in a year where our backup C hit nearly as well as our All-Star RF, we also saw a rookie of the year campaign from Geovany Soto, a step backwards from Derrek Lee, a breakout from Mike Fontenot, a remarkable all-OBP, no-SLG performance from Ryan Theriot, a lot more patience from Aramis Ramirez, the revival of Jim Edmonds, and the career year of Mark DeRosa.  Who was the season's hitter MVP?  Can you guess who was least likely to make an out in 2008?

For players with over 100 Plate Appearances (PA) as a Cub in 2008, Runs per PA = R%, Runs Batted In per PA = RBI%, Outs made (At bats-Hits+Caught Stealings+Sacrifices+Double Plays) per PA = Outs%

H. Blanco .292/.320/.392, R% 11.7%, RBI% 9.4%, Outs% 71.1%

D. Ward .216/.319/.402, R% 6.7%, RBI% 14.3%, Outs% 69.7%

D. Lee .291/.361/.462, R% 13.3%, RBI% 12.9%, Outs% 67.5%

R. Cedeno .269/.326/.352, R% 15.3%, RBI% 11.9%, Outs% 67.4%

A. Soriano .280/.344/.532, R% 15.1%, RBI% 14.9%, Outs% 66.8%

R. Johnson .303/.353/.420, R% 13.9%, RBI% 13.4%, Outs% 65.0%

K. Fukudome .257/.358/.379, R% 13.4%, RBI% 9.8%, Outs% 64.9%

G. Soto .285/.364/.504, R% 11.7%, RBI% 15.3%, Outs% 64.7%

J. Edmonds .256/.369/.568, R% 15.8%, RBI% 16.4%, Outs% 64.4%

R. Theriot .307/.384/.359, R% 12.9%, RBI% 5.7%, Outs% 64.0%

A. Ramirez .289/.380/.518, R% 15.0%, RBI% 17.2%, Outs% 63.9%

M. DeRosa .285/.374/.481, R% 17.5%, RBI% 14.7%, Outs% 63.2%

M. Fontenot .305/.391/.514, R% 14.8%, RBI% 14.1%, Outs% 59.9%

Some reflections on the regular season performances:

Derrek Lee had a bad year by his own standards.  Comparing it to his FL years doesn't cut it because he hit in one of the hardest ballparks to hit.  He has had two years like this before, though - 2001 & 2006.  Each year was followsed by excellent years.  He's 33 now and it's going to be a tough question for the Cubs about whether or not to bet on another excellent bounce-back year, or to consider trading Lee in a market where a lot of people are hoping to buy 1B.

Mike Fontenot was Chase Utley.  He had a little higher OBP and a little lower SLG in about half of Utley's plate appearances.  Sure, you're right to question Fontenot's ability to do it on an everyday basis, but when the Cubs look (again) to add a power left-handed bat, you have to wonder if that bat isn't already here.  Question for BCB - which 2B would you expect to hit better in 2009 - Fontenot, DeRosa, or Theriot?

For all the talk about DeRosa having a career year (which it probably was), it was not batting average driven like most career years.  DeRosa's walks are up now three years in a row, since he became a regular.  Sure, DeRosa isn't likely to have as much power next year, but DeRosa is also not likely to create a lot of Outs and that makes him part of the answer.

This is an Absolute and Utter MYTH:  "Ryan Theriot is an igniter, a sparkplug, a guy who gets the offense going."  The reality is that only Geovany Soto had a lower R% (hitting much lower in the lineup) among the regulars and the only thing smaller and uglier than Theriot's RBI% is his soul patch.  Look.  Theriot got on base, and that shouldn't be minimized.  He was the 4th least likely to make an out.  That's an achievement.  But he wasn't a sparkplug.  All too often, with his GIDPs and CSs, he was the opposite of a sparkplug.

Aramis Ramirez added patience this year to his game.  His AVG was down a bit, but AVG is going to fluxuate.  If he can keep this new patience while watching his AVG bounce back, he may yet have that MVP year.

Ronny Cedeno had a decent year all things considered.  His splits continue to be backwards, with him hitting right handers and flailing at left handers.  Lou played him mostly against left handers.

Geovany Soto is the bright face of a Cubs future, the unexpected fruit of the farm system which could extend the Cubs playoff window despite the backloaded contracts of other veterans.  On the other hand, it will be a huge tragedy if Soto's Cub career is cut short precisely because of those contracts taking hikes just as Soto's cheap years come to an end.  Something to keep in mind as we watch for who the new owner is.

Jim Edmonds was a huge success for the Cubs, but you can't ignore that he was an even bigger flop for the Padres.  The totality of his season draws a pretty steady line down for the past three years.  Deciding whether or not to re-sign Edmonds will be something the Cubs will have to think long and hard about.