Are Derek Lee's Days in Chicago Numbered?

I know many of the Cubs' faithful are going to be up in arms and scrambling to find their angry mob torches and pitchforks after reading the title of this article. All I ask however is to hear me out before letting the raping and pillaging to begin. Let me also preface this by saying I am not only a huge Chicago Cubs fan, but also a fan of Derek Lee. Unfortunately for the betterment of the team however, I do believe it is time for the big first baseman to move on.

Derek Lee has been a mainstay in the Cubs' line up for the last six years. He has provided a quiet leadership and gold glove caliber defense to a team seriously lacking in both. He was also seemingly the only Cub who remembered how to hit in the Playoffs in 2008. However, Derek Lee now finds himself in the final year of his contract.

In all reality the Cubs should have attempted to move Derek last year. Though the team struggled Derek had a rebound season hitting .306 while smashing 35 homers and driving in 111 runs. His stock was the highest it had been since his break-out year in 2005. Unfortunately, the Cubs decided to stand pat, and now find themselves in an unenviable position of trading a popular player or wind up with nothing.

One of the big issues with Derek is his age in that he will turn 35 by the end of the 2010 season. This puts him on the downside of his baseball career. I feel it is unrealistic to expect Derek will be able to duplicate and sustain the kind of production we witnessed him put up a year ago. That does not mean I do not think Derek can be a productive player. It is simply a matter of Derek's best baseball days being behind him at this point in his career.

Another issue is sadly a financial one. Derek is going to make over $13 million this year. The Cubs team payroll is pushing $140 million and the new owners, the Ricketts' family, have made it no secret they would like to trim some salary. With Alfonso Soriano's contract hanging around the team's neck like the proverbial albatross the cuts are going to have to be made elsewhere. With that in mind it is pretty evident the Cubs are not going to offer Derek a long-term deal worth big money. So if the Cubs do not want to end up empty handed, the right step to take is trade Derek while his value is still respectively high.

There are a number of teams who would love to add a veteran bat to their line-up. The one team that quickly comes to mind is the Boston Red Sox who have been looking for a first baseman since losing out on Mark Texieria. They also have the resources to give Derek a solid payday. I do not know what the Red Sox may have in the way of prospects, but I am sure they could put together a package which would suit the Cubs' needs.

A long shot to land Derek Lee in a deal could be the San Diego Padres. The Padres are the team who originally drafted Derek as the 14^th overall pick in 1994. Derek is also a native of California so this could be a homecoming of sorts if a deal would be made. There have been multiple rumors from last season on up to the current spring training which have the Padres willing to trade their own star first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez. Should this happen the Padres may want to fill that void by having a veteran leader in the line-up until their own prospect, Kyle Blanks, is ready to take the reins. There is also the recent rumor which has the Padres trying to work out a deal with the Cubs' cross-town rivals, the Chicago White Sox where the Sox would get Gonzalez for Gordon Beckham. If there is any truth to this rumor I would hope Cubs' General Manager, Jim Hendry would be on the phone trying to finagle his way in on that deal, and find a way to get Beckham to the Northside. Derek Lee could figure heavily in a 3-team deal.

Though it would be near impossible to find a player with all the intangibles Derek Lee can bring to a ball club, the fact is it is much easier to find a replacement first baseman than any other position. The Cubs already have Micah Hoffpauir and Kevin Millar in camp, and yes I know either of those players would be a substantial downgrade and they would only be quick fixes until a more permanent solution could be found. If Jim Hendry is shrewd enough he would make sure a decent first base prospect would be part of any deal. The point is there are other options available, and losing Derek Lee would not be so insurmountable that the team would not be able to overcome his absence.

The Chicago Cubs on paper appear to be poised for another playoff run. I fully expect Derek Lee to be in the middle of whatever level of success the teams is able to achieve, but realistically at the end of the 2010 season Derek Lee will be leaving Chicago. If the Cubs do not want to end up with nothing but fond memories then the difficult choice needs to be mad, and that decision should be to trade Derek Lee. `

Derek Lee Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights, www.cubs.com