Playoff setback still rankles Lilly

Three months later, Ted Lilly still grinds on it.

The Cubs were supposed to play deep into October and represent the National League in the Fall Classic.

But instead of making noise, and maybe even history, the Cubs went quietly and quickly, losing in the minimum three games to Arizona.

It was, Lilly admits, a shock.

"Definitely, without question, we didn't play good baseball in that series,'' Lilly said Friday, minutes before the opening of the Cubs Convention at the downtown Hilton. "I didn't pitch as well as I could have, and as a team we didn't play up to our capabilities.

"And we ran into a team that was playing very good baseball. They deserved it. We didn't. Were they a better team?

"They played better, that's for sure.

"It just ended so fast. Three games after all that, after that long season. I don't think I'll forget it. It doesn't sit well with me at all.''

The question now is whether the Cubs will meet a better fate next time around if they don't play a better style of playoff baseball.

"Look at Colorado,'' Lilly said. "They didn't have a bunch of superstars. They just played good team baseball. They pitched well and got clutch hitting and they played together.

"That's playoff baseball.''

Lilly believes with Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs will be better suited to playing a more consistent game, rather than waiting for 3-run homers to bail them out.

"We didn't really lose any of our core players and we added Fukudome, who's going to help the club in a lot of different ways, including on defense,'' Lilly said. "Why shouldn't we believe that we're going to win the World Series?

"I believe we've got as good a chance as anyone.''

And with only a couple weeks left to the start of spring training, Lilly's ready for 2008.

"The sooner we can get started, the sooner I can forget (the playoffs),'' Lilly said. "And the sooner we can get back there (to the postseason).

"I believe we will. With us getting better and building on last year, I absolutely don't see any reason why we can't win it all.

"I think every team says that this time of year, but I think our guys believe it.''

Prospect watch

Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken doesn't buy the increasingly common notion that the Cubs don't have enough prospects to make major deals, or help the parent club.

"We might not have the upper echelon guys, which we're trying to build up,'' said Wilken, who has an extraordinary track record, but only two drafts with the Cubs. "But at the level just below the top, I believe we have as many (prospects) in that group as anyone in the game.''

Wilken also knows that prospects can have just as much value in deals as they can with the organization.

"I told (GM) Jim (Hendry) at the fall meetings that if you think we have a chance to win the World Series, you trade every one of (the prospects) if you have to do it to get us what we need,'' Wilken said. "The key, then, is replenishing the system.

"I learned that in Toronto. We won in '92 and '93, and we made a lot of 3-for-1 deals, and we really drained the system doing it.

"We paid a price for that and didn't reload fast enough. You do that in the draft by paying more for the unsignables, the players other teams won't draft because of cost. You do that and you can reload fast, but you have to get the unsignables.''

This old Cub

Continuing in his role as a living, breathing medical miracle, Ron Santo said Friday that he's healthy and feeling better than he has at any time in the last 20 years.

"I feel so good it's scary,'' Santo laughed. "I mean it. It worries me when I don't have anything hurting.''

Rather than slowing down, Santo is speeding up -- literally.

He recently got new prosthetic feet that are battery powered, and will allow him to begin playing golf and riding horses again.

"It's like having electric feet,'' Santo said. "It's state of the art and an unbelievable feeling to be able to move like this.''

Santo intends to broadcast a full schedule again this year, though he may skip a city here or there when the Cubs jump time zones, as they do in April when flying from Colorado to Washington.

And, of course, he believes the 2008 Cubs are destined for greatness.

"We will win it all,'' Santo said. "No doubt in my mind.''

This just in ...

The Cubs have signed former White Sox closer Shingo Takatsu to a minor-league deal and invited him to spring training, where he'll either make the team or compete in the Arizona Frisbee Golf League.

Best quote

Lou Piniella: "You guys better hurry up and ask me quick because one more Bloody Mary and you're not going to understand anything I say.''

Best hit

Andre Dawson nearly tackling Ryne Sandberg, while calling him "grandpa.''

And finally ...

Former Cubs outfielder Dwight Smith, on the Cubs Convention now that John McDonough has left for the Blackhawks: "That must be the reason I'm sitting here eating pasta. What happened to the shrimp they used to serve? Did John take it with him?''