For all the talk of Cubs spending big money this off season, the reality comes closer with Jesse Rogers piece this week at espn.com:
League sources indicate that the Cubs could be interested in Oakland Athletics outfielder Jonny Gomes
for this role. He checks the boxes for leadership and playoff
experience, having been to the postseason four of the past five years
playing for three teams, including the A's in 2012 and 2014. He's
exactly the type of player the Cubs' front office is undoubtedly looking
for. He won a championship with Boston last season before winding up
back to Oakland this year, hitting a combined .234 with six home runs
and 37 RBIs between the two teams.
"The outfield is always an opportunity where you can add talent and the parts can fit well together," Epstein said.
Translation: the outfield is where a platoon works best, and it's
the leadership, not the numbers, that the Cubs are looking for. The
right-handed-hitting Gomes will turn 34 in November and isn't an
everyday player, but he might fit nicely in left field along with
incumbent Chris Coghlan.
Gomes might find an American League team more to his liking because he
could find at-bats as a designated hitter as well as in the outfield,
but the Cubs could probably lure him to Chicago with the right two-year
deal.
Gomes, made $5 million last season for sub-par production. The Cubs may get the player on a steep discount, because of past performance and part time status. But by signing a bunch of platoon players is not going to win more ball games, because they are platoon players for a reason: not good enough to start. Rotating journeymen at the end of their useful careers is not "competitive" roster rebuilding.
