Even those who support Cubs GM Jim Hendry, and I am not one of them, point to his record trading for players to help the club.
But Hendry has really not had any experience selling off assets to contending teams for future prospects.
But that is exactly what the Cubs need to do. They must be sellers, as this club is not even remotely in the pennant race and therefore, need to start thinking about next year and beyond.
Look, this is a really bad team. Still, they have pieces that other clubs may want and if so, they need to be willing to admit their position and let go of these assets instead of clinging to the ridiculous hope that they can get back into the race.
Unfortunately, this is a difficult sell to a manager like Lou Piniella, who may be in his last season as a manager. Likewise, Hendry may have a difficult time explaining to his new bosses how a team with a $140 million payroll can be so bad.
Still, it has to be done.
Potential free agents like Ted Lilly and Derrick Lee should be offered up for prospects.
Likewise, any other veteran player should be made available to contending teams in order to clear salary space and prepare for the future.
In fact, the only players that the Cubs should make difficult to obtain (note that I didn’t say “untouchable”) are Marlin Byrd, Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner, Carlos Marmol, and Sean Marshall.
Everyone else needs to go, if possible.
We all know that Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, and Aramis Ramirez are probably untradeable due to huge salaries that do not match their performance.
Still, Hendry can help create some payroll flexibility by moving the pieces that can be moved.
Of course, if I was the owner, Hendry would not be the man to lead the club going forward. But even if Tom Ricketts, who has defended his GM, does replace him, those expensive salaries with no-trade clauses will be a challenge.
Yet that challenge will be lessened if the Cubs are smart about how they proceed this season.
Don’t count on it, Cubs fans.
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