Many Chicago sports fans plan on utilizing this upcoming baseball season as a remedy to recover from the heartbreak and letdown of the Bears’ loss to the Packers.

There will certainly need to be a heavy dosage of winning baseball to cure the lingering aftermath from losing to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship.

There’s reason to be optimistic if you’re a White Sox fan. The South Siders used this off-season to upgrade their offense with Adam Dunn, while nabbing longtime Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Jesse Crain to shore up the bullpen. There’s no reason for Sox fans to not be pumped about the 2011 MLB season as they appear to be the favorites in the American League Central.

And then there are the Cubs; unfortunately, that’s the team I root for.

Buried under the Cardinals, Reds and Brewers, this Cubs team will need a lot to go right and little to go wrong if they want to make some noise this season.

The reason for such mundane feelings all starts with the Cubs’ front office. Exactly what direction is Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts navigating his franchise towards? To compete or rebuild; that is the question many fans are asking Mr. Ricketts. He might be asking himself for all we know.

It appeared Ricketts’ blueprint for success centered on building within the farm system and collecting cash from revenue streams, all while spending those profits wisely in free-agency. But if this off-season was any indicator, it appears there’s been a change of plans…at least for now.

The acquisitions of Kerry Wood, Carlos Pena and the trade for Matt Garza are all puzzling moves. In fact, these moves should have immediately raised red flags to anyone who hums “Go Cubs, Go” to themselves.

The return of Kid K? A blatant public relations move to motivate fans to pull those Wood jerseys they had stashed away since he departed as a free agent almost three years ago. Woody is the modern day Mr. Cub, but it’s almost guaranteed he’ll end up on the disabled list more than once.

Pena? Yippee, another free-swinger to a lineup that takes hacks at almost anything. Signing Pena to a one-year, $10 million deal was a waste of cash and could have been stored for next season when almost $60 million comes off the payroll.

Garza? A phenomenal talent, but the timing of this trade doesn’t seem logical as they’re rebuilding, although the Cubs won’t admit that. Plus, it sounded like they gave up prospects who appeared to be on the fast-track toward the big leagues.

Despite all these questionable roster moves, it’s the Cubs marketing pitch for this season that should have fans confused.

When was the last time that the Cubs needed to pull together commercials advocating that their fans purchase season tickets? Isn’t it an oddity that the Cubs are asking you to buy tickets, when fans have been flocking to the Friendly Confines and smashing attendance records the past few seasons? An obligatory marketing move to some, but an enigma to those who realize they’re being played like a fiddle.

With all these puzzling moves, it appears the Cubs think their fans are baseball-stupid. I’d only hope that the majority of fans won’t fall for these smoke and mirrors transactions. Then again, the Cubs have had their fans suckered in for so long, they’ll end up at the ball park no matter what.