The Chicago Cubs signed Marlon Byrd to a 3 year $15 million contract. Byrd had a solid 2009 at the hitter friendly Ranger's Ballpark in Arlington. He hit .283 with 20 HR and 89 RBI. His road numbers, away from the easy home runs in Texas, were an unimpressive 6 HR and 32 RBI. His power numbers in his previous 6 seasons are a very unimpressive high of only 10 HR and 70 RBI. While Wrigley Field may have a reputation as a hitter friendly park the reality is the wind has been blowing in consistently over the last several seasons and Cub's fans should not count on more than 10 HR a season from Byrd. He is not much of a base stealer for a center fielder going only 8 of 12 last season. He does do a decent job of getting on base and should be an okay addition to the team. He however does not fill 2 of the biggest needs for the Cubs, a left handed batter and a leadoff hitter.

The biggest news of the signing is that fact that the Cubs who have been spending like drunken sailors over the last 2 seasons in an in vain effort to buy their way into the World Series are now being conservative in their signings. They made no effort to sign the huge dollar players like Holliday and Bay and had to settle for a mid dollar player.