Cubs still chasing ...

The Chicago Cubs traded five players, including a pair of high-profile prospects, to Tampa Bay for pitcher Matt Garza, continuing general manager Jim Hendry's ongoing charade of attempting to steer the team into contention.

Garza has been a good pitcher for the Rays for three seasons, going 34-31 with a sub-4.00 ERA each year and helping Tampa win two divisional titles. He was especially good in the ALCS in 2008, beating Boston twice and holding the Red Sox to two runs in 13 innings.

Still just 27, he's still three years away from free agency, although he is likely to get a little pricey in arbitration if the Cubs don't work out a long-term deal with him.

But — and you knew there would be a "but" here — is this really the kind of deal the Cubs need to be making?

The Cubs gave up Chris Archer, a pitcher that was part of the Mark DeRosa deal and blossomed last season, going 15-3 with a 2.35 ERA in high-A and Double-A. Hu-Jak Lee is a 19-year-old shortstop with a good looking bat and defensive tools and Brandon Guyer looks like a decent fourth outfielder, a right-handed hitter than can play all three spots with speed and a little pop.

Hendry seems to feel the Cubs, who went 75-87 last season and finished 16 games behind division champion Cincinnati, are a legitimate contender. That seems to be the reason behind the signing of former Tampa first baseman Carlos Pena to a one-year, $10 million contract, and the push to trade some high-level prospects for Garza.

Garza should help the Cubs — he's a reliable guy that can make 30-plus starts and work around 200 innings a season. And with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Tom Gorzelanny and possibly a push from rookie Casey Coleman, the Cubs have plenty of rotation depth.

Kerry Wood's amazingly cheap signing helps back Carlos Marmol and lefty Sean Marshall in the bullpen, but more help is needed — perhaps top prospect Andrew Cashner fits in there for the time being.

But are the Cubs really a contender of any stripe? Milwaukee has improved immensely, fortifying a shaky rotation with trades for Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum — the Brewers now have as good a top four as anyone in the division. St. Louis has some questions (we'll deal with those later this weekend) and the Reds' young pitching only figures to get better.

The offense still has plenty of question marks, and Pena probably isn't going to fill the need for a reliable lefty bat. Pena had two good seasons with the Rays, but you have to be scared of a slugger that, at age 32, slumped to .196 and 28 homers after averaging 39 in the previous three seasons. Pena isn't getting any younger, and his bat isn't picking up any speed, either.

St. Louis signed Lance Berkman for $8 million, but the Cubs paid more for Pena. Both need platoon partners to face left-handers, and frankly, I would much rather see the Cubs move Aramia Ramirez across the diamond or Alfonso Soriano to first base and try to put together a representative defense.

Instead, Hendry is acting like he has a team on the verge of contention. All the indicators, trending downward as they are, seem to differ.