Things are not looking good in the Chi nowadays. No team, aside from maybe the Blackhawks, playing good ball, and none of them really have bright futures either. Hers a breakdown, with a few solutions here an there, for the four big teams in Chicago, the Bears, Cubs, Bulls and Sox. The Bulls: John Paxson and Scott Skiles really have to take a step back and look at the team objectively. The team, as presently constructed, need to be evaluated. Is the core of Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon a championship calibur one? Are they at the height of their developmental process or do they still have room to grow? The answer to both questions is no. The Bulls have some intriguing prospects and some pretty good players, but collectively they dont have what it takes to raise another banner in the UC. Ben Gordon is too small and too defensively deficient to start. Kirk Hinrich is too ordinary and has been around long enough to learn how to stay out of foul trouble. Luol Deng, despite his sudden rise to superstar status(which i think is utterly ridiculous), is a good player and fun to root for, but he doesnt have that much more room to grow. He can get better, but only a little better. Ben Wallace is all but washed up. Can he grab rebounds, yes, but a team so reliant on outside shooting can not afford to have an offensive zero on the floor in case they go on cold streaks. Tyrus Thomas is athletic and entertaining, but i would take LaMarcus Aldridge back in a heartbeat. Thomas has work ethic problems and no offensive game to speak of. Put backs dont count. Chris Duhon is a backup, and the same goes for guys like Andres Nocioni and Joe Smith. The player with the most upside on the Bulls is Thabo Sefolsha, but Skiles doesn't seem willing to play him. The Bulls need to do whatever they can to bring in Kobe. Nobody is untouchable. Bulls fans are scared to mention Kobe and MJ in the same breath, i am not. The Bulls, if unchanged, are just a a nice team that could do some damage in the playoffs, perhaps win a series or two. With Kobe, they can get some rings. Give away Deng and Gordon, i dont care. The Cubs: This team has some major holes. The outfield, Alfonso Soriano included, is bad. I think Soriano is a below average baseball player and does little to help his team. Solo home runs are nice, but whether you drive yourself in or someone else drives you in, its just on run. His OBP sucks and so does his effort. The LSU guys, Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot, despite their strong starts, are not starters. Theriot can take up a bench spot on my team any day, but Fontenot isnt big league material. Felix Pie doesnt appear to be ready. A piece of ice in hell has a better chance of staying frozen than Pie has of hitting a curveball. A platoon of Murton/Jones could work for me in right, but i wouldnt mind seeing Murton traded for a shortstop like Johnny Peralta, which SI says is a real possibility. The pitching staff is in decent shape, but i dont know if Marquis will be a Cub come opening day. He was left off the playoff roster and that may have soured his realtionship with the Cubs and more importantly Lou Piniella, who by the way is just an ok manager at this point. The Cubs need to get an oufielder or two, a decent shortsop, some bullpen help and find a way to fortify the back end of their rotation. There are some in hous options, like Ronny Cedeno, Sean Marshall, Mark Prior, Kevin Hart, Tyler Colvin and and a few others, but some of those might not be ready for full time play in the bigs. Jim Hendry has a lot of work to do. The White Sox: This team is in big trouble. They play in a very good division and dont have much young talent in their farm system.I like Josh Fields and the return of Joe Crede should be of some help, but the offense is very old and very, very slow. They already have kissed Erstad goodbye and will probably do the same to the oft-injured Podsednik, and in doing so will wave goodbye to two of the biggest "grinders" in Sox history. Good Riddance. But in doing so, they open the door for the biggest grinder in tyhe history of sports, Aaron Rowand, known in Chicago as Superman. The Sox, like the Cubs also will need a new shortstop if they let go of the big bellied Juan Uribe. The guy has underperformed his entire carreer and after playing in both the Cell and Coors field, thats saying something. As many offensive problems as the Sox have, they have a lot more in the pitching department. The bullpen, aside form Bobby Jenks, needs a complete overhall. A few guys had some nice second halves last year, but in reality they need to start from scratch. The rotation is also in trouble. Jon Garland might be their best trade chip, and considering the poor free agent class of SP's, he could be used to acquire a few prospects and some major league ready players. Jose Contreras is a liabilty, and neither Gavin Floyd or Jon Danks impressed last year. Perhaps Lance Broadway, who had a nice outing to finish off the season, might be the answer. Like i said, the free agent class is thin, so the Sox will likely go into the '08 season with some question marks at the back of their rotation. The good news is that Beuhrle is a good pitcher and Javier Vasquez had a very good season. Even if things go relatively well on the south side in '08, its hard to envision them finishing ahead of Cleveland, Detroit or even the Minnesota Twins. Chicago Bears: This team is in some serious trouble. The thing with the Bears is that there isnt just one thing that needs to be fixed, there are multiple issues that will need to be addressed, and most likely they will go into '08 with at least one hole unplugged. On defense, there are several issues. First off, the safeties stink. Adam Archuletta is not an NFL starter anymore, period. On the other hand, Danieal manning is an excellent athlete that has all the tools to be a solid safety. Perhaps with another season under his bel, he could at least be adequate come '08. The linebacking core is not without question either. Brian Urlacher's back problems are well documented and the Bears likely will not be able to retain Lance Briggs. The Bears think that Jamar Williams can replace him, but thats wishful thinking. Lance Briggs is an all-pro outside linebacker and the Bears will sorely miss him. The reason the Bears will not be able to resign Briggs is Tommie Harris. Harris is invaluable. He is top five defensive tackle in this league and already has supplanted Brian Urlacher as the most valuable player on the defense. Mark Anderson, who had a fabulous rookie year, hasnt been able to handle full time duty. It appears that he is at his best when used as a pass rushing specialist, like the Packers use KGB. Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown are both solid players that can play the run and pass well, but neither can do either one spectacularly. The big question mark is who will play alongside Tommie Harris. Darwin Walker is a fabulous pass rusher, but when he, Harris, and Anderson are on at the same time, the other team will be able to run easily against the Bears. thats where Dusty Dvoracek comes in. Can he stay health? His first two season have ended with him on the IR, and the Bears would do well to find an adequate, run-stuffing backup for Dvoracek. On offense, the Bears have endless question marks and holes. Quarterback, reciever, running back and O-Line. That about sums up all of their weaknesses. The only position the Bears are set at is at tight end, where Olsen and Clark do a good job complementing eachother. The Bears will most likely give both Grossman and Orton looks in the second half, but i have a feeling neither will ever end up being (decent)starting QB's in the league. This is it for Benson. He has eight games left to prove he can play at this level. He appears to be slower than last year and isnt finishing off his runs as well as he has in the past. His lack of visible passion is also concerning. He needs to show the Bears something in these final two months of the season. If he doesnt, hello Michael Turner. The recieving core also needs work. Bernard Berrian broke out last year and is having a decent season, numberswise that is. He has dropped too many balls and the Bears may not want to resign him, but they may not have a choice. If they dont resign Berrian, you could be looking at a WR group consisting of Rashied Davis, Devin Hester, Mike Hass, Mark Bradley and a very old and slow Muhsin Muhammad next year. Speakin of old, check out the offensive line. The starters are all above thirty, and what makes it worse is that they have no competent youngsters waiting in the wings. Josh Beekman hasnt been sighted yet, and John St. Clair hopefully wont be sighted. The O-Line, starting with Ruben Brown and Fred Miller, needs an overhaul. Thats about it. If you didnt know better, you would think these teams have been bad forever, but what makes it even worse is that the Cubs, Bears and Bulls are all coming off seasons in which they made the playoffs and the White Sox are just two years removed from a World Series victory.