The Cubs are discussing signing Jacoby Ellsbury

Hey, remember this article I wrote last November about Jacoby Ellsbury? In it, I wrote:

Why not take a flyer on Ellsbury? It costs almost nothing. He could be signed to a minor-league deal with a spring-training invitation, which would cost zero unless he made the 25-man roster. If not, he would be released at no cost to the Cubs.

Why am I bringing this up again? Why do I keep writing sentences in the form of a question? This isn’t Jeopardy, after all.

Ahem. Anyway, here’s why:

Now, here are your giant grains of salt to take this with. Ellsbury’s agent is Scott Boras. Jon Heyman has been known to tweet out things that Boras gives him to say.

But I’ll repeat what I said in November, quoted above, in different words: There is literally zero risk in bringing Ellsbury to camp on a minor-league deal and have him play some spring games. If he really can’t play anymore, there’s no financial risk — absolutely none, as players don’t get paid for spring training — and he can just be released.

If he can play, the minimum salary for 2020 is $563,500. The Cubs, as penny-pinching as they have become, can afford that. Maybe Ellsbury wouldn’t quite be ready for Opening Day and would be willing to go to Triple-A Iowa for a short time to prepare (with an opt-out date if he’s not called up).

I say do it. Ellsbury is 36. Even with the serious injuries he’s had, if he’s healthy he might be able to produce and play a decent center field.

What say you?