• What happened with the power outage?    Minus a late September surge by a few players, the Cubs really lacked the long ball weapon in 2007.     Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, and Aramis Ramirez, 3 guys capable of hitting between 35 and 40 home runs per year, placed in the 20's and 30's in the homer category.   Two other well known sluggers, Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd, couldn't even reach double digits.    Geovany Soto showed late promise, but was called up late in the season.  
• Does anyone know how to take a pitch?       If you watched the first round playoffs, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, or watched the regular season, you probably noticed that Cub hitters seemed quite anxious in the box.     If you watch a great championship team, like the Boston Red Sox, you can immediately understand the importance of taking a high number of pitches, as the benefits are numerous.      Getting a feel for the opposing pitcher, making him work, and hitting when the count is in your favor, is crucial for a team as a whole.     Let your Soriano's nail the first pitch, but be sure the majority of your players are on the take.
• The Cubs had absolutely no one, who was left handed, that could show they could consistently hit for power.    Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones, and Daryle Ward were the Cubbies "big 3" left handed weapons, but all 3 of these gentlemen fell off the planet in 2007.   Cliff Floyd faced a year of many personal problems, including the loss of his father to cancer, and all in all, didn't have a bad season, but his overall power was lacking.   Jacque Jones could barely get the ball out of the infield, until he got hot in the 2nd half of the season, but still only managed a measely 5 home runs for the year.    Daryle Ward has never been considered for a starting slot, because he is slow on the field, and his defensive ability has been questioned.          
• The 4th and 5th pitching slots.      The big hope during 2007 was that Mark Prior was going to come back, and return to his old form.    This did not happen.      Former innings eater Wade Miller was in the mix, but he also faded out fairly quickly.      Neal Cotts was considered an option last year in spring training, but he ended up in the minor leagues last year.     Jason Marquis showed a lot of promise at times, and at other times, he left a lot to be desired.     Marquis is a "jeckell and hyde" type pitcher, that at times can be dominant, and at other times it looks like he is playing lob ball.   Sean Marshall is too left handed, as the Cubs probably will not want more than two lefties in the starting rotation.     Without going through every single player on the team, no one really impressed here.     This was a serious problem, and management knew it.
• The need for a dominant closer.     There are a lot of fans out there of Cubs closer Ryan Dempster.      There are also those out there, that really don't care for him much at all.   He really seemed to drive up the fans blood pressure, especially in the 9th inning, as very rarely, was it 1-2-3.     Dempster would consistently walk a batter, give up a basehit, or cause the bases to become loaded.    Now, a lot of times, he did the job, but he scared the bejesus out of a lot of Cub fans when his name was called in the 9th inning.     No matter if you love Dempster, or hate him, chances are he will not be the Cubs closer in 2008.
•  Where is the speed?      Alfonso Soriano was our huge pickup in late 2006.    A true combination of speed and power.     This is one of the few guys in baseball, that can not only hit 40 home runs, but can also steal 40 bases in the same season.    Alfonso was bothered with hamstring issues for much of 2007, and it affected his power, and base stealing numbers, even though he still finished relatively strong.    Youngster Ryan Theriot grabbed the shortstop position, from Ronny Cedeno, and Cezar Izturis, but didn't run as much as fans would have liked.    Felix Pie, the young potential superstar of the Cubs outfield, is still learning, and didn't take off much in 2007.     Other than those 3, the Cubs did not have a lot of base stealing options.

If you take each of these issues one by one, it seems like your primary strength, is the fact that you have 3 solid guys at the top of the rotation, in Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, and Rich Hill.     A lot of the Cub players did hit for high averages, and that was encouraging.   Nonetheless, a lot of holes existed in the 2007 team, even though the team still made the playoffs.

This was not lost on the Cubs management, as they went out and addressed the majority of these needs for 2008, as the team looks a lot better than it did last year.     When the off season started, the Cubs wasted no time, as they immediately made the following key moves:

Traded Jacque Jones to Detroit for Omar Infante

Traded Craig Monroe to the Twins for a player to be named

Acquired RHP Jose Ascanio from the Atlanta Braves in exchange LHP Will Ohman and INF Omar Infante

Acquired RHP Tim Lahey from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash.

Signed OF Kosuke Fukudome to a four-year contract.

Acquired RHP Ryan Meyers and OF Corey Coles from the Mets in exchange for OF Angel Pagan.

Signed RHP Shingo Takatsu to a one-year Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Signed RHP Jon Lieber to a one-year contract

Now, taking a look at this, Jon Lieber and Kosuke Fukudome are the absolute two biggest acquisitions on paper.

Kosuke was signed from Japan, where he was a huge star for the Chunichi Dragons.     Observers say he is a mix of Ichiro Suzuki, and Hideki Matsui of the Yankees, so chances are he could be a very interesting player.    The bets are high, as this is the first Japanese player in Cubs history, and he is playing to the tune of a 4 year contract, worth close to 48 million dollars.

Jon Lieber was a 20 game winner in the past, on the Chicago Cubs no less, as they decided to welcome the gritty innings eater back home.     He will most likely slip into the number 3 or 4 slot, and they will probably use him to break up the left handed duo of Ted Lilly and Rich Hill.

Not everyone is satisfied.     We still need to be more left handed, and we need more speed, preferably, at the top of the lineup.      At the time of this article, Erik Bedard was just recently traded to the Seattle Mariners, which may open up Brian Roberts of the Orioles, a switch hitting, very speedy, 2nd baseman, being traded to the Cubs.     A lot of Cub fans are against the idea of power hitter Alfonso Soriano hitting in the #1 slot, and it remains to be seen how that works out.

I would imagine general manager Jim Hendry is not finished yet, as a few holes remain.

What has been addressed, is the additions of Fukudome and Lieber as noted above.     A lot of the holes the Cubs have could be addressed by the younger players.  One of those, a man who will be considered a rookie this year, catcher Geovany Soto, will by all indications be the starting catcher on opening day.     This is a guy who can hit for raw power, and could be a 30-40 home run guy per year, possibly, in his first official big league year.    He has been around the minor leagues for quite some time, and most scouts, and fans, believe that Geovany is ready.   Even if he fails, they have a solid backstop in Henry Blanco, who has one of the best throwing arms in the major leagues.

The main question marks that remain, however, hover around the 2nd base, shortstop, center field, 5th starter, and closer position.

Mark DeRosa will most likely return as the starting 2nd baseman, unless Brian Roberts is obtained from the Orioles.    Ryan Theriot will most likely get the nod at shortstop, unless he falls apart in Spring Training, or is traded, which isn't likely.    However, both Theriot and DeRosa fit the profile of super utility guys, and that is a very important backup position in this day and age.    So, it is possible that we may have a new shortstop, and/or 2nd baseman, before opening day in 1 month.  Young Felix Pie is slated to get the shot in center field, but many questions remain on whether or not he is ready, or good enough for the big leagues just yet.     Young Eric Patterson (brother of former Cub Corey Patterson) and Sam Fuld, could get a shot here as well.

The Cubs may still trade for a guy like Marlon Byrd of the Rangers, or sign a free agent to man center field, to give Pie another year to develop.     I personally think Kenny Lofton would be a great 1 year option, as he still remains an unsigned free agent as of this writing.     Popular Cub Matt Murton, will most likely be traded, as he is not a center fielder, and the corner spots are locked with Soriano and Fukudome.

On the pitching side of the fence, former closer Ryan Dempster is going to be competing for the 5th starter slot, along with some heavy competition alongside Jason Marquis, Kevin Hart, Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, and possibly others.    John Lieber will most likely be the number 3 or 4 starter, but he will be watched closely in spring training.    

The closer's slot is going to be extremely interesting, as we have 3 guys who have a chance to become superstars.

Former starter Kerry Wood, young hot shot Carlos Marmol, and gritty veteran Bob Howry are all going to be competing for the crucial 9th inning role in 2008.     

The Cubs feel very confident that one of these guys will win the job, and be a class "A" closer down the line.

The team looks to be pretty much in place, and Cub fans could go to the field fairly confident about this team in 2008.    But the Reds, Brewers, Astros, Cardinals, and even the Pirates, have all made off-season acquisitions that are making their teams look a lot better.    

This makes things all the more urgent, because the Cubs really want to win THIS YEAR.

History beckons and the fans are past the point of being ready.

Lou has told the players not to put a lot of pressure on themselves, but, that is going to be impossible.

On a year where the Cubs may end up with new owners, and in a time in place that Wrigley Field will probably be renamed, or redone, now is the perfect time for the Cubs to end the World Series drought and get the "goat" off of their back forever.

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