Coco Pie

Gordon, I agree on Marmol (which means we're both wrong), but not on Felix.

The Cubs will trade for a veteran outfielder to start in center

I hope not, and here's why - the most mentioned CF since Marlon Byrd has been Coco Crisp. I don't like Coco as a starter, and he only wants to start. That won't work, we need a 4th outfielder, a platoon guy at best.

Here are some 2008 projections for both Felix Pie and Coco Crisp. Fangraphs.com gives us five sets (including MINER, which I'm not familiar with), plus three more (PECOTA, CBS and Cairo), and that should do it. Eight is Enough to show Crisp doesn't deserve to block Pie.

Pie	AB	PA	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO
Bill James	533	-	151	30	7	16	82	62	40	111	-	23	11	0.283	0.333	0.456	0.789	0.173
CHONE	496	536	135	27	7	13	65	65	38	107	2	22	12	0.272	0.326	0.433	0.760	0.161
Marcel	266	297	68	15	3	6	40	35	25	55	2	8	2	0.256	0.322	0.402	0.724	0.147
MINER	195	216	47	9	2	5	27	27	15	42	1	6	3	0.241	0.292	0.385	0.676	0.144
ZiPS	539	-	145	27	7	15	71	61	40	122	2	20	9	0.269	0.321	0.429	0.750	0.160
PECOTA	390	429	113	25	4	14	62	53	31	84	3	13	5	0.291	0.344	0.479	0.823	0.188
Cairo	363	392	95	19	4	9	-	38	25	75	2	3	2	0.261	0.312	0.405	0.717	0.144
CBS	488	-	130	25	5	10	75	55	40	115	-	15	5	0.266	0.322	0.400	0.722	0.134
average	409	374	111	22	5	11	60	50	32	89	2	14	6	0.267	0.322	0.424	0.745	0.156
best	539	536	151	30	7	16	82	65	40	42	3	23	2	0.291	0.344	0.479	0.823	0.188
worst	195	216	47	9	2	5	27	27	15	122	1	3	12	0.241	0.292	0.385	0.676	0.134

Coco	AB	PA	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO
Bill James	419	-	117	24	3	7	62	45	36	64	-	19	7	0.279	0.338	0.401	0.739	0.122
CHONE	485	529	135	31	4	10	60	64	43	74	1	19	6	0.278	0.338	0.421	0.759	0.142
Marcel	487	541	134	28	4	9	73	55	42	78	1	21	5	0.275	0.332	0.405	0.737	0.129
MINER	504	560	140	29	3	10	77	57	44	79	0	20	4	0.278	0.329	0.407	0.735	0.129
ZiPS	527	-	143	33	5	10	82	65	48	79	2	22	5	0.271	0.333	0.410	0.743	0.139
PECOTA	493	549	137	29	4	8	72	54	44	78	3	19	5	0.278	0.338	0.407	0.745	0.129
Cairo	509	565	144	31	4	10	-	58	44	78	1	20	6	0.282	0.334	0.421	0.755	0.139
CBS	460	-	129	28	2	9	70	50	33	69	-	23	6	0.280	0.329	0.409	0.737	0.128
average	486	549	135	29	4	9	71	56	42	75	1	20	6	0.278	0.334	0.410	0.744	0.132
best	527	565	144	33	5	10	82	65	48	64	3	23	4	0.282	0.338	0.421	0.759	0.142
worst	419	529	117	24	2	7	60	45	33	79	0	19	7	0.271	0.329	0.401	0.735	0.122

OPS	Pie	Coco
Bill James	0.789	0.739
CHONE	0.760	0.759
Marcel	0.724	0.737
MINER	0.676	0.735
ZiPS	0.750	0.743
PECOTA	0.823	0.745
Cairo	0.717	0.755
CBS	0.722	0.737

Felix and Coco get the 'nod' from four of the eight systems apiece.

Felix has more power, Coco a little better on base and stolen base projections.

Wouldn't be a bad platoon, but, from what I've seen this Spring, Felix is a better hitter than the guy we saw last year.

So, don't trade for Coco, he'll be a malcontent or a blockade. It isn't about being on a winning team and being a role player. Otherwise he'd be content in Boston.