Do We Need Brian Roberts?

The Cubs are trying to trade for Brian Roberts still. There is a good side and a bad side to this deal. I am still worried about trading with our old, Andy MacPhail. I think any GM should be wary of trading with someone who knows their farm system inside and out like MacPhail does. It has not been very long since Andy was here, and he was a great baseball mind in his past (though he was unable to make it work here in Chicago). Second, Roberts has been listed as a steroid user in the Mitchell Report. It is not so much that I think the Cubs should be too good to employ any former steroid users; I just worry that his only real good season he ever had was a result of a substance he is no longer on. If this is true, we may give Baltimore great prospects for a mediocre and injury-prone second baseman.

On the other hand, Brian Roberts would give us a legitimate lead-off hitter, one who can give our lineup more lefty/righty balance. Really, with Roberts, Fukudome, and possibly Felix Pie, we would be OK against tough right handers who have eaten the Cubs' righty-dominated lineups alive in the past.

Mark DeRosa is our second baseman at the moment, but he is not a great defender.

Despite this, he is a great utility man. I think that he would be best used as the Cubs' irregular regular, popping up in the lineup more often than not at a combination of second, third, first, left, and right, and even shortstop once in a blue moon.

The point is, I think, that I have softened my opinion against acquiring Roberts. I can favor this deal only if we don't give MacPhail TOO much in return, and if Piniella will make it a priority to get 500 plate appearances for DeRosa, enough for him to feel respected and eager to contribute.