Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Considering the Cubs were probably the most disappointing team in baseball in 2009, they definitely have their work cut out for them this offseason in order to return to being a legitimate contender. I guess Cubs fans should take solace in the fact that a winning season was considered a colossal failure -- after all, they have had a winning record in three consecutive seasons for the first time since the Nixon administration now. It's simply a sign that the bar has been raised in Wrigleyville. No longer content to play "lovable losers," Lou Piniella's Cubs are determined to win it all. New owner and lifelong Cubs fan Tom Ricketts has guaranteed the Cubs will win a World Series under his watch.
After altering the best Cubs team since 1945, general manager Jim Hendry has to find a way to get some of that magic back in 2010. He'll have to start by unloading one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
Earlier this season the Chicago Cubs offense was struggling and Milton Bradley was not getting along with hitting coach Gerald Perry. So after considering that Bradley was making a significantly larger chunk of cash than Perry was, the team decided to relieve Perry of his duties and called up Von Joshua from their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa to replace him.
Now Joshua didn't do much to salvage Bradley's season in Chicago, but after taking over the job the Cubs did improve from 14th in batting average to sixth in the Majors, and also went from 15th to sixth in runs scored. So as a way of thanking Joshua for the improvements the team announced on Monday they won't be bringing him back next season.
Ryne Sandberg, known affectionately as "Ryno" in Wrigleyville, played 15 seasons for the Chicago Cubs in his Hall of Fame career. He went to 10 All-Star games, won nine gold gloves and brought home an MVP. At present, Sandberg manages the Tennesse Smokies -- the Cubs' Double-A affiliate. He previously managed for the Cubs in Single-A as well, so it appears the Cubs are moving him along in hopes he could one day manage the big-league club.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's weekly look at some aspect of America's pastime.
Instead of handing our hardware to Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Zack Greinke and Chris Carpenter (yes, those would be my votes), I thought we'd mix it up a bit. Plus, being a Cubs fan, I'm plenty filled with negativity at this time of the year -- which, really, is normal. So these are the Bizarro World Awards. The Suck Awards, if you will. The envelopes, please ...
''He's done enough and shown enough, and we have confidence in him enough that going into spring training next year it's his job,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''And we'll leave it just at that.''
While this is good news for Marmol, it's more a result of Gregg stinking in the closer's role, more so then Marmol beating him out for the job.
CHICAGO -- Tuesday night, in keeping with masochistic tradition, 40,000 fans will file into an ancient ballpark, ignore the reality of the standings and root for the Cubs to beat the Washington Nationals. They'll do so even though the Nationals, I dare say, might be better than the Cubs these days. This would be the ideal evening to boycott the one sports team in America that never, ever gives its diehards a reward for their loyalty, a franchise headed toward a 101st consecutive season without a World Series title.
CHICAGO -- Midwestern values? Sorry, I've never detected more common sense here than anywhere else, particularly during baseball season in the heartland capital. Chicago is where a father/son tag team, one with a knife falling from his pocket, tackled an enemy first-base coach who never has emotionally recovered. Chicago is where a bond trader attacked Cubs relief pitcher Randy Myers for allowing a home run. Chicago is where a fan stole the cap of Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter, prompting his teammates to rush into the stands. Chicago is where a riot broke out and fires erupted on Disco Demolition Night.
Chicago is where psycho fans come to pillage and plunder, possibly a byproduct of having won only one World Series over the last 191 collective seasons -- soon to be 193 -- on both sides of town. Philadelphia boos Santa Claus? Cleveland throws batteries at helmeted, padded football players? New York, Boston, Detroit? Those places are mellow compared to Chi, the city that really should taser morons after Oakland introduced the idea last week, the city where so-called regional sensibilities don't always apply at the two ballparks.
At this point we're all more than familiar with the "curse" of the Chicago Cubs. More specifically, the Billy Goat curse. It's one of those stories that are never going to die until the Cubs finally win a World Series, and one that people will always pull out to have a bit of fun at the Cubs expense.
The Marlins did this recently, having their mascot Billy the Marlin -- because why wouldn't a marlin be named Billy -- parade a goat in front of the Cubs dugout while they were in Miami last weekend. While it was all in good fun, not everybody seemed to find it very humorous. First and foremost, Cubs skipper Lou Piniella.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That it had been more than a year since the Red Sox had lost four straight.
But Tuesday's 4-2 defeat at Texas gave Boston its worst slide since dropping five in a row, June 28-July 2, 2008. And it meant the Yankees moved into first place alone for the first time since before the games of June 9.
Not even their stopper could overcome the Red Sox's continued offensive funk. Josh Beckett had been 6-0 in his previous 10 starts that followed a Boston defeat, but he lost to the Rangers, allowing four runs in an eight-inning complete game.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
Earlier this season the Chicago Cubs offense was struggling and Milton Bradley was not getting along with hitting coach Gerald Perry. So after considering that Bradley was making a significantly larger chunk of cash than Perry was, the team decided to relieve Perry of his duties and called up Von Joshua from their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa to replace him.
It was one of the more hotly debated topics of the off-season, which spilled into Spring Training and even the regular season. We wanted to know if 
CHICAGO -- Midwestern values? Sorry, I've never detected more common sense here than anywhere else, particularly during 
Starting Five
At this point we're all more than familiar with the "curse" of the Chicago Cubs. More specifically, the Billy Goat curse. It's one of those stories that are never going to die until the Cubs finally win a World Series, and one that people will always pull out to have a bit of fun at the Cubs expense.
Starting Five
