Let's see if anyone is still coming out here.

The Tribune's Phil Rogers is beating the drums for the Cubs to trade for homeboy Tiger Curtis Granderson.  Ok, Phil, I get it...you love Grandy.  So do we.  He would be a perfect fit for us, and I believe that the Ricketts could find room on their spreadsheets for him.

Ah, here's the thing, though.  The Tigers don't want Milton Bradley for him.  No no no no no...they want young, fresh meat.  To the tune of Josh Vitters AND New Great White Hope Starlin Castro (yeah, I know he ain't white.  It's an expression).  And probably our best pitching prospect, whoever that is.

This would be a classic, textbook case of utterly mortgaging the future for the present.  If Castro and Vitters are as good as the Propaganda Arm makes them out to be, then the left side of our infield is good for pretty damn near the entire next decade.  Or, is Hendry shrewdly pumping up these guys to inflate their trade value, in anticipation of this off season?  It was made clear to him that he would NOT be pursuing free agents this winter - and probably, after the past couple of years, he probably doesn't want to anymore.  Can't blame him.

So, riders?  Do you trade the future for the now?  Or do you ride 2010 out, waiting for what could be the greatest wave of position talent to come up from the Cubs' farm since the mid-eighties, if not the mid-sixties?  Keep in mind that Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Alfonso Soriano are all on the clock.  Lee is a free agent after this year, and A-Ram has an opt-out at the end of 2010.