It has nothing to do with who I think is better, Johnson is better. I also understand that Hoffpauir has no upside. I just think that adding guys like Johnson would just be treading water, if that is the case I would just as soon just hide all the pretenses of being a WS contender and get serious about player development. Its kind of a get worse to get better thing. What does playing a 31 year old Micah Hoffpauir have to do with player development? Nothing, but the Cubs are already paying him. Might as well invest whatever money you save on Johnson into player development. Spending all your payroll on player development and running the '03 Tigers out there is a sure way to lose money and piss off fans. You get the added side effect of burning a pre-arb year on prospects who aren't ready for the majors, possibly stunting their development along the way. Obviously it's not a problem with Hoffpauir, who gives a [expletive] about him, but this seems to be the strategy you and others are espousing. It's not like Nick Johnson is going to get a big contract, if they go out and sign Overbay to a 3 year deal, there's the issue, signing a stop-gap low-risk, high reward guy for a year isn't a problem.