Looks like Hendry will have to buy

For a while now, we have been discussing the fact that Jim Hendry may look to sell as trade talks heat up this summer. It looked like Hendry started selling last Saturday when Hawkins was dealt to the Giants for two good pitching prospects. Who would have thought the Cubs were two games into a seven game winning streak? Today the Cubs wake up in the middle of NL Wild Card race and shockingly only 5.5 games behind the hated Cardinals.

Although the Cubs looked buried 3 weeks ago, the past week they have looked like world beaters. The Cubs season, up to this point, is still is a shade of gray. As bad as the Cubs looked in the 7 game losing streak in early May, they were not that bad. The same can be said for this winning streak, as good as the Cubs look now, they are not this good. I am not taking anything away from the streak and how the team has played. Lee, Perez and Ramirez have been outstanding offensively. The defense has been solid. The pitching. What can you say about the job Rusch, Zambrano and Maddux have done. The young middle relievers have surprised all of us. Ryan Dempster has had decent control so far as closer. There are still many holes on the club at this point.

This winning streak shows Jim Hendry that despite all of the injuries Dusty Baker and this group of Cub players have not given up. Aggressive GM's like Hendry love this stuff. This means he can add a couple of players and (as Dusty says) have action. What will Hendry go after? A leadoff hitter, an outfielder, starting pitching, a reliever or two? When you have a team that stays close a few additions can make a big difference.

In the short term I would like to see Jerome Williams called up to take either Koronka or Mitre's spot in the rotation. I would also like to see Hairston leadoff and play leftfield 3 or 4 days a week. Nothing against the job DuBois has done. Nearing 100 AB's the book is out around the NL on how to handle DuBois. Having him and Corey bat back to back has been real trying on me as I watch these games from Calif.