Cubs Add Gathright

[love_that_reefer]

Cubs signed outfielder Joey Gathright, who had been with the Royals, to a one-year contract.
Ideally, Kosuke Fukudome, Reed Johnson and Felix Pie would all outplay Gathright next season and the Cubs would never have reason to turn to the speedster on their way to the first World Series victory since 1908. Ideally. Gathright fell from .307/.371/.342 in 228 at-bats in 2007 to .254/.311/.272 in 279 at-bats last season for the Royals. There's nothing wrong with carrying him as a 25th man, but he looks like a downgrade for the Cubs bench.

At least Gathright has had some success at the ML level. Pie hasn't shown me anything to think he will be good. This could mean Pie will be traded soon.

[catman]

This is an almost riskless signing. If he does anything at all, he will certainly have earned his salary. Pie has shown me that he has nothing to prove at the AAA level (I've seen him for a couple of years here in Iowa), but has done little at the major league level. He is the epitome of an AAAA player.