The Cub's

This off-season the Cubs have been very quiet besides re-signing Macias, Rusch, Walker and Garciaparra. For a team that fell short of making the playoffs this is not the right direction for the team to go. Most of the media concentration has been about getting rid of Sammy Sosa, but not about doing much else to improve the team.

We have lost Grudzielanek who might not have been the nimblest out on the field, is a much better fielder than Todd Walker is there. We have no replacement for Moises Alou in LF at the moment and the longer we wait the less options there will be. I like Glendon Rusch as a guy out of the pen for long relief and a guy to step in during an injury, but he just doesn't have the stuff to be in the starting rotation for 32 starts. Also we have not done anything to improve the pen and have lost Matt Clement out of the rotation. Paul Bako is also gone, but I am sure besides Greg Maddux no one will notice.

So far the big FA signing for the Cubs was Catcher Henry Blanco from the Twins, whom is Bako redux, but with some power. This would not have been a bad 1 year signing, but for some reason we gave him 2 years, maybe so Hendry does not have to look for another one next year. Blanco will play a few more games than Bako also, which will let Michael Barrett get a few more days on bench and be stronger for the last part of the year.

Now for what I think the Cubs should do:

1st) They should try to sign Beltran for a 7 years and move Patterson to LF this year. I know Hendry says that he doesn't have it in the budget, but if the Tribune company is serious about caring about its fans it should open up their wallet a little more this year and not let him get away.

2nd) Keep Sosa in RF for this year as next season. I am not a fan of Sammy Sosa, but I actually think this season he might end up hitting .275 and get 35 hr's with 95 rbi's. If this happens all parties will be happy. Though he does owe the team an apology for his selfish actions first year.

3rd) Sign Miguel Cairo to a 1 year deal and let him and Macias fight it out for roster spot. Given equal chance I would bet Cairo would be on team. He has proven to be a good utility IF and he would be a very helpful utility guy for the Cubs. Macias should not be on a team that is battling for last place let alone a team battling for 1st place.

4th) Trade Farnsworth and get some pen help. I like his talent, but I think a change of scenery is the best for both sides. By doing this we can get another dependable reliever and maybe even a prospect thrown in.