"They shipped out troublesome former ace Carlos Zambrano, let top hitter Aramis Ramirez leave in free agency and decided against bringing back power hitter Carlos Pena.

So what do the Cubs do with the big-ticket holdover they couldn't move this winter?

They bat Alfonso Soriano cleanup, of course.

This could be where the Cubs' winter of disconnect-from-the-past takes them as the new front office heads to the Chicago Hilton and Towers this weekend to face the fans at Cubs Convention — just five weeks before spring training."