1) It eats away at whatever financial resources could be made available for other moves. 2) It makes the team older. 3) It hands Dusty another crutch, and opens up the practically inevitable situation in which the Cubs fall in love with their marginal veteran and inexplicably resign him at years end. 1) I don't think the extra $1-2M this is taking up is going to seriously hinder future moves and something needed to be done if we're going to be close enough to be in a position to take on salary later in the year. 2) As long as the old guy isn't blocking a young guy ready for the bigs and with a bright future ahead of him, who cares? 3) If and when he's re-signed, then I'll scream bloody murder. But that doesn't make the move to acquire him mid-year a bad one. It makes the re-signing a bad one. It's better than expected, the Cubs will only take on $375,000.