"Whether the signing of slugging first baseman Carlos Pena becomes a Sheffield-bruising success in 2011, the one-year length of the contract could make it a blockbuster fit for the Cubs in 2012.

Baseball insiders in the lobby of the Dolphin Hotel here at the winter meetings already are starting to whisper the big name they think the Cubs might be in position to target next year as a free agent: Albert Pujols, the top of a pool of potential free agent first basemen that could include Prince Fielder and, after Wednesday's deal, Pena.

The Cubs aren't entertaining public conversation about things that far down the road. But they made no secret of looking at shorter-term fixes for their biggest roster need going into this winter of payroll squeezing and creative roster remodeling as they looked ahead at potential longer-term solutions for the position — including San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez until the Red Sox swooped in over the weekend to land him in a big trade.

They're also looking ahead at a payroll that should be flush with room to work a year from now — even with half of Pena's $10-million salary deferred to '12 — as $40 million comes off the books in expiring contracts for just three players (Kosuke Fukudome, Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Silva).

What happens in the next 10 months with team performance, Pena's performance in particular and how quickly the Cubs' promising young prospects mature will have a lot to say about what the Cubs specifically target for what could be a serious playoff push in 2012. And while they're not willing to speculate on that now, the Cubs do say they'd like to maintain as much flexibility as they can."