The Deal Jim Hendry Should Make

As the Chicago Cubs move into an offseason of their fans' discontent, Jim Hendry has already said there are numerous issues he wants to address while moving towards 2009. With the unfortunate ability to move their organizational meetings up to the middle of November, some of these questions will likely be answered sooner rather than later.

The first couple of issues the organization will look at are whether to keep a significant member of their starting rotation and their closer from this past season: Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood. Wood has consistently shown that he wants to stay in Chicago, and he had enough pull on the heartstrings of the Cubs fan base that he will likely stay.

Dempster, however, had a career year and will likely receive attention from numerous suitors that are turned on by his 17 wins. Keeping Dempster could be tricky.

The starting rotation has some holes to explore as well. Manager Lou Piniella has openly longed for two left-handed starting pitchers, and had that until Rich Hill left the strike zone in 2007. The Cubs have a solid internal candidate in Sean Marshall to step into the rotation to couple with Ted Lilly to give Piniella what he wants. This would also make Jason Marquis expendable.

The issues surrounding the mound are, shockingly, almost identical to those of last winter. The Cubs are still in search of an everyday center fielder and still want to add left-handed bats to an almost exclusively right-handed regular order.

In 2008, Jim Edmonds was a wonderful shock, but probably will not be back. Felix Pie has looked like he is still wandering through puberty every time he steps onto the Wrigley Field grass, and having Alfonso Soriano as a mentor will certainly not help his grasp of the strike zone.

Kosuke Fukudome disappeared, both literally and figuratively, after the All Star break in 2008, and might warrant a trip to Iowa or an imported hitting coach.

So what do the Cubs do?

There is a player in baseball who hits left-handed, gets on base, has a wonderful throwing arm, and is the prototypical leadoff man that Soriano has been incapable of being since his arrival in Chicago. He has been an every-day player for almost a decade in the majors, but late this season fell far enough out of favor in his own clubhouse that the only story from that team down the stretch was the relationships on the roster.

His name: Ichiro.

What would Ichiro mean to the Cubs? He would allow the Cubs to move Alfonso Soriano down out of the leadoff spot and place a career .331 hitter into the leadoff spot. He has also won numerous gold gloves in the outfield, steals nearly 40 bases annually, and is regularly among the major-league leaders in hits. Throw into the mix the fact that he came to the U.S., and Seattle specifically, because of their manager at the time: Lou Piniella.

Not only that, he has a career .451 average in October. Imagine the possibilities for the Cubs if they had someone who could his after September!

Now for the negatives to acquiring Ichiro. He turns 35 on Oct. 22. He's signed through 2012 at an even $17 million per season. And he is the face of a franchise that has marketed itself in enormous proportion to their counterparts in Asia because of the stature Ichiro carries. He would not come easily.

However, the Mariners finished 2008 in a tailspin. They had the worst record in the majors and were not competitive in an American League Western division that had one team, the Angels, near qualifying for the postseason. The talent void on their roster is as big as their outfield, and there aren't trains coming into Seattle with players to help.

There is a way the Cubs and Mariners could reach a deal that would both help move the Mariners back into a competitive place in their division quickly and help the Cubs solve many of their issues on the field and in October in one trade.

Seattle ranked in the bottom five in the majors in offense in 2008. They had two players hit 20 home runs, one reach 100 runs batted in, and Ichiro was their only player to hit over .300. 

Raul Ibanez, the team leader in runs batted in and second on the roster in homers, is a free agent this winter and will have any number of teams interested. Making these number even worse: The Mariners had a team payroll within $700,000 of the Cubs. They need help.

So what I am proposing is a deal that helps both teams. Seattle sends Ichiro and a player to be named to the Chicago Cubs for Derrek Lee, Kosuke Fukudome, and Jason Marquis.

This deal makes sense on a number of levels. For Seattle, one position they have been hurting at for the past few years has been first base. This season, it got bad enough that Richie Sexson was cut completely. One player that has seemingly been on the decline in Chicago the past few years is their first baseman, Lee.

Lee is still playing at a good level, hitting .291 with 20 home runs and 90 runs batted in. A team as offensively in need as Seattle is would lick their chops to have a middle of the order bat that's signed through 2010 at $10 million per.

Kosuke Fukudome moving to Seattle would also fix a couple issues. The Mariners, in giving up Ichiro, would be able to move Fukudome into their marketing pieces in the East. He would also help them to fill the void in the outfield left by either Ichiro or Ibanez.

His play in the outfield never suffered while his hitting declined. Fukudome is also signed through 2011, with an escalating salary of $11.5, $13 and $13.5 million the next three seasons, respectively.

With Ibanez and disappointing pitcher Eric Bedard's combined $13 million salaries coming off the Mariners' books in 2009, the would more than be able to stomach the team salary increase from Ichiro's $17 million to a potential $23 million in 2010, especially for two players. Bringing in a solid clubhouse presence like Lee would help recruit other players to come to the Northwest as well.

Adding Marquis to this mix would help buoy a pitching staff that is as thin as its ace, Felix Hernandez. The Mariners are looking at a potential exodus of their existing talent. Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, and Miguel Batista are free agents after 2009.

If they do not bring back Bedard, Marquis' track record of eating innings and winning between 10 and 14 games would be a welcome addition. Though Marquis is also a free agent after 2009, a rental to fill their rotation at under $10 million that could fill as many innings as Marquis does could be a potential steal for the Mariners.

For the Cubs, now is the time for Jim Hendry to make an critical decision that will shape the future of the Cubs. Derrek Lee is a wonderful player and a true gentleman in the game. But the Cubs have lost for years with good players that people will pay to see at charity events and the annual Cubs Convention.

The Cubs have shown, especially this year, that they lack a killer instinct. Lee, along with Soriano, has not stepped up in crucial situations in the past two years. Lee would be an impact, franchise player the Mariners should love the thought of having in a potential deal.

What would this deal mean to the Cubs in the field and their batting order? How would the Cubs cope at first base? In my mind, these are simple questions. Micah Hoffpauir, last season between Triple-A and the majors, hit nearly .300 with 25 home runs and over 100 runs batted in (with a whopping 1.145 OPS in Iowa).

And, perhaps most importantly, he hits left-handed and will be 29 years old on opening day 2009 (compared to Lee's 33).

This would lead the Cubs to have a potential lineup of Ichiro batting first in center, Theriot at short, hitting second, followed by a middle of the order consisting of Aramis Ramirez, Hoffpauir, Geovany Soto and Soriano, followed by Mark DeRosa and a right fielder.

The Cubs have a number of internal candidates that might fill that outfield spot, headlined by highly regarded minor leaguer Tyler Colvin. Colvin, a center fielder by trade, had 80 runs batted in at Double-A Tennessee last year. Couple this depth with Mike Fontenot making DeRosa an outfield candidate, and the Cubs have more than enough depth in the organization to cover second base and right field.

The Cubs could have a left-handed leadoff man and a left-handed bat in the middle of their batting order. They could move a good player, an over-hyped outfielder and a disappointment to a new home that might spark a renaissance for Lee and another fresh start in a smaller market for Fukudome.

Ichiro would come to a winner where he might be a missing link to glory, leaving the clubhouse headaches of Seattle behind and having a reunion with Pinella.

Just a thought...But it's the second week in October and Cubs fans are talking about offseason moves. Hendry's goal should be to push these conversations to late November next year. This deal might do that for him.