Cubs Hit and Run: Cubs Sign Hairston, OF market, & Other Players on the Move..

The Cubs have signed Scott Hairston to a two year deal that could reach $6M with incentives. The Cubs were looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder but this is not what I would have thought. Yes he smashed left-handed pitching (.867 OPS against lefties) and he can play all three outfield spots but I really do not care for the signing. I feel the Cubs had the prospects to land a young impact everyday OF through trade and instead we settled on Hairston.

One good thing is Bruce Levine adds he is likely the 4^th/5^th outfielder.

It also sounds like the Cubs willdo a mix and match platoon with RF and CF with Hairston/Schierholtz and Hairston/DeJesus as of right now.

Rumors should start up fast about Soriano and DeJesus being traded since the Cubs have a lot of OF depth now and their roster sitting at 42 unofficially.

The Cubs 40 man roster unofficially stands at 42 with the unofficial additions of Scott Hairston and Carlos Villanueva so some moves have to be made soon.

The most disappointing part of this is that David Sappelt or Tony Campana are the most likely to start in Iowa (or end up on another team) next season since the Cubs do not need to carry 6 OF. I honestly think Sappelt deserved a shot for his defense and how well he played at the end of last season for Chicago.

The biggest non-Cub news today is the Braves landing Justin Upton and Chris Johnson for Randall Delgado, Martin Prado, Zeke Spruill, Brandon Drury, and Nick Ahmed. First off the Cubs could have beaten this deal but it seems the Dbacks really wanted Prado in which the Cubs do not have a “Prado” type player on their team they would be willing to give up. Honestly the Braves are scary good now on paper but the game is not played on paper. They should be a really fun team to watch. To me once again the Diamondbacks got hosed in a trade and it did not involve the Cubs which saddens me.

Reports out now say the Dbacks are dangling recently required Nick Ahmed for Rick Porcello which would knock off another guy the Cubs have been interested in.

The Cubs have interest in Chris Carpenter who was DFA by the Red Sox. Carpenter was the compensation for the hiring of Theo Epstein.

The Mets and Rangers are the top landing spot for Michael Bourn now according to many sources. The Cubs had interest but did not want to give up a draft pick.

The Rays signed Kyle Farnsworth to a 1 year $3M deal. I am hearing the Cubs made an offer to Farnsworth but it was not close to the deal he got from the Rays.

The Mets signed Shaun Marcum to a one-year deal pending a physical which is no guarantee. The Cubs had interest from Marcum but just like Haren they were scared of his medicals.

Bleacher Nation has the Cubs Spring Training Broadcast Schedule found here.

Until Next Time…