we need to have contingency plans for injuries that we didn’t have last year. Tracy seems like a viable candidate for multiple positions and would be worth a risk with his bat.

…and this could be a nice fit, as long as Free Spendin Jim doesnt overpay him.

Covers alot of positions and has a decent glove and bat, so he can be a spare part. Now if we accept that role, we’ve got a marriage made in heaven

Sign him to a cheap deal with a bunch of incentives. Send Miles anywhere as quickly as possible, he is the absolute worst Cub hitter(non pitcher) I have ever seen in my 40+ years of watching the Cubs, period, no debate.

Being familiar with Chad Tracy after having watched him closely over the last few years (due to having owned him in my Strat-O-Matic league), I don’t think the Cubs need him, even as a role player off the bench

The knocks on CT are:
He’s perpetually injured.
His defense and range at 3b make Jake Fox look like Brooks Robinson.
His range in the corner outfield spots is even worse than his range at 3b.
His bat is one dimensional.

He probably thinks he can still be a full-time player and wouldn’t do well sitting on the bench. (Granted, I don’t know this for certain, but inasmuch as he is about to be 30 and in the prime of his producing years, I don’t think he will be thrilled pinch hitting three times a week and playing as the occassional corner guy.)

Hoffpauir and Fox can do the same job as Tracy at a 10th of the cost. There are probably a half dozen minor league free agents who could do the same. Don’t waste the money.

He would appear to be a solid bench, role player, who hits from the left side. Almost sounds like he would be to good of a fit. Of course Jimbo had that intention when Miles was signed.

I would worry about his injuries. Hopefully limited playing time would take care of it. I would be leery of adding another injury prone, 30-something player who had a few good years a couple of seasons ago.

I agree he is a better option at this point than Micah. I just hope JH doesn’t get in a bidding war with himself and overpay for a marginal player like he has in the past.

of Al Yellon. You constantly poo-poo players that continue to be solid, annually playing on playoff teams — Damon, Abreu, Swisher, Hudson, etc. — while at the same time pulling for the Cubs to sign castoffs and castaways like Millar and Tracy. What gives?

I could get behind Tracy as a bench player, but I smell good value on the non-tender list this off-season. I think the Cubs can do better, at least getting less of an injury concern to fill that role. Sorry.

I like Chad Tracy, but the trend of the conversation here concerns me. We don’t need a backup 3B any more. Baker can play there, as can Fox from time to time. We didn’t have a backup SS last year, and we still don’t. What’s worse, a Theriot injury could lead to a premature Castro callup in the same way that a Soriano injury in 2007 led to a premature Pie callup.

There’s an old ND alum Hendry has never sought before, who also happens to be a LH SS out there – Craig Counsell. I can’t stand his batting stance, but he makes some sense if we can dump Miles. The problem is that Counsell’s bat is potentially, and obviously, better than Theriot’s against RHP, which might be a reason not to acquire him – to protect Theriot.

and do them cheaper, and be fine with a bench role. He was someone I was hoping Hendry would sign last winter.

The Cubs don’t need him, nor want him.

I think you over-estimate the 2008 bench — at least Lou’s use of it.

Daryle Ward was strictly a PH (since he is really too fat to play OF), and he didn’t have a very good year.

E-Pat made one OF mistake and was banished.

Murton never got a chance after his two OF blunders in 2007.

Hoff hit OK, but Lou didn’t trust him in the OF.

Lou would rather have had swine flu than play Onedec.

Lou only wanted to use RJ in CF against LHP.

That meant that the entire bench was LBR, courtesty of DeRo’s ability to vacate 2B whenever needed.

Since we don’t have DeRo anymore (and won’t in 2010), Hendry has to find at least 3 guys (OF, MI, and CI) that Lou would be willing to play.

Tracy is just a LH Fox. Assuming Fox isn’t traded, which one would Lou want?

One other point to remember: when Lou moved DeRo around, neither his offense nor his defense suffered — that’s what made it so easy for Lou to plug LBR in at will. No one knows if Baker will hit or play decent defense if he is shuffled around. Most guys’ performance does suffer — that’s one of the things that makes DeRo special. (Many KC people feel that Teahen’s bat was affected by position changes.)

Baker came up as a 3B — blocked by Atkins, and later passed by Stewart. They asked him to learn 2B, but his defense was never good enough to keep him in the lineup when his bat wasn’t hot. He was used only very sporadically in the OF, so it isn’t really fair to judge whether he can play there or not. (Remember that DeRo was primarily an OF in 2006, so Lou knew he could play there.)

Assuming that you can’t use a one-man (LBR) bench because you can’t move Baker so easily, who are your 3 main bench guys? LBR? Tracy/Fox? Blanco? (Neither Baker nor LBR can play SS.) Fuld?

Tracy might be useful as a LH PH, but I’m not sure about the rest.

Not trying to get too far away from the truth about many of the Cubs contracts and the huge payroll…. Can he be had for a reasonable one year deal? Worth it?

let’s just sign O. Hudson and be done with it.

Didn’t he just win the glove glove this year, has decent speed and can hit a fair amount?

no matter what they do this off-season. Otherwise, the team will be hamstrung again next year wasting a roster spot on someone who doesn’t help the team.

Let Fontenot go, and now you have a couple of roster spots to play with.

Our bench is full of utility infielders.

We know that there are Cub fans who are convinced the team isn’t championship caliber. This case has been made ad nauseum. We know where you stand.

It would have been nice had some of you doomngloomers shown up when, for example, shawndgoldman or others were trying to analyze how many wins could be expected out of the current core. Perhaps you were busy then.

But now you try and invade other topics of discussion and turn every discussion into the same. On its own, that’s just annoying. In this particular case, however, you happen to be laughably wrong. If you’re right that the Cubs are not good enough to win next year, then giving players like Chad Tracy a chance to come back is precisely the kind of thing we should be doing. Tracy once hit for a .900 OPS. That’s the kind of wild card that, if he breaks out, can bump an 85-win team up to the next level. Or, Tracy could be flipped at the deadline for useful players for the future.

So, get your stories straight – either we can’t win – and then Al’s on just the right track – or we can, and you need to make your case for how to address the “more pressing needs” in a realistic way. I’ll be glad to join that conversation in your own fanpost. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving!