The joking ended with Piniella muttering profanities on his way out the door.

The lack of somebody to set up unnecessary diving catches and over the shoulder catches, because he's a drama queen, has been holding the Cubs back for a hundred years now.

The Cubs general manager said he’d have an announcement on Edmonds after tonight’s game, and that he’d be activated on Thursday if he passes the physical.

“Obviously if it wasn’t something we felt could possibly help us, we wouldn’t have looked into it,” Hendry said.

Hendry was joking, of course, and spent most of Wednesday's press conference...

“Obviously if it weren't something we felt could possibly help us, we would have looked into it,” Hendry corrected himself.

That said, this might be the first time I'll find myself rooting against a Cub player. I rationalized making Todd Hollandsworth the everyday rightfielder. I was able to rationalize the signing of Jeromy Burnitz as his succeeder. I was even able to justify Neifi Perez Leadoff Hitter for a while. But this, is absolutely inexcusable given the situation the team is currently in.

I don't want it to affect the team's success, but the big picture is key here. Any success Edmonds has only damages Pie. I can't wait for this thing to fall apart quickly enough. We'd better see Lou's trademark lack of patience with Edmonds.

somebody to set up unnecessary diving catches and over the shoulder catches

As a Padres season ticket holder I can tell you that he can't do either of these anymore. He looked awful in the outfield, which sucked because he looked even worse at the plate. The whole thing is really ridiculous. Why the Cubs would think Edmonds—who was essentially waived for Scott Hairston—could help them out is amazing to me.

What a weird interlude this will be. Edmonds must be immune to embarrassment.

Where is Kenny Lofton? If you're going to use Fukudome and Soriano to cover for a weak CF, at least bring in somebody who can get on base. Bring up Fuld to caddy for him.

SantoFan Posted: May 14, 2008 at 08:48 PM (#2781237)

somebody to set up unnecessary diving catches and over the shoulder catches

As a Padres season ticket holder I can tell you that he can't do either of these anymore. He looked awful in the outfield, which sucked because he looked even worse at the plate. The whole thing is really ridiculous.

- agree. i watched him with both the home and away games with the astros and i didn't hardly recognize him. the only ball he hit "well" was one of oswalt's slow curves which he sent 335' into the crawford boxes. he's not gonna run faster or field better at wrigley. and it sure as heck won't help his slow bat

Why the Cubs would think Edmonds—who was essentially waived for Scott Hairston—could help them out is amazing to me.

- i'm just glad jim hendry grabbed him before ed wade could
but then again, youneverknow

Dumbest move ever. EVER!!!!!!!

Maybe Jim called that bald guy at "The Scooter Score" to help him get around better.

And if he gets one with an ejection seat he could still launch himself to catch potential home runs balls at the fence.

Kenny Lofton? Who would want a .300 hitter with a little pop, who can get on base and play passable CF? Apparently no one for the past 8 years or so.

Jim Edmonds is expected to be in a Cubs uniform Thursday afternoon, playing centerfield and batting ninth in the lineup. Ninth?
“He’s going to hit ninth,” manager Lou Piniella said. “I’m going to move the pitcher to eighth, and hit him ninth.”

Edmonds' OPS+ this season (38) is lower than those of Zambrano (98, 49 for his career), Lilly (81), and Sean Marshall (421 thanks to his 1.000/1.000/1.000 in his 1 PA). Marquis is slightly worse than Edmonds (27, career OPS+ of 34). I guess you could probably make an argument that Edmonds is a better hitter than Ryan Dempster (OPS+ of -31 this season, -48 for his career).

Careful, Kiko. You don't want the Cubs to sign Esteban Yan to beef up their pinch-hitting options.

Hey we're in first place, have the second best record in all of baseball, have the highest scoring team in all of baseball, and already have a pretty darn good defensive CF'er. So you know what lets sign some old guy who can't hit and can't field and slide him right into the lineup like guy has some sort of value.

Brilliant!!!!

You know what? If the Cubs are seriously so concerned about the lefty/righty balance of one of the league's best offenses, they should sign Barry Bonds. Yes, it'll screw up the outfield defense, but Edmonds does that anyway.

Hendry's doing his very best to use up all the credit he earned with the Ramirez and Lee trades.

As that unusual creature, a dual Cardinals/Cubs fan, I really do want Jimmy to do well. But it's hard to imagine it happening given what we've seen in the last year and a half of his career.

Potential reasons behind this transaction:

Jim Hendry has been paid off by (insert favorite source of conspiracy here; Tony LaRussa/Bud Selig/George W Bush/Barack Obama/the Russians) to ensure that the Cubs' championship drought continues.
Jim Hendry is a part owner of the Iowa Cubs, and his team needs some help in its first-half pennant race.
Jim Hendry has recently sustained a severe concussion, and thinks it is the year 2000.

Anyone else have ideas? Just about anything you can come up with makes more sense than thinking a soon-to-be 38 year old player who's lodged in a steep, 3-year long decline will return to his old form as soon as his calf heals up.

Everyone, GMAFB. No matter how stupid this is, this isn't going to hurt the Cubs. They really weren't getting anything out of CF right now anyway. If he sucks, he's gone. If he somehow miraculously doesn't suck, then it's gravy. It's all about perspective. No one here seems to have that. The Cubs have a 60 OPS+ in the CF spot right now, and somehow they're still first in all of baseball in OBP and runs. As much as we all would love to think Pie could do better than that if given the chance, we really don't know that.

I said this in the chatter and it's what I truly believe:
"I'm just getting tired of the complaining and constant negativity. By the end of the year, I trust Lou to have the best possible team out there. If that includes Pie and Hill, great. If not, I can live with that."

Ideally, Hill's back in the rotation and Marquis is out to pasture somewhere, along with Edmonds, while Pie's rewarding us for our patience with him.

Pie's rewarding us for our patience with him.

We might be patient with him but the Cubs aren't. You're right that the Cubs with Edmonds can't really be worse (in CF) than they have been without him ... and if they are, he won't be around long. What's disturbing is the typical Cub move -- we weren't getting anything out of Johnson ... so a rational team might say "since Johnson can't hit, especially against righties, and Pie is better defensively, why don't we stick the kid in there on at least a platoon basis." Instead it's "let's sign the crappy old veteran, bury the kid in AAA." And, as I noted elsewhere, the real problem is that this makes it quite clear the Cubs don't think Pie is the answer in CF this year. Once they realize Edmonds isn't either, they're going to go looking for a "better" "reliable" option ... and that trade might well cost the Cubs Pie.

I do trust Piniella (unlike Baker) to make the best use of the parts he has available (Theriot crush aside). I don't trust him (or the combo of him and Hendry) with personnel decisions, especially when it comes to young players (Soto example notwithstanding).

In isolation, this move doesn't mean much. But it is yet another mind-numbingly dumb move in a long Cub history of dumb moves.

He's passed the physical, according to the Trib. Also, Ward is expected to go on the DL with back soreness, with Hoffpaiur coming up to replace him over the weekend.

I do trust Piniella ...(Theriot crush aside).

I think we pretty unanimously agreed the Cubs would be better off with someone else at short at the start of the season, but it's hard to fault Piniella for this now, given what Theriot's done to this point. I don't expect him to continue hitting .330, but if he sustains his current walk rate, he'll have about a .360 OBP if he can hit .280, and I don't doubt he can hit .280.

That said, it's disappointing to not see Cedeno get a chance to show HIS hot start's for real. I suppose that's a nice problem to have. Wait--weren't the Cubs working Cedeno out in center in spring training? If so, why the hell not try him out there, and let us find out if he can continue hitting?

I'm inclined to agree the Edmonds thing won't particularly hurt the team, as they're likely to cut bait on him quickly if and when he sucks, but it's still pointless. I'd rather take my chances on some combination of Pie and Cedeno out there.

I think we pretty unanimously agreed the Cubs would be better off with someone else at short at the start of the season, but it's hard to fault Piniella for this now, given what Theriot's done to this point. I don't expect him to continue hitting .330, but if he sustains his current walk rate, he'll have about a .360 OBP if he can hit .280, and I don't doubt he can hit .280.

The elephant in the room here is that Theriot is not a shortstop defensively, and it's starting to show. Right now he's going the Derek Jeter route and hitting so well that his defense doesn't really matter. If his offense drops to the level you're suggesting - and remember, hitting .280 his slugging is likely to be something like .370, given his current ISO - is his defense still acceptable?

The elephant in the room here is that Theriot is not a shortstop defensively, and it's starting to show. Right now he's going the Derek Jeter route and hitting so well that his defense doesn't really matter. If his offense drops to the level you're suggesting - and remember, hitting .280 his slugging is likely to be something like .370, given his current ISO - is his defense still acceptable?

Possibly not. Hence my Cedeno comments (partially, at least--if he's not going to get time at short, and they're not going to use Pie in center, they should put Cedeno in center and see what he can do. It's not like other teams will be beating down the door to sign Jedmonds, so they could always bring him in later if the in-house options completely fail to pan out.).

Funny you should make the Jeter comparison. I've been saying for a few weeks now that Theriot is to balls to his right what Jeter is to balls to his left. He simply waves at anything more than about a step to his right.

It's moves like this that make me wish I could see the type of team Hendry would put together with a $60 million payroll.

Could be worse. Could be B.J. Surhoff.

I don't think this is guaranteed a win-win for the Cubs where they either bask in his Cesar Cedeno-like glow or they dump him if he sucks. First off, Pie wasn't killing them in the field and Edmonds likely will. Second, Edmonds is hitting even worse than Pie now, but if he does manage to attain lofty Pie-like levels or slightly better, they will not cut him, they will keep trotting him out there, and he will keep killing them two ways. These are the ways pennants are lost.

Just because the Cubs are leading the league in runs doesn't mean they can blithely afford to downgrade. In fact, a better way to break Pie in cannot possibly be imagined, yet they're screwing it up.

HW, still think Piniella knows a ballplayer from a turnip? I thought you might have a point, but gosh, I wonder now.

HW, still think Piniella knows a ballplayer from a turnip? I thought you might have a point, but gosh, I wonder now.

One mistake and we're throwing everything positive out the window? Ok.

Maybe Jim called that bald guy at "The Scooter Score" to help him get around better.

And if he gets one with an ejection seat he could still launch himself to catch potential home runs balls at the fence.

Good thing I wasn't drinking coffee, because I snorted.

One mistake and we're throwing everything positive out the window? Ok.

Just one? Really? I bet you can think of at least one more.

And I'd say this one counts as two.

I guess you could probably make an argument that Edmonds is a better hitter than Ryan Dempster (OPS+ of -31 this season, -48 for his career).

Today, Edmonds was 1-4 with a strikeout in his debut. Ryan Dempster, on the other hand, was 1-3 with a sac bunt, a run scored, and an RBI. Hmm.