Cubs players and staff dressed up as characters from the Will Ferrell comedy "Anchorman" when they left Wrigley Field last week to begin their West Coast trip.
Unfortunately none of them chose "Baxter," the tiny dog owned by Ferrell's Ron Burgundy.
Baxter wound up being booted over a bridge by Jack Black's biker character, a fitting metaphor for the flailing Cubs, who have spent the last week being kicked around by the Dodgers and Padres, taking an 0-5 record into Wednesday's finale at Petco Park.
President Theo Epstein arrived Tuesday to lend moral support to his struggling team, and reiterated he doesn't plan to make any deals before the July trade period. Red Sox President Dave Dombrowski said the same thing Tuesday in Chicago, and the swap-o-ramas traditionally don't ramp up until the final week.
It's only May 31 after all.
Still, Epstein knows it's impossible to prevent media and fans from speculating on what he should do to get the Cubs back in black. And since this Cubs slump escalated quickly, the cries for help have been louder than usual.
The truth, as Dombrowski noted, is there are a limited number of teams willing to give up on the season and trade quality players, and almost everyone is still "in it."
Even the worst American League teams, the Royals and the A's, were only 5 { games out of the second wild-card spot on Wednesday. The only National League teams you can probably count out are the Marlins, Padres, Phillies and Braves, assuming the Giants are capable of a rebound from their woeful start.
So what can Epstein do in the next two months?
