Aaron (and many others),

I'll just simply harp on what I've harped on before: Day FOUR of the free-agent signing period has just come to a close. We're not even through with the GM meetings yet. Nothing big is likely to happen this time of year.

Expect second-tier (and maybe a couple top-tier) FAs to start coming off the market around the winter meetings in early December. My gut tells me that Lee will come off the market sometime before January, but I think Soriano is going to be a situation that lingers a while.

All that said, I still really like how aggressive Hendry is being. I don't necessarily like all the moves (something about this trade doesn't sit well with me), but it's pretty clear that Hendry is pulling the trigger when he finds something he likes. Is there a top-level free-agent the Cubs aren't interested to have at least some interest in? It's nice to see, even if just simple statistics (not to mention economics) will tell you that most of them won't end up here.

Again, this is only a gut feeling but I expect the Cubs will NOT sign Zito or Schmidt. They'll get Lee or Soriano (one or the other), two FA pitchers (my guess right now would be Padilla and Marquis--even though Marquis makes me wince), and then one in a trade. It's hard to guess where the trade might come from this early in the free agent season. It will likely come about later as teams see what they were able to accomplish and what they still need or who has suddenly become expendable.

"C'mon, we almost had 100 losses, and that's all we've added thus far!?!?!?!"

Are you joking? Isn't it a bit early to be jumping all over Hendry? How many players have changed teams thus far? Maybe five, ten tops. So we missed out on guys like Damien Easley and Frank Thomas, a perennial DH? Big whoop.

Of course Hendry hasn't signed any top players yet. It's a business and Soriano, Lee and others are not going to jump at the first offer they get. I expect the Cubs to be right in the mix when they make their final decisions, although we obviously won't get both.

The free agerncy period opened five days ago. Are the Cubs better now than they were last season? This fan thinks so. Are they a playoff team? Not yet, but all the guys that could help get them there are still up for grabs. So give Hendry some time. Let's judge the Cubbies next spring when the 2007 edition takes the field. Until then, let's keep our fingers crossed that guys like Soriano and Lee, who will definitely want to play for a winner, are as optimistic about the direction of this club as some of its fans are.

Jim,

I love that lineup....absolutely love it....but it'll never happen. I heard the Red Sox are close to signing Drew, and the Astros have put offers out to Lee and Soriano. I would much much rather have Lee than Dunn. Lee is even better defensively and doesn't strike out 200 times a year like Dunn. I really think the Cubs should sign Soriano, trade Izturis, and make a play for Manny Ramirez without giving up the whole farm for him, but who knows. Time will tell...and if your biggest non-team trades/signings are DeRosa and Cotts, you have major problems.

C'mon, we almost had 100 losses, and that's all we've added thus far!?!?!?!

I'll start being optimistic when we land a Padilla, or land a Lilly, or Lee, or Soriano....but Cotts and DeRosa smells a lot like a Coomer and Guthrie signing to me, so don't feed me that crap that we're so much better Hendry, you still have a lot of work to do, and Hendry must do something NOW...make an offer, give Soriano 5 yrs for 80 mill, like he reportedly wants....give Lee 4-5 for 60 mill, but don't sit on your ass like all the other years, and wait for everyone to sign when you haven't made a damn competitive offer, and tell the faithful fans you did all you could to improve the team.

Also, don't feed the free agents crap about taking discounts to play in a great city with a historical team in a great ball park....cuz they won't sign, just like all the other times....pony up, dish out, then I'll start believing, but if Cotts and DeRosa, and a mid-tier starter or two is all you got, then I'm not believing one bit.

Remember this when a"good"team nears trade deadline even their mediocre players are good.

Rob, I hope I'm wrong as well but the Cubs PR machine is starting to kick the idea out there and the White Sox GM noted the possibility as well in his comments. Time will tell, I'd say deal Novoa if possible but Cotts is a lefty and we all know the value of solid lefty relievers, especially at the trade deadline.

A few thoughts.....

* I like the trade for Cotts. I would have prefered

Novoa dealt to Bridgeport but I have to admit, every time I would think Aardsma was turning the corner BAM! he would get hit hard. So far our pen looks like: Eyre, Ohman, Cotts, Dempster, Howry, Novoa, Wurtz, Wood. Obviously someone will get traded and or Cotts is going to start. I have heard Cotts on the radio (ESPN 1000) many times over the past two years that he wants to start. Not to mention that Marmol and Mateo are probably better suited for the bullpen as well.

* With all the names being thrown out there if I could realistcly put together a line up I would take my chances with:

CF Soriano

SS Lugo

1b D.Lee

LF Dunn

3b Ramirez

RF J. Guillen or Drew

C Barrett

2b De Rosa

I hope you are wrong Trevor, the idea of Neal Cotts as a starter scares me.

I really think that Hendry is setting up a deal to trade some bullpen arms for starting pitching. Think about it....we have a lot of arms there already and if we are planning on using Marmol, Marshall, Prior, & Miller as a 6th starter that means that we really have 9. Look for Hendry to deal 3 for 1 and get a starting pitcher.

My money is on Lee or Westbrook from Cleveland.

Guys if we don't deal Coots, we may try to convert him into a starter again. That's what he was originally.

good deal, we have a very solid bullpen. Know work on starting pitching and try to sign SORIANO!!!!!!!!

Now we have 3 quality lefties in the bullpen, Coots, Ohman, and Eyre. I, too, suspect this may be part of a larger trade down the road. But I doubt this was done with any specific trade in mind. It puts the Cubs in a position of real strength to talk with other clubs about getting us a quality starter or a slugger.

Just read that the Cubs inquired about Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings in case the Rockies can't re-sign him. Not bad stats in day games...Interesting name I had not read about yet.

Why Aardsm and not Novoa. This better be part of a bigger deal.

yeah, something's gotta be up with this. We really have no holes. We have Wuertz, Novoa, Ohman, Howry, Eyre, and Dempster, to go along with Wood. I'd like to see the Cubs trade Novoa out of all of them though, and you can't really count on Wood, so maybe this is a holding situation, where you wait until the end of spring to see how everything shakes out, then make a trade. Maybe they did this because they don't know what they'll get out of Wood. But it just doesn't feel like we're done with this deal. The Cubs have so much pitching depth in the minors, that making a few trades involving prospects for proven talent might be something we need to consider. And usually teams looking to stockpile with talent like the Marlins, Rockies, Royals, Twins, Pirates, and you can even throw in the Devil Rays and Indians, all could be viable trading partners. Who knows? This could be a very very interesting offseason

Rob I'm with you. Something about this trade doesn't seem like its finished yet...I could be wrong but were the Cubs even looking for bullpen help before this trade?? I smell something more in the works and the Westbrooke idea seems plausible at the moment.

Not a bad deal, but it got me thinking could this be part of bigger deal? Cotts/Howry to Cleveland for Westbrook or Lee?

I think there is more to this trade than it seems.