Somewhere in baseball land Jake Peavy is smiling.  Not because either he or his San Diego teammates are exactly enjoying the seasons of their lives.

No.  Jake Peavy is smiling because he knows deep inside the trade that never happened probably saved his career.   Peavy may or may not have been singing “Go Cubs Go” when rumors of his trade to Chicago were in overdrive, but I’m fairly certain the theme song isn’t in his playlist any longer.

For good reason.  This year’s version of Chicago Cubs baseball just isn’t very good.

Nor does it look to get better any time soon.  With the core of the club signed to long term contracts “More of the Same” may become the club’s new theme song.

The potential is there.   And there’s still over 100 games left in the 2009 season before the Cubs can officially put their gear away for good.

Reasons enough to continue to show up at Wrigley or to tune in to watch or listen.  Or, as if any Cub fan needs a reminder: To hope.

With each passing game, however, objective Cub fans have to wonder whether hope does indeed float or if they’re witnessing a season sinking to the depths not seen since 2006.  That was the year the Cubs finished with the National League’s worst record and the team’s payroll was a mere $94 million - about $40 million less than it is today.

Unfortunately from my angle, it looks like the Cubs are closer to 2006 than duplicating the mini-miracle of 2007.  If you remember, Chicago held a 30-35 record on June 14th of that year, but went 55-42 the rest of the way to clinch the Central Division title and a playoff berth.

That was then and this is now.  And what I’m seeing now is a team without confidence and without chemistry.  Sure, the player are saying all the right things.  And the starting pitching is equal to the best staffs in either the American or National Leagues.

But you can’t win if you don’t score.  Which is why Peavy is smiling.  He’s already on a team that can’t hit.  Why would he leave the sunshine of SoCal for the Windy City?

The answer is, he won’t.  On the bright side, maybe it’s time to get the Brian Roberts rumor rolling again.  At least it would give Cubdom some hope.