WWJD? (What Would Joe Do?) 12/12/10

With the Winter Meetings having come and gone, and the Cubs having addressed arguably the biggest hole in their line up with Carlos Pena, the rumor mill has calmed down noticeably. Of course Jim Hendry will be continuing to put in hours trying to add a starting pitcher and some veteran bullpen help. But the rumors will most likely not be perpetually hot like we saw during the Winter Meetings.

With a slow day in the news and rumor front for the Cubs today, I thought I would go Sam Smith on you guys and start looking into signings and trades that Hendry should look into. Those of you Cub fans who are also Chicago Bulls fans may be familiar with Smith’s love of creating hypothetical trade scenarios, some a little more ridiculous than others. While I plan to stay away from fantasy land trade ideas, I would like to make this a “series” to keep all of us thinking on some of the quiet days this off season.

So with the first installment of this series, I thought I would address the leadoff spot void that was obviously a hot topic with our readers based on Jordan’s last post. I think we can all agree that the in house options all leave a little something more to be desired. The names that have been brought up range from Starlin Castro to Marlon Byrd to even Fukudome.

Naturally, the lack of desirable options that are already in Cubbie pinstripes led some of you to start throwing around names to trade for, such as Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox, or even free agent targets like Orlando Hudson. Hudson would be a great option at the top spot, as he would bring another lefty bat (he is a switch hitter) to the batting line up, along with being at least a bit of a base stealing threat, both traits that the current Cubs options lack. But Hudson’s potential salary demands would quickly price him out of the Cubs budget, and the team would also have to first look into trading away Blake DeWitt to make space at 2B for Hudson.

That takes us back to the Ellsbury idea. But after reading this ESPN report, it does not sound like Red Sox manager Terry Francona will be willing to let Sox GM Theo Epstein trade away his preferred leadoff hitter, despite the fact that the Red Sox OF has now become pretty crowded with the recent signing of All Star OF Carl Crawford.

How the Red Sox will address this “problem”, I could care less about, but what caught my eye in the report was that the Red Sox line up projects to feature five left handed bats. Five! This includes the above mentioned Ellsbury, the newly signed Crawford, the trade addition Adrian Gonzalez, All Star DH David Ortiz, and RF J.D. Drew. The Gonzalez deal pushes right handed hitter Kevin Youkilis from 1B to 3B, and Boston will no longer consider pursuing free agent Adrian Beltre, their 3B from last season.

So that got me thinking. Out of all those names above, you get a balance of a couple guys that can focus on getting on base (Ellsbury and Crawford) and a set of guys in Gonzalez, Ortiz, and Drew that can provide the power from the left side to drive runs in. So what is this potent line up still missing despite all this big name talent? A right handed power hitter.

Now some of you will point to Youkilis as providing this right handed power production. And rightfully so, as he has averaged about 20 home runs over the five full seasons of his career. But if you look at his overall numbers, he is also a very balanced hitter, with his on base percentage really standing out. And you may recall that Youkilis actually spent time hitting in the leadoff spot for the Red Sox in past years.

What Would Joe Do? I would put in a call to the Red Sox to see if a swap of third basemen could be discussed. Aramis Ramirez for Youkilis. The Red Sox would be getting a “true” right handed power presence for their lefty heavy line up. Ramirez has shown that he can be a patient hitter compared to stereotypical power hitters (see Dunn, Adam), and in that line up there would be less pressure for him to come through as “the man”, a role he probably would play on the Cubs with the current roster as it stands, even with Carlos Pena. The Cubs would get their more “true” leadoff hitter with an above .400 on base percentage that also has a bit of pop and can drive in runs. The cherry on top is the fact that Youkilis would also save the Cubs $3 million for 2011 compared to what Aramis would be due. However, the Cubs would also be on the hook for $12 million in 2012 and $13 million option for 2013 while Aramis would be a free agent after 2011.

But would a straight up swap be enough to persuade the Red Sox to part with fan favorite Youkilis just for a minor upgrade in power at their 3B position? I guess this idea ended up being more Sam Smith sounding that I had expected, but this is where the Cubs minor league depth might also play a helping hand. With the Red Sox having traded some of their top talent off for Adrian Gonzalez, as well as losing their first round pick in the 2011 draft to the Rays due to the Crawford signing, the Cubs may be able to sweeten the deal by offering one of their prospects.

What Would You Do? Something for you guys to think and talk about as we wait for more rumors to come our way.