Filed:July 8th, 2009

Atlanta Brave Jeff Francoeur (Cubbie Nation/file)

Admit it; it's been a rough week watching the Cubs.

For one day -- Monday -- all seemed to be right with the world. Everyone was healthy. The team played well, and won. The Tribune era appeared to quickly be ending. And for the first time in months, at least I felt like the team might put it together enough to make a run. No, not the 97 win, but more the 85 wins and back into the playoffs sort of thing. Which is starting to seem more and more like what the eventual NL Central champion will look like.

So what happens? First, that tentative deal with the Ricketts? Not so tentative, with the Utay group stepping in to make a last-minute bid.

I mean, really? REALLY? As if this sale wasn't going to drag on long enough as is, Zell wants to turn this into a cage match at the 11th hour. It was going to be bad enough watching creditors pick apart the deferred millions in the deal that they won't be getting quick access to -- if ever -- but now this. I take back what I said before; I don't even look for the sale to get completed this season now. And if I may say so, I like Sam Zell, but I would not want to involve myself in any business dealings with the man. I can't find anyone who has enjoyed working with him, and I've actually looked.

Think it doesn't affect the 2009 team? Jim Hendry is already intimating that the money well is dried up for this season, with quite possibly no moves to be made at the trade deadline? Bluffing? Maybe. Hendry and deals are like teenagers and Internet porn; a curious oddity that he finds irresistible.

Either way, I bet those words don't come out of his mouth if Zell is still looking to keep the team bright and shiny new looking for prospective buyers.

Tuesday: Ryan Dempster injured while jumping over a fence. Did he high jump it or something? He'll be out for a few weeks, although fortunately half of that should be the All-Star break. When you get injured just taking the field, maybe you should spend that off time looking into a new conditioning program. I hate to call the modern baseball player soft, but...

And Wednesday, an impotent lineup becomes more so with Geovany Soto scratched from the game with an oblique strain. He's listed as day to day, with MRI results due back by Friday. Not bad normally, but when those days in day to day include a foursome with the Cardinals, well, I end up needing an off-day too.

And all this was topped off by a 4-1 loss Wednesday to the Braves that left me with but one conclusion; if the Cubs aren't going to go and chase a bat, then sell, because you're just kidding yourselves otherwise.

I hope they don't, and yes, I acknowledge that it is possible to stumble into the playoff without it. Maybe Soriano hits, maybe Bradley slugs, and all of a sudden you're in the mix. But the likelihood seems more and more remote that the team as composed is going to get it together offensively. If the ballclub won't recognize that, and address it, then what is there to do? At that point, you're the Seattle Mariners 10 years ago; good teams that relied too heavily on the injured and underperforming, leaving the club to wither and die without reinforcements to carry on the fight.

But back to this game for a moment, which was a comedy of errors if ever there was one. Whether Kevin Hart walking five, including the pitcher, to keep the fourth inning alive, Jake Fox totally missing a Martin Prado single, allowing Nate McLouth to score, or a ridiculous two-run ninth that I'd like to personally forget, the Cubs gave a Bobby Cox team too many extra outs, and you're always going to lose when you do that. Couple that with an impotent offense, and the game is over before it even really starts.

Seriously Jim, go get that bat; jumpstart a team badly in need of one. Don't make us beg.