Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Reed Johnson the newest Cub!

This was a no brainer for Jim Hendry. The Cubs signed Reed Johnson to a one year 1.3 million dollar deal. He will fill in center against leftys and spot start in the outfield when Fukudome and Soriano need days off. Reed is the perfect 4th outfielder for the Cubs. He plays really good defense at all spots, has pop in his bat, great arm, and just enough speed to steal about 10-15 bases. He was injured most of last year but has proven he is healthy. He is lifetime .281 hitter with a .342 OBP. I really like the move!

It also looks like Murton's days in Chicago are number. Look for the Mets, Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, and maybe Giants to ask about him in the coming days.

In other roster moves, the club optioned outfielders Sam Fuld and Eric Patterson to Triple-A Iowa, and assigned pitcher Les Walrond and infielders Micah Hoffpauir and Casey McGehee to minor league camp. They also put Angel Guzman on the 60 DL and expect to put Scott Eyre on the 15 day DL to start the season.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems lots of fans on chicagosports.com dont like the deal.

But as we have discussed here, its a low risk move by the Cubs. As I always say, money should not be a problem for the Cubs.

I guess the fans are frustrated cause we didnt get the names rumored (Roberts, Crisp, Payton, Byrd, etc) but again... those would have cost us some of our kids. I would rather spend money than kids.

It is unfortunate for Murt... but like DeRo... he has to understand that its not the Cubs org thinks he sucks... its just they dont have anywhere to put him since he cant play CF. Hopefully we can find a good match where he can start and we can get a good prospect or two that we can swing for other needs later on.

Nick I Cub Fan said...

Joe we still didn't get a BMW but Johnson is OK as a platoon against lefty's. And it wouldn't be fair to compare Marquis to Lieber since Marquis is starting and Lieber was gracious enough to go to the pen. Joe i did some research last 4 years Marquis 54 wins, Lilly, and galvin 52 wins Lieber 43 wins. Thats why i still like Marquis. And he stays healthy. We can trade him with others in June and get our BMW.

Unknown said...

Haha... yeah nick i... I was hoping our BMW was Dan Haren... but the DBacks were willing to pay the sticker price.

I dont have a problem with Marquis... other than his little outburst and his second half slumps. I... as I'm sure you were... was one of the few Cub fans who didnt mind the Marquis signing two offseasons ago... because despite his average or worse total numbers... I knew him and Lilly would bring to our rotation innings and double digit wins... which they provided.

But I feel that if this Spring was a true competition for rotation spots and despite Spring numbers being just Spring numbers... its all we can base our decisions on at this point (other than the coaches being able to see things in person in terms of mechanically)... I think Lieber and Demp had better numbers. Or was it Lieber and Marquis.

Bottom line... as you may have seen in prior comments... I was hoping Lou would actually take all three of the vet rightys and drop Hill out.

At least we agree that Marquis needs to go by the middle of the season. And yes I do hope we get a BMW... even if we cant send Marquis as part of the deal in return. I think the Cubs should be able to fend off the Brew and Reds to take the division again... but we Cub fans want a WS title and to do that we are going to need a true #1a or #2 SP.

Maybe we can hope the Indians tank and trade CC at the deadline?