Cubs trade Hill to the Orioles, Still Stumping for Ben Sheets

The Cubs have officially traded Rich Hill to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later. The PTBNL will depend on how Hill does in 2009, but the trade must be completed within 6 months. the move carries little risk for the Orioles since what they eventually will give up to the Cubs depends largely on Hill?s success. The Cubs have opened a spot on their 40-man roster, which they will probably use to sign Rich Aurilia or Kevin Millar (Aurilia please!), but it?s my duty to suggest the Cubs sign Ben Sheets to some kind of incentive-based contract. Aurilia crushes lefties, but he?s been worth only 0.8 wins the last 2 years in 798 plate appearances. On the other hand, Ben Sheets has been worth 6.9 wins. Granted, Aurilia will likely only cost $1 million or so for 1 year while Sheets will probably require about $10 million per year over at least 2 years. Actually, you could probably sign Sheets at this point for 1 guaranteed year at $10 million with a player option for 2010 at $12 or $13 million. So there?s certainly more risk, but it?s worth it.