Moises Alou and the Chicago Cubs were able to agree upon a 3-year deal worth $27 million on Wednesday. The deal breaks out to $6M in 2002 then $9.5M in both 2003 and 2004. There is a mutual option for 2005 that would be worth $11.5M if accepted, and a $2M buyout if either party declines the option. Given the current trend in baseball salaries, I seriously doubt that Chicago will exercise choose to exercise the option, but a lot can happen in three years. The remainder of the contract appears favorable for the Cubs, as long as Alou can avoid the injuries that have caused him problems for the last few years.

While the size of the contract and the quality of player are big news, especially to Cubs fans, the results of the signing are fairly cut and dry. As long as he's healthy, Alou will be playing left field and hitting 5th in the order.

It's not surprising that Sammy Sosa was heavily involved in persuading Alou to sign with the team. Aside from their existing friendship, Sammy knows that with Alou and McGriff behind him, he will have the most protection he's ever had in a Chicago lineup.

The question marks only start to pop up when you attempt to determine who will be playing between Alou and Sosa in centerfield. After making the decision to sign Alou, the Cubs traded Michael Tucker to Kansas City for a PTBNL in an effort to cut payroll. This move leaves them Corey Patterson and Roosevelt Brown in centerfield, a situation that wouldn't be so odd if manager Don Baylor hadn't just expressed his desire a week ago not to hand the young players full-time roles. Assuming both Patterson and Brown leave camp with the club in the spring, Kimera Bartee and Angel Echevaria are probably their best candidates to fill the 25th roster position and serve as extra outfield help. Second baseman Delino DeShields can also play the outfield, but that only works if Bobby Hill is ready to start. Ultimately, the success of this offense lies heavily on Don Baylor's managerial skills and Andy McPhail's in-season roster management, a scary thought for all those whose wish the Cubs success. At least they have a solid core from which to work.

I can't really comment about which team received the better end of the KC - CHC trade until the PTBNL is named, but we can look at what Tucker's acquisition means for the Royals. Kansas City's outfield currently features Carlos Beltran in centerfield and Chuck Knoblauch, who signed a one-year deal with the club on Tuesday, in LF. Mark Quinn is probably the favorite for RF, but that is still up in the air. Back-ups include Dee Brown and Raul Ibanez.

Tucker's traditional role has been as a 4th outfielder, but there is talk in Kansas City about giving him a chance to compete with Quinn for the right field starting job. If the Royals do let Tucker have the RF job, it will be yet another poor decision. Tucker's defensive abilities make him a decent extra outfielder, but his bat really prevents him from being a guy you want in the lineup full-time. There is also no reason to further stunt the development of a player like Quinn in order to give playing time to a 30-year-old player probably past his peak.

Mike Sweeney's contract expires at the end of 2002, and while the first baseman has recently expressed a willingness to listen to contract-extension proposals, there is little historical hope that the Royals will open up their pocket books to keep him in Kansas City. Recent patterns point towards Sweeney being traded mid-season, so Tucker might receive some playing time at the vacant 1B position. However, the team already had a few options available to them in that scenario before acquiring Tucker. Dave McCarty has been the backup at 1B for a few years now, and they also have rookie Ken Harvey, who shows some potential despite minor league numbers that appear unsupported by his plate discipline.

Overall, the only scenario in which Tucker should receive a starting position with the Royals would be one where Chuck Knoblauch was not in the outfield. Given that Tucker probably shouldn't be anything more than a 4th outfielder and isn't any better than a replacement level player, there is really no reason for KC to be employing him at around $2.25 million. The only way for the Royals to come out ahead in this deal would be to convince the Cubs to take Doug Henry instead of the agreed-upon minor league PTNBL.

Kevin Jarvis was the recipient of Wednesday's second largest contract. The RHP signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the Padres. He was probably very smart to jump at the cash while it was still on the table, especially when it allows him to continue to play in a pitcher-friendly park like Qualcomm. The contract is reportedly heavily back-loaded, so that Jarvis receives $1.25M in 2002, $3M in 2003, and $4.25M in 2004. The Padres club option for 2005 is at $5.25M with a $200,000 buyout.

San Diego has a good deal of young pitching talent, and some of the players will be ready to contribute in 2002 while others will arrive in the next year or two. Holding onto Jarvis this year is probably a good idea, as he does have fairly good skills and can protect the younger guys as a bit of an innings-eater near the bottom of the rotation, but they should look to deal him near 2003's trading deadline, before he reaches the more expensive years of his contract.

On Tuesday, the Yankees announced that they had re-signed former San Diego pitcher Sterling Hitchcock to a two-year contract worth a reported $12 million. This is another good signing for the Yanks, as it gives them a second lefty and a good bottom-of-the-rotation starter.

Hitchcock did not put up stellar numbers for New York after he was traded from San Diego, so many speculated that the Yankees would let him slip away with free agency. His Elias ranking was below a C, so it would not have cost another team any draft picks to acquire him. I expect a comeback year for Hitchcock in 2002, now that he is over two years removed from Tommy John surgery. New York was the team to recognize the potential bargain and lock up his services.

Former NYY Tino Martinez, who was once traded for Sterling Hitchcock, also signed a new contract on Tuesday. Martinez will be playing 1B for the St. Louis Cardinals next season. The two parties agreed to a three-year $21 million deal. St. Louis was expected to sign either a first baseman or left fielder after they cleared payroll with the Hermanson trade. They opted for Tino over an outfielder like Reggie Sanders, leaving Placido Polanco as the probable left field starter.

Martinez's signing will allow them to use 2001 ROY Albert Pujols at 3B, rather than waste his defensive ability at first base. While Tino obviously falls far short of a healthy Mark McGwire, it will be helpful for the Cards to have a full-time player at 1B again and allow them a to field a lineup with more stability.

I wanted to catch up on free agent signings today, so the Pokey Reese - Scott Hatteberg trade and arbitration-related commentary will be saved for tomorrow's article.