Piniella focuses on the present

Before Saturday's division-clincher over the Cardinals, Cubs manager Lou Piniella tried to temper expectations about his Cubs team.

Sounding a theme he began sounding from Day 1 of spring training, Piniella said the weight of 100 years since the last World Series title for the Cubs had no bearing on this year.

"You know, the amazing part about it is, I hear all these things about, 'This team is built to win the World Series,'" he said before the game. "Well, which team isn't built to win the World Series? Is this the only team in baseball that's built to win the World Series? I don't think so. All teams, when they are put together, are built to win the World Series. Some get a chance to, and some don't.

"To hear all this talk of, 'Well if you guys don't win the division and you don't win a World Series, it's a lost year.' That's a bunch of bull (bleep). That's just the way I feel."

Piniella said he understands that fans don't want to wait 101 years.

"I know, but it's not fair," he said. "It's not fair to put all the expectations of all the past failures here and all the past successes here on the 2008 team. You let this team stand on its own merit, and you let them do what they can do as well as they can do and let them go as far as they can. I tell you this. This team has played hard all year. They've treated the people in Chicago to a (darn) good season of baseball, and believe me, they all want to win as much as I do."

After the game, Piniella said he was trying to take the pressure from his players and let them "relax and play baseball."

Relief coming: Reliever Chad Gaudin, who has not pitched since Aug. 29 because of a bad lower back, will rejoin the Cubs today. If there's one area of concern with the Cubs, it's middle relief.

"We didn't bring him over here just to watch games at Wrigley," Piniella said. "What I was told that when he was ready to come up here and pitch, we'd get him here. So I think the word probably came down from Arizona that he was ready to go. Yeah, we need to pitch him. When he gets here, we'll get him in ballgames."

Nothing set: Lou Piniella said he won't set his playoff rotation until later this week, either in New York or Milwaukee. Two weeks ago, the schedule set up for Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster to start the first three games of the division series, with Rich Harden in the fourth slot.

But now that all appears subject to change.

Theriot scuffling: Shortstop Ryan Theriot went 0-for-4 Saturday and is 11-for-60 this month. His batting average has fallen to .298, and his on-base percentage, which was at the .400 mark, is now .375.

"We know that," Lou Piniella said. "Things that you all mention to me, I'm well aware of, believe me. But I'm playing our lineup that's gotten us to here. You just can't make radical changes."

Minor matters: Micah Hoffpauir, who is with the big club, was named the Cubs' minor-league player of the year. Mitch Atkins, who visited Wrigley Field Saturday, is minor-league pitcher of the year.

The quote: Lou Piniella on pitcher Kerry Wood walking the leadoff man in the ninth inning before earning the save: "He told me, 'I'm just trying to get your heart going, Skip.' I said, 'You did a (heck) of a job.'"

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