In the wake of the Mark Buehrle fiasco, Cubs GM Jim Hendry really should consider making all the trades with White Sox GM Kenny Williams that he can. Williams showed, one again, that he has problems making difficult decisions.

Consider: Mark Buehrle is hugely popular among White Sox fans, but an objective look at his performance raises flags. For instance, Buehrle is 5 years removed from his best season as a pitcher (19 wins), but his worst season was just last year (4.99 ERA). His performance thus far this year does not add confidence that the $56 Mil. being thrown his way will be put to good use.

Additionally, Buehrle would only rank 4th among Cubs starting pitchers this year. Buehrle has traditionally not been a big strikeout pitcher. This places an additional burden on the defense. This year, Buehrle (115.2 IP) has 70 K's as opposed to Javier Vazquez (116 IP) who has 108 K's. Buehrle is especially laggard compared to Ted Lilly (112.2 IP) who has 98 K's, Rich Hill (104 IP) who has 96 K's and Carlos Zambrano who has both 125 IP & 107 K's.

Williams failed to hold a hard line against Buehrle, with the result that the lefty pitcher ratcheted up a 50% per year pay increase over his 2007 salary of $9.5 Mil. Additionally, Williams failed to counteract the yellow journalism that surrounded the Buehrle negotiations. The Chicago sports media swallowed whole the dubious notion that Buehrle stood to make something along the lines of $85 Mil.(+) in free agency so that his $56 Mil. salary demand was really a pay cut instead of the 50% increase that it really was. Also, in the past Williams had either traded or let go popular players (Josh Fogg, Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Aaron Rowand & Kip Wells), which makes his behavior during the Buehrle negotiations even harder to figure out.

If Kenny Williams is so eager to break the bank for a mediocre pitcher, just think how he might give up the store to a persistent GM. Hit the phones, Jim Hendry!