Much of the same...

Guess who's coming back for 2 more years?

So much for "Dusty-Proofing" the Cubs in '06.

Last week Jim Hendry resigned Glendon Rusch. Before that he picked up the option on Todd Walker. Now today the word is out that Hendry is about to ink Neifi Perez to a two year deal. What am I missing here? These three players showed up as short term solutions before and during the 2004 season. Now they have become fixtures on this ballclub. A ballclub that has slid backwards since they won the division in 2003. A ballclub in need of a major overhaul.

So Hendry has brought back Perez. Perez is a good defensive player. Still the Cubs saw in 2005 what teams like the Giants did before them: he kills teams with his approach at the plate. The Cubs brilliant tactician in the dugout likes to compound the problem. You see, Dusty Baker will bat Neifi in the #1 or #2 spot if he has no clear cut experienced options. Neifi had a .298 OBP. To put that in perspective that was the same OBP that the great Todd Hollandsworth finished 2005 with and Carlos Zambrano actually finished with a better batting average than that, 'los hit .300. This means that on the right day the guy leading off for the Cubs has a lower OBP than the guy hitting ninth. That is the brilliance of Johnnie B. Baker!

So as we head toward 2006 it looks more like the same ole shit. These three moves show me that Hendry is content with the current makeup of this team. Yeah, he might tinker but a real makeover ain't gonna happen.