"The Cubs agreed to a one-year contract with infielder Enrique Wilson for the 2005 season on Tuesday," reports MLB.com. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, the Cubs optioned shortstop Ronny Cedeno to triple-A Iowa. To make room for him on the 40-man rosters, the Cubs put reliever Chad Fox, injured earlier this year, on the 60-day disabled list.

So much for moving Jerry Hairston to the bench (a bad move, wrote Charles Rector here at CubsNet.com) and inserting Cedeno at shortstop, with Neifi Perez moving over to second.

Wilson is like Jose Macias, only not as good. (As Derek Smart noted at GoatRiders.org yesterday, Jim Hendry has an affinity for these types of play-everywhere but do nothing well players.) He has a career OPS 17.5% below league average coming into 2005. Before the Cubs signed him, Wilson was playing for the Baltimore Orioles' triple-A team in Ottawa, where he was hitting .279/.362/.492 in 20 games.

Wilson's splits do not offer any hope either. From 2002-2004, Wilson had a 558 OPS against lefties and a 596 OPS against righties.

Signing Wilson also doesn't make much sense given the impending return of Todd Walker. Or is there some concern with how Walker's rehab is going? He started playing for Iowa a few days ago, and after playing his 3rd and 4th game today in a doubleheader for Iowa, Walker is now 0-for-15 in 4 games.

This was originally scheduled to be Walker's last day at Iowa. It probably is still going to be. But if that's true, the Cubs certainly don't need another middle infielder on the roster. Wilson doesn't exactly replace Mike Fontenot, who will almost certainly be sent down when Walker returns, because Dusty Baker doesn't use him but he will use the veteran Wilson.

What the Cubs need is someone who can hit off the bench. There are a couple of players on Iowa's roster who could have filled that role if Hendry was willing to add someone to the 40-man roster, such as infielder Scott McClain (who has some pop) and outfielder Trenidad Hubbard (who has the ability to get on base).

UPDATE (5/18/2005 12:05am): John Hill at The Cub Reporter comments: "The only person really that will be celebrating this deal is Jose Macias - he’s now no longer the worst player on the roster!"