Who's on Second?

- No. What is on second base.
- I'm not asking you who's on second.
- Who's on first.

Well, you get the idea, though you kind of wonder whether Jim Hendry does. Every now and then, old Jim seems to get the yen to stockpile second basemen. A few years ago, before the arrival of Mark DeRosa, we had quite a little logjam going there with Todd Walker, Mark Grudzielanek, Damian Jackson, and Neifi Perez in 2004, followed by the addition of Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Enrique Wilson, and Jose Macias the following years, followed by...

Now we have Fontenot, Jeff Baker, Andres Blanco, Bobby Scales, etc., and rumors that Big Jim wants to add Luis Castillo to the mix. Well, you cannot have too much of a mediocre thing, it would seem. But this whole situation is illustrative of one of the failings of the Cubs organization in general, namely, the failure to plan ahead and genuinely evaluate their prospects. If this kid Starlin Castro is the player they think he is, and it is only a question of when he will be ready, then it makes no sense to talk about trading to get expensive journeymen to fill the slot in the interim when you already have a plethora of cheap journeymen on hand.

Actually, I did see a piece the other day that indicated the Cubs might just be leaning in that direction. It was by Paul Sullivan, not the most reliable of sources, to the effect that Hendry had told Theriot to be ready to move to 2B. Not a bad idea. Theriot is probably better suited to 2B and playing there might be the best case scenario as it will be possible to give him more time off during the season to prevent the September slumps to which he has been prone two of the last three years, since they do have a lot of options at this position. I just hope they do not bat him first again. He just doesn't take enough pitches, nor does he walk enough, nor does he have genuine base-stealing speed.

Cubs trade Heilman

The Cubs have traded Heilman to the Diamondbacks for two mid-level prospects. Actually anything they could get in return for Heilman is a plus. Heilman has never really lived up to his perceived potential for anyone and this was especially apparent with the Cubs last season. This guy could never throw strikes in clutch situations and sometimes hardly at all. He was reduced to being essentially a mop-up reliever and an expensive one at that.

The Cubs also appear to be close to signing John Grabow, who was a solid acquisition last year. Grabow is a consistent left-handed set-up man. Oddly enough, although I continue to be very critical of Jim Hendry's performance, I rather agree with his take on the Cubs' pitching. He seems content to pretty much stand pat, letting go of Harden and Gregg. relying on current talent to fill the gaps. This makes a lot of sense. Harden contributed very little last season and Gregg of course was a predicable disaster. One can make a case that despite some injuries and inconsistency, the Cubs pitching, in terms of quality starts particularly, was a little better last season than in 2008. They lost a lot of games last season that they should have won because of lack of offensive production.

I would not expect a lot of movement from the Cubs until Bradley is dumped.

Granderson?

So right now all of Cubdom seems infatuated with the idea of acquiring Curtis Granderson from the Detroit Tigers. Well, maybe not all of Cubdom. I'm certainly not.

Here's the story on Granderson, who by all accounts, and unlike last year's big acquisition, Milton Bradley, is a nice guy. Granderson is a leadoff man who had an OBA of .327 last year. He strikes out at least 150 times a year and batted .183 against lefties. He hit 30 HRs last year. He is signed through 2012 with an option for 2013. He is owed around $26 million for the balance of his contract.

Wow! Do these numbers remind anyone of another leadoff man recently acquired by the Cubs. Yes, fans, this is a left-handed hitting Soriano. Of course, unlike Soriano, he can actually catch. However, he is at best a platoon player, someone who will maybe give you Edmunds type numbers against right-handers.

Now if you compare the 2008 and 2009 seasons, it does not take a genius to figure out that the 2009 team essentially dumped their regular 2B, Mark DeRosa, who had a career year in 2008, and replaced the unexpectedly productive CF combo of Johnson and Edmunds with Milton Bradley. These moves, along with injuries to their best player Aramis Ramirez and their most overrated player, Alfonso Soriano, spelled their doom.

It is clear that with their current personnel, putting the team they fielded in September out there may let them contend in a very weak division, but certainly will not get them much beyond that. So they are right to look for help at 2B and CF, but first they need to evaluate their own prospects in a realistic way. If they have guys ready to step up in their own system, they don't actually need to make showy moves to acquire journeyman players who will just serve the purpose of blocking players with real potential.