George Castle

on the Cubs

CHICAGO | Jim Edmonds only costs money.

Cubs honchos and their Tribune Co. overseers could light their cigars with the $280,000-and-change pro-rated salary the team will have to pay Edmonds. The hired-gun center fielder could see his first action today against the Padres, who just released him, and Greg Maddux.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is not gambling much by giving the 37-year-old Edmonds a month-long tryout. He'd risk a lot more overexposing Reed Johnson to full-time center field duty or throwing inexperienced Felix Pie out there.

Edmonds' arrival is masking Pie's failure, which this time might be for good as a Cub. His swing might just be beyond repair for big-league standards.

Touted for years, Pie has frustrated the entire organization by dominating minor-league pitching, then hardly swinging better than a pitcher during any of his stints with the Cubs.

One savvy baseball mind around Wrigley Field suggested if he was in charge, he'd demote Pie to Triple-A, hope he hits close to .400 and then trade him while he still is viewed as promising by some teams.

Pie simply is a victim of circumstances. The Cubs have produced so few homegrown position players in nearly the past two decades that anyone with talent is overhyped.

All the attention is focused on the one player and he's expected to be the Cubs' savior. Good development organizations like the Braves and Twins bring up crops of position players, put them in the lineup and they're expected to perform. No one player hogs the hype.

Pie is the Cubs' fastest defensive outfielder, and would be the most gifted if not for the fundamentally sharp Kosuke Fukudome. He can out-run anyone on the roster. But even though the new on-base percentage prowess has made the lineup formidable, manager Lou Piniella cannot afford to carry a near-automatic out who might mentally bury himself with repeated failure.

Edmonds may turn out to be no improvement over Pie at the plate. But there's a road map of a veteran using his experience to help a contender in a limited, defined role. The Cubs are hoping Edmonds has just enough juice in platooning with Johnson in center to get them to the World Series.

But Edmonds' motivation and experience must overcome his slower reflexes at the plate and in the field. Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who cut Edmonds, said Wednesday the smaller ballparks in the National League Central could help him on defense. And don't play him against left-handers, Towers added. No need to worry -- that's Johnson's job.

The cycle of an old veteran getting one last chance begins again. If it's the Cubs' year, Edmonds won't be washed up just yet.

George Castle's "Diamond Gems" baseball show airs at 3 p.m. Saturdays on WIMS-AM (1420). This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at DGemsNet@aol.com.