Remember What I Wrote About Mike Cameron? Scratch That.

For those of you whose memories flee like a talented Cuban pitcher, here's a reminder.

1. Mike Cameron, CF.  There was once a time where Cameron was among the best center fielders in baseball.  The three-time Gold Glove winner was always spectacular in the field, making routine plays and making difficult plays look routine.  At the plate, he was serviceable at best, but was usually a threat on the base paths. Cameron has three 30-steal seasons and five more years of at least 22 swipes under his belt.


Unfortunately, at age 36, those days are behind Cameron.  Yes, he still has some pop in his bat (24 home runs, .795 OPS) but I'm not quite sure that He's hit at least 20 HRs in each of the last four seasons.

Yeah.  Um, can we pretend that never happened?  Good.  Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'll use this as a place where I will vehemently argue against bringing on Marlon Byrd.

Marlon Byrd should not be patrolling center field at Wrigley Field unless he is on an opposing team.  In 2003, Byrd finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting as he posted a .303/.366/.418/.784 line.  He would then procede to fall off the face of the earth from 2004-2007 where his slash stats got ugly.  We're talking a three year average of .225/.309/.349/.658.  Then he went to Texas and got hot (no homo) posting a .295/.352/.468/.820 line in his three years with the Rangers.

And after previous attempts to acquire Byrd in the past have failed, it looks like GM Jim Hendry is lookingo to make Byrd his new Bradley.

And everyone knows Hendry always gets his man.  It makes me wish CC Sabathia was his man last year, or that Carlos Beltran was his man a few winters ago.

With that said, Mike Cameron needs to be Jim Hendry's "man" to a certain extent this offseason.  It's not because of the .795 OPS he posted last year or the 70 home runs he has hit over the last three years.

It's because of his defense, stupid.

Remember when the Cubs couldn't compete on the road against the Rockies, Padres and Diamondbacks?  Manager Lou Piniella said it was because the Cubs didn't have the speedy outfielders that could go get balls hit in the gaps.  Kosuke Fukudome could not get those balls.  Neither could Crazy Uncle Milton.  I don't expect the rotund Byrd to be able to get them either.

Two of the Cubs' biggest problems in 2009 were the lack of team speed and the lack of team defense.  With Alfonso Soriano in left field and Fukudome in right, there's a gaping hole in center.  A hole big enough to drive a mack truck through.

If the Cubs are not going to get better on the offensive side of the equation, they need to do whatever they can on the defensive end.

That means saying no to Byrd, while biting the bullet for Cameron.

Roy Halladay Ain't Comin, But The Cubs Could Fleece The Pirates Yet Again

Upon hearing trade rumors, Ryan Doumit is begging Zach Duke to take him with if he gets traded to Chicago.

Roy Halladay has been ticketed to go anywhere and everywhere that isn't the North Side of Chicago. It's almost sad, too, seeing that each of the Chicago Cubs' top four starters has spent time on the disabled list.

But off in the distance, help might be on its way. And if the Washington Nationals are baseball's starter girlfriend, that means the Pittsburgh Pirates are baseball's neighborhood pusher. Because whenever you need it the Pirates got it and are willing to give it to you.

Not long ago, the Cubs turned Bobby Hill, Matt Brokeback Bruback and Jose Hernandez into Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton. Lofton turned into the lead-off man the Cubs still haven't had since 2003 and Ramirez has become a franchise cornerstone.

And no one has ever heard from those "prospects" ever again.

Fast forward to 2009 and the Cubs have their eyes on another coup of the Pirates' ship.

With Ted Lilly hitting the DL, there is an apparent interest in lefty starters Zach Duke and Tom Gorzelanny. Duke has come across some rough times since going 8-2 with a 1.81 earned run average as a rookie, but that's to be expected from a franchise that hasn't won anything since Roberto Clemente roamed right field.

After going 18-37 after his freshman campaign, Duke has posted a 9-9 record, 3.42 ERA and 1.227 WHIP for the bottom-feeding Bucco's. As for Gorzelanny, the Evergreen Park, Ill., is wasting away in the minors somewhere -- like most Pirates prized prospects.

The Cubs also might have an interest in Freddy Sanchez, as the team is in search of offensive production out of the second base slot. Same can be said about lefty specialist John Grabow and probably closer Matt Capps.

The purging of the Pirates is already underway (as Phil Rogers points out) as Pittsburgh has already traded Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche for a 1970s Pinto and a steaming pile of garbage to be named later.

So, here I am, wondering whether or not Jim Hendry can take Neal Huntington to the woodshed for one more Pirate heist.

My prediction: Duke, Grabow, Capps and Sanchez for Aaron Miles and David Patton.

Let's get it done, Jimbo!