Long offseasons are nothing new to Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, and so it goes again this winter.
The team recently held its annual winter caravan and fan convention, and Hendry admitted he's still shopping for help. Hendry's pursuit of San Diego Padres right-hander Jake Peavy officially "died" at the winter meetings, but with Hendry, such pursuits rarely stay dead permanently.
Hendry still would love to trade for Peavy, but if anything ever gets done on that front, it won't be until the Cubs are sold, a process that began on Opening Day of 2007.
In the meantime, Hendry will explore other avenues as he seeks to shore up the back end of the rotation, which has a vacancy in the wake of Hendry trading right-hander Jason Marquis to the Rockies earlier this month.
As of now, the Cubs can fill the vacancy in house. Left-hander Sean Marshall appears to be the leading candidate. He performed well in a swing role last year, starting seven times among his 34 appearances. Marshall has 50 big-league starts to his credit.
The way Hendry has talked, however, the Cubs seem to prefer Marshall to be a swing man again.
Hendry also points out that right-hander Chad Gaudin, who is penciled in for the bullpen, made 34 starts for Oakland in 2007. Right-hander Jeff Samardzija, a starter in the minors before coming up last year and pitching creditably out of the bullpen, is another candidate.
In 2004, Hendry went all the way up to the opening of spring training before signing right-hander Greg Maddux.
The next year, he went into early February before trading right fielder Sammy Sosa and signing Jeromy Burnitz to replace Sosa. It may be February again before the roster picture clears.
