Chris Denorfia should be a useful piece for the Cubs.
Chris Denorfia should be a useful piece for the Cubs. (USATSI)

The Cubs have agreed to sign free agent outfielder Chris Denorfia to a one-year deal worth roughly $2.5 million, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

The short-term need here is obvious. The Cubs still have a fluid situation with young infielders. Starlin Castro is locked in at shortstop. Javier Baez appears to be the second baseman of the future, but he could need more time in the minors and Tommy La Stella is an option at second. Kris Bryant will debut this season and he's been a third baseman, but there's also talk he could move to left field. Then there's super-prospect Addison Russell, who is a shortstop and is likely to begin the season at Triple-A. He could be moved to second or third, of course. Could Castro move to left? Luis Valbuena can flip between second and third if need be, too.

All of this is to say that the Cubs will have a new left fielder in 2016 and it's very likely that someone comes from the infield glut (my bet would be Bryant, with Russell or Castro sliding to third -- unless there's a trade).

For 2015 in left field, Chris Coghlan is around. He swings left-handed and is coming off a good year, but he fares far better against righties (.294./353/.480 last season) than lefties (.247/.350/.360).

Enter Denorfia. He's a career .292/.358/.430 hitter against lefties. Putting that line with Coghlan's line against right-handers makes for a very productive platoon.

Denorfia, 34, is coming off a rough season (.230/.284/.318), but from 2011-13 he hit .283/.339/.409 (113 OPS+), so the Cubs will hope for a bounce back in a much-more hitter-friendly ballpark than he's been dealing with. If not, it's just a one-year, $2.5 million deal, which is tantamount to pocket change for MLB teams.

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