Cubs lock up Pierre, Ohman

By Mike Maguire | Feb 08, 6:21 AM

Thursday in signing new center fielder Juan Pierre and relief pitcher Will Ohman. The team secured the services of Pierre for one year at $5.75 million, with the hopes of signing him to a long term deal sometime in the near future. Ohman was also signed for one season, but came a few dollars cheaper at $610,000.

The Cubs are counting on Pierre to be the catalyst of the offense and to patrol the gaps in an uncertain outfield. In Pierre, the Cubs got a hard worker who shows up to play everyday. Pierre played in all 162 games for the Marlins last year, batting .276 and stealing 57 bases (second best in the NL). Primarily used in the leadoff role, Pierre drove in 47 runs last season. Only 4 Cubs (Lee, Ramirez, Burnitz, and Barrett) drove in more runs last year than the ex-Marlins' speedster.

Ohman, a left hander, will work out of the bullpen, though the main left-handed set up duties figure to be handled by new comer Scott Eyre. Ohman held opposing left-handed hitters to a .173 batting average in 2005, and he was not scored upon in 58 of his 69 appearances.

With these two key pieces locked into the puzzle, only Carlos Zambrano remains unsigned for the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs and Zambrano are reportedly near to striking a deal. Both sides of the negotiating table are relatively close financially and are eager to get this thing done. Zambrano is asking for $7.2 million and the Cubs last offer was $6 million. Zambrano does have an arbitration hearing scheduled for Feb. 18th, but it is likely that this contract situation will be resolved before that date. If the Cubs can wrap up Zambrano before the 18th, they will avoid having to deal with a salary arbitration case for the 12th straight year, a streak that spans the tenure of team president Andy MacPhail.

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