On Friday morning, the Chicago White Sox continued moving their roster pieces around before free agency begins by buying out right fielder Jermaine Dye .
Should Chicago's other team consider adding the 2005 World Series MVP?
The Cubs are in an awkward situation with their outfield right now. They have Kosuke Fukduome, and Alfonso Soriano likely to be back, and Milton Bradley under contract but on the chopping block.
The Cubs are also under new ownership, and the Ricketts family's vision for the team has not been made public yet. Sure, they had a press conference and said they wanted to win a World Series, but it doesn't sound like they're going to let GM Jim Hendry go Cashman-Crazy this winter, and jack the Cubs payroll up to $200 million.
So the Cubs need to figure out what to do with the $21 million they owe Bradley over the next two years, find a fifth starter to ideally replace Rich Harden (unless it's Harden himself), and find someone to eat a few innings early in the season while the team's lone All Star, Ted Lilly, is recovering from the arthroscopic shoulder surgery he had on Tuesday.
And, from reports, it sounds like Hendry has to do all of this on a minimal budget increase.
Good luck!
Thankfully for Hendry, lots of teams are more active in the trade market in an attempt to avoid arbitration with young players. On Friday morning, the Cubs' division rival Milwaukee Brewers traded JJ Hardy to Minnesota for speedy outfielder Carlos Gomez. The Boston Red Sox made a trade for Florida outfielder Jeremy Hermida on Thursday.
There are also a lot of teams opting to waive players this year, rather than go through arbitration. Thanks to blockbuster arbitration winnings from players like Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder, arbitration has become a four-letter word to most general managers.
Which is why Harden's return is in question.
But in the Cubs outfield, there's probably going to be a hole in either right, or center that needs to be filled. Fukudome will play one of the two, depending on what the Cubs do to remedy the hole.
Should that remedy be Dye?
Dye is, in many ways, the anti-Bradley. He's never been a strong on-base percentage guy (.338 career OBP), but has hit for considerably more power than Bradley, and is more of a true middle-of-the-order run producer.
Oh, and teammates respect Dye as a leader. Again, the anti-Bradley.
Dye will turn 36 in January, and is coming off a contract that paid him $11.5 million in 2009. The question for a player with diminishing skills, at Dye's age, in this economy, is who will offer him how much, and for how long.
There are a number of solid outfielders on the free agent market this winter. Bobby Abreu signed a two-year extension worth $19 million in Anaheim on Thursday, so he isn't part of that list. But Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Hideki Matsui, and Vladimir Guerrero headline a list that also has names like Mike Cameron, Reed Johnson, and Garret Anderson on it.
Dye, coming off a .250 average, and only 81 runs batted in, isn't going to be considered a top-tier outfielder on this winter's market.
There are some teams that will be looking to add an outfielder. If St. Louis cannot keep Holliday, they might have interest in a solid veteran like Dye on a short term contract. San Francisco is always looking for a good bat as well.
But how much money, and for how long, are these teams willing to offer Dye? And could the Cubs match their offers to keep him in Chicago?
The other consideration for the Cubs is the relative readiness of prospect Tyler Colvin to step into the lineup at Wrigley Field. Colvin saw some action in center field in September, and played fairly well. At some point, he should at least get a chance to win the every day center field job for the Cubs.
Because of his age, Dye wouldn't have issues missing games on occassion, giving manager Lou Piniella the flexibility to see what Colvin's got in 2010. Colvin bats left handed, as does Fukudome, so there could be days that Piniella plays the two together, and other days when Fukudome would slide to center, and Dye would play right.
The bonus to adding Dye would be his leadership in the clubhouse. If he would take a one, or two-year deal for around $6 million per, I would have no problem with the Cubs adding Dye to the mix.
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