I was going to post a message, but you've captured my feelings. Zito will be much better, and if we can get him from the Athletics now, we'll have no problem affording him next year (when Maddux's contract rolls off). The superior pitching provided by Zito will offset what I believe will be only average production from RF (i.e., the candidates discussed here...Bradley, Wilkerson, Huff, Mench are OK, but not serious impact bats). the problem with Zito is negotiating some sort of extension before trading for him. he's going to command a decent haul in prospects, which is a very high price to pay for a one year rental. Beane won't give anyone permission to talk to Zito about an extension (so far). maybe it's just a negotiating tactic. I hear ya, but I have confidence in Hendry to sign him to an extension. After all, who would want to leave Chicago?! The Cubs still have too many pitchers. Two of Welly, Wuertz, and Novoa could easily be traded. Hill may or may not pan out. The Cubs would still have Marshall, Guzman, and Ryu as rotation candidates close to the Bigs.