Derrek Lee is single-handedly thwarting the Chicago Cubs’ chances of hosting a firesale.

According to a Bruce Levine post, the veteran first baseman who is entering the final months of his contract will not waive his no-trade clause.

Lee, who traditionally has warmed up with the weather, is mired in a season-long funk. It’s almost as if each month of his calendar reads April or May — where he is a career .261 hitter. After batting .233 in the season’s first three months, Lee has picked up his game hitting .292 in July to go along with eight of his nine extra-base hits being doubles.

For Lee, it’s a sign that he is finally breaking out of whatever plagued him in the first half. (Probably looking at a calendar and realizing it reads July helps.) For the Cubs, it’s meaningless.

The Chicago Cubs organization has been tripped up by so many obstacles since Jim Hendry became the full-time general manager.

The arms of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior.

Carlos Zambrano’s temper.

The urine-soaked hands of Moises Alou.

Dusty Baker.

Yet, nothing has hampered the front office more than Hendry’s misuse of no-trade clauses.

Hendry’s abuse of no-trade protection in contracts makes what Chris Brown did to Rihanna look like love taps.

Generally, no-trade clauses are reserved for a team’s best players. The untouchables, if you will. But seven Chicago Cubs players can proudly boast no-trade provisions in their contracts.

Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome are hitting a collective .248 with an OPS of .766 — and making a combined $77.625 to do so. For those of you who are mathematically inclined, the un-tradeable quartet soaks up 53.772193 percent of the team’s $140 million payroll.

Then there’s Carlos Zambrano, who is 30-23 with an earned run average north of 4.00 since signing a five-year, $91.5 million extension on Aug. 17, 2007. Big Z is currently rehabbing his anger management issues with a stint with the first-place Cubs — of Triple-A Iowa.

Finally, Jeff Samardzija is 7-1 with a 2.64 earned run average in 27 games, seven of which have been starts. He has racked up 65 strikeouts in 64.2 innings of work to go along with a tidy 1.284 WHIP.

Samardzija would seem like a bargain, making $3 million in 2010 … if his numbers were not accumulated against the vaunted line-ups of the Pacific Coast League.

At 46-55, the Chicago Cubs are a long way away from being a contender. The roster, as currently constructed, is too old and too expensive to make fans believe the worst-case scenario is behind this team.

The lone bright spot in this situation is that Lee projects to be a Type A free agent after the season ends, meaning the Cubs could net a pair of draft picks if he signs elsewhere.

That is, of course, unless Hendry outbids himself for Lee’s services. And with a no-trade clause in hand, to boot.

The Chicago Cubs are mired in a dreadful season with a lame-duck manager.

The St. Louis Cardinals are fighting to hold off the upstart Cincinnati Reds at the top of the division.

In a mismatch made in baseball hell, the Cubs-Cards rivalry opens up a new page today — and don’t think for one moment this series is not a big deal.

C’mon, today marks the return of Aaron “.185/.224/.242/.466″ Miles.

Even though the Cubs are just playing out the string and counting down the days until Lou Piniella gives his final speech at Clark and Addison, fans attending today’s game against the hated first-place Cardinals should be treated to an offensive onslaught.

In three appearances (two starts), Cubs starter Randy Wells is 0-2 with a 10.13 earned run average in eight innings of work. In his May 21st outing against the Cards, Wells allowed five runs on six hits while failing to record a single out.

Opposing Wells on the bump this afternoon will be Jeff Suppan, proud owner of an 0-5 record and 6.05 ERA split between stints with the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.  In two starts against the Cubs this year, both coming while with the Brewers, Suppan was 0-1 with an 8.68 ERA. In 9.1 innings of work, he allowd 16 hits, 10 runs and three home runs.

I mean, if that doesn’t get you psyched for baseball’s best rivalry, I don’t know what will.

And if that doesn’t get it done for you, it’s time to hop along the express and check out the key factors in the National League’s premier rivalry.

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A new-look Daily Double has taken Wrigley Field by storm. And while the futures of Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro are not entrenched at the top of the order, the rookie duo has taken the role of table-setter by the horns.

Castro has been sterling in his sting in the two-hole. The young phenom is batting .292 in 67 plate appearances batting second, which seems like a proper place for the Cubs shortstop. Of the four bases he has stolen this year, three of which have come when he has appeared in the two-spot.

An infusion of energy at the top of the order has been long overdue for Piniella’s squad. Castro is batting .359 in July after batting .227 in June. In seven second-half games, Castro has 14 hits in 30 at-bats, good enough for a .467 batting average since the All-Star Break.

As for Colvin, the lefty-swinging outfielder is growing on me. Luckily for him, this Cubs-Cards series is set at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. The old ballpark on Clark and Addison is living up to its nickname when Colvin steps to the plate as he owns a career .280 batting average in home games, as opposed to .229 on the road.

While his struggles have been evident, batting .225 over his last 22 games, Colvin provides enough of a spark offensively and enough of a positive presence defensively to keep him in the line-up ahead of a putrid Kosuke Fukudome.

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We’ll get to Aramis Ramirez’s return to glory in a moment, but first, how about Derrek Lee. The notorious slow starter has had his bat sleep-walk through the first half of the season, but has come out of the gates scorching in the second half.

The Cubs first baseman is bating .419/.455/.645/1.100 in seven starts since the All-Star break. After batting .233 in the season’s first three months, Lee has raised his hitting prowess to where it was expected to be this season over the last month. Since July 1, Lee is hitting .313/.378/.448/.826. His baBIP is an astronomical .385, meaning when Lee has put his bat on the ball in the month of July, it’s found a gap somewhere in the defense.

Nothing like bumping your batting average up 13 percentage points by going 10-for-22 over your last five games. It should make a nice point of emphasis when Jim Hendry tries to trade him at the trading deadline.

And to further build his value, Lee could feast against Suppan, who he owns a .429 career average against. Lee is 24-for-56 with six homers, seven doubles and 11 walks.

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Ram! Bam! Thank you, ma’am!

Aramis Ramirez is back in the fold, and not a minute too soon. Sure, the Cubs could have desperately used his production earlier in the season. On the other hand, the Cubs could have sat him down when they were out of it last year, perform surgery on his ailing shoulder, allow him to rehabilitate himself by the time Opening Day came around rather than watch their star third baseman wallow in a slump and become mired by an injury that would have healed itself by now had Jim Hendry known when to throw up the white flag.

A revitalized Ramirez has torn through pitching recently, hitting more home runs (9) and driving in more runs batted in (24) in the month of July than he did in the season’s previous three months.

As for this weekend, Ramirez must be itching to face the back-end of the Redbird rotation. A-Ram owns a career .297/.356/.506/.861 line with 24 homers and 88 ribbies in 585 career plate appearances. However, he’d surely wouldn’t mind facing Suppan, against whom Ramirez owns a .234 career average with only one home run and six strikeouts.

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For the love of God, I beg of the entire Cubs pitching staff to not throw a single hittable pitch to one Albert Pujols. The last thing they should be aiming for is the strikezone whenever No. 5 steps to the plate this series. In 10 at-bats this season versus Northside pitchers, Pujols has socked three home runs.

It’s no secret that Pujols is baseball’s best hitter, but for some reason he seems to amp it up against the Cubs. He’s a career .292 hitter with 43 home runs in 634 plate appearances against the Cubs. Pujols has slammed 23 dingers out of Wrigley Field in 324 career plate appearances at the Friendly Confines.

Even Don Denkinger could see that pitching to Pujols is a bad idea.

So, what number should catcher Geovany Soto throw down when Phat Albert steps to the plate.

Four — as in the four-pitch intentional free pass.

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Is there any way the Cubs can keep Chris Carpenter off the mound for Sunday’s finale?

Dude is 10-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 18 career starts against the Cubs. Carpenter has struck out 93 Cubs, while allowing only 20 walks in 122 innings. In starts at Wrigley Field, Carpenter owns a 6.22-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio — meaning the Cubs shouldn’t be waiting for many three-ball counts against the St. Louis righty.

But if Tanya Harding has her way, the Cubs might be lucky enough to miss Carpenter altogether.