... first of all, it's still 115 days till Opening Day.
While Jim Hendry left the Winter Meetings without a starting right fielder (lord help us if John Mabry opens the 2006 season as the starting RF), there is still time, and there are still options.
Bobby Abreu is still a Phillie, which means that if they want to deal him, Hendry could still offer something other than Mark Prior. That's called negotiating.
Aubrey Huff (and for that matter, Julio Lugo) are still Devil Rays. I'd imagine they still want to trade one or both of them. Hendry's cellphone, I presume, still is functioning. He can call them any time.
A couple of notes from yesterday's final day in Dallas -- Cub-killer Rob Mackowiak is now a member of the White Sox, having been acquired in exchange for Damaso Marte.
I advocated acquiring Mackowiak last month; he can play six positions, all of them reasonably well, hits lefthanded, and can actually hit.
Since Hendry didn't go that way, at least Mackowiak is now somewhere where the Cubs only have to face him six times a year instead of eighteen.
And, stop worrying about Jose Valentin -- he signed with the Mets, who are also considering signing Julio Franco. They're either trying to put together the oldest team in history, or get every single player ever named Franco. No, Franco Harris isn't going there.
About Miguel Tejada... sure, it'd be great. The Cubs probably don't have the right package to get him. Would it hurt to ask? Of course not, and I have a feeling Hendry will ask, if he hasn't already. Check out the 1,375,273 diaries on the right sidebar on this topic.
Finally, I regret to tell you that Naked Butt Girl (and Naked Chest Boy) are not returning. The ad was only scheduled to run for a short time, and was not renewed.