Epstein hopes to add pieces to Cubs puzzle this week

The general managers meetings last month proved to be a nice appetizer.

Now it's on to the main course.

Baseball's winter meetings are about to begin, and for the Cubs, they could be the most momentous in five years.

Back at the 2006 meetings, then-general manager Jim Hendry capped a fast and furious winter by signing pitcher Ted Lilly while hooked up to an EKG, or so the popular legend goes.

The new Cubs front office, headed by president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer, seems hale, hearty and healthy, but those whippersnappers have as equally a strenuous task of rebuilding the Cubs as Hendry did back in '06.

This year's winter meetings are in Dallas, where the Cubs contingent is scheduled to down late Sunday and begin face-to-face trade talks with other teams as well as entertaining representatives for such big-name free agents as Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, among others.

Although the hotel lobby in Dallas is a relatively compact one conducive to lots of people watching, Epstein said not to look for him there, that he'll be up in his Cubs suite trying to find several pieces to turn this year's 71-91 club into a winner, both for 2012 and for the long term.

Epstein and Hoyer got some work done at the GM meetings, doing the final work to hire new field manager Dale Sveum and talking informally with a few agents.

They signed right fielder David DeJesus, now they must fill holes in their starting rotation, at first base and at third base.

For these tasks, Epstein, Hoyer and Co. will have a captive audience.

“I think it's one of the few times all 30 clubs are as actively engaged in talking trade, which is nice,” Epstein said. “There's this perception out there that the job of GM or club president is always on the phone with the other 29 and talking about trades. It really doesn't happen that often. You have to seize those opportunities at the trade deadline, the GM meetings, the winter meetings.

“You have 29 active, engaged potential partners out there. So that part is fun. You can pick up the phone or walk down the hall and find 29 willing partners.”

As for the lobby, one person who seems to love that scene is super agent Scott Boras, who represents Fielder. The Cubs are rumored to have interest in both Fielder and Pujols. Boras will be looking to drum up business and drive up the price for Fielder, and the mob of reporters around him when he holds court could reach five deep.

The Cubs have dug every verbal escape hatch when it comes to their interest in these mega free agents. On one hand, Epstein says the Cubs will not veer from their path of building from within, with young players. On the other, Epstein and Hoyer continue to stress that the Cubs are a big-market player.

“Any rumor that you hear or any potential player move, it's probably worth your while to assess it through that lens,” Epstein said of the Cubs' dual situation. “I'm not saying we're not going to make a move that might be unanticipated or catch people by surprise or might not on its face fit perfectly into that little box, but generally, that's our philosophy.”

Job 1 for the Cubs figures to be addressing the starting rotation. Matt Garza is the No. 1 starter at this point, and Epstein seemed to shoot down rumors that the Cubs might trade him.

Ryan Dempster, this past year's opening-day starter, is coming off a third straight year of decline. Randy Wells remains a question mark, and former ace Carlos Zambrano is trying to work his way back into the good graces of the club after walking out in August.

So the Cubs figure to pursue at least two pitchers, and Epstein acknowledges that might not be enough.

“We need starting pitching,” he said. “You can't take your chances very seriously as a club if you go into the season without — not just five guys you can point to — but six, seven and eight guys.

“You better know who your ninth starter's going to be because you're going to need him. The numbers show that you're going to need your ninth starter at some point during the course of the year. So we have to build our starting-pitching depth. We don't have a ton of depth beyond the obvious guys who are in the rotation right now. That's a priority.”