After CC Sabathia and Chris Carpenter, the best pitcher in next year's FA class is CJ Wilson.  Wilson got be to known last postseason as the straight edge former reliever turned starter/student of Cliff Lee and Mike Maddux.  Some might be turned off by the 30+ tag on a pitcher, but Wilson has been building himself into a legit TOR pitcher the past couple of years. Last year he was the #2 on Texas' surprise WS team, and lived up to the billing with surprisingly good stuff, toughness, mechanics, and improving command. He's also ridiculously good at keeping the ball in the park, allowing only 10 HRs in 200+ innings last year despite throwing his home games in a place that used to define bandbox.

Here's a guy who I think is on the way up despite being the dreaded age of 30, and who can and will pitch in the top half of a championship caliber club. Is he a true ace in the Sabathia sense? Nope, but he's a "gamer" type who works extremely hard at his craft and has developed himself into a very good starter. He's got good stuff from the left side too with a fastball that hits 94-95, a swing and miss curveball, and a cutter he's learning to command and control better.

If the Cubs were to splurge next offseason, Wilson would be #2 on my wish list after one of the big first basemen. Maybe I'm missing someone, but that's only a maybe. It's 6-7 years too late for Beltran and it seems ominous to move Castro for Reyes (like Reyes for Matsui). Carpenter could happen if things went really well, but even then I think I'd prefer the younger more left handed pitcher.