Cubs: Plugging Holes with Bubble Gum

Yesterday the Cubs got Jacque Jones for $16M over 3 years and I can't say that I share the same enthusiam as Tim about it. I think we over paid for a player who has declined offensively over the last two years and statistically is Jeromy Burnitz but younger and more expensive.

Peter Gammons said in a column(Insider-Only) about a month ago that teams use three year trends to try and find undervalued players that are on rise and try to determine if a player is on the decline. For Jones it isn't pretty.

Jacque Jones 3 Year Trend

Year	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2003	.304	.333	.464	.797
2004	.254	.315	.427	.742
2005	.249	.319	.438	.757

If we delve deeper into his stats it gets worse. Jones is adequate against righties but is awful against lefties.

2005 Righty vs. Lefty Split

Split	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs.Left	.201	.247	.370	.617
vs.Right	.268	.348	.466	.814

This move is like trying to plug a hole in a dam with bubble gum. It might work out for a little bit but certainly isn't a long term or satisfactory fix. Jim Hendry still needs to find an outfield bat to face lefties and I need to find some way to get excited about next years prospects because right now it isn't looking good.

Filed in: sports mlb hotstove cubs