A special submission from Robert Bykowski today about Mark DeRosa and the current hitting woes of the Cubs second basemen.

Why does it seem that every time I’m waiting for the Cubs highlights (such as they are these days) on Baseball Tonight I catch Indians recaps, and further, I see former North Sider Mark DeRosa coming through for the Tribe?

Mark DeRosa, the versatile fielder and reliable hitter, sent off to the Indians in the off season following the Cubs’ signing of Aaron Miles for a few pitching prospects, is continuing to do for the Indians what he did for the Cubs the two years he was here: perform. Statistically, his numbers are simply serviceable, and at this point in his career he’s all he’s ever going to be, but who in Cubdom wouldn’t trade anything to have his consistency and clutch play back on the team?

For me, the Cubs trading away DeRosa was one of the worst off-season decisions—if not the worst—the Cubs made this year. DeRosa was one of the most consistent players on that ultimately underachieving 2008 squad, and I believe you only trade or cut players if it’s necessary to improve the club. Trading DeRosa, even on paper, doesn’t make the Cubs a better team in 2009. Perhaps, down the road, the prospects the Cubs acquired for DeRosa will prove to be a prescient move, but now is not the time to be looking toward the future, especially when you’re the two-time defending Central champs.

As for DeRosa’s replacements, the second base platoon of Miles, Scales and Blanco? Their stats combined don’t come close to stacking up with what DeRosa is doing for the Indians. Look at RBIs, for instance, and DeRosa’s 42 in 58 games easily trumps that of a combined 14 for the Cubs second basers over a combined span of 73 games. (Hell, DeRosa has more RBIs than anyone on the Cubs roster this year.)

Now, think about how many games the Cubs have dropped as of late by a run or two, and how many times they’ve had runners on base at key points in these games, and you start to have a newfound appreciation for what DeRosa brought to the plate. All of these one run losses by the Cubs are going to hurt them in the long run. The Central division of 2009 is surprisingly better than it was in ‘08, and winning the division isn’t going to be the relative cake walk it was for the Cubs last year.

Further, that’s just what DeRosa can do at the plate. In the field, he’s proven to be able to play (and play well) at just about every position, which the Cubs could certainly use at this injury-riddled part of their season. Mike Fontenot at third for the ailing Ramirez? You know that’s not an ideal fit. The Cubs desperately need Mark DeRosa this year.

The long and short of it is the players choked in 08, but it’s already starting to look like it’ll be the front office that’ll take those honors this year.