CHICAGO — Lou Piniella has offered himself up to critics looking to blame somebody for the Chicago Cubs’ disappointing season.

“Invariably, when things don’t go right, it’s always the manager’s fault,” Piniella said before Thursday’s game against the Washington Nationals. “You want to blame me? Take your shots. It doesn’t bother me one bit, OK?”
Piniella, who led the Cubs to NL Central titles in each of his first two seasons — the first time they reached the postseason in consecutive years in a century — is under contract for 2010 and has said he expects to return.
The sale of the team was just announced, however, so there are many unanswered questions about the future — especially in light of the club’s mediocre performance this season. Chicago is nine games behind St. Louis in the Central and trails four others for the wild card.
“I’m the same manager ... this year as I was last year as I was the year before. Same manager. No different,” Piniella said. “When you don’t win, somebody’s got to stand up and be the scapegoat. And if you all want to say it’s the manager, say it’s the manager.
“It’s fine with me.”
Still, he said he could only do so much for his club, which went into Thursday’s game against Washington with a 63-61 record.
“I do the best I can every day; I can’t do any more,” said Piniella, who managed Cincinnati to the 1990 championship and won three division titles with Seattle.
“I let the players play,” he said. “It’s their game. It’s not my game, it’s not the coaches’ game, it’s not anybody else’s game. It’s the players’ game. All we can do is encourage them and give them an opportunity.
“I do care about wins and losses. I get hired to win baseball games. That’s my batting average, that’s my ERA. But ... there are only so many things that I can do as a manager, and the rest of it is certainly not in my full control.”
That includes a roster that had significant turnover from last season, when the Cubs won 97 games before being swept out of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Leaders such as Kerry Wood, Henry Blanco and Mark DeRosa weren’t retained. Additions included Bradley, a talented but temperamental outfielder, and failed closer Kevin Gregg. In addition, several top players have performed below expectations and several have been injured.
“It hasn’t been one of our better mixes,” Piniella said. “Winning has a lot to do with chemistry. It makes the team come together a lot quicker. Remember, I told you all this spring we had a big turnover. Sometimes it takes a while. It doesn’t necessarily just fall in your lap.
“But yeah, this hasn’t been ... one of my better-chemistry teams.”
Bradley, signed to a three-year, $30 million contract before the season, has struggled offensively most of the season. He also has had a shouting match with Piniella, has sparred with umpires and has gone at it with fans at Wrigley Field who have booed him. Earlier this week, he said many Cubs fans were “idiots” and full of “hatred.”
“All I’m saying is I just pray the game is nine innings so I can be out there the least amount of time as possible and go home,” Bradley said Wednesday.
Asked if he was upset when he read those comments, Piniella said: “Who needs ... uh ... we’ve had enough problems here with injuries and so forth that we don’t really need any more controversy of any sorts.”