Maybe Reed Johnson resigns, but we will see.

I still see the achilles heal of this team as the bench. Consider the # of starts you can reasonably get from these guys:
Soriano – 140
Lee – 140-150
Ramirez – 140
Fukudome 120
Byrd – 150

Just with those guys you have nearly a full time player’s worth of starts left unaccounted for. I had advocated for signing DeRosa for that role. While I don’t really care that he signed with SF, I still see the Cubs as DESPERATELY needing another player who can back these guys up.

I agree we’ll score more runs in 2010, but the starting rotation scares the heck out of me. Z is a 2-3 starter forced to be a 1. Dempster is well slotted as a #2, but I’m not convinced Wells will come close to duplicating last year. Gorzelanny is a #5 slotted as a 4. Silva is who he is – which isn’t good. If Lilly comes back on time and healthy (both far from sure things), then the 3-5 positions look much better, but we still don’t have that stopper we can count on to pull us out of a losing streak. Z should be that man, but I don’t think he’s emotionally equipped to handle it. This rotation has lot more questions than answers.

That is a .500 club or worse. The bench is atrocious. The starting lineup is full of “if’s”. As a rule of thumb, when you have three or more legitimate “if’s”, you don’t have much at all. As such, the “if’s” of Soriano’s health, Soto’s resurgence and the totality of the 2B position makes this club rather mediocre.

I’ve repeated myself on this but I’ll say it again…Carlos Silva will not pitch meaningful innings for this club in 2010. No matter what you read or hear, he was not brought to Chicago to contribute in 2010. Quite frankly, if he is on the mound in any reasonable capacity, people will scream for the returns of both Kevin Gregg and Aaron Heilman. Silva is that bad folks and shouldn’t be counted on for anything other than showing up to collect his paycheck.

The bullpen is weak and questionable as well with a huge “if” of Marmol’s control. The rest of the guys are just guys at this point and cannot be considered a strength of this club until and unless more than one guy has a “Les Lancaster” year out of nowhere. The rotation also offers little depth until Lilly returns.

A very questionable roster with an extremely questionable probability of great success…as we sit here on January 7.

Not to pile on, but that is one sorry-looking bench.

Sign Hudson/Lopez and shift Baker to the bench and trade Fontenot.

for the bench? With Fuld on the roster, we don’t really need another guy who can play all three OF positions. Sheffield can still rake, platoon with Fukudome in right and provide some power off the bench.

Sign Sheets to an incentive laden deal, move Silva into the David Patton role and let one of the yong guys log some innings at AAA

Still a lot of FAs in the market looking for work, and most of them will get lower cost at ST approaches. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an OF/PH and another IF signed before/during ST, and for those signings not to be a major payroll bump.

I don’t see the doom and gloom around the starting line-up. IF Soriano is back in form (definitely a risk factor), you are looking at 3 guys with 30 or more HRs, Byrd and Soto coming in at 15-20 HRs, and Fukudome being a solid hitter against RHP (with TBA against LHP). More speed would be nice, but Granderson was the only real stolen base threat who changed hands in the offseason.

That’s got to be one of the worst overall outfields in Baseball. I am hard pressed to identify any other team in baseball that I would not be willing to make an even up swap for their starting three over our starting three.

Fukudome. He’s had a couple of “hot” periods, but for the most part, he’s replacement level, at best as an OF. And at his age he’s more likely to decline than improve. He could really go in the tank this year.

Soriano. I hate Soriano as a player. He’s a terrible defender, he appears to be unwilling/unable to bat at a lineup position to use his skills, and his bat appears to be fading. He, like Fukudome, is likely to go downward and not up.

Byrd. Best player in the outfield. That being said, he doesn’t have any speed and doesn’t really have the power to make up for the lack of speed. He’s kind of like a slow Juan Pierre. I could certainly live with him as a second or third outfielder, but when he’s clearly the number one, the team is in real trouble.

Heck, the number 4 OF on the Orioles right now would instantly be the best OF on the Cubs… and they finished last in their division. (Jones, Markakis, Scott and Reimbold) and their number 5 (Pie) would be a step up over Fuku.

Ideally, the Cubs would upgrade at short. But with Castro a year away, and few options available from the FA pool, I think we’re stuck with Theriot for now. Also, I’m actually optimistic about the Cubs’ starting rotation, and I don’t really care to spend too much on middle relievers.

Therefore, I think the Cubs should spend whatever money they have left to bring either Orlando Hudson or Felipe Lopez to Chicago. As I see it, either guy could likely be had with a 1- or 2-year deal. They both can hit left handed, and neither will be that expensive.

Signing one of them drops Fontenot and Baker down on the depth chart. Baker can platoon in right with Kosuke and negates the need to sign another outfielder. Fontenot becomes the lefty pinch hitter off the bench who can back up at second or third — where he excelled in 2008.

Much of this is reasoning based on my lack of faith that Fontenot can turn it around as a starter. I know many here have cited projections that say Fontenot is a good bet, but I just don’t agree. I actually really like Baker, but he’s right handed in a lineup with little balance.

Personally, I’d prefer Hudson to Lopez, because Hudson is considered a better clubhouse guy. But I’d let the money make the final decision.

Here’s how this would affect the team:

Lineup and bench versus righties
RF Kosuke
2B Hudson/Lopez
1B Lee
3B Ramirez
CF Byrd
LF Soriano
C Soto
SS Theriot

Bench: Baker, Fontenot, Fuld, Hill, Blanco

Against lefties:

Hudson/Lopez
Theriot
Lee
Ramirez
Soriano
Byrd
Soto
Baker (RF)

Bench:
Kosuke, Hill, Fontenot, Fuld, Blanco

Thoughts?

I still advocate a trade. Trade Zambrano to the Orioles for one of their young stud OF’s. (no, not Pie, one of their real stud OF) and Brian Roberts. It gives the O’s the front line veteran starter they need to anchor their very young rotation and addresses to needs for the Cubs.