Cubs must trade Garza, Dempster

June, 2, 2012

6/02/12

10:17

AM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

Life on the North Side of Chicago has not been easy for club president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer. They only recently snapped a 12-game losing streak and currently rank last in ESPN.com’s Power Rankings.

Cubs fans realize it will take years for Epstein and Hoyer to turn their team into a winner. The Major League Baseball first-year player draft on Monday will be Epstein and Hoyer’s second significant step toward that goal after their deal for slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo this past offseason. And in the ensuing days before the signing deadline for draft picks, Epstein and Hoyer will have the opportunity to infuse talent into their system and build for the future.

However, in order for the team to improve more quickly and get younger faster, the following three trades need to be made. They would rile Cubs fans some, but the time for difficult decisions has just about arrived.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.