More Tweaking

Chicago signed veteran switch-hitter, Alex Cintron to a one-year minor league deal on Monday.

Cintron had a down year in 2007, dropping 42 points from his batting average in 2006. He was limited by surgery on his right elbow (removed bone spurs) and only played in 68 games for the White Sox.

The team seems confident that Cintron can bounce back to some degree and, given his ability to hit from both sides and play SS, will be a valuable bench player. Hendry has stated publicly that the Cubs wanted another SS knowing that Cedeno will get some time in the outfield and projects to expand his role beyond SS.

Naturally, this move revived (for the 806th time this off-season) speculation on the Brain Roberts situation. It's possible that the Cubs are creating a scenario that would allow them to add Cedeno to the deal with Baltimore (a situation further spiced by Cedeno showing some outfield ability). The Cubs, of course, maintain that this doesn't mean any deal is imminent and would like you to settle down.