Chicago

Let me begin this piece by stating the obvious: I am not on the Jim Hendry Bandwagon.

Hendry is the absentee General Manager of the Chicago Cubs, who now gets the privilege of answering harder questions that end with the word "Peavy" than the those he answered in March.

He failed in an over-publicized attempt to land the ace of the San Diego Padres, and decided to instead sign or trade for a bunch of players that have successfully made the team less competitive than they've been in four seasons.

The Chicago White Sox are playing really bad baseball right now.

Their offense is as bad as it gets in the majors right now. As a team, they rank 26th in baseball in batting average (.246), on-base percentage (.315) and slugging (.391). They rank 27th in runs scored (136) and total hits (303). Through 37 games, they've been held to two or fewer runs 15 times. They have been shut out six times.

There is only one player on the entire roster, no matter the number of at bats, that is hitting over .300 (Paul Konerko, .316).

I am sorry.

I wanted to come to this community as soon as I found out the news was going to be released to let my fans and respected colleagues know some tough circumstances I am dealing with now.

I, Tab Bamford, have cheated Bleacher Report by using performance-enhancing substances.

While the Bleacher Report community might not have any rules that lead to a suspension or loss of writing privileges, I thought it was the right thing to do to come clean now, before this becomes a bigger deal.

Late last week, the Cubs traded speedy-yet-worthless urban legend Joey Gathright to the Baltimore Orioles for Ryan Freel, a player most Cubs fans would have loved to have seen at Wrigley Field four years ago.

Freel, who stands 5'9" and is 33 years old, is a versatile player who can play most infield and outfield positions.

Aaron Miles, whom the Cubs gave a two-year contract in January, stands 5'8", is 32 years old and is a versatile player who can play most infield and outfield positions.

After a heavy loss to Baltimore at Camden Park, the White Sox return to Chicago, licking their rotation wounds.

The top three guys are off to a superb start, Mark Buehrle looks as good as ever, starting the year 2-0 with an ERA of 3.00 in three starts, John Danks is lights-out at 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA and Gavin Floyd is looking solid at 2-1 4.74 ERA.

Did Cubs manager Lou Piniella order common sense for his in-flight meal on the way to St. Louis?

Here is tonight's batting order for the first game of the series at the Cardinals:

1.      Ryan Theriot, SS

"In the past, I haven't tried to be outspoken, I didn't try to be friendly. I was just in there trying to play baseball, and that's all I want to do. I found that if you rub people the wrong way, they get the wrong impression. If you don't talk a whole lot, they assume things."

Really Milton?

"If we can get away from all the negativity and going back four, five years and the stuff I did—I'm just focused on what I'm doing now. I can be a positive influence, and I think I'm a good guy."

C'mon... seriously?

It's the final stretch, the fourth quarter! It's time to find out how the Cubs will perform in 2009, or at least according to my projections.

Saturday, I wrote an article comparing the Cubs infield to the rest of the NL Central. This article will compare the Cubbies' outfield against their divisional foes.

A little side note, I'm using the MLB.com team depth charts as my source as to who the starting outfielders will be.

Although there's a good chance Reed Johnson and Kosuke Fukudome will platoon in center field, the Cubs.com depth chart has Fukudome listed ahead of Johnson as of March 29.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Slezak wrote an article in Sunday's newspaper titled Bad-neighbor Policy at Work. Her main premise is that the Chicago Cubs "disregard responsibility to the community (by hosting) concerts (and wanting) more night games."

Well I say tough baseballs, Ms. Slezak. If you want the benefits of living around Wrigley Field, you have to accept the good with the bad.