I think the Cubs made some smart moves at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday. Reports were coming in that Ben Zobrist was fielding offers of four years and $80MM, which, despite the player's talents and strong points, is a clearly crazy number for a 34 year old super sub. The Cubs landed him for four years and $56MM, which is a much more reasonable figure. Zobrist slots in nicely at second base and as a substitute corner outfielder and bench player. His presence gives the Cubs a chance to bring Javier Baez along more slowly as well, should they wish to do so.
The second move was to trade Starlin Castro to the Yankees. The team got pretty much the best deal they could for him. Actually Warren is a pretty good long reliever/spot starter who is young enough to maybe turn out to be more. I'd have hoped to get more in the way or prospects for Castro, but the truth is, except for his September run, Castro has been pretty awful two of the last three years.
These moves leave the team with only one gaping hole to fill, namely, center field. There is some talk of their making a play for Heyward, but, again, Heyward is not really a center fielder. More likely the Cubs, failing to entice Dexter Fowler back, will opt for cheaper alternatives. Probably along the lines of Span or Parra. Neither of these guys can hit lefties all that well, but a platoon might be in order with Baez if he works out or Austin Jackson, another free agent who has been bouncing around for the past two years but once held high promise.
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