CHICAGO _ What's the problem with the Cubs?
That's a question everyone is asking about a team that was favored to win its division even before adding Yu Darvish just before spring training.
Instead the Cubs head into Memorial Day weekend with a modest 25-21 record, trailing the first-place Brewers by 3{ games.
"It's complicated," President Theo Epstein said before Friday's game against the Giants. "We're always trying to figure it out. If we all knew how to get the absolute most out of our ability every single day, we'd all be doing something else. It's a hard thing to do."
Epstein declined to address the Manny Machado trade rumors that took off like wildfire this week when Machado came to town with the Orioles to face the White Sox.
"I would never talk about (any specific player) in a million years," he said. "A simple way to put it is there has been a lot of trade rumors involving the Cubs, and there is essentially zero trade talks right now involving the Cubs. So there's a real disparity between the noise and the reality, and sometimes that puts a player or two that we have in a real tough circumstance.
"So it's my job to clarify there is nothing going on right now. We have more than enough ability to win the division, to win the World Series, and that we really have to focus on our roster and getting the most out of our ability and finding some consistency.
"A constant focus outside the organization doesn't do us any good, especially when it's not based in reality right now."
Epstein said the Cubs are still trying to find out "how we are" before deciding whether to make any moves.
"Everybody is talking about making trades in May," he said. "The first part of the season is finding out who you are."
By that, Epstein meant finding out the team's strengths, weaknesses, character and chemistry, along with assessing the short-term and long-term goals.
"If you rush to those kinds of judgments, you can oftentimes make things worse," he said. "I think it's important to figure out exactly who you are and give guys a chance to play and find their level and see how all the pieces fit together before you make your adjustments."
Like in July, when trades usually are made?
"That's the natural order of things," he said. "I mean, we wouldn't be opposed to doing something earlier, but that's not the case right now. That's not happening."
While fans fret over the Cubs' inability to go on a hot streak and mesh like they did in the second half of last season, Epstein said the club understands their concerns. But he also reminded everyone not to forget the Cubs have snapped out of it before.
"I think we should have high expectations, and I think this group has earned a tremendous amount of trust," Epstein said. "It's perfectly OK to be really frustrated (with) our inability to really get locked in and get hot and play up to our talent and our expectations, while at the same time being really optimistic that this group will ultimately figure it out, like they have in the past."
