Do NOT Work For G4S Security Solutions

G4S is a private security contractor that is based out of the whole United States and many countries. The office I previously worked for was out of the Chicago office, located at 2235 Enterprise Drive, (Suite 3510) Westchester, Illinois. I recently quit my job and moved on to other adventures in the work force, but wanted to get my story out there. Never work for G4S security and here's why:

I started with G4S in January, 2013 and to say the least, it was not a good year and a half. I quit the company in September, 2014. I worked hard every day I came to work and even worked overtime on many occasions, to help them keep the account. But the personnel in the office did not even thank you for doing the work that keeps them employed. Because if there's no accounts for them to oversea, there's no work for them to do and with that being so, there's no job then. Here's what they may do to you:

G4S will mess up on your paycheck and not pay you the owed money. That would be okay if they paid you in a reasonable time. I had missing four hours of pay on a paycheck and we told the office about the claim and filed a payroll discrepancy. This is what my account manager said; "what checks are messed up, can you re-submit a payroll discrepancy. If you were not properly paid I will absolutely get this fixed." Four months later I still have not see that money.  Another case was a month later as they missed four more hours and that was overtime pay. My site supervisor sent my boss emails and phone calls to get that situated, but to no dice. We sent in a couple payroll discrepancies once again and to no more money on a check. Now a few months later, same as the first check, still no more money received.

Here's where the aggravation arises. After a year with the company, you get a paid vacation. Since I started in January 2013 and took my vacation in August, 2014, I'm obligated to a paid vacation if the proper paperwork was sent in. Which the proper paperwork was sent in twice before I took the vacation and once more when I returned. The paycheck my paid vacation was suppose to be on was 40 hours short and yes, they did not pay me for my vacation. My check was $350 short. That is still a lot of money for me. Yes, I still live with my parents and don't have many bills. But I was counting on that money for school. I had a $480 school payment that day and was counting on that money. Plus, I have a $500 car payment and a $100 car insurance. My account manager told my boss a week later after the hours were missing that they are aware of it and the hours will be added next week. Now we're a month in and still have not received my vacation check. The only way I was able to pay for my payments is that I saved up and had savings. But if someone is check to check, they count on that money and would become a major issue. Like my boss told me if it had happen to him; "I would be screwed and not be able to pay my rent." Luckily I was not in that situation and could manage it. However, that cannot happen and not ethical at all.

My last day of work at G4S and my second to last paycheck from them, I was missing another 8 hours. After this one, I just became fed up and didn't get why they were doing this. With all my paychecks screwed up, I had to get a lawyer to my money. As they do not listen to me nor my boss and refuse to talk to me. That was the only way to retrieve my money and the lawyer plans on getting the money owed to me. I was told they were getting tired of me asking for my money and could potentially fire me for harassment. I didn't get why, so I stopped asking as I needed my job at that time.

Here are a few other instances I have encountered working for them: 1) I was working overnight at a site and I told them I couldn't do it anymore as I was having panic attacks on the way home. They initially told me they had no sites opened. I kept emailing them and calling them, but to no answer or reply. The day I knew I was being transfer is when my replacement came in and I had to train him for two days. No warning whatsoever and no new site was given. I called that morning for a new site and they said none were open. I had to wait another month for a new site. 2) I was offered a new job and I of course I took it. My account manager told me on Friday at 11:00 a.m., if I can show up on Monday. I said I could not as I am not going to be in town. I said I'll come in Tuesday. He said what about Saturday at 7:00 a.m.? I said I couldn't as I had plans being less than 24 hours in advance. He told me I had to be there Saturday at 7:00 a.m. or I would be fired. That just goes to show you, they don't care about you whatsoever and only about their business and clients.

Those are the main ones that I dealt with, but here are a few of incidents my co-workers have dealt with: 1) G4S loves to lose paperwork and blame it on their employees for not sending the paperwork in. One of my co-workers was trying to get medical insurance and G4S lost the paperwork and they kept delaying it for months. They finally got back to her and said for her to re-file the paperwork. But of course it was after the Obama Care deadline and that hurts her but saves G4S money. My co-worker said that to them and they blamed her, saying they wouldn't do anything about her claim and help her. They literally made one of their employees go into tears and didn't care. She kept calling them and they kept ignoring her calls and she was told if she went to the office about this, Human Resources would have terminated her on the spot. How can they do that when she's trying to better her life? 2) Another one of my co-workers was sexually harassed at work and the guy that said inappropriate gestures to her was not even punished. The co-worker at my site was third shift and making $11 an hour. G4S removed him from the site and like rewarded him for doing so. Now he works 2nd shift, doing a lot less work and making $12:50 an hour. G4S supposedly did not believe her and the other girl that was told the gestures. Here's the kicker, he was fired from 3 other jobs for sexual harassment. Maybe that's a clue, but they are desperate for workers and don't care.

These are just the instances I heard and what I went through. But all these cases and more do happen all the time through the company and they need to stop. It is bad business and not ethical one bit. Many people that go through a problem with them or has missed hours accounted for, just let's the problems go. That's what they want you to do as it benefits their company and they save or make money.

If the office does see this, they will know who wrote it and I'm perfectly fine with that. They can't do anything to me as I'm writing in truth and don't work for them anymore. The problems from the office comes down from the GM of the branch, to the account managers and to human resources. No one should be trusted and they will back-stab you in a heart beat to better them self and to save the company money:

I know I will not be making out in my owed money with taxes deducted and the lawyer fees. But that's not my case for writing this article. I want to be heard and make sure people are not being taken advantage of by G4S or any company for that matter.  If you have a problem with a company, speak up because if you don't, the problem will never be fixed if you don't. Member you as an employee work for the company and you help them make money. With that said, you should be treated right and paid for the job you do!

If you do not want to go through my problems or my co-workers problems, DO NOT WORK FOR G4S SECURITY SOLUTIONS!!

An company would invest in stocks because the potential win is huge. If the companies stock rises, the companies payday would be huge. Since companies have more money and could put more money in the stock. If the companies stock does rise and get a good payday, the money you win could go into the company and to expand the company. By expanding the company, you could make more money with improvements and new ways. That is how a company rises and and attracts more consumers. With a company investing in debt securities, the bonds they received are added up in interests and the bonds that were initially 100 dollars are now a lot higher with interests. By having bonds, the company will have more money in the pocket and more money in the bank. In which, can go a lot further into the companies ways. By having stockholders, you have more investors that give you money to the company to expand the company. Plus, more opinions to make the company better and new ways to improve. But if the company does not do good, depending on the deal, you could be out a lot of money and would have to pay the stockholders back. That would be money out of the pocket you do not have. It is not always bad to have binds because after years, the bonds turn into a lot more money and more money given to you, which is nice. However, having bonds is like a waiting game. Since you cannot cash bonds for years, that is the downfall for investing into bonds or another name, debt securities. 

1) http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/journals.htm?articleid=17019404

This article shows how young consumers think and their mindset to buying. Young consumers are the most one's to watch out there.

2) http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/227730832

When coming the buying, consumers don't think of the consequences. But there are always consequences and this shows.

When discussing consumer psychology, you try to get into the consumers head. In reality, the business owners play a mind game on the consumers for the consumers to lose money and him to gain money on their cost. As a business owner you need to dissect the area of where you are planning to put your business and to get into the consumers head. So, you can tell what people go for and what will make you money. For instance, McDonald's and Subway are popular fast food places and do make money. When trying to put out a popular place like McDonald's and/or Subway , you have to look at the income of the people that live in the area, population and families. The more people with a higher incomes will only make you have more money in your pocket and a better opportunity to expand your place of business.

To start off with, business owners have to figure out who their consumers are as Kendra Cherry of "The Psychology of Consumer Behavior" mentions. When evaluating a business, consumer psychologists look at many areas to see what gits right, such as how consumers chose products, services and products, the thought process behind thoughts and emotions behind consumer decisions, how environmental variables such as family, friends, media influence busying, what motivates people to buy that particular product over another product, how personal factors influence people to buy that product, and finally what can be done to reach consumers about that particular product. (Cherry, Kendra) If you were ever to open your own business, those are the six steps you should take deep detailed on. If you go through all six steps and all comes up clean, that your business will sell, then go right ahead and open the business. Of course, if you have the money. But like many entrepreneurs, they do not know when to give up and if they see not business selling or the six steps did not come up clean, they will keep the business up and running, losing more and more money each day. Researching is huge to being a consumer psychologist as you have to do your due diligence on your idea. Under researching also includes marketing. Marketing can be very expensive, but can find cheaper ways out of it. The expensive route is going commercials and ads in magazines or newspapers. If you want to go the cheap route, you can have sales, promotions or print out flyers and hand it out to your demographic area. In Cracking the Code of Consumer Psychology by Dorie Clark, Clark brings up a good point of business owners take easy routes out and do not do their due diligence on their business to see how it will fare in the demographic area. Clark also brings up a quote by the famous Steve Jobs; "people do not know what they want until you show them the service or product." That is a great quote by Mr. Jobs as that is 100% true. That is where your marketing will come in handy and have to do a great job. If you have great marketing, there will be no turning back and your business will have complete success.

Lastly, consumer psychology and marketing strategies are pretty similar. But like most definitions, both do have their differences.  Consumer psychology is the beginning process of research. As that means, doing research to see if that business will make the business owner money. Going back to those six steps above. If you go through the six steps and you say; "yes, I know my business will sell and the demographic area is perfect." When you say that to yourself, you can then move onto the marketing strategies Marketing strategies is just to see what ways you can put your topic on top and to get your product or service out there. Like I mentioned above, newspaper, ads, flyers or words of the mouth. Marketing is a lot of work but a process you have to do to make more money and to have a happy stress free life.

At the end of it all, opening a  business is a lot of work but if you nail all the steps, you will be a lot more happy than working a full-time job all the time looking up to another boss. The downfall is your business could fail and lose oout on money, but if you are confidence, that is a gamble worth taking.

http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/a/consumer-psychology.htm

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2013/08/20/cracking-the-code-of-consumer-psychology/

Aiden

Let me first off saying, I would much rather do this in person but we don't see us much as in where we can talk. I hate it a lot and want to have conversations with you. You are a very beautiful and hard-working girl, plus I can tell how sweet you really are. It's not to see that in you and why I like you so much. I would like to get to know each other better and maybe hope for you to give a chance to take you out on a date. I guarantee you will not regret the decision. I would do anything for you and help you anyway I can. I'm very nice and you will be the first thought that comes to my mind 24/7. I would make time for you anytime and change my schedule if I have to so we can hangout. Whatever your schedule has, I'll coordinate out schedules together so we can go out. A main reason I still like to go to work is to see your beautiful self come in. Just seeing you makes my day. I don't know if you know the song, but "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins feels like the situation and makes me thing. I would have the link to click to, but since it's a letter, it's kinda hard to, lol. Oh what technology has done to us, haha. I would do anything to have you in my life, seriously! You can either talk to me about this in person - I can stay later to what you get off or you can text me still at 815-272-1135 at anytime! :)

Chris

The instrument that I believe is the best to use in an survey. Conducting a survey can get a vast majority of all demographics and best results possible. Going with the lack of production with employees. You can have the survey on all co workers and see how they feel about one another. A survey regulated around what all the co workers think will give good results and see how they feel about one another. Working at McDoanld's for four and a half years saw that and how other co workers will back stab you in a heart beat to get one step ahead of you. Places in retail or the food industry and worker by younger adults and drama is huge when it comes to it. With drama being in the work place, production is down and the best service will not be there at that given time. Also, when conducting the survey you should ask the customers as well. In reality, customers are whom make up your business and opinions are valid to the point of knowing there thought. The customer you survey would have to be ones that have come back and new ones to see what they all think. It doesn't hurt on how much information you get out of the survey unless the demographics, genders and races are not a like. The best sampling to look at and use when conducting a business is the convenience sampling. An survey is not expensive and cheap. Cheap is exactly what convenience sampling is. Saving money these days is all that matters and by saving money, you can work on more better stuff that means a lot more. If you were looking for a method, stick with the convenience method and you'll be just fine and will get all the results you need to know. When conducting a business research, use the survey instrument and the convenience method. 

Collecting data is not a hard task but have to be very detailed. Collecting data can be fun at times. It is fun to see what comes out of the date that you never knew before. Especially in a survey as results are mixed and get to see people's different views on each and every subject. For example Family Feud and every question varies in different subjects and taken from as many people in all different areas and varies from all kinds of people. Family Feud is the best example to relating to this week and how surveys generally work. Another good technique is an interview. When you want to get to the bottom line of an answers, go the interview route. Going with an interview, you can ask the question you want to know and not go through all the back chains of getting the same answer. When interviewing a professional athlete, you can just ask him and how he feels and what is going on with his career and if he heard anything about a call-up in the minors. Instead of being a fan or in the media guessing when he will get a call-up. That usually does not work too well and the guessing is never right. The front office of whom does the call ups doesn't do what we want to get done. Primary research is research you conduct and are the one that compiled all the information on your own while secondary research is research other researchers found out and you just took their information down. Like looking up research, that would be secondary research. Random Sampling is an sample of random stuff that you don't know at first. Like picking names out of a hat with eyes closed.  

Cubs

One of the franchises I truly admire and been a fan of for my whole entire life is the Chicago Cubs. As we all know, the Cubs haven't won a world series since 1908 (105 years). But it hasn't been without trying. The Cubs have just been filled with bad luck and bad atmospheres. If you don't recall, the black cat running on the field, the Billy goat being brought to the game and the Steve Bartman incident. It's not like the Cubs have had bad players through the 105 years,the Cubs have actually a lot of good players, here's to name a few ... Ron Santo (RIP), Ryne Sandberg, Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Shawon Dunston, Andre Dawson, Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux. So, as you can see, the Cubs have had greats in their franchise. Even though the Cubs haven't won in forever, you still can't go wrong with them. I will never change from being a Cubs fan ever. Just NO! When the Chicago White Sox won the world series in 2005, I didn't even have the thought of changing over teams. Manly because I'm a die heart Cubs fan and I can't stand the White Sox. I know many people did switch over in the bandwagon and I was never ever going to be a trader.

                Well with the Cubs trying to find a new foundation, their strategy has completely changed. The Jim Hendry era finally ended almost 2 years ago and the Tom Ricketts era started a little bit before then.

                Before then, the Cubs were owned by the Chicago Tribune Company. At that time, the Cubs were trying to win by spending, spending and spending and trading away all prospects. That let to back-to-back sweeps in the 1st round of the playoffs. So, that didn't work out and a change was in need. Tom Ricketts decided to fire Jim Hendry in August of 2011 and revamp the whole front office. Mr. Ricketts "traded" for Theo Epstein of the Boston Red Sox and was signed to a 5-year contract worth around 18 million. Epstein's title with the Cubs is President of Baseball Operations. The Cubs sent relief pitcher Chris Carpenter and a low-tier prospect back to Boston. Crane Kenney, of whom was the original President of Baseball Operations stayed in the organization and switched over to President of Business Operations. Kenney is not a baseball guy and the move to the business side was much needed. When Epstein came over, he stole buddies Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod from the San Diego Padres. All of them were in Boston together. Epstein, Hoyer and McLeod were the big names brought over. However, Epstein brought in a dynasty front office when he came over. Epstein's plan was to build up scouting and build from within. And so the team can be a dynasty for years to come with all young players on the team. Epstein's only job is not just about the players its self, but he fires/hires the coaches and front office. Epstein is the final decision maker in most cases, but Hoyer is the General Manager and he more deals with the personnel on the field. Also, if money is involved - player contracts or if the Cubs have to eat money on a contract - Chairman Tom Ricketts will usually have the final word on that matter since it's his money in play.

                Since Theo and Co. has taken over the Cubs, the team has not looked great. In the 1st year under the new management, the Cubs lost 101 games. So far this year (2013), the Cubs have won of the worse records in baseball and aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Yes, the Cubs have to put players on the field and want to win because losing is not fun. However, that's not Epstein's main focus and his main focus is to build a foundation below. It's the Cubs time to go through the rebuilding phase and there will be hard times for a few more years, maybe more. Every team has to go through a rebuilding phase. Going through the rebuilding process is always a gamble as you can't always count on prospects - players in the minors. Players in the minors could have the best stats, get the call to the majors and completely leave a goose egg. Meaning the player was not the players the team though out to be. As he will be labeled a failed prospect. So, yes rebuilding is always a gamble, but if your plan works out, you will have a good team for a while.

                Now to look at the current state of the Cubs and what moves could be ahead of them. The Cubs are reportedly already open for business and ready to make deals (trades). The trade deadline is a month away (July 31st), so moves are on the way soon. If I was the General Manager of the Cubs, here are moves I would make or at least try to make:

                The Cubs do have trade chips and there will be trades made. Trade candidates consist of SP Matt Garza, SP Scott Feldman, SP/RP Carlos Villanueva, 3B Luis Valbuena, INF Cody Ransom, OF Nate Schierholtz, OF Scott Hairston, OF Alfonso Soriano, OF David DeJesus, RP Kevin Gregg and RP James Russell. Here's a more in-depth look at each player and there trade possibility:

SP Matt Garza: A Matt Garza trade is overdue and a trade would have been  made last year if he didn't injured his throwing arm. Garza was later shut down for the rest of the season and just returned about a month ago. As of late, Garza has been pitching great baseball and looks to be dealt soon. From reports, Garza will be the 1st big player traded this year. At first, I thought signing Garza to a team-friendly contract is the way to go. However, I don't think the same anymore. Garza pitched on Thursday and looked great in front of many scouts. At least 5 teams were in attendance at Garza's start. The Cubs will likely trade Garza as they will get a good offer for him, the Texas Rangers are the favorites. It's all a matter of time when Garza will be in fact traded.

SP Scott Feldman: Feldman was a signee in the off-season in preparation if he pitches great, he will be dealt in-season. Feldman has looked good all season and one of the surprises of the season. The Cubs signed Feldman to a 1-year contract in the off-season. Feldman will be traded, it's just a matter of when. In Feldman's last start, there was 12 teams scouting his start. There is a lot of interest in Feldman and why it's a guarantee he'll be traded.

SP/RP Carlos Villanueva: Villanueva would have been traded for sure if he was still starting. Since he's not starting anymore, he most likely won't be traded. Since his value dropped from the transition to the bullpen. When both or just one of Garza or Feldman is traded, Villanueva is most likely going back to the starting rotation. I see the Cubs keeping him until next year's trade deadline when he'll stay in the rotation the whole time.

3B Luis Valbuena: Valbuena is not your typical starting 3B, but he's come into his own. He has a good OBP and a good glove. He's not even hitting too bad this year either. Valbuena is a good stopgap 3B until a young prospect is ready. Manly you keep him because he's cheap and cost controllable. I'll be shocked if Valbuena is gone by the end of the season.

OF Nate Schierholtz: I'm 50/50 sold on if Schierholtz will be traded. He's a cheap body who has performed well. Plus he's a great defender and can play RF at Wrigley. There will be interest in Schierholtz at the deadline. If the Cubs can get value for Schierholtz, he will be traded, but if not, he will stay. If he does stay with the Cubs throughout the season, he's a possible re-signing in the off-season.

OF Scott Hairston: I'll be very shocked if Hairston is moved. He hasn't looked good all season and value is down. Plus, Hairston still has a year left on his contract. If the Cubs do move Hairston, they will get no significant return. Also, there are not many teams interested in him if any at all.

OF Alfonso Soriano: It seems like this is a yearly discussion ... will Soriano be traded or will he not? Soriano still has a year left on his contract after this year. He's owed 18 million next year and around 12 million this year. The Cubs will eat most of Soriano's contract if the Cubs can get value back for him. Soriano hasn't looked bad this season and was great last season. There will be interest in Soriano, it just depends on how much the other team is willing to offer for his service.

OF David DeJesus: I would have said DeJesus would have been traded a month ago. Since he's having a good season, he's a good defender, smart baseball guy and is a great clubhouse guy. But since DeJesus is out with a bummed shoulder , he won't go anywhere before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. However, he could be traded at the waiver deadline if a team puts in a claim for him and isn't blocked.

RP Kevin Gregg: The Cubs signed Gregg to a minor-league deal right after this season began. He has been very sharp, better in his 2nd stint with the Cubs over his 1st stint. Gregg will be traded and most likely right around the deadline. Teams have expressed interest in Gregg (ex. Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies) and why he will be traded, teams are always looking for bullpen help.

RP James Russell: I think there's a very slim chance Russell will be traded, but teams will call on Russell. The Cubs need relief pitching badly, so why trade a valuable young relief pitcher? That makes no sense and why he won't be traded. Especially since he's a RP and teams don't offer big value for a RP.

                Players the Cubs will not trade at any point of this season are Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Jeff Samardzija, Travis Wood, Edwin Jackson, Darwin Barney and Welington Castillo.

                Trading is one way the Cubs build a foundation below in the minors. Other ways the Cubs are doing so is by the player draft and International free agency.

                Since the Cubs have not been great in the recent years, they have had top picks in the draft. 3 years ago, the Cubs had a top 10 pick and went with high school shortstop Javier Baez. He's now playing for High-A Daytona Cubs and is the Cubs number 1 prospect. Baez started the season off very slow, but has picked it up as of late. Baez actually hit 4 home runs this year in a game for Daytona Cubs. The 4 home runs did come in High-A; however, it's still an accomplishment of its own. As of right now, the Cubs have a future shortstop in Starlin Castro and if/when Baez does make the majors, someone will have to be moved. There has been talk that Baez will move to 3B or Castro will move to 2nd. But that's all speculation right now and the move will be made when the time comes. In last year's draft, the Cubs selected another high school player and that was OF Albert Almora. Almora miss the beginning of this season with a broken hand. Almora is back in action and started off very well, hitting everything in his path. Since the fast start, Almora has slowed down a lot and is in a slump. He's currently playing for Low-A Kane County Cougars. Almora is currently the Cubs number 3 prospect. By season's end, Baez will be moved up to Double-A Tennessee Smokies and Almora will be moved up to High-A Daytona Cubs. The MLB just had this year's player draft on June 6th and the Cubs had the number 2 overall pick. The Cubs need pitching in the minors more than anything and many believed that's the way they would have gone. However, the Cubs went with 3B Kris Bryant. Bryant could have gone number 1 overall and is highly rated. He's listed as a 3B, but many people think he'll move to the outfield. The Cubs have yet to signed Bryant and reports just came out they both sides aren't close to a deal. But don't worry, the Cubs will sign Bryant and will most likely be a deadline deal. The Cubs wouldn't draft Bryant, if there was a chance he wasn't going to sign. When the Cubs do sign Bryant, he'll be in the Cubs top 5 prospect list. A matter of fact, the Cubs signed 9 of their top 10 prospects - the only player to not sign is Bryant in the top 10 picks. Drafting is a big part of the Cubs way now and is taken very serious.

                Another way the Cubs are making noise is from International free agency and overseas. The Cubs are in every country, trying to find the best prospect that could turn heads. The Cubs are known to be in Cuba and are well-respected. The Cubs signed Jorge Soler to a 9-year deal worth 30 million last summer and he's said to be a 5-tool prospect. He has a lot of pop, good defender and knows how to play the game. Many teams were interested in Soler, but he eventually picked the Cubs. He's currently playing for High-A Daytona Cubs, but it looks like he's done for the season with a stress fracture. He's currently the Cubs number 3 prospect, but looks like he will be the real deal. Cub fans can't wait until we see him at Wrigley. The Cubs have signed other Cuban Defectors, but Soler was the big name and some others have not worked out (Conception). The Cubs also seem to be on every player as well, if they sign the player or not. The Cubs were in on Yu Darvish (finish in top 3), but the Texas Rangers won the big by a long shot. The Cubs have been finishing in the top 3 of a lot of the big time players coming over to the USA (Puig, Cespedes). Tom Ricketts is willing to give Epstein all the money he wants to go after all the top International players. Soler has been the only big one the Cubs have signed, but there will be more on the way. Starlin Castro signed with the Cubs overseas when he was a teenager (16) and looked how that has worked out so far. There have also been smaller names that are opening eyes in the minors as well.

                If you are a big Cub fan, you would know the Cubs lack pitching in the minors. And why most of the players the Cubs focus in the draft is pitching. The Cubs may have a good pitcher in the making and that is Pierce Johnson, but he's still far away from the majors. When the Cubs do compete, they will most likely have to acquire a big-time pitcher as there are no top free agents out there. The pitcher will likely be the ace to go along with Samardzija, Jackson, Wood and possibly Johnson depending on timeframe. The Cubs will likely have to trade prospects for one and with the Cubs having a lot of top bats in the minors, they may be able to pull off a trade. David Price of the Tampa By Rays will be available and the Cubs are already linked to him. Price is just entering his prime and a player Epstein would be willing to add. Since he's a top pitcher in the league and has won the CY, he will cost and it all depends on if the Cubs would be willing to do so. I would only trade 1 of the top 3 prospects for Price and I would go with Baez. The other 2 seem to have a better chance to succeed (Almora, Soler). It would be more than Baez of course, but he will be the main piece going back to Tampa. That seems to be the plan of how the Cubs will land a top flight starter. However, that's still to be determine and if that Cubs will in fact pull off a trade like that.

                When the Cubs do sign Bryant, the Cubs are expected to finally have a top farm system. One analyst has the Cubs number 2 behind only the Minnesota Twins. If it's not number 2, they are in the top 5 of pretty much all of the other analysts ranking. That's a huge accomplishment for Theo and Co. because when the new front office came over, the Cubs were in the bottom of the pack of the minors.  Now if it all pans out and the Cubs top prospects do perform well, watch out and the Cubs will be on to their 1st world series champion since 1908. Let the riot in Chicago begin. That will be my happiest day of my life and I'll for sure be downtown right away!

                I know the assignment said, if you were GM what moves would you make. However, that's too difficult to predict as you don't know his value, market, how the prospects are rated on scouting reports and what players are available and not available. I've been writing Cub articles since I was 16 on a blog and I have done that before, but was too hard to predict. So, that's why I went this direction and what moves could be ahead of them and the chance from the Jim Hendry era to the Theo Epstein era.

Prediction: The Cubs will be competitive and have a chance to win the world series in 2015 and see a huge improvement in 2014!