There are two trains of thoughts about your first statement, Vance (and gawd, I hate Star Wars, BTW): 1: If the Cubs do decide that they are MORE then one player away from competing, would it be worth going after Gonzalez, ala Girardi to Florida. Or... 2: If Hendry is delusional enough to think the Cubs might be one or two players away, would he still go after Gonzalez. My guess is....if Hendry believes in #2 scenerio, then I doubt he will go after Gonzalez, and I totally see him going after Piniella, or some other wash out hack of a manager, who should no longer consider coming back to baseball. That's the problem, in a nutshell. I understand the Braves has had a very good blueprint, but great teams DON'T follow other teams blueprints, they create their own blueprints. Hendry shouldn't be trying to copy another teams success (At this point, it's worth a try) he should concentrating on building the NEW Cubs. And being a "LT" under Bobby Cox, doesn't mean anything, to be honest. I mean yes, Ned Yost has been a solid manager for Milwaukee, but Jimy Williams has been a CRAPPY manager for three teams (Tor/Bost/Houston). For the time being, I would hold off on calling Gonzalez a "nice find." But it comes down to how Hendry believes 2007 will be like. If he thinks they are going to compete, then forget about Gonzalez. If Hendry feels they need to build through young players....all bets are off.