Early Storm Warnings

If anyone bothered to read all the way to the end of Paul Sullivan's game story today, you'd have read a paragraph that scares anyone that wants the Cubs to win and thinks that they can do so by signing a few key free agents this coming winter.

Of the players who remain Cubs property in 2007, the team is committed to only $55 million: Lee ($13 million), Ramirez ($11.5 million), Ryan Dempster ($5.3 million), Jacque Jones ($5 million), Bob Howry ($4.5 million), Michael Barrett ($4.3 million), Cesar Izturis ($4.15 million), Scott Eyre ($4 million) and Glendon Rusch ($3.25 million).

Ramirez has an opt-out clause that allows him to renegotiate or file for free agency.

The other non-free agents are either arbitration-eligible, including Carlos Zambrano and Mark Prior, or have less than three years of major-league experience.

That should give general manager Jim Hendry plenty of flexibility in pursuing free agents, unless the Cubs decide that developing their own young pitchers can bring them back to respectability.

Let's translate that last sentence into English from TribCubese.

"Expect no big name free agent pitcher signings."

Boil that down to just four words: Barry Zito? Dream on.

You want to know WHY they don't plan on signing free agents this offseason? I'll give you 40,485 reasons why.

There were 40,485 people at yesterday's game. The message to the suits upstairs? We like sunny weather. Winning is irrelevant.

Ticket buyers are getting what they deserve. If today's article is a tipoff, and it likely is, they'll get even more of what they deserve next year.