Ted Lilly in the Fold with Daryle Ward

I already commented about Ted Lilly, but today it was made official. The Cubs showed good financial judgement for once by giving him more many down the line, making the contract look less now and probably more in line with other starting pitchers in 4 years. I like this deal for the fact that they are not blocking somebody in the minor leagues that is potentially as good as him now. They also did not outbid many other teams seeing that Miguel Batista got $9 million from Seattle.

I also like the Daryle Ward signing for $1 million. He is a major upgrade over Todd Hollandsworth and at least provides a left handed bat against the right handed closers in the National League (Lidge, Wainright).