The Season: They rocked in April and May, rolled through the summer and then cruised to the finish line in September. The Cubs were the best team in the NL all year long, winning 97 games; with their sights focused on the postseason, they picked up Rich Harden at the trade deadline, and he was brilliant (5-1, 1.77 ERA).

In the NLDS, they were swept in three games by the Dodgers. They were outscored 20-6, and never held the lead over the final 23 innings. The pitching and hitting both disappointed, but the lowlight of the series was four errors committed in Game Two.

The collapse meant that 100 years have now passed since the last Cubs' championship. With the team about to be sold, and questions swirling over Lou Piniella's handling of the team during the playoffs, the future seems to be uncertain.

High Point: On September 14, Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter against the Astros.

Positive Trends: 25-year-old rookie catcher Geovany Soto had a big season (.285, 23 homers) and will likely win the Rookie of the Year Award.

Pleasant Surprises: After three years as the team's closer, Ryan Dempster moved back into the starting rotation and had a stunning season, going 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA.

The Cubs took a flyer on Jim Edmonds after he was released by the Padres in early May. The 38-year-old centre fielder dipped into the fountain of youth, hitting 19 homers in 85 games with Chicago.

Reed Johnson lost his 2007 season to a back injury, and was released by the Blue Jays in spring training. He looked fine with the Cubs, batting .305 while playing in half the team's games in centre field.

28-year-old sophomore second baseman Mike Fontenot posted an astonishing .909 OPS in 240 at bats.

Disappointments: Getting swept in the NLDS.

Japanese star Kosuke Fukudome started well, batting .327 in April, and getting voted onto the All-Star team. Incredibly, his batting average dropped in every month (.293 May, .264 June, .236 July, .193 August, .178 September) and he kept the trend going by batting .100 in the NLDS.

Rich Hill was one of the team's best starters in 2007. But he couldn't throw strikes during spring training, entered the season on a short leash, and was demoted after walking 18 batters in 19 innings. His season was later truncated by a back injury.

The Predictable: Getting swept in the NLDS.

In his fifth full year with the Cubs, Aramis Ramirez drove in 100 runs for the fourth time (in 2005, a trip to the DL left him with "only" 92). He has been stunningly consistent at the plate since coming to Chicago.

Epitaph: I am teasing, of course; getting swept was hardly predictable at all. My opinion, entering the postseason, was that the Dodgers were a spectacularly untalented playoff team, and I fully expected that the Cubs would do what the Phillies later did - wipe the floor with them. That a team that was built to win this year failed so completely, inevitably leads one to question the people who built it.

First, the owner. They don't have one. Next.

The Manager. It has been 18 years since Lou Piniella won the World Series as manager of the Reds. Since then, he's managed some real good teams - including a Mariners team that won a record 116 games in 2001 - that have all disappointed in the postseason.

My initial reaction to the Cubs' loss was to ask why Reed Johnson never appeared in the series. By himself, Johnson is not a difference-maker - but when things go bad (in any sport), good managers/coaches turn to their bench to help provide a spark. In the NLDS, Piniella was about as reactive as Xenon gas.

I'm starting to feel as though I'm calling for half the managers in baseball to be fired this offseason. But really; Lou is 65 years old, he had a great shot with a team that was built to win, and it didn't work out. The Cubs can still win in 2009, but they need to start looking beyond as well.

The General Manager. I don't want to pile on Jim Hendry, because (1) I really don't know what the missing ingredient is, and (2) it may not matter. He's been GM since 2002, the team will eventually have a new owner, he's obviously in a vulnerable position... whatever happens, happens.

I don't think he merits firing at this point. Hendry's teams have been pretty good; they haven't reach the promised land, but these things can take time. He's only 53; here in Toronto, Pat Gillick was 55 before he finally won his first championship in 1992.

My only criticism for Hendry is that he seems a little too infatuated with shiny toys and baubles, players who get people talking, but who aren't necessarily the stuff of a championship team. Fukudome, most obviously; also Alfonso Soriano, who is a fine player, but also a streaky, undisciplined player whom the Cubs still owe $100 million, and who is starting to look fragile as he ages. Rich Harden, a brilliant talent but also a high-risk pitcher who had struggled in his limited postseason experience. Jim Edmonds, perhaps the most hated player in Chicago before he became a Cub. Kerry Wood as closer.

None of these moves, by themselves, were the reason the Cubs failed; and I admit that I'm grasping at intangibles here. But it would be nice to see them go out and sign someone like Mark Ellis, someone who nobody will know is there, but will quietly help the team win.

So of course, they'll probably sign Manny Ramirez.