From Bad to Worse

BAD: The Cubs signed Jacque Jones to a three-year deal worth a reported $16 million. Jacque Jones is a good outfielder, no question. He's averaged 22 homers over the last 4 years, stole 13 bases each of the last 3 years, and is an above average fielder. But his batting average the last two years has been around .250 (dropping from .300 in 2002 and 2003), and more importantly, he is just not the middle-of-the-order bat that the Cubs needed.

My guess is that the Cubs saw no trade opportunities out there, and grabbed at what they could. It's not an inspiring move, and not one that I expect will help the team much. The division remains for the taking by somebody else...

WORSE: Tom Hicks and the Texas Rangers finally trade for some pitching - only to give it right back in the same deal.

The Rangers acquired starter Adam Eaton, reliever Akinori Otsuka, and catching prospect Billy Killian (3rd rounder in '04) from the Padres today for starter Chris Young, 1B/OF Adrian Gonzalez, and OF Termel Sledge. Eaton is a fairly decent pitcher who deserves to be a #4 starter in the bigs. But he's 28 years old, hardly a stud, never once surpassing 11 wins or lowering his ERA below 4. Otsuka's a good reliever, but we all know how one day's set-up superstar is the next day's LaTroy Hawkins. Killian? Ok, a good prospect, but ESPN.com reports that Texas wouldn't part with young catcher Gerald Laird. So where does Killian go?

In exchange, of course, the team dealt their #1 pitching prospect away in Young, and the once #1 overall draft pick (Gonzalez). I understand that with Teixeira's growth, there's no room for Gonzalez - but is this the best they could get? He's 23 years old, rated the team's #1 prospect in 2004 by Baseball America, and hasn't really gotten a good chance to prove himself. More importantly - Chris Young showed promise last season and though he fatigued down the stretch, he was supposed to be the future anchor of the Texas rotation. Whether or not he'd come through is of course an unknown, but you can be sure that Eaton can never handle such a role.

In short, Texas traded away a potential #1 or #2 starter for a #4, and a potential top hitter for a blowin'-in-the-wind reliever. This team will never, never win if they keep making stupid, stupid moves like this one. When will they ever learn?