Hendry's looking to the future

LOS ANGELES - Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Friday he doesn't envision the Cubs ever "going young" and not approaching each season as a contending team.

Hendry also said keeping manager Lou Piniella at the helm during a disappointing season also was the right thing.

Sparking the discussion was the trade earlier in the day of star lefty Cliff Lee from Seattle to Texas. Hendry said that Lee was such a special case, being by far the most sought-after commodity in the trade market, that he didn't see it affecting the Cubs or other teams. Even so, he said he expects "the industry" to be quite active in the coming weeks as the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline approaches.

The Cubs no doubt figure to be sellers.

"Anything we will do, we'll try to set us up better for the future," Hendry said. "Like I told everybody the other day, we're not ever going to go into a season thinking we're not going to contend. In my mind, we should have been right in the thick of contention now. We just didn't get it done.

"That being said, we're starting to get better young players coming up in the system. A lot more of those guys are going to be coming in two or three years. But we're not going overhaul the program and think, 'Oh, we're going to be young for a couple years and can't win.' We're going to go into it to get ready for next season thinking we're going to contend again just having the ability of having some of our young guys come up and be part of that."

On Piniella, Hendry has expressed confidence in him more than once. On Friday, he pointed not only to the Cubs' division titles in 2007 and 2008, but to Piniella's career.

"Lou Piniella has done so many good things in this game," Hendry said. "He's not a quitter. It hasn't gone well for him this year. He'd be the first to tell you that.

"That's why I always told people, he's done so many good things, not only for us, but in the game, that I felt like there was no way I was going to let him go. That, to me, is the wrong message for the organization moving forward. The Ricketts family (the new team owners) are going to be here for a long time, and I have no doubt they're going to do things the right way for the long haul. It's not a short-term project for them. It's the right thing to do. Lou deserves to be treated with the respect he's earned."

Silva questionable: Right-hander Carlos Silva is questionable for Sunday night's start because of lingering pain behind his right knee. If Silva can't go, Lou Piniella said it's likely Mitch Atkins would get the call.

"He had a little throw session today," Lou said of Silva. "It went so-so. He'll work with the trainer tonight and tomorrow, and we'll see how he feels. But I would categorize him as questionable."