Cubs are Sori: let the games begin

The first big free agent signing of the off-season (unless you consider the Cubs resigning Aramis Ramirez a bigger deal) landed on the sports pages yesterday, and that means more are likely to start dropping. Where will Carlos Lee land? ESPN is hinting at Baltimore, but all Lee has to do is look at Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa to know that sluggers are not what that team needs. A stable full of Kris Bensons ain't gonna help much either.

As for the Sox, the lingering rumors of Manny going to Texas peak my interest only if that means we may have Mark Texiera or Michael Young in our lineup. If I were Epstein, I would offer Manny to Tom Hicks for Young, former Sox set-up guy Ron Mahay and Akinori Otsuka. This would address several key concerns for the Sox.

1) Shortstop. With Alex Gonzalez fleeing the Fens for the, um, promising Reds, the Sox were left with a gaping hole at short. Surely the two-year deal for Alex Cora was not meant to fill that hole. Young brings an All-Star bat to the middle of the infield, and could pepper the Monster with a Boggs-like regularity. Here is a guy who has four straight 200 hit seasons, which would be otherworldly if not for some dude named Ichiro. Young could fit nicely in front of Papi, who would move into the clean-up slot once and for all.

2) Middle Relief. The Sox bullpen, once the pride of Beantown, was abysmal last year. Thanks to consistently terrible performances from the Rudy Seanezes of the world, the Sox had a hard time holding a lead or preserving a tie in the late innings. And I hate to say it, but Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen are not the answer. Bringing in Mahay would not only improve the bullpen tenfold, it would give them one of the best lefty set-up men in the business. And you know the Sox need a good lefty in their division.

3) Closer. Jonathan Papelbon is going to be a starter, and that makes me drool. But I am going to miss him coming out of the pen and the almost euphoric feeling that it induced. Pap was crazy dominant, and had he not gotten injured, he would have challenged Verlander for rookie of the year and, I believe, Santana for some of those Cy Young votes. Come on, he was THAT good.

Now Otsuka is no Papelbon, but he did save 32 games with a very respectable 2.11 ERA last season, and I think that deserves note. Trading for him and then giving him an inflated two to three-year deal would be worth it, too: it would give the Sox time to groom Hansen (if, indeed, he is right for that role) AND provide a Japanese comrade in the clubhouse for Daisuke Matzusaka. We could become the Mariners of the East!

So, there you have it, Theo. Mr. Hicks, you can have Manny and all his Silver Slugger Awards if you give us Young, Mahay and Otsuka. I think that is fair for every one.

Hell, we'll even throw in Alex Cora, too.