Let Me Make A Suggestion

We Cubs fans have a bad habit of falling in love with players sometimes.  We get so attached that we don’t see that a change might actually improve the team.  As the season starts in one week, there are still a few concerns that I have.  What do you do with Wood and Prior? Can Neal Cotts continue to give up so many runs from the bullpen?  Is Daryle Ward that great of a pinch hitter?  Which Dempster will show up in 2007?  Will Big Z get his contract this week?  Oh yeah, and what about that outfield defense?

The Cubs look much better than last year, but that’s not saying much.  They have more depth, the pitching is better, Derek Lee is back, and Lou is at the helm.  But the biggest weakness is the outfield defense.  Nobody is going to be scared to run on Murton or Jones.  Wrigley Field is an extremly difficult place to play an outfield position, much less centerfield, yet the Cubs are going to put Soriano out there.  Soriano has only played the outfield for one year. After seeing some of the bad jumps and bad reads he has had in Arizona, it is making me more nervous.  So let me make a bold suggestion.

Trade Matt Murton

Go ahead, yell at me.  Call me crazy.  Insult me up and down.  I deserve it.  But here is my point.  Pie is a natural centerfielder.  He can handle the centerfield duties at Wrigley. He is fast and has a cannon for an arm.  He has had one less at bat than Matt Murton, but he is batting .352 to Murton’s .255.  Pie has on OBP of .397 while Murton’s is .328.  Murton has three home runs and Pie has none.  But let’s be realistic. Matt Murton is not going to be a power hitter.  That’s why Boston threw him in as part of the Nomar trade.  He was never going to be a power hitter in Fenway, just like he won’t in Wrigley.  What Pie will give you is speed and good defense.  Yes, Murton is a patient hitter, but the reason us Cubs fans loved that so much is we were used to the free swinging bunch under the Dusty Baker regime.  Lou and hitting coach Gerald Perry have taught the Cubs to be much more patient.  Murton will give up more runs then he produces with his defense.

If the Cubs traded Murton somewhere for some prospects, the Cubs could put Jacque Jones in left, Pie in center, and Soriano in right, which in my opinion is just as good offensively and a huge upgrade defensively.  I think it would also help both Soriano and Pie to have each other. They seemed to have hit it off well and could really help each other out.  Also, think about the possibility of having Soriano and Pie hitting first and second. That kind of speed up top would be unbelievable.  Pie would also add another left handed bat on a team that is mostly right handed.

Maybe you think Pie is not ready.  Fine.  Then put in Theriot in left against righties.  Theriot has played five positions, including left and right field, committed only one error, hit .385 (with an on-base percentage of .448) and gone 5-for-5 on stolen bases. He is better offensively than Murton, faster, and just as good if not better defensively. 

I know this is not a popular idea, but think about it.  It might just make sense.