Cubs Sign Jacque Jones

The Cubs cornered the market on guys who sound like they’re French but aren’t by signing Jacque Jones to a three-year, $16MM deal to play alongside Juan Pierre.  Rounding out the French wannabe All-Star team are Alexis Rios, Joaquin Benoit, and Xavier Nady. 

I’m guessing Cubs fans will be less than thrilled with this signing based on the initial reaction.  That the deal was for three years only adds to the anguish.  Here’s how lboros at Viva El Birdos put it:

"Encouraging news out of the Windy City, per Sun-Times: the Cubs reportedly have made an offer to Jacque Jones. A double gift — like having a tornado just barely miss your house and instead tear the roof off your obnoxious neighbor’s place."

Yep, that pretty much sums it up from a Cards fan point of view.  I’m trying to find a silver lining here for Cubs fans.  Jones was exactly as good as Jeromy Burnitz in 2005 – tied for the 9th best RF in the game.  Slight positive note: Jones is a slightly better player once you even out their playing time.  I’m really grasping here, but if Jones somehow returned to his 2002 level – .300/.341/.511 – that would be on par with what Jorge Posada and Jorge Cantu did in 2005.  OK, that was weak.

The best Cubs fans can hope for is that Jones gets platooned at some point in the near future.  Here’s his line against righties for each of the last three seasons:

.268/.348/.466
.258/.310/.465
.317/.342/.492

So that’s tolerable.  Let’s see here, are there any available lefty mashers who can play the outfield?  Here’s a short list of available outfielders and their lines against lefties in 2005.

Kevin Mench     .296/.380/.600
Craig Monroe    .303/.360/.549
Preston Wilson  .262/.336/.571
Eric Byrnes        .344/.406/.599 (2004)

Byrnes might be non-tendered tonight by the Orioles; why not take a flyer on a fun, hardworking player who can hide Jacque’s inadequacies?  Such a move would greatly redeem Hendry in my mind, and he’d look less dumb too.