Chicago Cubs Sign Jim Edmonds: Really?

The Cubs are about to make their center field situation more complicated. Pending a physical, Jim Edmonds will become the newest player to sport Cubbie Blue. The question I have to ask is: what is Jim Hendry thinking?

Center field has already seen time split between Reed Johnson and Felix Pie.  Johnson, the more experienced player, has a respectable .338/.322/.254 line, along with 16 RBI. Pie is still learning how to play at the major-league level with a line of .286/.286/.222. With Edmonds now coming into the picture, Pie appears to be heading back down to Iowa.

This raises the question as to why the Cubs are taking a chance on Edmonds, who is a .286 career hitter, but was hitting only .178 this season before being released by the Padres. Wrigley Field is home to one of the best offenses in the bigs, so how does Edmonds fit in?

Second baseman Mark DeRosa says he fits in by bringing “another veteran presence in our clubhouse, a left-handed bat with power.”  Maybe so, but his stats have steadily dropped every year since 2005. He only had one homer and six RBI when he was let go. And another veteran presence? The average age on the team’s active roster is about 30 years old. It’s not like there aren’t enough veterans on the team already.

One especially has to feel for Pie, who was supposed to be the Cubs’ center fielder this year. However, with the signings of Johnson and now Edmonds, the youngster is the odd man out. That’s what makes the whole ordeal depressing. Pie busted his butt in the Cubs’ farm system for a few years before finally getting his chance last year. Sending him back to the minors is not going to help him mature as a big leaguer.

That’s not stopping Hendry from putting his faith in Edmonds though. “Hopefully, he can give us a great portion of the Jim Edmonds we all knew and used to fear in a lot of ways,” he said.  “Hopefully” is a big word to use in this case though. 

Apparently, he knows that there’s a chance this experiment will not work out how he hopes it will. Keep in mind that Edmonds is coming off of a severe calf injury.  He may have been a force to be reckoned with on both sides in the past, but it’s obvious his best years are behind him.

If I were GM of the Cubs, I’d take a pass on Edmonds, and let Pie gain his experience so that he can be the team’s center fielder for years to come.  Considering the fact that Johnson and Pie were already platooning center, why create a surplus that forces you to send the younger guy away?

There’s a high risk/reward involved here, and the front office seems to know it. If it succeeds, there’ll be no stopping the Cubs from returning to the playoffs. If it fails however, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.