Remember the time once in the third week of April when the Cubs lost a high-salaried player to a leg injury? A player who was off to a bad start but was counted on to be a key offensive force in a season with high expectations for post season success?

No, not Alfonso Soriano. This refers to Nomar Garciaparra. When Nomar shredded his groin, the Cubs season fell apart. True, it was this injury that led to Derrek Lee ultimately moving to the 3rd spot in the order and stepping up his game.

But, back in 2005, the team was not deep enough to sustain such a deep blow to the offense. Nomar's injury led to extra playing time for Neifi Perez, Jose Macias and Ronny Cedeno. Jim Hendry could have gotten off his duff and made an early season trade, but that would have meant giving up on players with bright futures at the major league level. Guys like Brownlie and Guzman.

Now, Soriano won't be out as long as Nomar was. But it's also very likely, given this year and last year, that Soriano's leg problems are going to be chronic and not simply going to stop with this lated DL stint.

Jim Hendry really needs to step up and make a trade now. If it means giving up a Veal or a Samardzija to get Brian Roberts, you do it. You do something.

Simply counting on Soriano to be a reliable offensive force will get you as far as General Zaroff got against Sanger Rainsford.