From Chris DeLuca's column in the Sun-Times today:

Instead of huddling in quiet corners of the lobby bar or arranging clandestine late-night meetings in their suites, baseball's general managers tried something new at their annual meetings this year.

All 30 of them gathered in a lounge area and put their cards on the table -- one by one, standing and announcing their intentions for all the others to hear.

It was the brainchild of Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and Florida Marlins GM Larry Beinfest. And it was the biggest hit of the meetings this side of instant replay.

Interesting concept, and I agree with DeLuca's conclusion that this "group hug" could lead to a very active trading season.

Get going, Jim Hendry.

And as I have often predicted, the Cubs won't be sold before the 2008 season begins, according to Phil Rogers:

... two highly placed MLB sources confirmed Thursday that Commissioner Bud Selig had been unable to keep the process moving at that timetable, ruling out a sale before the end of the year and making one before the Cubs go to training camp next spring highly unlikely.

"I'm afraid that is right," a source said. "I can't say for sure why this is moving at the pace it is, but the pace of it has been frustrating. We had hoped it would pick up some steam, but it hasn't."

According to the source, MLB has not even closed out the application process for prospective buyers. The bidding for the team is still expected to be robust, but only five groups have been cleared to look at Tribune Co.'s baseball records, according to the MLB source.

And so I say again: Get going, Jim Hendry. Bring us a winner in 2008.