At this time last year I wrote to our Chicago sports writers and Bob Murphy of WGN regarding the Cubs. My suggestions for the Cubs were: Do your best to sign CC Sabathia - better than Carlos and a left-handed pitcher and batter; trade Carlos Zambrano to the Yankees, who needed pitching; sign Mark Teixeira - as good as D. Lee and about five years younger; Trade D. Lee to the L.A. Angels for some of their young talent; sign a utility outfielder, which they did in Joey Gathwright. After a cup of coffee he was gone. Put Micah Hoffpauir in right field and tell him it's his job. Give him a chance.

None of the major signings occurred. Jim Hendry traded the most positive influence the Cubs have had on the team in years in DeRosa and signed a disruptive player in Bradley. Poof went the '09 season.

This year hopefully we will have a new general manager. Hopefully, the Cubs will make a concerted effort to sign Joe Mauer from the Twins, Matt Holliday from the St. Louis Cardinals or Jason Bay from Boston, and move Soriano to second base. If Soriano doesn't like it, put him on the bench.

Re-signing DeRosa would put a lot of positive energy back on the team. Eliminating Bradley will certainly and must happen. The addition of John Lackey from the Angels to shore up the pitching would be a nice plus.

The Mets reduced ticket prices for 2010. Maybe we can get a rebate from Jim Hendry for the terrible '09 season due to his astute moves.

Goodbye, Jim.

Bob Heldmann

Cary