Carlos Marmol

Thanks for blowing a F I V E run lead in the 9th to waste Harden's first start for the Cubs. Ridiculous. Just fracking ridiculous. You've sucked it up the last month, and giving up F I V E runs to the GIANTS of all teams is just unacceptable. I know that we ended up winning the game, thanks to my boy Reed Johnson with a big hit in the 11th that drove in Mark DeRosa, but it shouldn't have gone into extras.
If it were up to me, Gaudin, Marshall (who cleaned up your mistake with two shutout innings), or Cotts would take your slot as the set-up man when Eyre comes back and we have to make a roster move. Hell, I'd rather have Hart than you at this point even though he isn't much beyond one inning and he isn't an MLB set-up man. I'm not knocking Hart, he's a great guy and a good team player who can contribute in certain situations, but he just hasn't shown that he's got what it takes to stay in the majors.
Carlos, I know that you're a good pitcher and you've got the tools to be great at this level, but you need a few weeks in the minors to get your head straight.
I am pulling for you even though I'm really upset at you right now.

CUBBIES!!!

With the Brewers getting Sabbathia, the Cubs had to do something. And picking up Rich Harden is HUGE! Our rotation is as follows:
1) Zambrano
2) Harden
3) Dempster
4) Lily
5) Marquis
and Sean Marshall can come in and make spot starts while giving long relief from the bullpen. He's also a lefty, which is great, and he closed a game earlier this year.
We didn't give up that much to get Harden, either. Gallagher has a lot of promise, but Harden is young and more established. Also, Marshall has just as much upside as Gallagher and has the advantage of being a lefty. We didn't have room for Patterson in the infield (Theriot, DeRosa, Cedeno, and Fontenot) and Murton wasn't getting playing time behind Fukodome, Soriano, Edmonds, and Johnson. This gives Patterson and Murton a chance to play and show that they can compete at the big league level. The Cubs also got to keep Fontenot and Hoffpauir, two lefties who are needed in the Cubs overly right-handed lineup. Pie can also stay at Triple-A and work on his hitting, we got to keep a real good CF prospect and got an ace pitcher!
We're looking pretty good to make a big playoff run this year, but I'm staying cautious as of right now. Still very excited about this, though!

Soriano

Alfonso Soriano gets hurt in a Cubs win last night and it looks like he's going to be gone for about 6 weeks. This should have me horribly depressed, but I'm really not that worried. The Cubs can just call up Hoffpauir from AAA and use him, Edmonds, and Reed Johnson as a platoon for LF and CF. Hoffpauir was hitting real well before he got sent down and, even when he wasn't getting hits, he was having good at-bats. The Cubs have also played well without Soriano in the past. Lee will need to pick it up, though, to keep things going for the team (although he's been hitting in most games of late and has been going either 1-3 or 1-4 with an RBI).
I'm still a little nervous about the pitching, but Dempster's complete game (only 117 pitches or so) last night helps to calm me down. Lily also pitched well the night before (6.2/3 and 3 ER). However, the Cubs need one more starter to get dominant and really take it to another level. I've heard rumors about snagging Sabathia, but I don't know, we'll see.

The World Is Ending

The Cubs are 37-21 and the best team in the MLB right now (by record, not sure about best overall). I'm trying not to think about it, because it's too much to handle intellectually.