Chicago Cubs: Jim Hendry Gone, but Cubs Still Acting Stupid

Well, we can't blame Jim Hendry for this one. In a real head-scratcher, the Cubs placed Carlos Pena on waivers, but refuse to even discuss a trade scenario with the Yankees, who were the claiming team.

This makes no sense, for several reasons.

For one, the Cubs say they want to retain Pena. But how do they know the new GM will want him? Anyway, they could still move him and choose to re-sign him later if they so desire.

Second, the Cubs are going nowhere fast, so why not move all of the impending free agents? Maybe you can get a useful piece, or at least some salary relief. Look, it wouldn't hurt to at least see what is out there.

This is the same kind of short sided thinking that has led the Cubs to the mediocre hell they currently reside in. They stink, and yet aren't trying to build for the future. If the new Cubs GM has any brains, he will shake his head in disbelief.

One has to wonder what Tom Ricketts is thinking. Apparently he's not urging temporary GM Randy Bush to move out the veterans, or else they would at least be talking to the Yanks.

And this is the same man who is going to pick the new GM?

The Cubs not only have made some bad signing decisions, but they compound their errors by refusing to make a concerted effort to make the best of a bad situation by moving players who don't fit in with the youth movement.

Aramis Ramirez is making a contract push, but the $16 million option for next season is a mutual one, meaning that even if the Cubs decide to pay him that much, he may decline it and become a free agent.

Yet he wouldn't allow the team to trade him? I know what I would have done, and that's to sit him down and tell him that his refusal would mean a seat on the bench. Rather than hurting his free agent stats, I'm sure he would have acquiesced to the Cubs demands.

No, that's not a very friendly approach, but the Cubs have been friendly for far too long. From the friendly confines to the lovable losers, I'm sick of the nice guy routine.

Tough times demand tough measures.

No one on this team should be untouchable. That's right, not even Starlin Castro, though I would want a king's ransom in return.

You see, when you have as many holes to fill as this team does, you should be willing to listen to any proposition that could make you better.

Instead, the Cubs talk a good game about wanting to build through the farm system and player development, but don't back up those words with actions.

This team lacks leadership, not only on the field but off. Unless they bring in an astute baseball mind with strong leadership skills, it will be more of the same for the Cubs.

I don't know about you, but I'm too old to wait another century.