times than not this season, and that is why you’ll be seeing a new skipper in the third base dugout in 2011.

Piniella, too old and out-dated for today’s game, may have sunk his ship when he demoted one time ace, Carlos Zambrano, to the team’s bullpen.

You simply do not take your $91 million right-hander and his career 3.58 ERA and make him a set-up man—even if your $91 million right-hander and his career 3.58 ERA has a 10-cent head.

The club can now officially begin to (dare I say it?) wait ’til next year and hope that the three C’s (Tyler Colvin, Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner) can usher the Cubs into a better future.

That is, assuming Colvin gets the proper amount of at-bats.

Lou Piniella never figured that out, either.

The Cubs have all the time in the world to figure out what to do next.

Seems like we’ve been saying that for a while now, though.

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Lou Piniella is finally going to hang it up.  He’s confirmed that this season will be his last on anybody’s bench, and I think it’s about time.

Why? How could I think it’s time for Lou to hang it up when he’s such a great “baseball mind”?

Well, let’s consider the obvious.  There’s the: temper tantrums, temper tantrums, tempter tantrums, and inexplicable losses in the postseason.

Remember that Lou presided over a Mariners team that won 116 games in the regular season but couldn’t win their opening round playoff series.  Greatest team of all time?  Not even close.  They could’ve been with a different manager.

Lou brought a little success back to Tampa, but it wasn’t until he left and Joe Maddon came aboard that the Rays finally saw real success and made the World Series.

Lou was supposed to be able to do something with the pathetic Cubs. He was going to turn the “lovable losers” into “lovable winners”.  Remember?

This team is being paid an insane amount of cash to suck.  They’re not even within reach of the Reds and Cardinals.  Being behind the Cards is to be expected—being behind the Reds is embarrassing.  The Reds don’t have the payroll to keep up—but Dusty Baker is out-managing Lou right now.  The Reds front office has made good decisions.

Lou is manning a sinking ship—again.

I can hear the cries, “But Lou won the World Series with Cincinnati in 1990.”  I know.

In fact, in Cincinnati, they’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of that championship.  Pretty cool thing since times have been lean in Cincinnati.  However, we’re forgetting one thing.

Lou won a World Series in Cincinnati with Pete Rose’s team.  Much the same way Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl with Jimmy Johnson’s team and Larry Coker won a BCS title with Butch Davis’ team.

Lou followed one of the greatest baseball minds of all time and won a championship.  A lot of us could’ve done that.

Hell, my wife is a Reds fan and she can’t stand Lou.  Why?  To her, he’s an ass who won a title with Pete’s team. He’s a clown—he tarnishes the good name of the Reds.

If the one city he saw glory in can do without him, then he clearly isn’t the “baseball man” we all thought he was.

I’m not saying he’s an idiot—you’ve got to have brains to at least make sure the right players get on the field, but he’s never had control of a team he’s managed.

The 1990 Reds were a “players team.”  I can’t tell you how many times my wife has told me that the players ran that team by themselves.  They made themselves into the “Nasty Boys”—not the other way around.

Lou’s epic failure in Chicago is just another is a long line of epic failures.  Win 116 games—lose in the ALDS.  Bring a downtrodden franchise a tiny bit of winning—leave in a huff.  Come to Chicago as “the baseball man”—fight with Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano.

If there’s a Hall of Failure, then Lou is in. 

Too bad there isn’t a “Greatest Failures” section in Cooperstown.

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One of baseball’s best managers is leaving the game. Like Bobby Cox, another respected manager, Lou Piniella has decided that after this season he will retire. 

Some might say it’s because of the Cubs, but while they gave Lou his fair share of aches and pains, he’s also shared laughter and joy while managing the Chicago Cubs. In his career, he was a two time American League Manager of the year and one time National League Manager of the year

Sweet Lou played 20 years of professional baseball, making stops to play for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Pilots (yes, they were a team), the Kansas City Royals, and an eleven year stint with the New York Yankees.

When George Steinbrenner passed away, Lou called him “a father figure”, which speaks volumes about Lou Piniella. Sure, we all get a kick out of sweet ol’ Lou charging out of the dugout to start arguing balls and strikes or arguing when one of his players was wrongly called out.

We need to realize that Lou was more than a funny old man who made us enjoy baseball. Lou Piniella was a symbol of what baseball was and should ever be.

When Lou came out to argue, whether it was when he managed the Yankees, Reds, Mariners, Rays, or Cubs, Lou was out there to defend his players.

In life, the ability to defend is a valuable trait.

His press conferences were sometimes filled with emotion, from anger to sorrow to joy.

He was someone who made baseball what it is today. He was fan friendly for everyone from infants to 99-year-old men and women. While he never lead the Cubs to a World Series title, he did bring joy back to the north side of Chicago. He made the fans say “Go Cubs Go, Hey Chicago what do you say, the Cubs are gonna win today.”

Sure, they haven’t won a lot lately, but the fans care about Lou. I work at a sports store right outside Chicago, and when I heard Lou was retiring, a middle aged customer at the store became very upset.

Lou meant so much to the Cubs and after all, he wasn’t a bad manager. Throughout his career, he was able to get one World Series ring and six divisional titles. This shows that he was able to stick with it, through good and bad.

So we bid farewell to Lou Piniella, one of baseball’s greatest managers. The man who provided us with laughter, joy, and sometimes anger because he didn’t make the right decisions will always be remembered for what he brought to the team.

Hey Lou, during the Cubs final home game of the year, can we persuade you to get into an argument? It only seems like the right way to go, not by ejection, but just a little argument. The umpires will miss him too, because his arguments were sometimes followed by a good laugh. 

Lou’s outta here! This time, it’s his call. 

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Two of the best managers in this era of baseball will be retiring at the end of this 2010 season—the Atlanta Braves Bobby Cox and the Chicago Cubs Lou Piniella.

Both managers were great beginning their careers around the same time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Piniella with the New York Yankees and Cox with the Atlanta Braves.

Piniella or “Sweet Lou” as he was called both for his sweet swing as a major league hitter and facetiously to describe his demeanor less than sweet demeanor on the field. Piniella ranks 14th all-time on the list of managerial wins with 1,784-1,639 record. 

Piniella managed the Yankees (1986-1988), Reds (1990-1992), Mariners (1993-2002), Rays (2003-2005) and the Cubs (2007-2010). He was a three-time Manager of the Year in 1995 and 2001 with the Mariners and again in 2008 with the Cubs. Perhaps his greatest managerial accomplishment—winning the World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990.

Lou was well known for his on-field antics, arguing with umpires too times to count.

While with the Mariners he led them to a record tying 116 wins in 2001 before the team was eliminated in the ALCS to the Yankees. Piniella was then “traded” to the Devil Rays after the 2002 season while the Mariners received outfielder Randy Winn as compensation.

Piniella managed the Rays to a then franchise record 70 win season.

Yet he eventually stepped down as the manager after the 2005 season making his return with the Chicago Cubs in 2007 after signing a three year contract in the 2006 offseason.

In his second season with the Cubs he led them to the playoffs with the best record in the NL only to lose in the ALDS to the Dodgers.

Lou Piniella will go down as one of the top managers in baseball history.

Bobby Cox began his managing career with the Atlanta Braves in 1978 replacing Dave Bristol just prior to the 1978 season.

Under Cox the Braves struggled the first two years but was able to finish about .500 in 1980 for the first time since 1972. Yet Cox was fired the following season after the strike.

He moved on to the Toronto Blue Jays helping the team to a first place finish in AL East only to watch his team lose the ALCS to the Royals in Game Seven.

Cox returned to the Atlanta Braves following the 1985 season as general manager but could not stay away from the field as he fired manager Russ Nixon in June 1990 and appointed himself as manager.

The 1991 season was a big turnaround for the Braves rocketing from last place in 1990 to first place in 1991, making the World Series only to lose to the Minnesota Twins.

The Braves continued to win 15 division titles in a row, a major league record for a manager.

The only disappointment for Cox during the stretch was his inability to turn division titles into championships. The Braves’ only World Series title came in 1995.

Regardless, Cox has been named Manager of the Year four times (1985, 1991, 2004, 2005).

Like Piniella, he was known for his on field actions as he leads MLB managers in games ejected.

Yet he is also the Braves all-time wins leader and is the fourth winningest manager in major league history. Cox is only trailing Connie Mack, John McGraw and Tony LaRussa on the career wins list as a manager.

Bobby Cox is arguably one of the top five managers of all time.

Both Cox and Piniella mangers will be remembered and missed by the game of baseball and the fans.

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“It was unacceptable,” said Cubs manager Lou Piniella of pitcher Carlos Zambrano’s dugout fireworks after the first inning of Friday’s 6-0 loss to the crosstown rival White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

“His conduct was not acceptable,” said general manager Jim Hendry, echoing Piniella’s sentiments while announcing Zambrano’s indefinite suspension from the team.

Unacceptable seems to be the team’s buzz word for the day, and to be sure, Zambrano’s actions were unsavory—he engaged teammate Derrek Lee in a shouting match and screamed at what seemed to be the entire Cubs bench. Is it really fair, though, for Zambrano to be singled out so?

Not remotely. Yes, Big Z was in the wrong to so publicly and demonstratively chastise the sorry bunch of losers who stood by and observed the Sox’s four-run first inning. The lambasting, though, was long overdue.

The 2010 Cubs were no one’s darlings. For a team still boasting one of the league’s highest payrolls, relatively little was expected. Their 32-41 record, in isolation, is by no means a surprise.

It should appall Cubs fans, however, to note the lackluster way this team has reached its mid-summer nadir. There has been no hustle in this team from day one; there has been no heart.

Their ancient, narrowly competent manager—once one of baseball’s most fiery and effective motivators—has seemed cranky at best, and utterly disengaged at worst. Their sometime cornerstones at the corner infield positions (third baseman Aramis Ramirez and first baseman Lee) have struggled at the plate and straggled in the field. Each has clearly suffered a season of long loss of focus and energy, not to mention a certain amount of their once prodigious skill to the weather of age.

Behind Piniella stands a staff ill-prepared to cover its leaders shortcomings. Bench coach Alan Trammell is a tactical wizard, but seems to have little sway over the strategically inferior Piniella, and offers nothing in the way of a healthy kick in the pants to the team’s many loafers.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild can supply no useful input to the confused Piniella on bullpen usage, while hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo continues to work feverishly on the broken swings of Ramirez and Lee (not to mention the ever-hapless Koyie Hill), rather than simply suggest to his boss that he start the team’s better hitters (Xavier Nady, Chad Tracy and Geovany Soto for instance) more often.

Alongside the skipper stands Hendry, the architect of this rapidly crumbling house of cards. Despite astute moves this winter (signing outfielder Marlon Byrd and trading for starting pitcher Carlos Silva), Hendry failed to address the team’s real areas of need (the bullpen, to which he counter-productively returned left-handed walk artist John Grabow, and the back half of the starting rotation) while insisting that the team was, in fact, looking to win now.

To be sure, there have been pleasant surprises along the way. Byrd and Silva have far exceeded expectations, as have outfielder Tyler Colvin and catcher Soto. Any of those four would be deserving All-Stars, and were more of their teammates playing with their razor-sharp focus, this team could well be 41-32.

Instead, though, the team’s followers—Ryan Theriot, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Randy Wells—have seemingly lost whatever spark had kept them attentive to the task at hand, and have followed Lee and Ramirez into la-la land.

Above all the doings and undoings stands the puppet-master, team chairman Tom Ricketts, whose slick and media-savvy public relations work successfully diverted attention from a fairly outrageous hike in ticket prices (one fans have wisely not rewarded, as Wrigley Field has so far averaged about 1,200 fewer patrons per game than it had through this time last season) and a revealingly un-revolutionary approach to the business side of the game. Meet the new boss; he’s the same as the old boss.

If one accepts, then, that the Cubs have been generally unacceptable this season, it may stand to reason that Big Z—ever the unwillingly cooperative lightning rod—was merely trying to be the leader everyone expected him to be this year. In football, a sideline tirade of similar magnitude would make a quarterback his fan base’s new hero. The aggressiveness, the anger, and even the finger-pointing fury Zambrano displayed only reflected a deep-seeded frustration with the shameful attitude the so-called leaders of the 2010 Cubs have adopted as their de facto identity.

Insofar as his actions were undeniably detrimental to team chemistry, Zambrano should be made to apologize. But in the final calculus, Hendry, Piniella, Rothschild, Lee, and Ramirez should all lose their places on this team before Zambrano.

Distractions like this one can help save a manager’s hide, or justify retaining a pair of aging erstwhile sluggers. Ultimately, though, in a championship vacuum like the one at the corner of Clark and Addison in Chicago’s Lakeview community, distractions are simply unacceptable.

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The Chicago Cubs have suspended pitcher Carlos Zambrano indefinitely after a dugout tirade during Friday’s 6-0 loss to the cross-town White Sox.

Zambrano had to be restrained and separated from teammate Derrek Lee after he gave up four runs in the bottom half of the first inning at US Cellular Field.

Presumably, the issue was that Lee let a ground ball get by him at first base prior to Zambrano giving up a three-run home run.

Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry had this to say about the suspension:

“His conduct wasn’t acceptable… his actions toward his teammates and staff were not acceptable.”

“He will not be at the ballpark tomorrow. We’ll play with 24. We’ll play with 24 before we tolerate that kind of behavior.”

Cubs Manager Lou Piniella added, “He was ranting and raving and out of control.”

“We just couldn’t tolerate that. It was embarrassing. There’s no excuse for this, none at all.”

Piniella also said that he supported Hendry’s decision.

Lee would not discuss the situation, but said the team would stick together.

It’s been a rough year for Zambrano, who has gone 3-5 with a 5.10 ERA. He was also demoted to the bullpen earlier in the season.

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This article is also available on The Daily Cub and The Chicago Perspective .

After taking two out of three games in their first series against the Cubs, the White Sox were able to rattle Carlos Zambrano’s cage enough to give him a mental breakdown and get him taken out after one inning. Zambrano was also involved in an altercation with Derek Lee in the dugout.

In the first inning, the White Sox were able to put four runs on the board, mostly thanks to Carlos Quentin’s three-run homer that brought in Alex Rios and Paul Konerko.

Zambrano was noticeably livid heading into the dugout. The episode ended with Lou Piniella and Alan Trammel escorting Zambrano into the clubhouse. Zambrano was consequently told to go home.

ESPN is now reporting that Zambrano has been suspended, but they don’t have information on how long the suspension will be.

The altercation overshadowed another outstanding performance by Jake Peavy, who went seven scoreless innings for the White Sox, bringing his consecutive scoreless inning total to 21.

As for the Cubs, the bullpen did a great job of stopping the bleeding, only allowing two runs through the next eight innings.  Gorzelanny was fantastic, allowing just one run over the next 3.1 innings.

The Cubs bats were silent as they only had six baserunners through the game.  Meanwhile, the White Sox were able to score six runs on seven hits and two walks.

The White Sox now lead the crosstown rivalry 3-1 on the season, and the Cubs are going to have to win these next two games to pull off another tie on the season.

It is going to be tough, however, as the White Sox have won 10 straight games since losing the series finale to the Cubs in their last meeting. The Sox have won 14 of their last 15 games.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are nine games below .500 and are 2-4 over their last six.

I’m Joe W.

Joe Willett also write at The Daily Cub and The Chicago Perspective .

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If you are a true Chicago Cubs fan, then by now you know that this team is quickly heading nowhere.

Although they are still within 10 games in the division, the chances of them making up any ground is highly unlikely.

So what are the next steps this franchise needs to take?

It is simply to try and move veterans with the high salaries, and to build from the minor league system.

Honestly, if you look at the guys on the Cubs’ 25-man roster, most of them were acquired from other teams, rather than brought up through the system. Maybe the Cubs should take a page from the Tampa Bay Rays’ playbook on building a winner.

So, who exactly should the Cubs get rid of?

Well, I would start by a hobbled Aramis Ramirez, but then who wants a beaten up third baseman that can’t hit anymore? Derrek Lee is also a candidate for being dealt with. He has had an off year so far, but he still could be a player for someone wanting to add a bat down the stretch.

Carlos Zambrano is my top choice to be sent packing, but who wants a guy that throws more temper tantrums than strikes?

Also you could add Kosuke Fukudome, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, and Alfonso Soriano to the list of guys who could be dealt with if the right offer comes along.

Marlon Byrd, even though he leads the team in hitting and has been the lone bright spot, could be gone. He is unhappy with his current contract, and is trying to get the player’s union to help him void the deal. But, at least we’ll get something for him, right?

The big problem with unloading a group of guys that have not came through over the past several years is the massive salaries these guys carry.

Here is a breakdown of the top ten Cubs salaries in 2010, according to FOXSports.com .

In this bad economy, who wants to pay that for a group of guys that have barely won 30 games at this point in June?

The short answer is, nobody!

I will go out on a limb and say that the Cubs may be able to deal Lilly since he is a left handed starter and those can be a hot commodity coming down the stretch.

Zambrano will be dangled, along with Ramirez, and maybe Lee, but nobody will bite. I think Fukudome could end up out West with a playoff contender, as could Xavier Nady.

Dempster may be on the block too, but he is not a young gun anymore, and I doubt anyone will want to take on his contract.

The bottom line is that it is all about waiting until next year again.

But before next year begins, the organization needs to decide how it wants to prepare for the future. Will they stay with the same stale product out on the field, or bring up the future Cubs in guys like Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin.

Finally, I think that Cubs manager Lou Pinella will step down by mid August. Sweet Lou can’t throw enough fits on the field to get these guys fired up. I think it would be wise to retire and move on to the next stage of his life before this club gives him a heart-attack.

As always, we hope that next season will be the year, but a lot of next season depends on who the Cubbies can unload by July 31. This core group simply did not get it done and their time is up.

It’s time to bring up the kids in Iowa City along with their manager for 2011.

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