A No-Brainer: Jim Hendry's Next Move Should Be Andy Pettitte

This off season, Chicago Cubs General Manager, Jim Hendry, has taken the killer instinct out of the bullpen by allowing Kerry Wood to leave. He has traded away a leader and one of the most clutch bats on the team in Mark DeRosa. And he unloaded a mediocre fifth starter in Jason Marquis with plans of replacing him with Sean Marshall.

In the place of Wood he acquired Kevin Gregg, the spectacled reliever from Florida. In return for DeRosa, he acquired a trio of minor league pitchers to add depth to the Cubs farm system. And into the outfield he added hot-headed, injury prone, Milton Bradley.

The issue the Cubs have been trying to overcome is their colossal failures in consecutive Octobers. So, to remedy these disappointments, they replaced depth and leadership with question marks and potential for fireworks and meltdowns.

There is still time for Hendry to open his checkbook one more time and make things right. There is still the possibility that the October presence they have needed for 100 years can be in the right clubhouse in 2009.

On Tuesday, Andy Pettitte reportedly rejected a one-year, $10 million offer from the New York Yankees. Pettitte was 14-14 last year for the Yankees with a 4.54 ERA.

Pettitte happens to have the pedigree the Cubs need. He has been there and done that. He's pitched in bigger games than Aramis Ramirez has dreamed about. He was a star when Alfonso Soriano was getting his diapers changed by Joe Torre. Pettitte is a winner.

He proved it by leaving the Bronx and taking his influence to Houston in 2004. In three seasons in the National League Central, Pettitte went 37-26, including a 17-9 record in the Astros first season to end in the World Series.

If $10 million isn't good enough, and one year isn't good enough for Pettitte, it's understandable. After spending over $300 million on AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia, one can understand how one of the winningest pitchers in the history of postseason baseball can feel insulted by being asked to become a rental fifth starter.

Hendry has money and options; after trading away DeRosa and Marquis, the Cubs have a bounty of minor league players, including Marshall, who might be needed as trade bait later in the season.

If the Cubs are going to win the division, they might need another deadline trade to fill a hole because of injury...maybe in right field?

As it stands today, Neal Cotts is the only left-handed pitcher in the Cubs bullpen. Sliding Marshall into the long relief spot he was in early in 2008 wouldn't be a foreign transition for him, and Pettitte could be a second lefty in the rotation with Ted Lilly.

Offer Pettitte two years at $12 million per season. See if he bites.

Worst case scenario: He really wants to be a Yankee and uses the Cubs to up the offer from the Spendaholic Steinbrenner Brothers. Best case? It's the middle of October, and Pettitte is looking to add to his 14 career October victories...but instead of black, the pinstripes are blue.