Cubs Re-Sign Henry Blanco to Two-Year Deal

"The Chicago Cubs agreed to a two-year contract Wednesday with backup catcher Henry Blanco," reports the AP. "There is a mutual option for 2009." The AP doesn't give financial details, but Arizona Phil at The Cub Reporter writes that ESPN 1000's Bruce Levine is reporting the deal is worth $5M. As I've repeatedly said before, Jim Hendry doesn't overpay for his stars. He overpays for utility players and relief pitchers.

The Cubs clearly have little confidence in the future development of either Geovany Soto or Jose Reyes, which makes you wonder if the Cubs will remove one of them from the 40-man roster and expose them to the Rule 5 draft.

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Financial details

The AP now has financial details: "Blanco gets a $750,000 signing bonus, $1.4 million next year and $2.8 million in 2008. The Cubs have a $3 million option for 2009 with a $300,000 buyout. The option would become guaranteed if he meets certain performance levels, and the price of the option could escalate to as high as $4.5 million."