Aramis Ramirez

Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez is having a good season after an awful start, no question. But it's fool's gold, with the gold going to Ramirez and Cubs GM Jim Hendry the fool.

For if Ramirez's season leads Hendry to either pick up his club option at $16 million for 2012, or motivates him to sign an extension, then this otherwise solid season by Ramirez will actually be a negative for the Cubs in the long run.

One of the keys to winning in fantasy baseball is to catch players in the middle of a hot streak. This June, there were a number of players who crushed the playing field. Which of these players will come back to Earth and which are capable of sustaining their June dominance? In this article, I will identify who you should hang on to and who you should sell high on. 

Atlanta Braves 3B Chipper Jones has been placed on the 15-day DL with a torn meniscous and will miss the 2011 MLB All-Star Game. Philadelphia Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel came out Saturday and said that it is likely All-Star 3B Placido Palanco will miss Sunday's game, and very well could miss the All-Star game. 

Over the last decade, there have been many Major League Baseball teams that inspired the feeling for a split second that you could have made a career off that .300 average you carried in the Frankfort Dixie Youth League. 

Last week I wrote about my hope for the 2011 Cubs. For the first time in a long time, I look at the Cubs organization and see reasons to be optimistic about their short and long-term future.

This article is also available at theperspective.yardbarker.com

The Chicago Cubs have spent the past few years treading water in the middle of Major League Baseball.  They haven't been going on tears, but they also haven't been at the bottom of the league.

Although this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is something that is very frustrating for Cubs fans who want to get some sort of identity out of a team that refuses to give itself one.

Same story, different day. I swear, this sounds like a familiar plotline. A corpulent, Hispanic starting pitcher takes the mound for the Cubs, gives up multiple moonshots in his first inning of work, calls out a corner infielder for making some negligible error, and a "scuffle" breaks out in the Cubs dugout.

As a former boss of mine once said when I told him that I wanted a raise, "how does it feel to want"?

Well, Aramis Ramirez apparently wants something and that something is to swipe a few bags.

While I probably have a better chance of dating Keeley Hazell than Ramirez does of becoming a base stealer, it just goes to show you what passes for news in the spring.

Carlos Zambrano has been to the mountaintop and back.

He has braved the treacherous climb, studied with the celebrated Dharma bums in the Himalayas, found inner peace with the spirit of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and even spent a few months in the swamps of Dagobah under Jedi master Yoda.

He is ready.

Of course, we all know it has been awhile since the Chicago Cubs tasted a World Series victory, although many fans just refer to it as "Back in '08." Just to make sure you're caught up, Henry Ford produced his first Model T the same year the Cubs last won, in 1908.

What can the Cubs do to end of of the most scrutinized and devastating losing streaks in sports history? Well, there are many, but here are the five most important steps the Cubs need to take to grasp a World Series title in 2011.