Weekend Update ... Talkin' Cubs Rumors

post from ChicagoCubsOnline.com on 07 November 2009 01:27:43 PM. © ChicagoCubsOnline.com

The first two days of the off-season have seen quite a bit of movement across the league ... except for on the North Side of Chicago. The Cubs completed their organizational meetings on Friday in Arizona and other than Reed Johnson and Rich Harden declaring free agency, not much out of the Cubs' camp. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Jim Hendry has little payroll flexibility and will likely rely on making trades to improve (or fix) the big league team for next season. It is only the first Saturday in November and the Cubs have a lot of big contracts with no-trade clauses attached to them. Hendry has a lot of work to do ... and Ted Lilly having his shoulder scoped last Tuesday should have changed the direction and/or plans the Cubs had for the winter at the beginning of the week.

With the GM meetings getting underway on Monday in Chicago, here is the latest from the mill ... and a little news too.