On New Year's Eve, almost exactly a year after Chicago last signed a free agent outfielder away from the Texas Rangers, the Cubs try again with Marlon Byrd.
The Cubs announced Thursday that they have agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal with Byrd.
Byrd's a nice complimentary player. As Danny Sisto will tell you, he'll play at least above average defense and will hit the ball fairly well. Last year in Texas, he hit 20 home runs and drove in 89 runs.
I have no issues with Byrd personally. To the contrary, I think this addition is perhaps the best value signing by Cubs GM Jim Hendry since Mark DeRosa, who many thought was grossly overpaid when the Cubs signed him away from the Rangers also.
What I do have a problem with, however, is Hendry's continued lack of an organizational philosophy. The 2010 Cubs are, again, beginning to look like a fantasy team more than a real-life, winning baseball club. Let me address my concerns individually.
Who hits leadoff?
In a perfect world, the Cubs would have a leadoff man that can run and steal bases.
But the days of Eric Young and Juan Pierre are gone, my friends.
The top base stealing threat on the Cubs roster is...Ryan Theriot? His 20 thefts barely qualify as a misdemeanor in Chicago, so nobody will fear the Cubs on the bases again next year.
If you can't run, then you better get on base. The Cubs do have a few guys that get on base enough to potentially leadoff, but none are what you might consider the typical leadoff man. Kosuke Fukudome had a .375 OBP, and Jeff Baker was at .393 OBP last year.
But both of these players had limited sample sizes because they were both platooned. There is no guarantee that either will be an everyday player in 2010, either.
I guess we could always turn to our favorite leadoff man: Alfonso Soriano...
Who bats second?
Again, in a perfect world, you want a guy here that will either get on base, or at least move a guy from first to second. This is the ideal spot for a guy like Fukudome, Baker, or Theriot.
But if one of them is leading off, what does that do for this spot? And because none of these guys are exceptionally fast, the opportunity for a double play is increased.
My point here is, without a quality leadoff man, the Cubs will essentially have the same type of player batting first and second next year. There isn't a player on the major league roster that is going to springboard the offense, much less give the heart of the order very many RBI opportunities.
Who bats fifth?
I would like to think that it's Byrd, who hit .283 with a .329 OBP and .808 OPS last year.
But where, then, do you put Soriano? Sixth?
The free-swinging Soriano needs to be protected as much as Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, because if you have nothing but Geovany Soto and whomever is left from the Theriot/Baker/Fukudome group after the top two spots in the order are filled, Soriano will make Mark Reynolds look like Ted Williams.
There's also the issue of justifying Soriano's salary if he hits in the bottom third of the lineup where, frankly, he belongs. But Hendry will be forced to justify that albatross until the Ricketts family fires him, and his inability to justify the length and annual expense of that deal might play a big role in that termination.
Can we call what we have a "bench"?
Koyie Hill, Mike Fontenot, Micah Hoffpauir, Sam Fuld, Tyler Colvin, and Andres Blanco. That's what we have to work with right now. Fuld, who had only 97 at bats last year, is the only guy on this list that hit over .252 last year.
Faith? Hope? Pass me a beer.
Last year the Cubs' great failure was a lack of depth. Yes, there were chemistry issues and the Milton Bradley experiment was an epic failure. But when Aramis Ramirez went down, there was nobody to replace him.
When Alfonso Soriano went down, there was nobody to replace him.
When Soto was only hitting a bong all season, Hill was exceptional defensively, but couldn't hit the ball off a tee.
By adding Byrd, the Cubs fill out an average lineup card of starting players. Average. But if Lee or Ramirez goes down again this year, what happens? I know we still have six weeks until pitchers and catchers report, and three full months for Hendry to get his act together, but we haven't even started talking about this team's pitching staff.
Like I said in my opening, I have nothing against the Byrd signing based on cost, value, and the person receiving the money. But with where the holes are on this club, he's just another guy Hendry hopes puts up numbers. He's a square peg, and the Cubs have a star-shaped hole in their roster.
Hendry will apparently keep trying to force pieces into that hole until either one of them fits, or someone else is sitting in the GM's office at Wrigley Field.
Hopefully for Hendry's sake, and ours, Byrd's the right guy.
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