Is Johnny Damon The Answer For The Cubs?

Apparently there is some rule in the Cubs' clubhouse prohibiting the team from having a good center fielder for an entire season.

Jim Edmonds' .256/.369/.568/.937 line in 85 games with the 2008 Cubs was the best for a Chicago center fielder since Kenny Lofton's .327/.381/.471/.852 line in 56 game with the 2003 Cubs. 

It has been a few years since Johnny Damon has been a full-time center fielder.  And at the age of 36, it would not be logical to conclude that the veteran outfielder would get better over the next few years.

However, at what point do you sacrifice defense for offense?  That is a question the Cubs must ponder as their vacancy in center field remains through the holiday season.  Actually, the bigger question is why does a team with a $140 million payroll have so many holes, including (but not limited to) ones in center field, at second base, in the starting rotation and in the bullpen.

Over the last four years, the Cubs have trotted out Kosuke Fukudome, Felix Pie, Jacque Jones and Juan Pierre as opening day center fielders.  In other words, the Cubs have employed two converted right fielders, a prospect who was rushed into the starting line-up before being rushed out of town and the Black Scott Podsednik.

Meanwhile, over the span of his four-year commitment to New York, Damon has averaged a .285 BA, .362 OBP, .819 OPS and 144 games played.  The free agent outfielder thrived in the new Yankee Stadium as he slugged 24 home runs, 36 doubles and OPSed .854 for the world champs. Those would be welcomed numbers at Wrigley Field one season after no Cubs outfielder hit more than 20 home runs, while Milton Bradley and Kosuke Fukudome comibined to hit 23 home runs.

And in typical TBDS fashion, yours truly hits you with a dose of reality.

Damon struck out 98 times in 2009, a career high.  One year after stealing 29 bases for the Bronx Bombers, Damon stole 12 bases, the fewest swipes since 2005 when he stole 18 in his last season with the Boston Red Sox.

Then, there's the fact that Damon is no longer an everyday center fielder having played only 79 games in center since 2006 -- the last season in which he was a full-time player.  With Fukudome in right and Alfonso Soriano in left, the last thing the Cubs need is a player in center field that is unable to make up the ground his corner outfielders cannot cover.

But if you can out-hit your defensive inefficiencies, what's stopping the Cubs from signing Damon tomorrow?

If it is true that Damon was willing to take a 2-year, $20 million deal from the Yankees, why aren't the Cubs more actively involved.  They were ready to pay Milton Bradley $21 million over the same amount of time before shipping him to Seattle in a deal that still makes no sense.

(An aside:  Explain to me how the Cubs "won" the Bradley trade when they dealt their starting right fielder for a guy who the team hopes will compete for a spot in the rotation?)

When you look at what remains in the outfield market, Damon becomes an even more attractive free agent.  The market is bleak when your best bets are Podsednik, who is apparently asking for a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal despite being four years past his prime, Marlon Byrd, the former Rangers outfielder coming off a career year (where have we heard that one before) and Rick Ankiel, who has hit .247/.311/.757 in the two years since it was revealed that he was juiced up once upon a time.

Damon at $10MM per year is more attractive than the three musketeers of sucktitude rolled into one at the same price.  The 2011 center field market looks weak, too, with the only hope being that the Tampa Bay Rays cannot afford to bring back Carl Crawford -- who by the way has played only 51 of his 1,080 games of his big league career in center field.

So, at what point will I be writing a blog sulking about aging, over-paid Johnny Damon not being the answer in center field?  Only time will tell.  I guess the Cubs would have to bring him to Wrigley in the first place to find out.