The Cubs got good news twice today.  First, they beat out all the other teams just clamoring to sign two-time Tommy John Disease survivor Xavier Nady to share bunk beds in right field with Kosuke Fukudome.

Then, they convinced Billy Beane and the A’s to get Ben Sheets in shape so they can trade for him in July.

The Nady deal will cost the Cubs $3.3 million and some incentives.  The Desipio I-team is currently investigating what those incentives are, but it is believed that Xavier will get an extra $120 a day for every game when the Cubs are on the road.  For like meals and stuff.  Oh, and half off at the player parking lot, and get this, FREE use of Todd Ricketts’ bicycle rack on weekdays.  Now that is some sweet action.

Of all of the injury prone louts that the Cubs were talking to about sharing right field with Kosuke, Nady’s the best combination of (relative) youth, ability and scar tissue.  Jermaine Dye has been a much better player, but the wheels fell off of him last year something fierce.  Johnny Gomes can hit lefties but he plays the outfield like he’s tied his shoelaces together.  Reed Johnson’s an all-around swell guy (and still a better option for the remaining outfield spot than the bobble-headed Sam Fuld) but he’s not exactly the picture of health either.

So, if the Cubs go with a straight out platoon in right of Kosuke versus righties (.262/.372/.417/.789/106 OPS+) and Nady against lefties (.308/.383/.471/.854/117 OPS+) that’s pretty good, considering both are also good defensive outfielders.  Assuming Xavier actually passes his physical this week, there’s not much to not like about this signing.  He’s “only” 31, it’s only for one year, and it’s for less money than the Cubs are paying John Grabow to sit in the bullpen and look all lefthanded.

As for Sheets, it’s a typically savvy Billy Beane move.  In order to keep Sheets from seriously considering going to the Mets, he upped his offer to $10 million for this season, plus incentives similar to Nady’s, though the I-team has learned that Sheets held out for, and received, a coupon for free soft serve ice cream on Wednesdays in the Oakland Coliseum press lunch room.

But Beane most likely has little desire for Sheets to be around long enough for the A’s to have to pay the full $10 million of it.  If he trades him in July to a contender (like say, the Cubs), he’ll only have paid him $5 or $6 million and gotten some more tasty prospects in return.

And, if Sheets is true to form he’ll be good for two things.  1) A good first half.  2) An injury in the second half.

In his career Sheets is “only” 86-83 (he played on some truly brutal Brewers teams early on) with a nice 3.72 ERA and an ERA+ of 115.  But he also missed significant chunks of the second halves of 2005, 2006, 2007 and the entire season last year.

His first half numbers are pretty good.  56-43, 3.50 ERA, 684 K’s, only 774 hits in 821.1 IP, 126 starts.

But his second half numbers are less impressive.  He’s made only 95 starts and is 30-40, 4.04 ERA, 522 K’s, 628 hits in 606 IP.  Not bad, just not as good, and 31 fewer starts is a red flag.

So you can’t fault Beane for figuring that Sheets is going to be a great buy for the first three months of the season, sell him high in the fourth month and if he flops in the final two months, it’s somebody else’s problem.

And that problem can still be Jim Hendry’s!