Baseball advice from Doubting Jim.

I’m a Doubting Thomas/Jim when it comes to the plan to rebuild the Chicago Cubs into winners. Because the aim of Cubs management is to win in the distant future. Not now. I say come up with a plan to win now. Or next baseball season at the latest. Keep your most prized assets/players. Get rid of the remainder. In trades. Or by outright release.  Thing is, the Cubs are trading their best players. Starting pitchers. And keeping relatively ordinary position players. Including first baseman Anthony Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro. These guys can go. Even though they are young and under contract and may some day blossom into fairly decent players. But I question whether they’ll ever be true stars. Castro, for instance, isn’t the brightest guy around.  And maybe he’s lazy. Especially since he has a big guaranteed contract. He’s already fixed for life. At age 23. Therefore, he may not have incentive to get better.  He’s already got it made. Financially. And I suspect that’s all he cares about. The same goes for Rizzo. He’s got the big long-term contract. Though he has more gumption and savvy than Castro. So it’s more of a calculated risk getting rid of him.  The Cubs big mistake is trading starting pitching. Especially Scott Feldman and Matt Garza. Unfortunately, Feldman is already gone. To Baltimore. For nondescript pitchers. And Garza, by far one of the best pitchers in baseball, is expected to be gone by the end of July.  If the Cubs can get two or three young prospects. I say, keep what you’ve got. A true star pitcher in Garza. Trade Rizzo and Castro. And, oh, by the way. Keep closer Kevin Gregg. He’s spectacular. Saved 14 games. And blown only one. The Cubs lead  the league in blowing games after leading in the eighth and ninth innings. So, why get rid of the one guy that has been most successful? It doesn’t add up. It’s stupid. Keep your prized assets. The guys that know how to play winning baseball. Get rid of everyone else. Including the idiots that devised the long-term ‘rebuilding’ program. –Jim Broede