We've all seen how under the widely venerated Cubs Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild, the Cubs pitching staff has gone to Hell in a hen basket. However, the situation is even worse at the minor league level. This is especially interesting given how ever since Jim Hendry took over as Cubs GM, we've all been inundated by propaganda, much of it spread by clueless journalists, about how the Cubs organization is "stacked with quality arms" that made it sound as if Cubs pitching would remain at the 2003 level forever.

Let's take a look at the Triple-A Iowa Cubs since that is the level where the players who are supposed to be the most ready for the big leagues are. These pitchers are the ones who are supposed to be the cream of the crop of the alleged Cubs elite youth pitching corps.

Here's the stats on Iowa's starting 5:

Wellemeyer - 14.3 IP, 12 H, 13 BB, 14 SO, 4.40 ERA
Mitre - 26 IP, 31 H, 11 BB, 22 SO, 5.88 ERA
Koronka - 23.7 IP, 29 H, 11 BB, 17 SO, 6.08 ERA
Brownlie - 21 IP, 23 H, 10 BB, 10 SO, 6.86 ERA
Pinto - 20.7 IP, 25 H, 21 BB, 22 SO, 8.27 ERA

See anyone here you want to see at Wrigley Field this year? What's really mystifying is that both Sergio Mitre & Todd Wellemeyer have basically messed up at the Triple-A level, yet it appears to be a certainty that both will wind up being called up to Wrigley. Its even more puzzling that Hendry opted to protect them from the Rule V Draft while letting Andy Sisco wide open for Kansas City to take at their leisure. Sisco currently has pitched 18 innings for KC with an ERA of 1.00 all as a reliever. Think about that next time the media praises Hendry for being a great GM.

No wonder Iowa's pitching staff has a Cincinnati Reds-esque 5.36 ERA or the team itself has a W-L record of 9-15 for a .375 pct. It isn't just the pitching staff either as shown by the fact that the only player who's playing at a major league caliber is David Kelton who's batting .318 and is leading the team with 18 RBI and 45 Total Bases. FYI, the immortal Calvin Murray is batting .186.

In fact, the entire Cubs minor league system is in dire straits, not just at Iowa. This is especially interesting given the fact that GM Hendry has not followed the example of Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty or White Sox GM Kenneth Williams in
trading prime prospects for quality major league players. Williams took a lot of flak from Sox fans last year for trading the Sox's #1 prospect Jeremy Reed for pitcher Freddy Garcia, but the end result is that Reed will need a few more years to reach his full potential with Seattle while the Sox have a star pitcher right now. Meanwhile, Hendry holds on to the likes of Angel Guzman (already the possessor of a Wood-like medical history) and Felix Pie like a little girl holding on to her dolls with their pretty pink dresses.

There's a reason folks for why the Cardinals and the White Sox are reaching new highs while the Cubs continue to regress from their 2003 high point. It all begins and ends at the front office as well as Tribune Tower where the Cubs are viewed as a profit center, not as a source of prestige for the company. If you think that you've already seen the worst of the Hendry/Baker Cubs, then you have not seen anything yet.