This offseason has been a tough one for Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry. With the ownership situation still in flux, he lacked the necessary latitude within the team's budget to throw money at free agents or acquire players with sizable contracts.

The timing is unfortunate.

Although there is some youth on the team, the Cubs are a veteran ball club. Alfonso Soriano is 33, Aramis Ramirez is 31, Derrek Lee is 34, Ted Lilly is 33, Ryan Dempster is 32, and Reed Johnson is 33. Of those players, only Reed Johnson doesn't have a contract past this year.

Many columnists reporting on the Cubs believe the window is closing on the Cubs' World Series chances and they may be right.

With that said, it would have been nice to keep certain pieces in place. But in order to add to the roster, you also have to subtract.

Kerry Wood wasn't re-signed and instead went to the Indians. Since Hendry didn't want to risk Wood accepting arbitration, he was not offered it and the Cubs will not receive the compensatory draft picks that typically come with losing a Type A free agent.

Hendry also decided to not re-sign or offer arbitration to Type A free agent Bob Howry, but that decision may have been more influenced by Howry's performance than by budget constraints.

The one pitcher he did re-sign was 17-game winner Ryan Dempster, who hopes to have his first back-to-back 30-start, 200-inning seasons since 2001-2002.

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