The Lilly Trade

I've got to say I like this deal at first glance. First off, the Cubs save some money this year even though they had to subsidize both Lilly's and Theriot's contracts for the balance of this year, and, of course, next year you save what you would have had to pay them, which is around $13 million or so. Just on paper, leaving Lilly aside, you are trading one somewhat disappointing player for another in the Theriot for DeWitt swap. But bear in mind that Theriot is on the downside of his performance, having forgotten how to play intelligently both at the plate and in the field and he seems to be grousing about having lost his arbitration case and having to change positions to accommodate Castro.

All in all, DeWitt has more upside. He is having a better season, is a better infielder, and, by all accounts, has great fundamentals as a batter even though he has not hit up to his potential. He is also a left-handed hitter, which helps because the Cubs need to get more left-handed and there are not many positions where that is an option for them, the primary one, naturally, being first base.

Wallach may be the sleeper in this deal. He is considered a good prospect and has excellent numbers pitching in A ball. A few years away from the majors, but he would bear watching. Smit, the other pitcher, is a reliever of indifferent status who is probably a throw-in.

The question of who replaces Lilly in the rotation is an interesting one. Logically, it is Zambrano, but, by all accounts, Z is a ways away from being ready to start, having been out of live action for more than a month and having, from the scouting reports, lost a bit off his fastball and command in the interim. He might need conditioning to get ready to start and it is rather a pity the Cubs did not follow a different course, knowing as they must have done that they were going to unload Lilly. Lilly's departure creates a roster opening, so they will definitely bring someone up, maybe a AAA starter just to get a look in the interim. The other option would be to start Cashner, who was a starter in AA and AAA and should have been allowed to continue his development there, in my opinion. But Cashner's confidence is shot right now and he has been used nearly every day by Piniella and shortened up in the process, becoming this year's Jeff Samardzija.