A Trip Back In Time Leads Off This Week's Chicago Baseball Week In Review

Here at the Chicago Baseball Week In Review, The Big Dead Sidebar will tackle each of Chicago's baseball team's most pressing issue. For the Cubs, it's like 2007 all over again ... and that's not good. While on the South Side, the revolving door in center field keeps turning.

When Lou Piniella began his first year as manager of the Chicago Cubs, he was accused of being asleep at the wheel by fans and media. And while it seemed like that on paper, micro-managing the bullpen while constantly flip-flopping the batting order early in the season helped Piniella figure out which players he could win with.

Now, Piniella is back to his old tricks. Today, Kevin Gregg is closing, but tomorrow it could be Carlos Marmol. Alfonso Soriano went from lead-off hitter to fifth to second back to lead-off down to third and then (you guessed it) back to lead-off.

But those issues pale in comparison to the rest of the crap Sweet Uncle Lou is toiling with.

Without Mark DeRosa, Piniella is pushing buttons trying to find out how many guys it takes to fill all the roles one man like DeRo could fill. Fontenot is flopping, Miles has been mind-boggling and Hoffpauir's defense is damning. Yet, Piniella has to try to put square pegs in round holes in hopes that something sticks.

So, Cubs fans, be patient. It might not be until June when Piniella finally figures out his ball club.

Luckily, it seems as if the White Sox have one problem it really needs to work the kinks out of. Unfortunately for The Good Guys In Black, it has been the same problem they have been trying to fill since 2006.

While I stand by my belief that Jim Thome is the offensive threat the Sox need to carry an offense, the team (and its fanbase) has desperately missed Aaron Rowand. And The Human Crash Dummy is still beloved and isn't really doing a bad job out in San Francisco, but since he's been gone, there's no denying the gaping hole in center field.

Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson, Nick Swisher and Ken Griffey, Jr. headline the center field flops since Rowand's departure.

So what's the solution to this problem? Simple. Employ less contact pitchers.

The Cubs have lead the National League in strikeouts the last few years, so they could afford to have a less than stellar defensive outfield because a good chunk of outs came via the punch out. If the White Sox could scout out more punch out experts, they could survive with an adequate center fielder.

On the offensive end? Hope that Thome, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin pound the snot out of the ball.