Alert Jim Hendry: Rudy Jaramillo (Not A Dozen Glazed Donuts) Is The Must-Have Item This Off-Season

The Cubs gave their bats a lot of stupid looks throughout the course of the 2009 season.

The Chicago Cubs dismissed hitting instructor Von Joshua, who proved to be the most meaningless mid-season acquisition in the history, on Sunday.  On Monday, the chatter of Ryne Sandberg possibly replacing him began, but was shot down shortly thereafter.

Remember when I questioned the vastly popular idea that Dave Duncan could cure cancer whatever ails the Cubs' pitching staff?  Yeah, that was fun.  And while Dave Kaplan and Bob Verdi think that Duncan and Tony La Russa are basesball's top free agents, they totally are overlooking the guy that could help fix the Cubs' biggest problem.

Cubs Interested In Shipping Zambrano? Here's Your Irresponsible Blogger-Turned-GM Post Of The Day!

The story of the day in Chicago baseball was the Cubs' 2-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers.  The win would have meant something a year ago at this time as the Cubs and Brew Crew were duking it out for NL Central supremacy.  Right now, the Cubs' biggest battles are against themselves and mediocrity.

And now we bring you to the buried lead in the story brought to you by Chicago Tribune Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan:

Now that Hendry is assured of returning in 2010, he'll have to decide which players to bring back. Dempster, who signed a four-year, $52 million deal last winter, is assured of returning. [Carlos] Zambrano, who signed a five-year, $91.5 million deal in August 2007, is not.

Despite the fact that Zambrano has a full no-trade clause, the Cubs plan on shopping him this off-season, sources said, believing he'll waive the clause to go to the right team, as Jake Peavy eventually did when the Padres consummated a deal this summer with the White Sox.

According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Carlos Zambrano has $53.75 million coming his way from 2010-12, with a vesting option worth $19.25 million in 2014.

Let the record show that despite a mediocre season by Zambrano (8-6, 3.77 ERA), pitching has not been the Cubs' downfall.  The North Side staff ranks in the top-5 in strikeouts, ERA+, WHIP, H/9 and K/9.  But with a weak free agent market awaiting, now might be the best time to move Big Z.

But where?

No News Like Old News

In the May 27 issue of Sports Illustrated there was a nice piece done on Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and his battle back from a cocaine addiction.

Check it out here.

In regards to the article I've heard a lot of "experts" criticizing him in a way similar to that of much maligned Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. Williams didn't really have a passion for anything other than studying scripture and smoking dope but he came back to football for the money.

There's no doubt in that and his story is similar to the Hamilton story in that both had drug addictions and cleaned up to get back into their respective leagues. Hamilton mentions that he doesn't watch ESPN highlights or read box scores because he isn't really a "fan" of the game. Williams isn't a "fan" of the game either and never really said he plans to or has already, quit smoking marijuana. He's staying clean to pick up a paycheck and I suppose this year will show if he's the Williams of old or just old.

Hamilton and his story is well-documented. If you read the article you see that he has quit using drugs of any kind to a point that he's even afraid to go out with teammates after games for fear of relapse. Is he playing the game just for the money at this point? Probably. Does that mean we can't root for him? Absolutely not. While Hamilton may not have the love for the game that a fan does, he goes out there every day and does his job and does it well.

While it is a game, it's still a job for these guys.

As long as Hamilton stays clean he'll remain a good story. Anything positive that can help a recovering addict is good, despite the fact that we want everyone who plays sports to "love" it.

On a funnier note, in the very unlikely event the Texas Rangers won the American League West, what would Hamilton do?

Champagne is poured onto teammates, beers are chugged and all sorts of wild antics ensue inside the clubhouse after something like that. Does he just jump in the car with his advisor after the team clinches it? Does he run into the bathroom and close his eyes? Does everyone spray Diet Coke and Grape Juice? It would be a rather interesting site to see but don't worry, the Rangers aren't even close...