By David K. & Sarah Spain

Saying the Brewers hit the jackpot by acquiring reigning AL Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia from the Indians would be a bit of an understatement; kinda like saying Megan Fox is only “decent looking.”  However, I am certainly not ready to plan an early November World Series celebration parade in downtown Milwaukee like most Brewers fans.

With the Rich Harden to Cubs trade, Chicago has made it’s own pre-trade deadline splash. Making a move for a starting pitcher was a must for both teams, but for the first time in well… probably forever, the Brewers out-trumped the Cubs.

As a Cub backer, I am a bit nervous.  The Ben Sheets/Sabathia combination is easily one of the top 1-2 punches in all of baseball.  It certainly seems worth parting ways with the top prospect in Milwaukee’s minor league system in outfielder Matt LaPorta for a three month rental of Sabathia and a hopeful run deep into October.  Sarah, how nervous are you about the Brewers catching the Cubs? And is Chicago still the NL Central favorite?
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Sabathia obviously has filthy stuff, but Zambrano is still my pick for the NL Cy Young. As far as a jackpot, unhittable #1 aces go, the Cubs have him in Big Z. Sabathia was a huge pick up for the Brewers, but he can be very erratic–and between him and Prince Fielder, the rest of the team may go underfed in the second half of the season. Yeah, I know, the “Sabathia is fat” commentary never gets old. As for Harden, he’s been as good as it gets against NL teams this year. If he stays healthy and the Cubs have Big Z, Dempster and Harden in the rotation, their pitching will be top-notch.  I firmly believe the Cubs have better defense and hitting as well, so I’m not worried about the Brewers. I think both the Crew and the Cards will make things interesting–neither will be out of the race entirely–but the Cubs will stay in first and even extend their lead as the season progresses. Alfonso Soriano will be healthy soon, Zambrano is back (and even better than ever–his 8 inning, 1 hit performance the other night was just nasty), Reed Johnson is back in the mix and back-up guys like Mike Fontenot are showing up and surprising everyone. The depth on this team is just too good, the Cards and Brewers don’t stand a chance in the long-run. My opinion is the result of obvious homer-ism, sure…but can you make a good argument against the Cubs as the favorites?
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Despite the fact that I am a Cubs fan, I live in Wisconsin and pretty much cover the Brewers on a daily basis; so for the sake of argument, I’ll take on the devil’s advocate role.

I think the line-ups are a push.  It’s no secret that both the Cubs and Brewers can put lots of runs on the board.  Yes, the Cubs have been doing so for the past month without Alfonso Soriano, but even when he comes back I think the offenses will be pretty equal.  Chicago has been getting production from up and down their line-up, but so has Milwaukee.  Gabe Kapler is one of the many, great feel-good stories of the MLB season considering he went from being a single-A manager to a very vital role player for Ned Yost (hitting .315 off the bench and seemingly always coming up big in the clutch.)  The Bill Hall/Russell Branyan platoon gives the Crew flexibility at third as well as a dangerous bat coming off the bench.

Starting pitching is a concern when head-to-head against Milwaukee.  You know what you’re going to get out of Sheets and Sabathia, but the Brewers’ third starter Manny Parra might be having one of the best unnoticed seasons in all of baseball (8-2, 3.78 ERA).  And while Dave Bush has mostly been a whipping boy for opposing hitters the past few seasons, he has allowed one earned run or less in four of his last five starts including a near no-hitter against Toronto and a career-high 13 strike-out performance Thursday against the Rockies.  That is shaping up to be a very formidable rotation.  As for the Cubs, Big Z is solid as they come and hopefully Harden can stay healthy and be a dangerous #2 guy.  I’m fine with Dempster as long as he’s pitching at home where he is 10-1 in 11 starts.  I trust Ted Lilly as much as I’d trust Britney Spears baby-sitting my future children.

The Big advantage the Cubbies have is in the bullpen where Kerry Wood has been absolutely fantastic.  Neal Cotts, Michael Wuertz, Bob Howry, Sean Marshall, a healthy Scott Eyre, and the newly acquired Chad Gaudin give them a nice mix of depth in the middle relief area.  Carlos Marmol’s downward spiral scares the living bejesus out of me, but hopefully he can turn his recent struggles around.  The Crew bullpen is somewhat of a mess.  Salomon Torres has been steady since taking over at closer.  Other than that, everyone else, especially Eric Gagne and Bill Mota, has proven to be vulnerable in letting up a lead.

With that said, I still believe there will be an all-NL Central NLCS between the Cubs and Brewers.  Could you imagine the Midwestern madness that would ensue?  (And how happy Paul Banks would be because that would surely drive up traffic to TSB.net) 
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I agree that the new-and-improved Brewers will push the Cubs to the limit. Chicago will have to be at it’s very best to beat out the Crew–but one of the biggest intangibles of this year’s Cubs is that they simply refuse to lose. No matter how far behind they get or how beat up they are, Chicago never stops fighting. Against teams like Milwaukee–those with weak or inconsistent closers–the importance of that never-say-die mentality can’t be underestimated. Guys like Eric Gagne were made to be Marmol-ed. (I just created a term for what happened Saturday against the Giants. Giving up a huge lead late in the game will now be referred to by using some form of the verb “to Marmol”).

My only concern is that the Cubs bullpen has been overworked in the first half of the season. Marmol has fallen off the way he has because it’s impossible to throw an absolutely filthy slider with pinpoint accuracy when you’ve got a dead arm. The All-Star break will be huge for Marmol and some of the other relievers that are starting to get worn down. Gaudin should be a huge help and so will Sean Marshall if he continues to come in and put up solid innings the way he did Saturday. The swagger and confidence this Cubs club gained as a result of being on top for almost the entire season will certainly benefit them when October rolls around. They know what it feels like to be the best and they won’t be willing to give that feeling up. After their come-from-behind takeover of the Brew Crew last year, they also know how easy it is for a team to let up and be overtaken late in the season. They’ll be looking over their shoulders at the Brewers and the Cards all year long, just to be sure they’ve still got a comfortable lead. In any baseball season, there are surprises and disappointments, things that can’t be prepared for and things that can’t be stopped. Someone may get injured, someone may get in a slump. The best thing for the Cubs to do is to forget about the Brewers and just maintain the error-free, aggressive style of baseball that’s put them in front so far.

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