Kosuke Fukudome

On Wednesday, Carrie Muskat wrote an article in which she said that "There are no deals pending, no scouts scouring other rosters to find help."

It wasn't a quote from Jim Hendry. It was just a line added into the article between quotes from the Cubs' general manager.

More specifically, it came immediately before the following quote from Hendry:

This article was originally published at The Daily Cub.  Visit TheDailyCub.com for more original Chicago Cubs coverage.

One week ago the Cubs were 13-13, coming off of a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks and looked to be back on track to get the most out of their team this season.

All was well in Wrigleyville.

Despite their early-season struggles, the Chicago Cubs have plenty of reasons not to be afraid just yet. From the revamped minor league system, to a smarter Jim Hendry, to the twenty-fifth man on the roster (and the fortieth in September), the Cubs organization and their ever-loyal fans have no reason to worry about the 2010 season.

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This article was originally published at TheDailyCub.com , my blog that covers all things Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs' outfield has been extremely expensive over the past couple of years, and the team has failed to get its money’s worth as they sign free agent after free agent to big contracts without much, if any, improvement.

This article was originally published at TheDailyCub.com , a blog dedicated to giving you quality Cubs content.

The Cubs were pretty quite this past off-season. They didn’t make too many moves, and the ones that they did make were more to sure up the bench rather than to provide a punch to the lineup.

Rumors ran wild this past week about the potential of the Cubs trading for Roy Halladay or Curtis Granderson.

What is sad is that the Cubs have the highest payroll in the league, and both of these players are going to be considered too expensive.

What's worse? Both of these players would fulfill enormous needs for the Cubs. In fact, they are the two biggest needs of the current Cub team.

I've been doing my fair share of reading on this site among others about the Cubs' interest in Granderson and what people think of the possible acquisition. Very interesting.

Right now on the Cubs' depth chart, young gun Tyler Colvin is the starting center fielder. As of now, I don't see the Cubs taking a risk on the young guy by throwing him into the mix right away. At least I wouldn't.

The Cubs have a dilemma.

As the offseason approaches, General Manager Jim Hendry faces a number of difficult decisions about the future of his team. The 2009 team has a number of weaknesses, and the ability to throw money at the problem, even if he indeed has that ability, will not count for much.

Some of the additions he will need to make to make the Cubs competitive in 2010 will be by subtraction.