The Cubs got swept by the Pirates in Wednesday's double header, losing 4-0 and 8-2 respectively. When Ryan Theriot is generating the vast majority of your offense over two games (4 out of the 11 hits over both games), you aren't going to win many. In game two, Z didn't have the kind of outing he had in San Francisco as he gave up four runs over six innings and finishing with a 3.77 ERA for the year. 3.77 for an injury-riddled, down year? I'd say that is the mark of a pretty good pitcher, regardless of what Phil Rogers/David Kaplan/other random morons think. The most encouraging thing from either game: Esmalin Caridad works a perfect inning with a strikeout in game two. Pitching in September against the Pirates in a game that is out of reach may not be the toughest task, but Caridad has done his job while in the majors, and I really think he can be a quality arm in the 2010 bullpen.

But the most interesting news of the day came from the Cubs resident badass, Ted Lilly. As it is pretty well documented through the media, game broadcasts and funnyordie.com, the Ted Lilly-Ryan Dempster-Ryan Theriot-Reed Johnson-Mark DeRosa group is pretty tight. Having already lost one of his buddies, Ted is scared of losing another. He wore a shirt that read "With Reed We Will Succeed" to the press conference after game one, which Johnson said was given to him by a fly attendant. He told the Tribune:

Johnson said a flight attendant gave him the T-shirt and that he "didn't have enough guts" to wear it. So he gave it to Lilly, proclaiming "Ted wears anything."

Bruce Levine wrote on espnchicago.com that Johnson has been the exact opposite of Milton Bradley in terms of the clubhouse. He asked Johnson to describe what a good clubhouse guy is:

"There's guys that are vocal and there are guys that lead by example," Johnson said. "You have a guy like D-Lee, who in meetings will stand up and say things, but for the most part, he leads by example. He plays hurt, and over a 162-game schedule, that's what most guys in the clubhouse think [as a leader] whether you're a great guy or a leader in another way."

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear there are any pictures of the shirt out there. Should the Cubs resign Johnson? I think so. At 32 and coming off a down year, you could probably get him for somewhere between $2.5 and $3 million, and that is worth it. Sam Fuld won't generate enough offense (pinch-hitting especially) to justify being the fourth outfielder. Johnson is a pretty average offensive player and has played slightly below average defense as a Cub (-1.4 UZR/150 this year and -.3 in 2008). However he is clearly well-liked in the clubhouse and his bat isn't terrible for a fourth outfielder.

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