I'm going to take an impartial observer's view of this mess, though I'm not an impartial observer. Honest Question, " how do we fix this mess?" As I'm playing the role of impartial observer, Jim Hendry did what he had to do in the off-season of 2006, signing Soriano, DeRosa, Ted Lilly and Lou Pinella to contracts that we may or may not agree with, to prove that the Cubs were going to be relevant again, and they were (briefly)!  Now, one can argue that it was a different situation, and by situation I mean money. The Vault was open then, and probably not/maybe/who knows after this season.

What we do know is that two massive(pun sort of intended) first base free agents are open in 2012. Our, previously clutch, third baseman is probably not/maybe not coming back next year, with no in house replacement and luke warm free agent market, who plays third in '12? Fukudome is gone after this year, however Colvin is hitting .086 so he needs some work.

Big Question, do we inadvertently fire sale this team by trying to trade Zambrano ( and not for his tirade but for his actual pitching value). Fukudome and Aramis Ramirez are probably not coming back so if we can/do trade them then anything we get back is only a positive.  How do we rebuild without shutting it down in 2012?Would you as the fan accept a shutdown rebuilding type of season, in order to fully contend , and not just rose glasses-this is our year-typical cubs fans optimism.

I have absolutely no idea how to do it, or when to do it, or what the right decision is. I just know that something seems broken on this years ball club and I don't like it. I'm also tired of the blame game we've been playing here for the past 7 games. I'm over that. We've all weeped and gnashed teeth long enough. So, Okay, let's fix it.