There are rumors out there that the Cubs are interested in free agent outfielder Jonny Gomes. They could do worse.
Gomes has plenty of potential but the knock on Heart Attack Jonny (he suffered a heart attack in 2002) is the injury issue. He hasn’t put in a full season in the seven years in the majors. To be fair, let’s call it five since he was up for just a cup of coffee for the first two.
I feel Gomes has a lot of power potential. Take the last five years. Accumulated, he’s averaged 28 homers per 500 at-bats. Yes, his batting average is a tad low. By a tad low, I mean averages like .216, .244, .182 and a whopping .267 last year. To his credit, Gomes ability to get on base with the walk raises his OBP to a more respectable career level of .330.
Last year to go along with his Hornsby-like .267, Gomes hit 20 longballs in 281 at-bats proving that he’s making improvements. The question is could he do this over an extended and more importantly, do the Cubs have a need for him.
At this point, yes, I feel the Chicago Cubs could most certainly find a use for Heart Attack Jonny. I wouldn’t expect him to play a full season if he was acquired but he would play a vital role. As a righty, he could platoon in right field and spell Soriano when (yes, when not if)he goes down.
Gomes is 29 and if he could fashion a respectable year in 2010, he could right his career. He’s been one of those players that had very interesting numbers and I’ve always liked to see what would happen if he was given a chance.
Some pretty big names joined the free agent list when they were not tendered offers to stay with their clubs. Jonny Gomes slugged the baseball pretty well in his brief time with the Reds, but it wasn’t enough for Cincinnati to want to throw cash his way. Gomes is a high energy outfielder, with as much power as anybody in the game. Then there’s Colorado Rockies thirdbaseman Garrett Atkins, in an effort to save money, the Rocks are turning over the hot corner duties to Ian Stewart. Jack Cust nailed 84 big flies in Oakland for the A’s the last three seasons, but was surprisingly let go. Another surprise was when Pittsburgh decided to cut ties with their closer, Matt Capps, but it’s the Pirates, so what would you expect? The Washington Nationals also decided not to bring back their closer, if they have a better option, I haven’t heard it. Starting pitcher Scott Olsen was also asked not to return to Washington, probably due to his poor attitude, but he throws the ball with his lefthand so somebody will take a flier on him. Chien-Ming Wang won’t be returning to the Bronx, I can kind of see this, what with Wang’s history of injuries, they can go out there and pretty much sign whomever they want.