8/04/2003 09:42:00 AM by Rob

Cub Karma

So, they beat the D-Backs and Astros in two important series, and manage to gain little ground. They manage to cut Fatass Lenny Harris, and just when the roster starts to look better, they lose the Grud for a month with his broken hand. Now we have Augie Doggie back in town, so in terms of effectiveness, you have traded Harris for Augie, which is pretty much a wash.

We get Prior back tomorrow, which would seemingly give us the pronounced advantage, pitching wise, in the Central. But do you really think that Houston and St. Louis will continue to play dead, and do nothing to improve their staffs? I can't believe they would. Something has got to happen, and probably it will happen at just the right time to counteract our own improvement.

That's the karma of Cubness. Any positive move attempted is always balanced by either a negative occurrence (Harris cut --> Grud hurt --> Augie Doggie redux) or an equal and positive occurence by our competition (win series from D-backs --> Houston and Cards also win series).

We just can't ever seem to get over the top. It's never enough. That's why I have been harping for us to try something extraordinary...sign the top free agent, make the biggest trade. We did get the finest draft day steal in 20 years in 2001. That managed to drag us from badness to mediocrity. Now we need one more bold move to pull us up from mediocre to good.

Unfortunately, the window has seemed to close on such an opportunity. Any new blood we bring in now must pass through waivers, which is not impossible, but highly unlikely.

BTW: what a mess the pen is in. It is TIME for Kyle Farns #44 to grow a scrotum, and start saving games.

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