Thursday, November 19, 2009

Jim Hendry overspends again (John Grabow)

According to Paul Sullivan, the Cubs agreed to a 2 year deal with lefty reliever John Grabow.  Gordon Wittenmyer says the deal is worth at least $7 million, which Dave Cameron at Fangraphs calls "a waste of cash". 

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE.

Back on November 10th, I said that Grabow was a decent reliever but that the Cubs should not overspend on him, suggesting around $1.5 million per year.  Perhaps that was a bit low, considering Grabow made $2.3 million in 2009, but I don't think he's worth $3.5 million per year.

Hendry would have been better off waiting out the market and signing a lefty around the time spring training opens or going with an internal option (John Gaub, perhaps). 

Spending $3.5 million on a middle reliever is a waste, even if the Cubs, as Wittenmyer suggests, consider Grabow a late inning reliever and possibly a closer, should Marmol implode.

When (not if) Grabow's luck runs out and he starts getting lit up like a Christmas tree, Hendry is going to be stuck with yet another bad contract and will likely be out of a job.

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