Reports are that the Cubs may be eyeing Buck Showalter and that Bobby Valentine wouldn’t mind coming to Chicago.

Both of these big names may toy with coming to Chicago and even interview for the job, but it’s hard to believe that either one will wind up here. The Cubs have a lot of young talent (Prior, Patterson, Hill, Choi, Zambrano, et. al.) combined with veterans (Sosa, Alou, Lieber) and will take a couple of years to really grow into a pennant-contending team, if ever. I don’t think Showalter or Valentine wants to step into that kind of situation, unless they feel they can turn around the team overnight.

And, after this year, both Hendry and MacPhail must be feeling pressure to improve the team immediately or lose their jobs.