66-year old manager Lou Piniella stepped down as the Cubs manager after yesterday’s game to go home and take care of some family matters as his mother is very ill in Florida. Piniella led the Cubs to a 51-74 record (40.8%) this year. In four years with the Cubbies, Piniella was 316-293 (51.9%). Piniella managed for 23 years in the majors and he finished with a career record of 1,835-1,713 (51.7%). His crowning achievement was when he led the Cincinnati Reds to a sweep of the heavily favored Oakland A’s of 1990. Sweet Lou will be missed in Chicago but here is to hoping that his family situation works out for the best. 3rd base coach Mike Quade will take over as the Cubs’ interim manager for the rest of the 2010 season.

If this season couldn’t get any worse for the Cubs they have sent 34-year old 1B Derek Lee to the Braves for 19-year old righty starter/reliever Robinson Lopez, 23-year old righty reliever Tyrelle Harris and 22-year old lefty reliever Jeffrey Lorick. Lee played in 109 games for the Cubs this year and he was 105 of 418 (.251 avg, .751 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 16 homers and 56 RBIs. He played 7 years for the Cubs appearing in 924 games in which he was 1,046 of 3,514 (.298 avg, .903 OPS) with 578 runs scored, 179 homers, 574 RBIs and 51 stolen bases. The Cubs will likely use a lot of players to replace Lee at 1B the rest of this season. Look for the Cubs’ offense and defense to be weaker the rest of the year without Lee.

Robinson Lopez came into this season as the Braves’ #16 ranked prospect according to Baseball America. Lopez has pitched in 24 games (16 starts) in A-ball this year and he is 3-8 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He has now played in 35 games (24 starts) in his two years in the minors and he is 6-9 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Tyrelle Harris has pitched in 30 games (1 start) in A+AA-ball this year and he is 1-2 with 6 saves, a 2.90 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Harris has whiffed 60 batters this year while allowing only 38 hits in 49 2/3 innings showing what kind of stuff he has. Harris has now pitched in 42 games (1 start) in his two years in the minors and he is 3-2 with 7 saves, a 2.42 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Jeffrey Lorick has pitched in 27 games (4 starts) in A-ball this year and he is 3-6 with 4 saves, a 2.24 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has now pitched in 44 games (7 starts) in his two years in the minors and he is 5-7 with 7 saves, a 2.95 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.

This was a trade the Cubs had to make as they acquire three live arms for Lee. Still, Lee will be missed as he had a outstanding career for the Cubbies.

The Cubs have traded 30-year old lefty swinging infielder Mike Fontenot to the Giants for 22-year old righty swinging outfielder Evan Crawford. Fontenot played in 75 games for the Cubs this year and he is 48 of 169 (.284 avg, .734 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 20 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He played in 422 games in his five years with the Cubs and he was 276 of 1,025 (.269 avg, .757 OPS) with 130 runs scored, 22 homers, 132 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Crawford played in 109 games in A-ball for the Giants this year and he was 110 of 432 (.255 avg, .684 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 4 homers, 29 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. He has now played in 156 games in his two years in the minors and he is 164 of 612 (.268 avg, .706 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 5 homers, 59 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. Crawford doesn’t have a huge upside but he will bring speed to the Cubs’ organization.

The Cubs have traded 34-year old lefty starting pitcher Ted Lilly and 30-year old righty swinging 2B Ryan Theriot to the Dodgers for 24-year old lefty swinging 2B Blake DeWitt, 21-year old righty starting pitcher Brett Wallach and 22-year old righty reliever Kyle Smit. Blake DeWitt will replace Theriot at 2B. He played in 82 games for the Dodgers this year and he was 69 of 256 (.270 avg, .723 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 1 homer, 30 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. DeWitt has now played in 230 games in his three years in the majors and he is 176 of 673 (.262 avg, .719 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 12 homers, 86 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Brett Wallach came into this season as the Dodgers’ #20 ranked prospect according to Baseball America. Wallach has started 17 games in A-ball for the Dodgers this year and he was 6-0 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He has now started 29 games in his two years in the minors and he is 6-1 with a 4.12 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Wallach has 130 whiffs in only 115 2/3 innings in the minors but he does have 58 walks and that’s way too many. Still, the Cubs will bring him along slowly so he can work on his control. Kyle Smit has pitched in 37 games (1 start) in A+AA-ball this year and he is 5-3 with 6 saves, a 2.35 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has now pitched in 105 games (40 starts) in his five years in the minors and he is 11-22 with 7 saves, a 5.14 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP.

Ted Lilly started 18 games for the Cubs this season and he was 3-8 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Lilly pitched in 113 games (all starts) in his four years with the Cubs and he was 47-34 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He will be missed as he was without a doubt one of the best starting pitchers the Cubs have had in a while. Ryan Theriot played in 96 games for the Cubbies this year and he was 110 of 388 (.284 avg, .647 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 1 homer, 21 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. He played in 609 games in his six years with the Cubs and he was 648 of 2,254 (.287 avg, .712 OPS) with 328 runs scored, 15 homers, 174 RBIs and 100 stolen bases. The Cubs will miss his hustle.

This was little more than a salary dump for the Cubs as they didn’t get much back in return for Theriot and Lilly.

The Cubs have released 36-year old righty reliever Bobby Howry. Howry pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Cubs this year and he was 0-3 with a 5.66 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. He was cut to make room for Carlos Zambrano who has been activated off the restricted list. Zambrano pitched in 4 games (0 starts) on his “rehab” assignment and he was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Big Z has pitched in 22 games (9 starts) for the Cubs this season and he was 3-6 with a 5.66 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. Hopefully Zambrano will get his act together this time around for the Cubbies.