Why are the Chicago Cubs Bringing Back Mike Fontenot?

According to Jerry Crasnick , it appears the Chicago Cubs will tender an offer to infielder Mike Fontenot.

And to think things were going so well this winter for a while...

So far, Cubs GM Jim Hendry has unloaded dead weight Aaron Heilman via trade to Arizona, Kevin Gregg to free agency and Aaron Miles (with Jake Fox) to Oakland for prospects. The deconstruction of the disappointing 2009 team was well under way.

But now Hendry wants to bring back Fontenot, which puzzles me to say the least.

Fontenot emerged as a cult hero in Chicago after breaking out in 2008 as a key bench player. He hit .305 with nine home runs, 40 runs batted in, and a staggering .909 OPS in only 243 at bats. It looked like Mighty Mouse had game!

In the miserable winter that followed the 2008 season, though, Hendry traded away Mark DeRosa, who started at second base primarily over the left handed hitting Fontenot, and brought in switch-nothing Miles. (I would say switch-hitting, but that would imply that Miles HIT at some point.)

When Miles failed, it was Fontenot's spot to lose. And he lost it.

In a season that saw his at bats jump to 377 (almost a 50 percent increase from 2008), Fontenot's production was almost identical to his 2008 performance. Nine home runs, 43 runs batted in and only 15 additional hits despite 134 additional at bats.

That ridiculous OPS? Fell to .678, or "back to Earth." And his solid .305 batting average? Fell to .236, or "not good enough."

His reality check was bad enough that the Cubs had to make a deal for Jeff Baker late in the season, who played well enough to be the front-runner for the starting second base job in 2010.

So after a season that showed in every way that Fontenot is not a major league starting infielder, the Cubs have apparently decided to bring him back.

I'll accept that putting Fontenot back into the reserve role in which he excelled in 2008 could help his game, but that doesn't change the Cubs' organizational depth.

Andres Blanco can't hit himself out of a paper bag, but he's great in the field. Fontenot struggled at times in the field, especially when the Cubs were forced to try him at third base.

Ryan Theriot, who was Fontenot's double play partner at LSU, will head to Arizona as the starting shortstop, but has already had conversations with Hendry about a potential move to second base. Why?

Because Starlin Castro, the Cubs sudden uber-prospect, is a red-hot shortstop that set the Arizona Fall League on fire and could appear at Wrigley Field at some point in 2010. If/when he does, he would stay at short and Theriot would move to second, bumping Baker to the bench.

Which brings us back to Fontenot, and his relative value to the team.

Right now, the Cubs bench is weak. Micah Hoffpauir is the most experienced left handed hitter other than Fontenot on the bench as it stands today, with backup catcher Koyie Hill as a light-hitting switch-something (again, switch-hitter implies too much for Hill).

If youngsters Sam Fuld or Tyler Colvin make the major league roster, that would give the Cubs a bench that looks more like a Triple-A team than a contending team's group of reserves.

A bench of Hoffpauir, Fontenot, Hill, Fuld, and Colvin is also all left handed (well, again, Hill "bats" righty, but that's another issue). So there's no balance on the bench.

However, the starting lineup (assuming Bradley's gone next year) has only one lefty, Kosuke Fukudome, in it. Again, no balance.

If Hendry is truly trying to build a team that can compete for a National League Central Division title, bringing back Fontenot doesn't make much sense. Is he a fan favorite? Perhaps. Does he sell jerseys? None bigger than medium. Does he bring value to the roster? I'm not sure.

Like I said, so far this winter Hendry had done a nice job of unloading dead weight. Keeping Fontenot around, however, makes me scratch my head.