The Cubs Have Saved 21 Million Dollars

Jim Hendry is moving so slowly on improving the Cubs. He has acquired two minor league pitchers and that is all he has done.

The Bradley trade does not improve the Cubs. That trade was subtraction and a negative addition.

Mark DeRosa is a free agent and Hendry has not even discussed the possibilities of re-signing someone that was productive and a player that Cub fans respected and appreciated.

I am tired of people dogging Alfonso Soriano. He carried the Cubs his first two years with the team. When he pulled his hamstring that first year, he was struggling. When he came back from that injury, he bat put the Cubs in the playoffs. I don't understand why people dog this guy. His second season with the Cubs, there was a two month period that his bat carried the Cubs again.

Aramis Ramirez has been the most consistent player on this team for the past five years. Derrick Lee has been a monster. He got hurt and he struggled for part of one year and then he struggled starting off the last season.

Some of my fellow Cub fans don't seem to appreciate a player playing thru pain. The rest of the team either picks up the line up or the GM needs to find players that can carry the load.

Jim Hendry has done an awful job constructing this team. It started with the signing of Kosuke Fukudome. He was a brilliant player during the first half of his rookie season. He was credited with making the other Cub players being more patient at the plate. He has struggled. The quirk in his batting stance should have been food for thought before the Cubs signed him.

The Cubs have saved 9 million dollars by not re-signing Harden, 3 million by not re-signing Kevin Gregg, 2 million by not re-signing Reed Johnson, 1 million by non-tendering Neal Cotts, picked up 1 million in the Aaron Miles trade, and saved and picked up 5 million in the Milton Bradley trade.

That is a total of 21 million dollars. I understand that the Cubs have players that will receive raises thru arbitration. I know the Cubs made a profit by selling more than 3 million seats this past season.

You cannot tell me that they do not have the resources to go out and get a prov-en bat like Jason Bay or Matt Holiday.

Cub fans are being taken advantage of by the GM and the new ownership. The money that they are saving would allow them to add one of those hitters and a quality relieve pitcher and a good bat to come off the bench.

This team is being operated like it is the Kansas City Royals. We are the third largest city in this country. The Cubs should be in the playoffs every year.

Cities like Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia have owners that care about winning. Jerry cares about what their rivals are doing and do their best to compete against their rivals.

I wish we had owners that cared about winning. The White Sox owner cares about competing against the Cubs and his division rivals. He may not be doing a good job of acquiring quality players for the Bulls, but he does an excellent job of do so for the White Sox.