Piniella reading into Cubs' playoff failures

Lou Piniella is going to manage by the book this season.

In seeking answers to why the Cubs have been swept out of the playoffs for two straight seasons, Piniella told fans Saturday at the Cubs convention that he'd have to prepare the players better.

To do so, Piniella promised to read up.

"I want to read Wooden's book on winning," Piniella told writers, referring to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. "That's one of the things I want to do. Then, I'm going to buy a couple books, sports-psychologist-type books. I've got to take it upon myself a little differently when we get to postseason. And I will. I don't know exactly what, but I'm searching.

"I think the fact that this team hasn't won in so long is going to take just a little different approach as opposed to just letting them play."

To that end, Piniella said he would talk with players more on an individual basis to prepare them for the postseason, if the Cubs make it.

Piniella said he wouldn't go the route of former Bulls coach Phil Jackson and hand out reading materials to his players. Nor did he seem inclined to take up Zen, as Jackson is purported to have done.

"I'm not a Zen guy," Piniella said. "If it helps us win a world championship, I'll become one."

Shoulder work: Lou Piniella and his coaches met the fans during a packed session Saturday. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said righty Rich Harden has done a full winter of work but that he's not ready to throw off a mound yet.

"There are some issues there, no question," Rothschild told the gathering.

Harden, whom the Cubs obtained in July from Oakland, has battled shoulder problems for a few years. The Cubs rested him on occasion last year, but Piniella would not get specific in saying just what the problem was.

"I don't think he'll be a question mark," Piniella said. "You look at Harden. You look at (lefty) Sean Marshall. You get 25-26 starts from both those kids, I think we'll be pleased. You're going to need a sixth (starter) somewhere. We've got (Jeff) Samardzija. We've got (minor-league prospect Mitch Atkins). We've got (Chad) Gaudin. We're going to have to do something to bring somebody along.

"Look, we have to be careful. He (Harden) is going to be fine. He's had a nice off-season working out. His strength is good. He'll be ready to go when the bell rings. Let's just go with this year. He's fine."

Gone, not forgotten: In trying to praise Lou Piniella, team chairman Crane Kenney took a verbal swipe at Piniella's predecessor, Dusty Baker.

"The one thing that we've done and I'm most proud of, we have the right manager," Kenney said. "I can promise you that. If you think about the team that won in '07, does that team win with our former manager? Not a chance.

"Everybody remembers that we won back-to-back (NL Central) championships. If you were standing in Lou's office like I did in the second week of May and we were 71/2 games out. We had just gotten our butts kicked by the Marlins. To pull that team out of where it was heading, which was the typical Cubs downward spiral, one guy turned that around, and it was our manager."