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Burnitz a Cub

The Cubs signed the intriguingly spelled Jeromy Burnitz to a 1-year, $5 million contract with a mutual option for 2006. Cubs fans have been extremely negative about this deal, to the point of comparing Burnitz to Tony Womack. I'm not that negative on the deal from a baseball standpoint, as Burnitz can provide a decent bit of pop down the order.

But I do agree with them on the financial commitment. The Cubs have now spent nearly $22 of the $25 million they would have spent on Sammy, and gotten worse production. I think the best course of action for the Cubs would have been to start the season with an outfield platoon of Todd Hollandsworth, Jason DuBois, and Jerry Hairston, and use the money to buy a potential free agent on the cheap around June 1.

Burnitz, Jeromy - 2005 ZiPS Projection
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AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG
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499 62 116 23 2 29 75 53 126 5 .232 .311 .461

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