If there were any questions about the mindset of Chicago Cubs baseball management for 2007, let me bring one of my all-time favorite bands into the conversation:
“This ain’t no party. This ain’t no disco. This ain’t no foolin’ around.”
- Talking Heads, Life During Wartime
From general manager Jim Hendry’s off-season spending spree to the events following the White Sox series, Chicago management has been sending a message for all of Cubdom to hear: “Win and win now.”
At three games under .500 nearing the end of May, it’s still far too early for panic. But not too soon for the beads of sweat to begin forming along the brow.
Ask Neal Cotts. The left-hander, who was one of Hendry’s off-season signings, was promptly shipped to Iowa after suffering a horrendous week on the mound. No sooner did he finish watching his ERA balloon from 1.76 to 4.86 in a six-day period, and Cotts was on a fast-track to Des Moines.
But he hasn’t been the only Cubs’ pitcher making the news lately. There was the bizarre Ryan Dempster Show on Sunday where he announced management’s intentions to move him back to the starting rotation with current fifth arm Angel Guzman taking his spot as the Cub closer. Dempster was promptly called into a meeting with the Cub honchos where he later retracted his earlier statement with an, “April Fools.”
Regardless of the outcome of the Dempster-Guzman scenario, these hints of behind the scenes shakeups is catching the attention of struggling relievers Scott Eyre and Bob Howry.  “You can only let it ride so much, ” Eyre said of the bullpen’s season-long struggles. “You’ve got to win.”
At least the message is resonating on one Cub.
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