with Hoffpauir. And listen, I don’t want to turn it into a debate, especially since Hoffpauir should have at least a shot to prove me wrong.

Lou likes versatility; alot. Micah would be in a MUCH better position if he could play a bearable corner outfield, or maybe even a spot of third. I wasn’t impressed with his work out there last season in spot duty though, and I didn’t get the impression that Lou was either. That’s a big problem on a Piniella team.

The other thing is that I’m not sold on him giving the team quality at-bats off the bench, which is a bigger problem. Hoffpauir has some real holes in his swing, especially on the breaking balls in and down. Now if he was a fourth outfielder, maybe I let it go. But essentially coming off of the bench exclusively, he’s either up against a good situational lefty, or the late-inning guys, who usually can bring heat, and spot that slider.

Now, if I see him whacking those breaking pitches in Spring Training, I’ll let it go. Past that, I see him heading for Iowa.

But would he be willing to come off the bench, and for how much $?

and have him backup OF/1B and just use Miles for 3B

that destroys our ability to speculatively blame Lou Piniella for every personnel decision we don’t like. It was more fun when we knew all the answers and knew that Lou was the “bad guy” behind all our distress.

but things are beginning to be clear, I think. We’ll see.

No, I don’t hate Lou Piniella.

My expectation is that at least 2/3 of those moves will be downgrades. (I’m not including the backup C, because I don’t think backup C is anything to get worked up about.) We’ll see.

is a better move then Henry Blanco?

You’re daft.

Pie to Gaithright is an equal trade, maybe.

You said you’d rather have Cedeno over Aurilia, citing Aurilia’s tailing numbers.

RA’s numbers aren’t tailing. And you proposing Cedeno fill that spot doesn’t give us a lefty, either.

I assume our backup catcher will be lefty (though not much of a hitting threat), Miles is a switch hitter, Fontenot will see some bench time as well as Fukudome. Gathright bats lefty.

What makes you think we’re after another lefty bench bat? No one is saying Aurilia will start.

… when the Cubs were heavily right handed, they needed a power lefty bat off the bench to pinch hit. That was Ward.

Now that 7 of the 13 position players are either lefty or a switch hitter (I heard Hendry say that, haven’t confirmed it) the need for that lefty bat is likely equal to righty.

Off the bench, we are looking at RJ, Gathright, Miles, and Hoffpauir. So, clearly, Hoff is that guy. Getting someone to replace Hoff would create depth (in that Hoff could be a call up), get more experience, get more plate discipline, and play other positions that could fill the hole that DeRosa had left. It would also give Lou more options. I think this person could be righty or lefty…

He’s served his time figuratively and literally for past offenses and shouldn’t incur futher penalties for those transgressions. Meanwhile, if he can keep his health together, Milton could put up All-Star offensive numbers. Now I have a huge amount of respect for Mark DeRosa, but it’s highly unlikely he’ll put up his ’08 power numbers again. His versatility will be missed, but the Cubs felt they needed to shed his salary and his right-handed bat and so it goes.

I’m assuming you’re talking about the most recent incident, when Bradley was baited by an umpire and tore his knee. Or perhaps when he threatened a announcer who criticized him. Or when he threw a plastic bottle into the stands after it had been thrown at him (after a fielding error).

It’s not the first time a ball player has challenged someone to a fight/been overly emotional on the field. An epic George Brett clip comes to mind. In each of these incidents, Bradley has been contrite. His biggest hurdle mentally is not letting his ridiculous competitive level get in the way of poor judgement. Think a guy like Lou Pinella knows a thing or two about this?

Bradley led the AL in OPS last year. He’s left-handed. Most defensive sabermetrics rank him as a plus defender. If his knee has healed in 18 months, he could be an all-star.

These guys could be on other teams’ wishlists. Heck, they could have been on our wishlists.

Replacing DeRosa with Fontenot…sure you lose a lot of versatility. But you gain a better (according to defensive ratings) defender and I’m not sure we lose a lot on offense. You also gain bullets in the trade gun…something we didn’t have much of before.

Mid-year deals aren’t free agent acquisitions. They’re not about buying players. These acquisitions are trades, and we have to have someone to trade.

even though he never really got much going here.

I think Aurilia is fine being a bench player. Wiggington wants 500+ AB’s.

But it seems really really unlikely any way I look at it.

is what makes me think we’re getting a SP or LOOGY via trade. That trade involving Pie and Cedeno.

Now, since every team knows Pie and Cedeno are spare parts for us, not sure what we can get for them.

Higher one year salary? Yes… Multi-year? Doesn’t have to be.

Lou likes Fontenot and Fontenot hits lefthanded. Combine the fact that Lou wants more LH hitters in the lineup with the fact that a LH hitter generally gets 2/3-3/4 of the AB in a platoon role — Fontenot likely gets 400-450 AB and starts 110-120 games.