There’s not much Cubs news out there right now, so I’ve put together a few New Year’s resolutions for our favorite team (in no particular order):

• Don’t overspend on relievers – The team is still looking to fill the pen with at least one more veteran reliever. But that doesn’t mean they should do anything crazy like spending $7.5M over two years for a highly replaceable guy. Here’s an article about my favorite targets.
• Send a personal trainer to Puerto Rico – I don’t know how much of Geo’s sophomore slump was due to him being a bit rounder than the previous season. But hey, it can’t hurt to send him a personal trainer and get him in prime condition before Valentine’s day.
• Do SOMETHING to, you know, actually IMPROVE the team this offseason – The first part of the offseason was all about who the team didn’t want back – Bradley, Harden, Heilman, Reed Johnson and Aaron freakin’ Miles. The only additions so far are the underwhelming rule 5 pick Mike Parisi and the worst pitcher in baseball in 2009, Carlos Silva. It would be nice to have some reason to believe 2010 will be better than 2009 other than “improved chemistry”.
• Move to a new core – Let Lee, ARam and Lilly walk after this season. Derrek has been a good to great player for the Cubs, but his next contract will end up being a bad one. If he’s willing to sign for three years or less, then I could change my mind about this. But having a RH hitting first baseman has consistently led the team to believe they need to “get more lefthanded” elsewhere. Aramis has been the most consistent hitter on the team for a long time, but has the type of consistent, nagging injuries that are likely to sap his production while he’s still relatively young. I’d welcome Lilly back with the right deal, but would not offer anything more than 2-3 years. It is time to move on to a new, younger core for the team.
• Offer arbitration to all three of the above guys if they’re walking – They are all certain to get multi-year contracts and all three should be welcomed back if it is only for one year. This is a huge opportunity to build the farm for years to come with six extra early draft picks.
• Don’t promote Starlin Castro too soon – There will be a strong temptation to promote Castro during the season (or even to begin the season). He may be ready enough to be a decent contributor in Chicago very soon, but he won’t be ready to live up to the hype for a while. Furthermore, when he is promoted, be ready to play him every single day – even if he struggles at first. Here’s your message for the media and fans, “We’re really excited about Starlin, but he’s a very young player. We’re just looking for him to play solid defense. Anything he contributes at the bottom of the order will be a bonus.” Then stick him in the #7 spot and let him grow into a bigger role over time.
• Decide if Vitters is the future at 3B – if not, go ahead and trade him for a piece you’ll need. He’s one of the higher upside guys in all of the minors, but has some serious holes in his game at this point. He’s a very tough call.
• Follow through on investing heavily in the farm system – it really is the key to building a consistent winner on the field. Not only can the players come up from the farm and provide cheap production, but having a good supply of trade chips can be critical to getting experienced players, as well.
• Modernize the front office – Hendry will have had seven years in charge of the team by the end of the season. The team has had a reasonable level of success during his tenure, but the payroll of the team would suggest that we should be more consistent winners. He’s also made some moves that have been completely baffling during his tenure. Most of all, though, he’s pretty much failed the past two offseasons unless he turns things around in January. If he is kept on longer, he needs to be paired with a serious analyst who brings a more modern perspective to the team. My preference, however, would be to start new and bring in a GM who is comfortable in the world of scouting AND the world of stats.

Any additional thoughts? Please leave a comment and let me know what else the team should do in 2010.