The Chicago Cubs have traded outfielder Jacque Jones to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Omar Infante. Jones began his career in the AL Central, with the Minnesota Twins in 1999. For his career, he’s a .280/.329/.455 hitter. Last year, Jones hit just .285/.335/.400 with a career-low five home runs.
Jones, who will turn 33 a few weeks after the 2008 season begins, has played mostly right field over the past few season, although he did get into 84 games at center field last year. Presumably with Curtis Granderson patrolling center, the Tigers will move Jones back to a corner spot and …read more

In light of the recent Chris Young signing, Patrick Sullivan at Baseball Analysts examines some other current bargains and provides a list of good young players that clubs should lock up to long-term deals asap. I love this type of analysis and mostly agree with Sully’s list — my main reservations are with Bobby Jenks and Curtis Granderson, but those are minor quibbles.
Granderson has an interesting list of comps through age 25 over at Baseball-Reference. I guess the question becomes whether you believe he’s more Reggie Sanders than Jeffrey Hammonds. Personally, I think I’d wait another year before making a …read more