Nevin For JHJ?

What? While the Cubs did need a guy who could play first base, sort of, why did they trade away the one second baseman of the three who could also play outfield? Neifi and Womack are infielders only, and Nevin isn't going to play any outfield, although they seem to think they'll throw him out there (scary), so why handcuff the team further? OK, Phil Nevin has a better track record than Jerry Hairston, Jr., for sure, but when is he going to play?

And what's with Nevin's $10.3 million salary!! Seriously, what a joke. So the Cubs take on a big contract, to fill a position they don't really need, especially in a few weeks when Derrek Lee comes back. Unreal.

To make this worse, I see them platooning him with Walker, and taking AB's from Todd and giving them to Neifi or Womack. This is not going to help the team. Sure, Phil's hit nine homers. Great. He's also batting .216 and will lead the Cubs with his 39 K's on the young season. He has walked 21 times as well, which is more than anyone except for Walker, bringing his OBP up to .307, so that helps. Unfortunately, in his last 10 games, he's been struggling, hitting .132/.175/.289 with 11 K and only 2 BB. Great. Do the Cubs really need this guy?

In a word, no. Why waste millions of more dollars to pay for a semi-decent player they need for three weeks and then is going to be a bench warmer? Insane. Ignorant. Placating. Foolish.

Oh well, what else have we come to expect?

Are they thinking he can catch? Or play third? Who knows. All I know is this is too little, too late. It's a "look Mom, I'm trying my best!" sort of move.

Oh yeah, there's that ticket sales thing again.

I think I'm going to be sick.

OK, if they start Phil at first and Todd at second, and bat an order of:

1. Pierre
2. Murton
3. Walker
4. Barrett
5. Ramirez
6. Jacque
7. Nevin
8. Cedeno

Maybe I could live with that. But Dusty's not going to use the OBP-guy Murton at the two slot, even though he should. And Barrett's going to be out soon. So, when that happens, perhaps it'll look like this:

1. Pierre
2. Cedeno
3. Walker
4. Ramirez
5. Jacque
6. Nevin
7. Murton
8. Blanco

Not so good, (although I'd take Nevin's bat over JHJ's or Neifi's) and, to make matters worse, they only need this for the next three to four weeks.

Again, I ask, why, why, why?

When a lefty pitches, are they going to bench Walker and play Neifi at 2nd and Phil at 1st? I'm really afraid that's going to happen. Great, that's about half of the time. This trade is going to take the best bat (currently) out of the lineup (Todd's .310/.383/.427) and replace it with Nevin's (.216/.307/.415). Not helpful and at a cost of millions of dollars.

Also, since Neifi is a switch-"hitter" (hard to call .206/.228/.268 hitting), and Tony and Todd are lefties, Capt. Toothpick will likely put his little buddy Perez out there vs. the southpaws, even though he's only hitting .190 against them, 21 points lower than he hits righties, and 54 points lower than Walker hits the lefthanders. Add to all of this that Tony likely gets the shaft. So, not only will Walker get less AB's, but Neifi will get more and Womack, who's hot, will basically be out of the picture, except for a defensive replacement late in games (again, removing Walk's bat from the lineup).

Essentially, it costs more, it won't help the team, and is a move only made by desperate men who don't know any better.

Welcome to the Northside of Chicago.

UPDATE: OOPS. I'm an idiot.



The Cubs are only going to pay about $375 thousand of the deal (taking into account the salary gained by trading JHJ and $4.5 mil in cash the Rangers are sending over). Guess I should have taken my medication this morning. The deal looks much better now that I know all the facts. The point about keeping Walker's bat in the lineup still stands. We'll see how this all plays out.

I'll try and stay calm until then (like that'll happen).

Later.