Floyd to Sign with Cubs (Someday)

For the past month, media outlets from across the country have been reporting that the Cubs are on the verge of signing OF Cliff Floyd. Every few days a new story is published, but the deal is yet to get done.

The media is at it again today, reporting that a deal between the Cubs and Floyd is imminent. However, nothing in any of the stories is new. None of the stories explain why the signing has been put on hold until now, none predict what moves have to first be made in order for the Cubs to sign Floyd, and none give a good explanation as to why the Cubs are looking to add Floyd to their roster. It’s all the same story, and sooner or later it may prove to be true.

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I don’t like knee jerk reactions. Knee jerk reactions are usually poorly thought out, over-reactive, and often plain wrong. That’s why I hated it when I had a knee jerk reaction to a report this morning that Alfonso Soriano had agreed to play CF next year.

Why put Soriano in CF? I thought Soriano was going to play RF and Jacque Jones (or another short term solution) was going to play CF until Felix Pie is ready. What happened to that plan?

Of course, if you take a second to think about it, this plan probably makes sense. It will likely be easier for Soriano to learn to play CF instead of the much more difficult RF at Wrigley. Jones is already accustomed to Wrigley Field’s RF, so why not just leave him there? When he’s ready, Felix Pie can play RF. He has a tremendous arm and is well suited to be a right fielder. If Jones is just going to hold a spot for Pie, it can just as easily be RF as CF. And if Jones ends up being traded (a possibility that becomes more distant every day), Cliff Floyd (assuming he signs with the Cubs) can hold down RF until Pie is ready.

I’m swearing off knee jerk reactions, at least until something else happens that triggers an illogical emotional outburst out of me.