The Cubs have begun to play better baseball, leaving the team in no hurry to trim salary from their payroll. Chicago's front office plans to give the team at least a few more weeks before deciding this season can't be salvaged. "It's not as complicated as people would think," general manager Jim Hendry said. "You want to get healthy. You want Marlon [Byrd] to come back [from the disabled list], and [Darwin] Barney, and let Mike manage a club that looks a little more like the one we broke camp with, and see how we play for a while." Despite losing seven of their last eight series, the Cubs have played better over the last 10 days. "Close doesn't count," Hendry said. "But the effort's there. We played the game better. And we've played better defense."