Cubs need stars to justify bucks, rookies to rise

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Cubs general manager Jim Hendry faces many key decisions as he approaches what could be the most important winter of his career.

The last time Cubs catcher Koyie Hill saw something even close to this, he was a rookie in 2004, traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to an Arizona Diamondbacks team on its way to a 111-loss season.

Actually, that wasn't really as close to this Cubs season as it could have been -- in part because of the Cubs' 24-13 finish under interim manager and clubhouse favorite Mike Quade that reversed the 5-20 August slide.

''That was a youth movement,'' Hill said of the Diamondbacks team that within three years was on its way to the National League Championship Series. ''But it didn't feel like it does here. There it felt like in four or five years we'll be all right. Here it feels more like we've got a legitimate chance to compete for something next year, if not more.

''Just with the guys we have here in the room. You add a few pieces to the puzzle, you never know. It's a team that can be competitive, a team that in a couple years will be a legitimate force to be reckoned with.''

For now, they're more than just a few pieces short of a playoff picture.

That might take another frontline starting pitcher, or at least somebody to replace the competitive innings lost with the Ted Lilly trade. It also might take another bullpen arm and maybe a big bat.

And that might take another winter after this one -- with a few more big contracts falling off the books -- to make happen, considering general manager Jim Hendry's payroll isn't likely to get a lot of wiggle room beyond current commitments and arbitration raises.

So what does that mean for a mid-transition team that doesn't even have a manager yet for 2011 as it tries to climb from fifth place back into the top half of the division, if not playoff contention-

It means it's on Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and probably Carlos Zambrano to give the Cubs close to their value back on a trio of contracts worth more than $50 million combined next year.

It means rookies Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner need to take a collective next step in development and sidestep the sophomore slumps that derailed Geovany Soto's and Randy Wells' second seasons.

And as much as anything, it means this could be the most important winter of Hendry's career as a general manager.

Two years removed from the playoffs and almost a year after getting out from under his worst free-agent signing (by getting 10-game winner Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley), Hendry faces more key decisions that could have an impact on whether he returns for the final year of his contract in 2012 -- if not more pressure.

''No more than I would always put on myself,'' Hendry said as a 75-87 season wound down in Houston over the weekend. ''Obviously, we had really good clubs for a couple years. We thought we were a contending team a year ago and were in first place till Aug. 7 in '09. And I don't think any of us left camp thinking we weren't going to be in the race this year. It went south rather quickly.''

Hendry -- who seems to be leaning toward retaining interim manager Mike Quade for the full-time job -- said he and the rest of the brass saw this day coming when some of the massive contracts were signed coming off a last-place, 2006 season that coincided with the for-sale sign going up on the franchise.

''We all know what we had to do before '07, and we all went through the same situations the last three or four years,'' he said, referring to the heavily bankrolled orders from the top to spend and win as the sale to the Ricketts family proceeded. ''We had some contracts that were going to be high, excessive, backloaded, whatever phrase you might want to use. And the day was coming where if they all didn't click, then you were going to have a situation.''

The toughest Situation to watch this side of Jersey Shore.

''The good news is we have so many guys from our system that won't be making a lot of dollars that have come up and earned their stripes so that there'll be room for improvement,'' Hendry said. ''And I feel comfortable, certainly with Tom Ricketts and his family, that the payroll and money put into player development and scouting will not be a negative for us to win.''