You can't spell Hendry without "Why?"

So, this Jim Edmonds thing. I didn't have the negative reaction about Edmonds himself that some people did, but I just don't understand the deal, really.

I mean, it seems to me that the defense of the Edmonds deal goes a little something like this:

"Well, we're talking about a guy who's had a great career defensively and an excellent career offensively. He hasn't looked good to start the year, but he played in Petco, and he's looked a lot better in the last couple weeks. Worst-case scenario, you don't get a ton of center-field production for a few weeks, then just release him. Might as well see if he can do it."

Which, okay, fine. But here's the thing: isn't that pretty similar to the reason why Felix Pie should just be given a shot at the everyday job?

"Well, we're talking about a guy who's great defensively and who has hit well at every level except the majors so far. He hasn't looked good to start the year, but he still only has 240 major league at-bats and is in the process of fixing the holes in his swing, and he's looked a lot better in the last couple weeks. Worst-case scenario, you don't get a ton of production out of the eight-hole for a couple months, or you start to platoon Johnson more again. Might as well genuinely see if Pie can do it."

Well, let's see if I can justify this:

Pie's only 23, so maybe one more year in the minors to fix these holes in the swing won't kill him. At 38 in June, Edmonds is clearly no long-term solution even if he does pull a Gary Gaetti and hit for us. (He singled in his first at-bat yesterday and also hit a ball well to center, though it was caught. On the other hand, in his other two at-bats he grounded into a DP and struck out with the bases loaded. So, not the strongest debut anyone's ever had, anyway.) And with Johnson's batting average and on-base percentage slowly circling the bowl, I guess you could call this a fairly low-risk, calculated maneuver to see if there was any way to wring more production from pretty much the only spot on the field that hasn't hit for the Cubs this season. Edmonds will strike out, but he can also take some walks and he can certainly hit home runs; if he can hit .260-.270 with 15-20 home runs, and play solid enough defense, is that much different from (if not a bit better than) what you'd get out of a Johnson/Pie platoon unless Pie suddenly exploded to his minor league numbers? With that in mind, the main reason to hate this deal is that Edmonds is first and foremost a Cardinal in everyone's minds. I can only speak for me, but I don't really care that much. I care about whether he can still play. I feel bad for Pie, but ultimately, if Edmonds can help us win the World Series, that works for me.