Hey, Hey, Lahey

The Cubs grabbed pitcher Tim Lahey from Tampa for cash as part of the Rule 5 Draft. Tampa Bay had selected Lahey (from the Twins) first overall in the Thursday Rule 5 Draft. Chicago is looking to add more competition for the coming spring and felt the former catcher had the makeup for success as a Wrigley Field pitcher. A ground ball pitcher with a low 90s fastball.

Other hot talk now has the North Siders looking at Orioles switch-hitting infielder Brian Roberts. The team is still looking to add speed after Matsui ended up signing with Houston. New Baltimore front office man, Andy MacPhail, is certainly familiar with what assets the Cubs have throughout their system.

Roberts put up good numbers with a .377 OBP, 50 stolen bases (career high), 103 runs and a 0.899 walk to strikeout ratio. Though he slumped fairly significantly in the second half of the year (.247 vs .324 batting average), Roberts did fare well for his 37 day games (.301 average) and had comparable home and away numbers (.281 vs .299 average). The Baltimore second basemen had a respectable .267 average with RISP and posted a .350 average under late inning pressure and .306 under LIP with runners on. He had a .292 avg and a .372 OBP in 243 leadoff at bats.

All-in-all, Roberts is a player I would like to see on the Cubs. He just turned 30 in October, has only played over 100 games in the last five seasons and has been relatively consistent. Roberts signed a two-year contract extension in March 2007 that would pay him $14.3 million in 2008 ($6.3MM) and 2009 ($8.0MM). Not chump change, but not out of bounds for one of the top second basemen in the league, a legit stolen base threat at the top of the lineup, and a player that showed his drive by returning for 2006 after surgery on an elbow dislocation that ended his 2005 campaign.

To compound the situation, the Dodgers threw cash at Andruw Jones (allegedly, $36.2MM--2 years) after a very down year. I know he's young, but he has some miles on him. For my dollar, he isn't worth it, but you have to pony up if you want to get anything. Going down the line, Jones is off the market, as is Miguel Cabrera (traded to Detroit with D. Willis), Jose Guillen (signed with KC, $36MM--3 years), Torii Hunter (signed with Angels, $90MM--5 years), and Delmon Young (traded to Twins).

So what is left at the bottom of the bin? Milton Bradley (head case with injuries), Mike Cameron (25-game suspension coming), Luis Gonzalez (old), Geoff Jenkins (platoon type, after hitting .215 vs leftys last year), Kenny Lofton (does he have a season left in him?), Aaron Rowand (CF will command a pretty penny). Let's not forget the Japanses superstar the Cubs have already targeted.

A couple of top prospects for Roberts would go a long way to making the Cub offense into the machine some people envisioned it might be with boppers Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano at the heart of the order. It would ease the pressure on any deal with Fukudome and/or whatever other OF they might target. The team would have Daryl Ward, Murton and Pie, as well as DeRosa (Roberts taking his slot at second base). Word is that right fielder Fukudome can also play CF. The OF may shape up to be Soriano, Fukudome and DeRosa.

With Theriot earning the SS position (though DeRosa could spot him for a few starts) last year and Geovany Soto getting a shot at catcher, these last two moves would really put the Cubs in a good situation. The starting rotation would still appear iffy, but the team would look very good overall. It's a rare club that has no holes.