I'm with you socali. It's hard for anyone to get excited about the Jones signing but knowing Hendry's track record, I'm hopin (PRAYING) he's working on something bigger. My guess? Either a big name/run producer at SS or 2B. I'm big on Cedeno starting at the either one, but don't know how I feel about the Walker/Cedeno combo.

OR, he goes for another quality starter. But as of today, it seems hard for a Cubs fan to be excited about the off-season moves (other than Pierre). I hold to the opinion that Jones doesn't seem like a great improvement over Patterson or Burnitz.

I too am a big Corey supporter and it pains me to know he probably won't be on the team in '06, but I wish him a great season wherever he winds up.

You really like Nomar better given his contract? He's guaranteed $6M with up to $4M in incentives. That means either he'll get injured again or the Dodgers will fork over $10M for the same stats as Jones and not nearly the glove.

The same stats as Jones? Nomar's worst year in his career was last year, when he hit .283/.320/.452. Jones only has one season in his career that was significantly better than that. If Nomar's healthy, there's little question that he'd be better than Jones, and if he's not healthy ... it's one year. I'd rather take my chances on Nomar being healthy for one year than Jones being good for three.

Jones hit 268/348/466 (814 OPS) against RHP

But, that's still not very good. An 814 OPS makes you an average rightfielder at best.

But it seems overly optimistic to ignore 2005 when he wasn't even replacemet level and assume he'll bounce back to his 2004 numbers.

You're probably right. But again, the real difference here is one year vs. three years, not to mention the loss of a draft pick.

Jones has been playing in a pitchers' park and has been given too much playing time against lefties. Out of the Metrodome, used properly, he'll be worth the contract though much of his value is his glove so it may never be clear how valuable he is.

There's not much difference between Wrigley and the Metrodome in terms of park effects. See for yourself: MIN vs. CHC. Both are essentially neutral averaged over the past few years, and if anything, Wrigley has been more of a pitchers park.

And while I do give credit to Jones for his defense, it's not like he's going to be playing center. Rightfield defense just isn't a terribly important factor, especially given the questions this team already faces on offense.

AdamSt. makes a good point. Jones is serviceable as long as he doesn't see the light of day against lefties. But did the Cubs really sign him to this kind of contract to be a platoon player? And the only person in the system who can platoon with him is Jerry Hairston, Jr. I don't see that happening. Brandon Sing perhaps. But he's not on the 40 man roster and by all accounts would be just as well without a glove on his hand.

A righthanded platoon partner could be on the way via trade. At the end of the article Brian linked to, the AP quotes Hendry as saying about his offering Patterson a contract, "I'm sure that once people see that he's being tendered a contract ... I think that we'll see an increase in interest for Corey." Patterson could be traded for another outfielder. But again, I don't see a platoon with Jones happening. And I think it more likely that Dusty Baker will platoon John Mabry with Matt Murton.

Nomar is smarter than Jones in the outfield? Very little chance of that. I mean, I love Nomar, his clubhouse personality, and his bat, but $6 million plus incentives for a guy to play a defensive position he's never played before? The first time he dives for a ball in a crucial situation he'll separate his shoulder. Or he won't be used to being called off a ball by the center fielder, so he'll collide and hurt himself. It's just not worth the risk. If you're a Cubs fan, you know how unpredictable the wind is in the outfield and how cold it is for the first two months of the season. Can anyone say "bad hammy?" Does anyone remember that the Red Sox won the series AFTER that replaced Nomar with a guy who could play defense?

I have to trust that Hendry made this move because he's saving his prospects and position players to trade for another need. I think it's a #2 or 3 starter. Mabry is the platoon guy for the outfield. Sanders could be the other, knowing Dusty. I can visualize Barry Zito in a Cubs uniform very easily. Maybe that's why there's no obvious open outfield position left for Felix Pie.

Yeah, but the truth is that if I had really wanted a thorough list, I'd be writing that post through the night and into the afternoon tomorrow. We could plug just about any player into a sentence containing "one-year deal" and come out ahead.

It looks like Pie is destined to spend most if not all of '06 in AAA. He's having a pretty dismal winter season (hitting only .209). I just don't see him being ready until '07.

I read somewhere that the Cubs are expected to sign Pierre to a multi-year deal sometime during the '06 season.