Is anyone else starting to worry about the 2010 Cubs?

So, with this week coming to an end, I have started to ask myself if we should be worried about 2010. 

I ask this because, well, the Cubs haven't seemed to improve themselves at all too this point.  Yes, they have made some trades.  They've let some people go via free agency. 

To this point, the only major thing the Cubs have done was to resign setup man John Grabow. 

They've let Rich Harden go (who I claim the didn't need).  The got rid of the Aarons via trade (Heilman to Arizona and Miles to Oakland). Jake Fox also left in the Miles trade.  Kevin Gregg is long gone.  Reed Johnson is a free agent. 

The Cubs did get another relief pitcher in the Miles trade, Jeff Gray.   So that is the extent of the acquisitions...2 middle relief pitchers. 

But the truth is, nothing has been done to make this team better.  The minor leagues are better, and Sandberg should have a good team to manage in AAA next year.  So maybe we drive to Des Moines this year.  The tickets are cheaper anyway. 

Let's review:

The Cubs still don't have a center fielder.
They still don't have a leadoff man.
They are missing a solid middle infielder.
They don't have a threat from the left side of the plate.
And they don't have a right handed setup man in the bullpen. 

Um...that's a lot of holes to fill and it is obvious that the Cubs are unwilling to add anyone until they have the Milton Bradley situation figured out...and judging by what I have seen, that may take a while. 

In the mean time, the Cardinals and Brewers have both made a number of moves.  For the Cardinals, they have been slowly filling the holes that they have on their roster, and have now made an offer to bring back Holliday. The Brewers have made some questionable signings, but at least they are doing something. 

Now I have argued in the past that the Cubs have been a little quick to pull the trigger on some of these offseason signings, especially last year.  But the market is different this year, and the Cubs financial pockets aren't nearly as deep.  I'm starting to fear that moving too slowly will cause them to lose out on the players that they really need. 

It also appears that the Cubs payroll isn't going to go up much at all...or very little, especially when to take into consideration the salary increases due to all the back weighted contracts and the extra money needed to keep all the arbitration eligable players. 

The Cubs are in a bad spot right now. 

Let's assume the Cubs do trade Bradley.  Is that really going to do anything?  The truth is, that puts Kosuke into right field...they get better defensively and he'll have to bat lead off (or Theriot).  It's possible we are going to have to live with Baker/Fontenot at second base.  Reedz might be have to be re-signed to play center field.  And that could be it. 

Ick.

But we will have remodelled bathrooms this year.  So that's a plus. 

So the time might be coming to sell off some of the high priced "talent" and rebuild.  But that's an argument for another time.