A disappointing 2005 season brought about more changes to the Cubs, and put manager Dusty Baker on the hot seat. Nomar Garciaparra was let go in free agency and the Cubs brought in a completely new outfield. Free agent signing Jacque Jones joined prospect Matt Murton and spring training trade target Juan Pierre.

The Cubs were once again counting on Mark Prior and Kerry Wood to be healthy in order to have a good pitching staff. We all know that didn't happen, Prior struggled with injuries all year and only made nine starts almost all of which were awful. Kerry Wood made four starts and it looked like his career might be over. That meant the bulk of the pressure fell on Carlos Zambrano.

There was still Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, the hope would have to be that those two along with Zambrano would be good enough to push the Cubs into contention. To start the season it looked like it might be true, a 13-10 April would have been more promising had it not included Lee breaking his wrist on April 19th which effectively ended the Cubs season.

The rest of 2006 was a combination of bad rookie position players and pitching. A 7-22 May combined with a 9-18 June was just bad news for all Cubs fans. Derrek Lee did make a cameo in July, but his wrist wasn't healed and he went back on the DL. The Cubs did go 14-12 in July but it was false hope. Matching 11-17 records in both August and September wrapped up a 66-96 record and ended one of the most miserable seasons in Cubs history.

Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano can't be blamed for the 2006 failure, but everybody else probably can. Aramis put up a .912 OPS with 38 homers while Carlos hit six homers of his own to go along with 16 wins and a 3.41 ERA.

Other Cubs starters in 2006 include Rich Hill, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, Angel Guzman, and Glendon Rusch. It was a pathetic starting staff that was combined with an awful lineup. Ronny Cedeno played everyday at short with a 54 OPS+. Juan Pierre led the NL in hits, but also in outs made. The rest is just very forgettable.

The one good thing that came of this season was the removal of Dusty Baker of manager. Now Dusty wasn't technically fired, but at the end of his contract his services were not retained. It ended an era that changed the Cubs culture, but also set back the organization with his extreme overuse of pitchers and his love of playing crappy veterans instead of the young guys.

Nobody should ever remember the 2006 Cubs, the only thing they did was motivate Cubs management to spend money and make this team compete.

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