Eh...

So the Cubs signed Aramis Ramirez - 5 years, 75 million. Of course, they could have added a few years and bucks to his last deal, which he opted out of (10.5 million per year), but...Not a terrible price for 3B with power, although his defense is just so-so. The worrisome part is how he choked it last spring - pulled a .197/.321/.394 (for the uninformed, the last two numbers of the set are OBP and slugging) during April; .266/.296/.495 in May. Maybe he missed having some protection in the lineup.

The big news, though, is that the Cubs traded two minor leaguers for White Sox reliever Neal Cotts. So-so 2006; but a phenomenal 2005 - shifting to the NL should be good for a 1/2 run improvement on his ERA. But why is this the big news? History, my friend. Way back when in 1998, I was living in a 500 sq. ft. studio with a roommate(!), making a little above minimum wage, and the Cubs traded away a pitching prospect for a Sox reliever - Matt Karchner for Jon Garland. Karchner went 3-1, 28ip, 5.14 ERA for the rest of 98 and played in one game of the NLDS loss to Atlanta (2/3 of an inning, one hit, one run, one K). And so, for a glorious 60 2/3 innings, we gave up Jon Garland, who's won 76 games since 2002. Oh, and since you're wondering, total wins for Wood and Prior since 2002 - 80.