After the 2008 season ended prematurely, GM Jim Hendry was focused on getting more left-handed at any cost. As a result he added OF Milton Bradley and 2B/SS Aaron Miles among others to add more balance to the lineup.

          Of course, neither move worked out and every player that the Cubs added last year is now no longer with the team.

          This offseason Jim Hendry and Manager Lou Piniella wanted to just get the best players available that were still affordable. They made a small move by getting trading Jake Fox and Aaron Miles to the A’s for pitcher Jeff Gray and prospects. Before anything else could happen, they had to trade disgruntled Milton Bradley, which they did to the Mariners for an equally disgruntled pitcher Carlos Silva.

          Shortly following the Bradley deal, Hendry went out and signed CF Marlon Byrd, perhaps finally giving the Cubs a full-time centerfielder. Byrd who set a career high in home runs last year will be reunited with his hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo who was the hitting coach in Texas, now in Chicago.

           A strange move by Hendry came when he signed injury prone outfielder Xavier Nady as a 4th outfielder. Nady who played in only seven games last year with the Yankees before undergoing his 2nd Tommy John surgery is a career .303 hitter against left-handed pitching.

          The last move to date was when the Cubs signed veteran 1B/3B Chad Tracy to a minor league contract. Tracy has very good power numbers in his career, but as he’s gotten older, his strikeout numbers have gone up and his batting average has gone down. If he’s able to show Piniella that he can still play at a high level come Spring Training, he may beat out Micah Hoffpauir for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

          Although Hendry would like to add another veteran arm to the bullpen before Spring Training, the Cubs have already become a lot better on paper than they were last year. Of course injuries play a factor and as the 2009 Cubs know, looking good on paper doesn’t get you anywhere.