Waiving a white flag

Usually I post my Most Valuable Cubs list later in the season: in both 2007 and 2008 the column went up on September 25. But with the team nose-diving faster than Brett Favre's legacy and football/work/school about to begin (priorities in that order), I felt it was best to get the list out of the way. So here they are, the 30 most valuable Cubs of 2009.

30- A 27-way tie between all the guys who were injured (Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster, Angel Guzman, Rich Harden, Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto, Reed Johnson), not interested in playing baseball (Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Marmol), bad acquisitions (Kevin Gregg, Aaron Heilman, Aaron Miles, Milton Bradley, Koyie Hill, Joey Gathright, Tom Gorzelanny, Jon Grabow, David Patton) and just not very good (Bobby Scales, Mike Fontenot, Kouske Fukudome, Andres Blanco, Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld, Micah Hoffpauir, Jeff Samardizja).

3- Jake Fox-- The team's top prospect seemingly for the last five years, Fox finally got called up to the show and proved his worth. In 58 games (remember, there's still another 40 games left in the season), Fox has hit .305 with nine homers and 34 driven in; keep up that pace over 162 games and that's 25 homers and 95 RBI. Plus he has played all over the field (left, right, third and occasionally catcher) and hasn't really embarrassed himself. He is more of an American League-type player, but unless the Cubs can get some real value for him, I hope he's starting on Opening Day 2010.

2- Randy Wells-- Another player Cubs fans had heard about for a while, but never actually thought was a real talent until he came up to the Northside. Since his call up on May 8, Wells has gone 9-6 with an ERA under 2.85. And of those six losses, he only allowed more than four earned runs once. Wells should be back in the rotation next spring, most likely taking free-agent-to-be Rich Harden's job.

1- Derrek Lee-- It really is a miracle the Cubs were in the NL Central race for so long, considering Lee was the only hitter who was swinging the bat well all year. His power seems to have returned after an extended hiatus, as his 24 home runs lead the team and surpass the blasts he hit in both '07 (22) and '08 (20). Lee is also on pace to exceed his RBI totals from those years, even though the hitters in front of him have struggled. I was down on DLee when the year began, but his leadership and poise during this tough season have restored my support in one of baseball's most underrated, and best, all-around players.

Honorable mention- Sean Marshall, Jeff Baker and Ryan Theriot. Not bad enough to be in the tie and not good enough to get your own blurb.