11/20/2003 10:03:00 AM by Rob

Opportunity is knockin'...and Hendry is pretending that he's not home

Let's look at a few sports failures, some teams who had opportunities, but a major fatal flaw that banished them to sports hell, and then we will compare them to our favorite "competitive" entity, your Chicago Cubs.

The Jacksonville Jaguars - the NFL has a hard salary cap. A few years ago, the Jags had some of the best offensive talent on the planet. They had Mark Brunell at QB, Fred Taylor at RB, Jimmy Smith as one of several quality receivers, and Tony Bocelli and Johnathon Odgen as the two best tackles in the league. But all of these guys were injured, and they couldn't afford to replace them because they had no more money to spend.

The Cubs, on the other hand, have no hard salary cap, and even their self-imposed cap allows them between $15-20M to spend this year!

The Chicago Bulls - the NBA has a "soft" salary cap, that allows you flexibility to sign your own free agents. After their great run in the '90s, all their main pieces left, mainly due to the strain of keeping together for so long, holding their own egos at bay. Well, the Bulls had the most money in the league to spend to reload, but MJ, Scottie, Phil and the others ripped Bulls management upon leaving, thus, no self-respecting baller in the league wanted to come play for the Bulls.

The Cubs, on the other hand, just enjoyed a run to the LCS that was watched by everyone in America. They have the best young core of rotation studs since the Mets/Orioles of the late sixties, and as of right now, is one of the more desirable destinations for free agents in the league!

The LA Dodgers - well, the Dodgers have money, and it certainly is a nice place to be. But they have had their own problems lately, too. They have spent gobs of money on free agents, because that is the only avenue available to them to improve, which is very risky. Most great teams use a combination of judicious free agent signings, along with development of their own players, to either step into a hole, or to use as trade. The Dodger farm system, though, has been decimated for years, and they have no ability to deal from strength. Therefore, they end up with real stinkers, like the Grud and Karros -for- Turd trade, to dump salary.

The Cubs, on the other hand, have spent years drafting top college pitchers, and are the envy of the rest of the league for their pitching depth. There are guys in AAA and AA right now that could walk into the starting rotation of 2/3rds of the teams in the league!

Therefore, it is my theory that there is NO REASON whatsoever for not improving, GREATLY, in the upcoming season. We have the money, the prospects to trade, and people like us, they really like us!

So, Hendry, grow some nuts and start pulling the trigger!

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