The Cubs won again Wednesday. With Carlos Zambrano on the mound, even with both Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez out of the lineup, they beat the Giants 12-1.
That's 27 wins in 40 games. That's nearly a quarter of a season at a .675 clip, the best in baseball since June 3.
While they probably won't play .675 ball the rest of the way (which would give them about 96 wins), .675 won't be necessary to get to the playoffs. Not with Milwaukee losing ground rapidly even before putting their ace on the shelf until possibly September. Even with a few missing puzzle pieces the Cubs have better than .500 talent, it's just a matter of which end of that spectrum is closer to the truth and by how much.
One of those pieces has been put in place, at least. In essentially a three-way deal of Michael Barrett and a prospect for Jason Kendall and a prospect with a brief loan of Rob Bowen, Jim Hendry re-solidified the catcher position with veteran talent. I like Kendall as a ballplayer, and he'd driven in more runs at Wrigley Field than any other road park over his career.
His numbers weren't great with Oakland this year, though they've improved somewhat and he hit for higher average in interleague play than against the American League. Maybe Kendall's just a National League kind of hitter; we'll have to wait and see until he's used to the new surroundings. But at least there's one catcher on the active roster who isn't a rookie, and he's still close to a .300 career hitter.
With less than two weeks remaining before the first trade deadline, the Cubs are still looking for buyers on at least Jacque Jones and Cesar Izturis, who should be playing everyday somewhere, and there's a lot of talent out there to be had. The team I'm looking at personally, and I hope Jim Hendry is, is Texas.
Eric Gagne sure would be nice to have in a stretch run, even with Ryan Dempster, a decent closer but not in Gagne's class, soon to be activated from the DL. Factor in Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood (remember Kerry Wood?), who's also soon to be activated, that's some serious gas in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings.
Kenny Lofton may also be on the table, since he's a free agent after this season. Nobody's really laid claim to center field for the Cubs this year, and Lofton's developed a quirky habit of finding his way onto playoff-bound teams, five different ones in the last six years. He's still a .300 hitter and a stolen base threat (20 so far this year) even at age 40, and he was a huge part of the Cubs' division title in 2003. With Angel Pagan, Felix Pie and Jones splitting time in center, it would be nice to have a veteran hitter there to stabilize the position for the push.
Either of those potential acquisitions put more guys on the table. Between Alfonso Soriano, Felix Pie and this winter's free agent crop I don't see a starting job for Matt Murton next year and beyond, and if the Cubs pick up an everyday outfielder like Lofton, between Cliff Floyd, Mark DeRosa and Angel Pagan there won't be anywhere for him to play this year, so they might as well trade him. The Rangers could do worse than Murton, with Jerry Hairston Jr. and Frank Catalanotto both hitting under .230 in their outfield. If Gagne is added, and Kerry Wood stays off the DL for more than a week, there will be expendable veteran bullpen arms.
Whichever suitors Texas picks, I think the Cubs do have the depth of talent to step up a couple more roster spots before the deadline and make a good team better. Just a game over .500 the rest of the way, with a favorable schedule, would put the Cubs at 84 wins. It won't take many more than that to win the Central.
