Don't Hassle The Hoff-Pauir: Time to Trade Derrek Lee?

Since the Chicago Cubs marketing team started to make the team a billion dollar machine in the late 1980s, Cubs' general managers have been dealing with the internal conflict that comes with expectations.

When have you seen enough to commit to a youngster? When do you part ways with a veteran and receive value, if anything, in return?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Cubs were a franchise that was not the marquee ticket they are now. Managers like Don Zimmer had an easier time committing to young players like Greg Maddux, Mark Grace, Joe Girardi, and even Sammy Sosa.

But both as perhaps a function of diminished quality within the team's minor leagues and the marketing dollars being pumped into the major league roster, the team has had issues both promoting and committing to youngsters.

There has been an assembly line of "talented" and "promising" young players that have either flamed out or never received a shot at Wrigley Field. From Roosevelt Brown to Felix Pie, the list goes on as position players have watched veteran free agents or trades keep them in Iowa.

Now you can look all over the majors and see the influence of the Cubs inability to handle their internal future.

The Florida Marlins will look to 2009 and beyond with a smile in large part because of the Cubs. Ricky Nolasco will likely be their ace this year. Former Cub farmhand Dontrelle Willis was part of the deal with the Tigers that landed talented outfielder Cameron Maybin.

So within the context of a team that has sometimes held on to veterans too long, and that has wasted promising careers watching veterans play out their contracts, we have the battle for playing time at first base in 2009.

One first baseman is an inexperienced, 29-year-old with a history of destroying the baseball beneath a concrete ceiling.

The other is that concrete ceiling, an aging veteran leader, making $13 million each for the next two seasons.

Is it time for a change?

The Chicago Cubs have a unique set of circumstances staring at manager Lou Piniella and general manager Jim Hendry.

The entrenched leader at first base, and in the middle of the Cubs batting order, is Derrek Lee. The youngster nipping at his heels is Micah Hoffpauir.

The Golden Fleece for the Chicago Cubs since Henry Rodriguez left has been finding a left-handed bat in the middle of the order. Jeromy Burnitz could not do it, and Kosuke Fukudome failed last year as well. This year's attempt at finding balance in the lineup will be oft-injured Milton Bradley.

What's wrong with Hoffpauir?

Last year, in just 71 games in Triple-A, Hoffpauir hit 25 home runs and drove in 100 runs, while batting .362 over 290 at bats. During his tenure on Chicago's North Side, he did not fall off much, batting .342 with two homers and eight runs batted in over 33 games.

Meanwhile, Lee has seen his stock fall from the top of the list with Cubs fans. In an offseason that saw other clubhouse leaders Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood finding new homes.

Would it be so much of a deal breaker for Hendry to move an expensive player with a piece of his prime left for some other players?

Over the past five years, Lee has seen his numbers slide as he entered his 30s. Now 33-years old, he's coming off a season, in which his nickname slid from D-Lee to D-P-Lee due to his issues rolling into double plays.

Lee has totalled better than 100 runs batted in just once in his career, and after stealing 67 bases between 2002-2005, he has just 22 in the two-plus seasons since.

Hoffpauir is not getting any younger, and might be a prime example of an issue that has plagued the Cubs franchise for nearly two decades.

One would have to believe that there would be a line around the block to acquire a gold glove-caliber first baseman that is as good a person as he is a fielder. And, at $13 million per season, Hoffpauir is relatively affordable considering his contract ends after 2010.

But as long as the Cubs are expected to contend for a division and National League crown, Hendry's hands are tied. It could be career suicide to deal another veteran this year, especially someone as liked in the clubhouse as Lee.

It might be the right move, though, for both now and the Cubs future.

This spring, Hoffpauir leads all of Major League Baseball with 18 runs batted in, while batting .543. Meanwhile Lee, is slugging just .371.